#fun fact this is literally the first time in my life i've ever drawn um. a bulge

[mistypluie]

bingjie...😳

[winterofherdiscontent]

Hi! Um... first: I love your art. I'm thinking to study graphic design, and I will at the end of this month, in fact. I'm 20, and I'd like to know your experience as illustrator. I'm nervous. But I've come for advice. I know that this can be a little personal and not the regular ask... but when I look your works, I feel like... something indescribable, and you really inspire me to go on. What did you study? How is it? How is the life? Is it very hard? I'm chilean and I'd like to be this later...

hello! 

i hope it’s ok i’m answering this publicly as i often receive asks similar to this and i never quite know how to reply – so i’m going to share a little bit of my personal journey in becoming a freelance illustrator: 

first off - i am completely self-taught. my journey as an illustrator started off on a very different foot to most i’m guessing because it started with a dream. an actual dream… i started my adult working life as a librarian but shortly into that my health deteriorated rapidly, without warning and with no visible easy explanation and i had no idea what was going on. i was misdiagnosed with simple work stress by a doctor at the time (not actually what was wrong physically it turned out years later) and this caused me to stop my career as a librarian – it was at this same time i had a dream about a tree. 

it was one of those dreams that are incredibly vivid, haunting and the kind that stay with you long after you wake up. i had this same dream over and over for months. this tree i still can’t completely do justice to describing. it was immense. it was beyond immense - in the dream i couldn’t even begin to fathom where it started or ended. it was that huge. the dream didn’t go away and i started doodling on bits of paper with a regular office pen. i felt like i needed to get this tree in some way on a physical surface. i moved onto colored pencils. the results were… very much not good. i then started to try watercolors …i had literally no idea what i was doing and it was a lot of fun and simultaneously one of the most stressful learning curves i’ve ever put myself through but so worth it. there was this feeling. this something inside me that kept pushing me to draw even while i was in pain. drawing and painting started to become a form of almost meditation for me. i started having more dreams. vivid surreal almost fairy tale style dreams. 

i couldn’t at the time find any local classes teaching the type of art i wanted to learn. basically, long story short i went online and started using my history degree to study the art styles of older time periods. i started researching artists i admired. i looked through my collection of children’s fairy tales and illustrated early 20th century children’s stories. i discovered the work of arthur rackham and kay nielsen, i went to the 1970s science fantasy novels i hoarded from old bookstores. i discovered the work of frank frazetta, brian froud and yoshitaka amano – i realized i wanted to draw like these artists. so i started researching some more. 

i won’t go into the actual monotonous specifics of the day to day journey of my teaching myself how i create art. what i will do is share with you some more general things i’ve discovered through trial and error that will hopefully be helpful 

(below the cut because this got long) – 

i) use references. seriously …many famous artists have used live models historically for a reason. look up local life drawing classes in your area if you’ve not already. if they are available and in your budget (if not free) great! if not go outside and draw from life. what is it you’re drawn to around you? focus on that. i take a sketchbook with me everywhere i go these days. alternatively use a mirror and focus on the way your body sits or stands. how do you want that pose to look? go and look at how your body positions itself in front of a mirror 

ii) you are unique. how your mind views the sensory input around you is different to literally every other person you will meet. how you draw whether a beginner or an advance artist is completely unique so when starting out on this path do yourself a favor - don’t simply try to copy art you like. look at it. enjoy it. focus on trying to figure out exactly what it is you’re drawn to in that artists work. then go and practice your own interpretation of that subject matter. don’t publish the results. learn from them. if you simply copy another artists work you are picking up their weaknesses as well as doing nothing more than portraying a version of someone else’s way of looking at the world rather than your own 

iii) practice. its a cliche for a reason. when you’re a beginner illustrator you will spend countless hours drawing. feeling like you are getting nowhere. your art style takes time and practice. drawing that hand the way you want takes time. it takes endless mistakes before you start to realize what it is you are doing wrong and start to spot the mistakes. practice speed sketching. draw the flow not the static rigid lines. again - look at things and spot the flow of movement. you will get better. trust me. the more you look the better you will get at seeing the rhythm of the character and composition of the subject matter 

iv) art school? yes or no? …i never went to an art class in my life. i made up the rules as i went. i made so many mistakes. i had crazy 3am breakthroughs realizing techniques that are unique to how i create art. school is not for everyone. however it is for some an absolute essential tool in their journey - so try it and see! whats the worst that could happen? …like anything in life there’s no “one size fits all” learning path that fits everyone. one thing art school can give you is networking. it can give you discipline. connections for future jobs. opening pathways to future work opportunities 

v) freelance illustration. it’s definitely not for everyone. on the plus side you can work on that commissioned job with unwashed hair piled on your head. 5 empty coffee cups next to you in your pajamas and no one will judge you except your pets. on the minus side it is not an automatically guaranteed easy or steady income. if you can supplement your freelance income from art with other jobs do it. don’t go into this thinking you will magically overnight build up a loyal client base. this takes time. it takes effort. putting yourself out there online and in person. networking. building up a friendship with artists online and in real life as you go out into the art world. put yourself out there. what’s the worst that can happen? the popular artist online you sent a hello to ignores you? its not the end of the world and more often than you’d think artists who are already established are awesome amazing and kind people who will take the time to answer your questions and talk to you. enter art contests and competitions. exposure is an invaluable tool 

vi) have fun …above all else keep reminding yourself why you’re drawn to this path and take time out to draw silly things. remind yourself regularly why you personally want to do this for a living. spend time drawing what you love not just commissioned jobs and work related art content 

vii) if you go the path of freelance illustrator then make sure you set up a clear and concise set of guidelines for clients. be approachable but be clear on what and how you go about your process when being commissioned for big or small jobs. be consistent. be transparent in how you conduct yourself with clients. be clear in your communication. don’t be a push over. set yourself do-able goals with commissioned work. don’t take on too much at any one time - give yourself a structure you know going into it you will stick to from the beginning. if in doubt research online and look at what  artists you admire have in their ‘f. a. q’ section - look at these as templates of what will and won’t work for you personally 

i know i’ve forgotten a million topics that are all relevant to your question, lovely …these are more in the way of a few general guidelines of what i’ve personally experienced in becoming a freelance illustrator ♥