[Meaty Ogre]

Hi, I've recently decided to try to support myself doing freelance illustration and I'm wondering how everyone else here makes their living. So far I've been doing this for a couple months with a little however encouraging amount of success. I'm reading "how to" books and doing research and actually following the advice I find. However, it all feels very precarious. Every time I get a little work it feels like it's fallen from the sky without a lot of connection to anything I've done in order to get work, ie. mail out cards and stuff.

So... I'm curious to hear how other people are making it. Be honest, I want to hear about you if you're a pro, or you work at McDonalds or you have a trust fund. In the end I want to know how realistic is it for me to support myself doing fantasy illustration. Exactly how good does my stuff need to be and how aggressive do I need to be about marketing?

Anyway, tell me what you do. Thanks a lot.



-Ted

[Jimmyjimjim]

Before I went back to school-
GUI Design, Media Design, Broadcast GFX Design

Since moving and going back to school-
Picture framing at an art gallery

Next semester when I move to Pasadena-
STUDENT LOANS AND FINANCIAL AID BABY!!!! (and hopefully some freelance work)

After design school (god willing)-
GUI Design, Media Design, Broadcast GFX Design

Yeah, I wonder why I did it sometimes, too.

Haha, no really- I want to do product and conceptual design. Haven't regretted leaving my career for a millisecond. I hope to NEVER work in the software industry again unless it's a game company.

[Drunken Monkey]

I sit in front of a computer all day reading boring business documents and writing software according to them. I am a programmer. Don't be a programmer. It pays well but it also crushes your soul.

[DJorgensen]

I am in university learning to be a programmer....

My job (IE how I get money... well that is if I actually made some money)
I work as a cashier at Superstore. I've been there for two years and am always on the brink fo killing some customer.

My Schooling
I will be entering my second year of comp sci in the fall.
Hopefully I shall learn something this time, as they forgot to teach us last year.
As well, I am trying to get into as many art options as they will let me, but I have a slight feeling I'll be screwed over and left scrambling to fill the options in the fall.

Real art experience
Well, I could try to talk about stuff, but I really don't feel that I have much experience in terms of art. I think my entire family believes that it is either just a phase, or something I am not committed to.
This summer, though, I have have plans for trying to whore myself across as much of the internet as I can though. I am hoping to find some sort of niche eventually.

My hopeful outlook for the future
Maybe become some sort of 3-d programmer or something that fuses both art and programming. Or just forget the programming part and become an artist. Really I would give anything to make it as an artist, and just have the comp-sci thing as the back-up plan.
_________________

[spyroteknik]

i'm in the same(ish) position as you, the only business i've been getting is commissioned portraits from friends that don't pay well, i'm in a position where it doesn't matter much about me making a wage (looking after my kid fulltime) but i do want to make a break into making some money from painting, decided that a year ago (when i started painting), haven't pushed anything but i feel i'm at a stage where i'm good enough to make 'something' if not a living, (i know, i'm shit and have a lot to learn but i see worse making a lot of cash), just keep trying to get better, there's not much scope for artists where i live, apart from selling prints/commissions, only one small games company close to where i live, and they aren't hiring so i'm just relying on getting noticed as much as i can, so i'll be keeping an eye on this thread too

[B0b]

I'm a Freelance Graphic Designer / Artist.. when work isn't coming in i'm a Postman

[eyewoo]

With the exception of my first occupation, until recently I always freelanced in related businesses and never tried to make a living off my art. The related businesses both supported me and my family and supported the tools that I used in my art.

That first occupation was as a commissioned portrait painter using oils. It lasted for several years until I got fed up with dealiing in people's vanities. That's when I resolved not to make a living off my art.
_________________
HonePie.com
tumblr blog
digtal art

[Meaty Ogre]

This is very interesting. More please!

[Spunkmeyer]

Ok, I'll jump in. My first 'real' job after school was designing calendars for a big printing company. I learned alot but hated it-being the little cog in the big machine. Then I worked for a screen printing/embroidery company designing mostly garment graphics. Much of that was pretty fun, but I finally went as far as I could there. Now my wife and I have our own advertising/marketing/graphic design business that's really starting to take off(We're going to build a new office/studio woohoo!)
Most of the stuff we do is for quite conservative clients, So I need to 'cut loose' with my own art.

