Some thoughts on becoming a professional Illustrator - Part II

________________________________________ ____

Part II
Topics this time:
- Redundancy of your equipment if you plan to make a living out of selling your digital art
- How to manage to keep deadlines/own time management
- Answering user questions from Editorial I

________________________________________ ____

Hi folks!
Welcome back to the 2nd part of the little series about experiences I have made over the years since I work as an Illustrator.

Most of the stuff can also be adapted to any other creative job like writing, making music, etc of course. The creativity is just the same, but goes into various directions.

All I have written here is based on my own experiences and those methods do work for me. That means not that it is the ultimative solution for everyone, but maybe it might be helpful for one or another artist in future.
I will continue it when I find the time. If you have questions, please ask them in the comments! They are much welcome and I can answer them in future articles.

So, now that we know the basic stuff like keeping your muse there where it belongs,
(You can read that article here: [link] )
we go further with the themes:

- Redundancy of your equipment if you plan to make a living out of selling your digital art
- How to manage to keep deadlines / How to make your own time management
- How to get clients / making portfolios.
- Answering questions that came up from Editorial 1

_______________________________


Redundancy of your equipment

Before you plan to stand on your own feet you need a computer that can process your work files and on which you can rely on.
(So to say not an old rig that keeps you waiting for 5 minutes to open a PSD file and crashes every 10 minutes.)
Then you need of course your preferred programs, (bought, not cracked.) a tablet or mouse, a good screen, or other equipment you need. Not to forget a comfy chair that substitutes your back if you sit 10 hours or more on your ass. Sure, you all know that you need such stuff before you begin to take serious commissions.

Far more important is the fact that you get very quick help in a case of a computer or hardware failure. (like a borrowed computer, another wacom, screen... and that asap) plus that you have a backup from all your files - preferable several backups on different media. The best is to have a complete second workstation in case yours fail.
I know, this might sound utopic and impossible, but I think it´s a serious consideration to be redundant like this. Keeping your old comp as backup if you intend to buy a new one makes your younger siblings not happy, but it gives you a warm fuzzy and save feeling in your guts and also in your purse.
Why? Because you have still deadlines to keep and work to do.

Clients don´t care if you have data loss, they have paid you and expect you to deliver like you have stated in the contract.
If you can´t deliver your work to the spot, you´ll lose the job. (Sometimes there will extend a deadline, but never rely on that! And it is quite embarassing to beg for an extended deadline if your comp crashed, isn´t it?)

Btw, they don´t make up deadlines to torture the artists, they give you deadlines because they have also their deadlines to keep.
Just as a side information: do you know how high the costs are for a printing unit A1 with 4 or 5 colors standing still just one hour without jobs to print? The loss is around a few thousand Euro/Dollar each hour. Maybe now it´s more understandable why there are deadlines at all. The publishers book the time in a print agency and are paying for getting the books, CD covers, posters, boxes, etc printed. If they can´t deliver the print files to the agreed time they pay horrid sums because a printing unit stands still for several hours.

So always make sure your equipment is redundant. This is a very important part of being professional too.
You just can´t drop your jobs for some weeks, or can you?
Simple answer: No. If the companies notice that they can´t rely on that artist, you´re out of business.



How to manage to keep deadlines / How to make your own time management

Your own time management is an important thing also. Before you accept jobs you have to know your own timespan in which you can create a characterdesign, an average environment, a detailed painting with serveral characters, and you also need to know where your comfort zones are and which themes/settings take more time. (For me I need an eternity to do something with perspective but I can paint a forest environment in pretty less time.)
So there are no guidelines, each person has their own pace. But it´s good to know in which time you can slam out an illustration out of nothing. You have to figure that out before you offer your services to the world.

Since everyone has different working methods there´s no "rule" how to work best, but there are a few tips that help you keeping your deadlines - and your clients.

First point is, as easy as it sounds, don´t accept works with deadlines you know you can´t keep or they are too tight for your work method, even if the money is badly needed. (On the other side, no professional company asks either an artist for "an illustration of a huge war scene with fantasy creatures in A2 for a poster that will be printed in 3 days.")
An illustration/render/painting etc. takes always time. Always. (For a detailed illustration I need around 30-50 hours of work, just in case you´re curious.) Companies with experience know that - the ones who have already worked together with artists will not set an impossible deadline at all.

So if you are calculating your schedule keep in mind that there can always come more jobs in during the weeks, or that you might maybe catch a flu which chains you a few days to the bed, or that you have computer-related problems. (I don´t talk about the worst thing ever: If a bunch of relatives hunt you down and try to prattle a birdhouse onto your ear for hours and they won´t just shut up and walk away. )

What I want to say is that if you need, let´s say, 1 week to finish the illustration, tell the company that you need at least 2, better 3 weeks if they ask. It is better planning in more time at the beginning than begging for an extended deadline afterwards. (And don´t forget the X-factor - you might don´t know their editors, who have changes all over and over again and occupy alot of your planned time.) So if you calculate more time you can be relaxed about the job and, oh wonder, the company is positively surprised if you have the illustration ready before the agreed deadline. That gives you a huge plus point and will save you further jobs, or you will be recommended to other companies. Sneaky, huh? Whining and begging for extended deadlines works most likely the other way around - because the clients need, as we have learnt before, an artist on whom they can rely on, not a whining mess.

So, whatever your pace is, leave yourself more room for your work. It saves the nerves and fills the purse better in a long way.


Answering questions.

How do your get your clients?

The best situation is when clients contact you. That means they have seen your artwork, and want to have exactly your style.
That´s the most optimal situation. If you need to apply to a job, you need of course a portfolio to send in.
(IHere´s a good tutorial about portfolios. This is a theme I won´t go further into, because it´s already there.
[link] )
If you apply for a job, make sure that the portfolio contains themed artwork they are looking for.
There´s no need to apply to a medieval fantasy game concept artist if your portfolio has only sci-fi themed artwork. No matter how good you are, you won´t get the job.


How many hours do you spend drawing and painting in a week?

As much hours as any other full time job would do, plus the weekends. A full illustrator job eats alot of time, more than any other job.


Do clients/companies look at certificates/art degrees/diplomas or do they also consider people who draw competently (but have no official background in art)?

I would say that depends completely on the company. But at least the portfolio is that what matters. If it is convincing and if they like what you see, you´ll get the job.

But to get into the professional illustration jobs, is there anything you need to study in particular? *besides art of course*
Also, what do you do in the area of publicity? How are you getting yourself out there?

Well I can´t answer that first question - the time I have finished my school/diplomas was 20 years back, and there is far more stuff you can study nowadays in the computer art/animation/game section. As I made my diploma I haven´t even owned a comp that time. I just had pencil, paper and canvas, and there were only two or three themes I could make a diploma in.

Publicity? The internet is serious business. Having online galleries on -good- art sites and be active. That helps alot.
If you don´t yell to the world outside that you are there, nobody will notice you.

_____________________________________

Thanks for reading this far! The next topics will be:

- How to work together with clients.
- Payment and Licensing
- Deciding between "good and bad" jobs/clients and how to filter out non-serious offers.

Please feel free to ask any questions again!

…stay tuned!