How do I get into Illustrating?

hey holly, dunno how much this will help but i'm looking to get into illustrating, at the moment i'm just drawing flyers and posters for the bands i know in my area, i've been asked to design tattoos and my name is getting around thru those at the mo and i give away pictures i do to friends and firends of friends etc, i've been doing it ages and i'm starting to get people looking for me to do work for them on cd's and in comics now. just draw loads and loads and loadsa and make sure it gets everywhere. good luck

you are not really likely to get work I'm afraid without having studied illustration as you'll be up against those with a degree in illustration, who have the technical knowledge as well as the artistic skills needed, they'll know about working to briefs, how to present work and working with tight deadlines etc

your best bet would be to go to college and study illustration. (my experience is with Fine Art and not Illustration but I did think of doing that years ago after my Foundation Year - I realise I actually want to do my own thing so it wouldn't have been right for me)

why not post some of your work on a thread to share with the forum?

i dunno, i went to college and it just seemed to turn my art into school work, everyone ends up with the same restricted ideas and similair stuff and it didn't feel like it was anything to do with me anymore. i didn't do any art work for over a year once i'd finished i was that fed up with it!
my guitar playing improved tho

Go to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of the 2005 ARTIST'S AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER'S MARKET. It has the names, contact numbers and submissions criteria for over 2000 companies looking for artists.

baaaaad tutors then!

my graduation year was a real mixture of stuff from photorealism to abstraction to installation/conceptual stuff - everyone was totally different with distinct 'styles' of their own.

even teaching adult learners in adult education (fun/semi serious/serious mix of reasons for them coming) I encourage individuality, with everyone very very different in approach, ideas, subject, mark making, use of colour, medium etc etc

i agree, over 2 years i had 11 tutors because they kept coming and going and getting pregnant (the cheek of it) and the communication between them was pretty bad, there wasn't one person on my course that was happy with it and i know that had a big effect on my work and the way i felt about it. i was thinking about trying tp get on an animation course but i don't want to get into it and get my loan and all that and then lose interest again. on top of that i didnt get the best grades i could have done as i wanted nothing to do with the course i was on by the end of it.

I tried to pick the brains of and get something from even the tutors I didn't like so much or have so much respect for (something i learned from a fellow student who said 'I may not like them but I'm going to learn everything they can tell me' - I thought how sensible, me too) - also as I was doing my degree part time (and working) I was able to avoid tutors I had no respect for by saying I couldn't make the day they were teaching as I was working - then I'd do a module with a tutor who really taught.

Interestingly, the tutors said men were harder to teach as the machismo bit clicks in and there's an element of 'don't tell me' - women listen and take what they want from the feedback and do their own thing - men were inclined to brush off the info and disregard it more often. Just a little bit of sexism there! :wink:

Go round some of the colleges you are considering and talk to the students there - then you'll have an idea of what the course is really like but do go back. It is worth it.

machismo bit eh? i dont think i came with one of those, or i misplaced it long ago i'm enjoying doind the things i'm involved with at the moment tho, maybe i'll go to uni in a year or two. i'm in no rush. i'll go when i'm about 27 and be the cool older, worldy wise guy all the girls love (haha yeah i'll be the old guy every laughs at because he's almost thirty and is still dodging getting a real job)

I went many years after my Foundation Year, when my daughters were hitting their teens and completed my degree - you are right, it's never too late.

When you are older you are more motivated and more sure of what YOU want to get out of the experience and are more able to tbe true to yourself I think.

You'll definitely be the cool guy

Very good advice.

try looking at this

http://www.theaoi.com/Mambo/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=28

you get some good benefits here like news on competitions and shows and jobs etc. if it says you arent authorised just go to the information home page then look at the membership documents. it's good because there are different levels of membership for professionals, students or whatever.

Illustration suggestions
Holly
I've been in the business of advertising and marketing for...over 30+ years. started out as a draftsman. even taught drawing and marker illustration at local college. Over the years I've managed designers and artists in various businesses. The one thing I always looked for in a employee (artist, designer) - was the ability to put emotion into their work. Some call it passion. Emotion-to me, is the ability to put depth and a personality into the drawing.Everyone has a different style- and that's a good thing. With the evolution of computer aided drawing, many of the art schools have moved away from 'original art" in favor of teaching photoshop, illustrator, quark, freehand, etc. but I still have clients today tell me they prefer original art vs computer generated art. There is always room for one more good illustrator.

May I suggest "the Artist'sMagazine " ( wwwartistmagazine.com ) I have saved my copies for years. as a great reference tool on techniques on every type of media. (Oil, watercolor, pastels, charcoal,etc.) along with great "how to articles'
and when you see the work of other artists you have a greater respect for your own gift. Even if you never go into illustrating as a profession, you will have something in common with other artists.
Today, an artist needs a lot of skills including using the computer as a vehicle to move and modify their creativity. I often scan in a drawing then take a print out to the drawing board to work on with markers.


Take a look at another site (I'm not recommending the site and there's more than one) just research some of the work being presented by some freelancers. (http://contractedwork.com/rt.cfm?catid=14&af=58)

This will begin to give you a sense of the type of work people are looking to purchase and what's being offered by illustrators.
and last, We have several book publishers in our area who are always advertising for freelance artists- just be careful -as some publishers have been known to take advantage of the freelancers with less than fair compensation.

toots

good advice. thanks toots

Hiya

I was just looking at a site www.cardconnections.co.uk, click on products, the click on are you an artist?.Looks like they are looking for illustrators.

I know its a UK company but they may have a sister company in the USA.