[Ztiev]

I started out at a tiny 3D graphics company, doing flying logos and pre-rendered game animation. That was a lot of work, but fun, and I learned a ton. We were all tired of being poor, so we shut down, and got "real jobs." Currently, I work for Sony, making games.

I do freelance on the side, and I've found that if you can get a few good clients, you can have consistent work. Collectable card games are what I do the most of, because they consistently need tons of artwork for each new set.

I've often considered going freelance full-time. I enjoy it more than I do being, as Spunkmeyer so eloquently put it, a little cog in the big machine. (Don't get me wrong, making games beats most jobs.) I just don't have the brass to commit to it. It's hard to give up good, steady pay.

I don't think freelance is an unrealistic way to make a living. Getting established in the first place might be hard, though. Most art directors, it seems, would rather go with the reliable artist they've been working with for years, than risk all the hassles that can come with a new artist.

I got in by submitting personalized submissions. For example, Alderac makes L5R, a CCG based on feudal japan. So I took a look at what they did, made up some sketches that were of their characters, and sent those along with my standard portfolio. Don't worry if you don't get anything the first time (or many times.) Once you get some professional work, it seems that other places are easier to get into.

I'd also like to know more about who's making a living freelancing. I'd like to know how many peices people do, over what timespan, and for what pay. I guess I'll start. I do an average of 3-4 peices a month, they take about 10-15 hours a peice, and they pay on average $200 each. (Plus some extra from selling prints and such.)

[ten]

edit

[ten]

edit

[digitaldecoy]

I started as a graphics artist in a german game company. After two years I started a small business with two colleages doing advertising games but that was canceled due to personal conflicts two years later. Than I started to work freelance for game companys in germany which I do for half a year now.

Three years ago I also founded a german digital art community and this led to this year�s Digitaldecoy Convention 2004 which is sponsored by WACOM. This also gave me the opportunity to now do fair events and workshops for WACOM and Alias which is a big step forward for me.

My goal now is to establish a german digital art scene and with partners like WACOM and Alias this does not seem as far away as I would have thought 6 month ago. My ultimate goal is to be able to produce an art book like Balistic�s Expos� with german artist. That�s an ambitious goal but I�m not gonna stop trying!
_________________
�Que la fuerza te acompa�e!

[Jimmyjimjim]

[ten]

ten

[Francis]

I have a very similar background as ten. My education is in architecture (graduate school, after having gotten a BS in physical chemistry) and I worked in a few different architecture firms, doing some freelance architectural renderings in my spare time.

Got pretty tired of that, and did a lot of research and pestering, and eventually changed careers and got into the game industry.

At the moment I am a concept artist at Sammy Studios, and do freelance illustration for Wizards of the Coast, various comics projects, smaller RPG houses, the occasional architectural rendering, etc.

I like seeing threads like this - it's always cool to get some idea of what people are like aside from their art!
_________________
Francis Tsai
TeamGT Studios

[riq]

This is a great topic-And I'm always curious about how many artists here survive off of artwork.

Myself.. I do support myself from freelance work. Right now that would mostly be grphic design; But I do graphic design because I really love it, not because I don't trust illustration. I love both, and I don't want to be pigeon holed into either field. And I get to throw some of my illustrations into my designs once in a while. I also still do tackle a bit of illustrations/advertising work, and am now marketing vigorously to get more or that.

On a side not, I work in a studio with 3 other artist who do comics for the big two, and they all do very well doing just freelance work.

As far as this topic goes there's a great sticky at EatPoo that address a lot of issue of marketing your work-The advice and info in this thread was really eye opening for me.. http://www.eatpoo.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=21537[/url]

riq

[Lunatique]

I started my career right after high school, working as a comic book artist. I stayed in comic books for 8 years, and in those 8 years I worked as freelance comic book artist, and also creator/writer on my own title. I never played in the big leagues--superheroes just didn't interest me. I was independent all 8 years, but money was total crap, so I got out.

