Staying In Your Lane
-
@Daisy I know I've said this before somewhere, but I used to be an oil portraitist. There really is something to what the guys said about people thinking you're worth what you ask, and if you underprice yourself people will not give you as much respect. (@NessIllustration has a video about this as well.)
That's not to say you don't put in enough work to make it worth what you ask, because I'm sure you will, but it's just to say that for the same amount of work (and a bit more experience), I was able to ask for more that I had previously, and as I did, I noticed that people gave me more respect, and as they did that, I did better work and got more of it. So keep that in mind as you price your portraits, which are good!
-
@Jake-Parker Thanks for answering my question! I wrote the following in the YouTube video comments, but think maybe I should repeat it here in case someone else was confused by my question: The part about the hospital was just my attempt to specify that the quiet scene didn't have a super-obvious context that already sets a certain tone, such as a family gathered around a sick person in a hospital room.
And Lee really got my point about subtlety. In my opinion it's much harder to do storytelling in quiet scenes than in action scenes! I liked the response, though, which was mostly about environmental clues. Jake also mentioned studying quiet films, which I thought was an excellent idea.
Thank you!
-
@Daisy I have not listened to the podcast yet, but I just looked at your work on your website and you are creating very professional work. Love it all. $90 so low, you are worth a huge amount. I know someone close to me that also undervalues their work, I am always saying that they should value their work at at least 3 or 4 times higher.
I also wanted to say that your website is so professional. An excellent presentation of your work. -
@Blitz55 Thank you so much for the encouragement! Yeah Ghibli and manga in general are a big influence in my character designs. I actually haven't done a portrait painting in a while... I will once I have a bit more time! And I'll keep in mind your suggestion, lol!
(And yes, Girl from the Other Side is high on my recommendation list!)
-
@LauraA Thank you for the suggestion! I don't do any traditional work but I really envy oil painters, it's such a luscious medium! I really want to try and mimic some of it's properties in my digital portraits. Thanks again!
-
@PenAndrew Thank you so much! Man I hate the business side of things, why can't we just create to our heart's content?
-
@Daisy Well we could but maybe we would make less money!
-
This post is deleted! -
@jdubz I would look more carefully before approaching print companies or creative design agencies. Find out how much illustration they actually do. I was in such company and the best illustrator there did 2 projects which actually had illustrations in his 5 years there.
The majority of the time he had to do website wireframes, edit photos, lay out brochures and mock-ups in photoshop. They actually treat you the same like any other people hired as graphic/UX designer because there is just not enough Illustration works to go around with their clientele. Other times they just outsource the illustration to freelancers because they can pick a more specific style. I ended up joining as a studio manager because I didn’t like the creative work that seems to sap your creative energy without it being fulfilling at all. That way I create art in my free time instead…
However not all creative agencies are like that. Maybe there is more illustration work in general in the larger US cities or wherever you live, so it may be worth checking out a few studios and look at their portfolio of projects and you can sometimes tell if they are leaning more corporate (hence less illustration ).
-
@Daisy So did you raise your prices then? Ha ha.
-
@PenAndrew oh lol! I have to burn thru some commissions that I had already accepted at a lower rate but yeah I'm planning on reworking my website and raise my prices! I still like the 35/hr and 280 day rate, we'll see how it goes!
-
@Daisy yes, life work balance is important. What are you working on now?
-
@PenAndrew oh I fell behind on Patreon rewards, so I'm creating a set of postcards for my patrons and I'm tempted to try and make some of these into little notebooks (I saw Fizz and Flourish make some on Instagram and wanted to try it out :D) after that I have a set of portraits that I need to finish, so I'm busy for a little bit. I also desperately want to participate in Mermay, but I'm not sure I'll have time lol. How about you? What do you have going on?
-
@Daisy Fizz and flourish sounds like Harry Potter!