How to find work in the short term?
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First off, I am very aware that illustration is no get-rich-quick scheme, but: my life circumstances right now are such that gaining more financial independence has become a real priority for me and I want to lean into finding opportunities in illustration before resorting to finding a "day job" and doing illustration after hours. Background: I have an 18-month-old, so while I would ordinarily pour all my free time into my art career, there isn't much free time to spare.
My main question is this: from your experience, what types of work opportunities are within reach in the short term, and how does one find them? My understanding is that children's books and image licensing are better long-term goals because they take a lot of preparation and it can take a very long time to get paid, so I'm not sure I should even be focusing too hard on those right now. Working toward those more distant goals has actually been heightening my anxiety lately! Commercial and editorial illustration sound like better fits for this scenario -- does anyone have experience in getting that sort of work, or have other ideas about good markets to pursue? I should add that all of the aforementioned art markets are ones that I could see myself enjoying very well, so it isn't really a matter of which one is my dream job! Having also worked as a cake decorator filling all sorts of bizarre requests for years, the even thought of drawing a tooth holding a toothbrush riding a motorcycle doesn't sound that bad.
Most of my freelance work thus far has been graphic design and I'd really like to break away from that and into the illustration world, but the question of how to actually find work is still a big mystery to me. Thanks! -
@patricialamas do you have anything you can get prints made of? Approach coffee shops and little locally owned shops if you can hang your art for sale… anywhere you can gain visibility. That could help stimulate some cash flow.
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@patricialamas Yes cards and prints can make a lot of money if you have enough outlets. My sister has a roaring trade each year from tourists on her hand made cards of her watercolour illustrations. I think developing many income strands would be better. But as Will, Lee and Jake say on the podcast, a good quality print can make a huge margin, I think your work would be great for prints or cards.
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@PenAndrew @AngelinaKizz Good idea! I hadn’t even thought of that!
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@patricialamas hair salons, and restaurants are also good ones. Our salon has artwork everywhere, and it's great because clients stare at it all day, and because it sells it is constantly rotating. I know that there's a tea shop close by my house that hosts local art work. The restaurant next door to our salon hosts artwork for sale.
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@AngelinaKizz @patricialamas Yes and the more you can print and produce the cards yourself the higher your profit!