During the 8 years in comics, I also made a little detour and worked as a composer/arranger/songwriter for a bit. I love music more than I love art, but I was doing it in Taiwan, and the market there is extremely mainstream. Once again, I don't like mainstream stuff, so I stopped making music for that market. The money wasn't very good either, unless you are writing hit songs for big name celebrities.

After comics I went into games. I worked in games for 3 years, doing textures, concept art, and art directing. Money was much much better in games--for the first time in my life, I was able to not only pay rent, but also have money left to buy stuff. But I never got to work on a game that I would personally play as a gamer, and that depressed me. It was also not very fulfilling creatively when you're not the one calling the shots or designing the game. I'm a creator and storyteller, and unless I get to exercise those muscles, I won't be happy. During the game years, I spent my freetime writing novels and screenplays. I needed that in my life so I don't go insane. I also love writing more than I love art.

I took a sabbatical to think about what I plan to do next, and ended up getting married (best decision I ever made. I love being married). I worked on my own short film during the sabbatical (2 years), and then 6 months ago I took a job as a director at a CG animation studio. I've been creating/writing/directing for a living for the past 6 months. But there's no funding available for my short film, and I really would rather work on my own film instead TV commercials and other things unrelated to my interests. So, I'm ready to go back to my sabbatical to work on my film fulltime again. (I'm lucky that my wife makes more money than I do, so even without my paycheck we can still live comfortably, debt free, and happy.) Hopefully my short film will find funding soon.

In about a year or so, my wife will be getting her U.S. immigration visa, and we'll return to the States when that happens. Right now I don't know what I'll do once we're back in the States. I might go back to art directing video games, if I don't have other alternatives. However, I've been feeling like I want to make a career change to photography and shoot fashion/editorial. I'll be buying a professional camera system end of this year and try to build up a strong portfolio, then see if I can take my photography to the next level. But, I'll keep working on my short film, because it is a labor of love. During my upcoming sabbatical, I'll also try to write more of my novels and screenplays. Maybe I'll finish one and start shopping around for a publisher.

The ultimate goal is still directing feature films. Maybe I'll get there by having sold a few screenplays. Maybe I'll try raising funding for an indy film myself. Don't really know yet. All I know is that I don't really want to do art for a living anymore unless I have to. I love music, writing, film, and photography more than I love art (and I do love art, just that it's more of a struggle for me and I'm emotionally not as attached to is as other creative endeavors), and I've been feeling that way for quite a while now. I just hope I can end up doing what I really want down the line.

[starglider2]

i repaired computers for over a year (when school was finished)
then they fired me, and i didnt save a single $, and now i have no $ at all and im looking for work. I want to earn living with illustration...life is a jungle
_________________
If there is no God, who pops up the next kleenex in the box?

[Gort]

right out of high school in 1983 went to SCAD for two years, dropped out, tuned in...

floated around...did a little creative work but it didn't feed me.

Got married in '91 and went back to school while picking up freelance work-graphic design and some illustration (hey - that lady really straightened me out). Towards the end of school I was working some freelance doing storyboards and set illustration for a commercial studio (did stuff for TNT, Sony, Wildlife Management), but it still wasn't enough to feed me (er - us). Finished school (end of 95) and retooled my book for digital stuff and started with a small boutique doing editorial illustration for web sites and some UI design (Jan 97). That place crashed and it was on to the corporate life of Bellsouth (Sept 97), where I did lots of the same. Quit Bellsouth and went to work for a friend (Sept 99) doing mainly UI design for web based applications, general site design, branding, lots of graphic design (bizcards, folders, brochures, tradeshow displays, etc) and been here ever since.

Thinking about going freelance again but full swing. No holds barred.
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[Summer Pudding]

I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil. I left home at 16, after flunking high school. Did a couple of murals, and sold paintings to get me through a Foundation course in art and design. This is a one year course to prepare you for the rigours of a degree. I failed to secure a place at uni, but after a few truly dreadful, but mercifully brief McJobs, I got my first job in the games industry, doing textures and meshes for a startup company.

I've been in games ever since, making models, textures and creature/environment designs. I'd like to try my hand at matte painting, but haven't the faintest idea where to begin.

Pud'

[uglypixel]

Pathetic. Tryin' to figure out what to do for years now. Couple points behind making it to University of Art and Design. Meanwhile very little freelancing, whole lotta pro bono design/illustration commissions and some crappy web-sites for people who don't know good and don't want to pay much.

Now for four years in engineering firm doing what i supposed to do for next 40 years: heating, ventilation, air conditioning design (..and trying to graduate). Only positive thing is that i don't have to worry unemployment in our manpower short profession. Yes, it is so uninteresting that class of 40 only 14 stayed in school and 8 graduated in time. Well better this than being just a nut or bolt in overcrowded IT business and getting my ass fired over and over again.

Still wondering what to do. Maybe a little US-tour road trip this fall clears my mind... and then to South-America and haven't been in Asia too. Yup. Lot's to see and to do. Gotta make money for that whatever I have to do or wherever it comes from. I have a dream.
_________________
.slave for hire.

[Malachi Maloney]

First, you've gotta be hungry for it.

I left my job as a chef in late 1999 to pursue my dream of becoming a freelance illustrator. I'll be totally honest with you; the first 2-2� years were really tuff. Basically I spent that time building my portfolio and learning as much as I possible could about illustration. I owe a LOT of my improvement over those years to art forums, like sijun. Also during that time, I spent what little money I had on getting prints, mailers, t-shirts and other self-promotional crap made up, in an effort to "pimp" my work to any one who would sit still long enough to look it over.

Eventually, I got a gallery showing. Then came some private commissions rolling in, not often mind you, like two or three over the course of a year. The money wasn't good and people didn't want to take a chance on me because I was an unknown. I got few brakes through various friends/connections and I made damn sure that I not only gave them the best illustration I could, but I also made sure to be on-time, courteous and professional. Because of this, clients started returning for more work and they were spreading my name around amongst their associates. They were saying good things, thus work picked up and my bills started getting paid on time again.

Now, just four years later, I'm enjoying full time work. With my schedule booked over a year in advance.

I ain't gonna lie to ya man, it was really hard those first couple years (at least for me) and if I didn't have my chick working to help me pay the bills during that time, I don't know if I would have gotten through it. The very best advice I can offer you, from my limited experience, would be this; When you do start getting work, make damn sure you don't act like a flake. Get the work to them on time, I can't stress this enough. Your talent will get you in the door, but your professionalism will keep your clients coming back for more.

Hope this helped in some way.

Take it easy,
~M~
_________________
l i q u i d w e r x

[cheney]

I am currently in Kuwait, so my art ambitions are slowly turning to shit. I have been using Photoshop for six years. I have learned alot and surpassed many on a technical level. My art has improved slowly, but it is still crap.

When I get back from this place I wish to learn 3D modeling, so that my textures and art abilities will actually fill a purpose, besides being boring crap that only appeals to my wife and me.

The irony is horribly sick. I have been pursuing art since I first touched Photoshop in late '98 yet I what I make is crap. I have been in the military only a year longer and I have been promoted 5 times. I don't really love being a career soldier or a leader with great passion the way I have learned digital art, but clearly I have a greater talent for one of these and not the other.

I have not yet decieded if I should just accept my fate and become an officer to indulge the history and philosophy I have read so much during my many years in college, or if I will continue to become a digital artist in pursuit of becoming a game artist or designer.
_________________
http://prettydiff.com/

[Dekard]

Well, here's my story I'll add to the mix, always wanted to draw well. Can draw pretty iffy no style of my own really unfortunate. Wanted to go to art school. Joined the Air Force for education money. Learned to be a Network Administrator in the Air Force spent 4 years in. Got job as network admin on the outside for more cash.

Went to The International Academy of Design and Technology and found it to be the biggest vacuum of cash ever put on the planet. I felt I was doing too well in the classes and wasn't learning much of anything not much of a challenge, they were passing people as long as there loans were approved more then anything. It was sad I wasted 20k at least for 1.5 years of school there. I decided to give up my degree hopes at an Art School because I can't go to school full time unless they have evening classes so my hope of getting a Animation degree set unfullfilled and still does to this day. I decided now to go back to school and get my IT Degree which is $54 dollars a credit hour and not $100+ per night of school. I know my IT Degree will take me somewhere as I was totally rolling the dice with my Art Degree. They do not call them starving artists for no reason.

So I'm still at my relatively good paying job attending school for my IT Degree and trying to get back into Art as my hobby. I will always love drawing and things, I just can't do them very well.

[balistic]

I graduated highschool in 1997, and went to a Nevada community college for a couple years with the intent of transferring to Art Center. I took a lot of figure drawing and painting classes, and worked on my digital art at home. I started getting some interest from small studios in late '98, and early 1999, and decided I'd rather make 22k a year at a small studio, than spend 30k a year at Art Center.

From June of 1999 to September of 2003 I worked at Eggington Productions in Utah. At EggProd I mostly did lighting and textures. We worked on three or four console games, a number of commercials, and a ten-episode animated TV series for PBS. Unfortunately, after the series wrapped, our follow-up projects started disappearing, and the owner was forced to let everybody go (all five people ).

After that, I did a little bit of freelance, mostly paintings for a role playing game, but I wasn't able to rake together enough work to last for very long. Luckily, I stumbled across an ad for a place in Atlanta doing a movie that needed lighters, and they liked my stuff, and hired me.

So that's where I'm at right now. I'm having a lot of fun, but after that five-month dry spell, my enthusiasm is tempered a bit . . . art is a tough business to be in. I'm glad to be working, and I'm glad when I hear about any artist getting paid, even if I don't necessarily like their work.
_________________
brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Probustion]

long time no see

you guys are scaring me a bit. not that i didn't know though, i haven't had any job in art whatsoever. but hey i'm pretty new to art anyway(4 years experience in total).

--edit--
now that is think of it, i did have some small design jobs at internship at two different company's, one of which was Shell oil. just some 3d models and small 3d animations, flash banners, dtp work, photomanip etc.
off course i got paid shit, like usually on internship.

to answer the question, i'm still at school(IT-media). i'm not gonna do anything with it though, for obvious reasons. in september i'll be finished and going to art school, so who knows.

what i'm wondering is, how much does the country you live in matter when it comes to finding a job in art. for instance, here in holland the size of the games/SFX industry is almost nihil.
I figure you can freelance oversees, but how does this work really? has anyone ever done that? and what are the important things to think about?
_________________
talent is overrated.

[Yarik]

I am a math/computer/english tutor at the college over here. Pays 7 bucks an hour, just bairly over the minimum wage... OH Yea (duffman voice).

[Highfive]

EDIT: Sorry, what I wrote wasn't about freelance illustration.
_________________
www.high5art.com

[Torstein Nordstrand]

Butting in late, keeping it short:

Decided some three years ago, at the late age of 23, that I would quit wasting my time on psychology studies at the Uni and do Art instead. Had a little talent, pencil doodling, but no greatness. Went to prelim school for a year, and was sorely disappointed by the educational level. Decided to learn everything by myself instead (the world's worst teacher, they say), becoming a fantasy illustrator, for a time supported by student loans and my wife. Two dedicated years of skill-building later, I got my first freelance RPG gig.

I've now worked as a freelancer for 1 and a half year, and have moved into doing card art for several companies. My goals are, through freelance gigs, to build a portfolio so strong that it will get me into WotC's Magic card series, and then into book covers for the bigger US companies.

Doing RPG art freelance pays extremely little, so it's no reliable income yet. Since I moved into colour gigs half a year ago, things have picked up a bit, and that's where my future is, obviously.

And the more colour work I do, the better the portfolio gets, the better companies I can work for, the higher the standard of my work is expected, and the ball keeps rolling...

Hope that was a little positive.
_________________
www.torsteinnordstrand.com