Freelance Illustration

Freelance employment is a very popular route to take for many illustrators and is certainly an area I am very interested in working in due to the potential it provides. Freelance illustration mainly falls into two different types: one working for clients and of commission type work, the other an entirely self-driven small business which creates and sells illustrations. I will be looking at both though it is important to note that very rarely do illustrators stick specifically to one type and tend to do both at the same time with often more emphasis on one or the other.

Self-Directed Freelance

To start with I will be looking into a small business type illustration job, these are usually run through the internet on places like social media and sale websites like Etsy or Amazon, though it is important to note that many of these small business run their own website to sell off instead. These small businesses also often partake in real life stalls and specialised markets to also sell their work as well as supplying actual shops. For the internet part of the business though which is often the primary source of income and where more of the audiences are at a lot of areas need to be covered, as the artists often inhabit various different social medias to get the largest reach for their brand, the most popular being Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit; though all are used in general different ways. Instagram is often the most popular choice for many, as it is easily accessible and has a huge user base as well as having a platform which makes it easy to grow followers; though there are certain guidelines which need to be followed in order to help gain an audience for the page to grow. The main one is having a consistent and strong brand; this is something which should run across everything to do with the business and across all social media but in sites like Instagram it use imperative as communicating to the audience quickly and efficiently what you and your art is about it very important as it; it also matters for the page to post regularly, at least once every day or so, and keep up to date with the users as if you don’t post your page could be lost and forgotten by the audience, it also helps the algorithm to post regularly and help get you posts recommended. Hashtags are also a huge part of the website and are something important to get down and understand near the beginning to make the best of the website; you can also use sponsored posts but this is something used generally down the line a bit once a small following has been gain to not have a negative effect on the page in the community (Displate.com, 2019). Twitter has very much the same set up, with regular postings, good use of hashtags, and keeping up to date on the site all being important aspects of the social media; though with twitter it is significant to note the importance of communication and talking to other uses as this really helps grow pages. For Facebook it is a very different story, in order to get a Facebook page any real attention it is important to use promoted posts as it is simply not as good at growing pages are in Instagram as it almost completely reply’s on sharing so for Facebook it is important to note that communication is extremely important. The last major social media is Reddit; Reddit works a bit different to the other accounts here as you would not actually build a following on Reddit as that is technically impossible, instead what Reddit would be used for is to show of work and gain followers in other accounts as you can easily post an illustration in any art, fine art, illustration page where it could get a huge amount of attention which would lead to more followers on other sites. Though while posting on relevant pages is important it is also great to create pieces of artwork related to other subjects, such as popular films and TV as posting related artwork on these boards could potentially blow up and result in a huge influx of followers on other accounts. Other ways that these types of freelance illustrators get there work out their though is through stalls and shops, with the shops its often about making a connection with them first from a variety of ways such as simply approaching them, or getting recommend to them by a friend or vise versa and lead to a relationship of stead supply to said shops. While with stalls they are much more temporary and held only for a day or few; these can be at anything from Christmas to craft markets though by far the most profitable are purpose art and design markets such as Design Con in San Diego which is a huge convention entirely centred around art selling stores with thousands of attendants every year, adding another great source of income (Winter, 2019). Overall though for this type of freelance illustrator the most important thing they can do is diversify and use these multiple areas to gain this income.

 To help look closer at this style of illustration I am going to look at Built from Sketch which is an Instagram page run by Xavier Ortiz who is a freelance illustrator from California, America. He specialising in watercolour and ink paintings and while he does occasionally do book and album covers his main income is from his self-driven art work he shows throughout Instagram and sells on his own Etsy page. He uses all the previous mentioned methods to help his Instagram succeed, such as regular day to day posting, strong branding, good hashtags, and good consistent work; he also has a Facebook page to help spread his work. To support his sales he also regularly visits conventions and markets to sell his work from a stall which he also promotes though his Instagram in order to spread the message that he will be there. He uses this form of freelancing to run a successful business and has successfully diversifies his income to create a stable job for himself out of it which is certainly a potential path I too could also take.

There are many great things about this style of freelance; one of the main ones which attracts so many people is the ability to run your own projects and to have full and free control over the sort of work you produce which allows you to express your ideas in whatever way you like. It is also incredibly flexible with no time restrains on work or other people saying having a say in the work, which allows for you to build your time around it however you like. It also bypasses the need for good connections and good networking as it can be entirely done without it which could be a bonus for a lot of people who are not well versed on that area of the job. There is however a lot of downsides, mainly that you have to keep posting regularly, at all times, even over Christmas and holidays, as taking a break or missing a week out can result I a damage to the algorithms, it can be easily fixed by planning posts in advance so you don’t have to do anything but it is a lot of work to keep posting and keep having new things to post on a day to day bases which could be exhausting after time, especially if you get in an art block it could be detrimental to the business. It is also not as stable as other business types and a drop in followers and likes could translate in to a drop in sales and an eventual downfall of the business, which might have to come eventually especially as time and styles change and if your artwork does get left in the past this could cause real issues. Overall it is still an option but certainly one to be considered as it has a lot of downfalls such as the instability and pressure to keep posting which could be a huge issues down the line, they are certinaly important to me but I am still interested in this type of business even if it is only for a short time as it could lead to other more stable things.

Client Based Freelance

The next type of freelance illustration is through working for cliental and working on commission based work. This work is very different from the previous as you are not designing or driving the projects, the client is, they dictate what they want and it should look and it is then your job to create that illustration for them in time for the deadline. There are many ways to get this cliental for the illustrator, the main one is through networking and connections, as the illustrator grows there connections and improves there networking skills they can get more and more potential customer as they become known to more people, especially if connections are recommending and talking to other people about you which can spread you reach even future. The connections can be made in several ways, one of the main ones is though events which can be anything from large conventions all the way to small breakfast like dos with only a few people, either way these events can be a huge push to an illustrator and many jobs can follow from it. another way is though placements and experience work where you are placed in a job for only a few days or more, this can lead to meeting people and getting yourself recognised in a business which could lead to potential further employment or if they work of freelance bases as most business do it could lead to jobs down the road. Another great place to network is through the internet, as it offers up a lot of potential opportunity and people to meet though various places, including social media as well as purpose built networking sites, though it is important to note that while it may be easier connections made through the internet are much weaker than face to face connections. You also have agencies, the main sort of agencies are based in real life and often need an interviewing proses in order to get into, they can also charge you or take a commission from work you do through them as they try and hook you up with clients. There are other types too such as internet are sites like ‘Illustration’ which is an online websites with different agencies which help connect illustrators to clients. There are also many sites like ‘Freelancer’ which are like social medias purely for illustrators where you can post your work and it could be found by a client who uses the website to scout illustrators; there are also sites like linkedin which do a similar job (Boss, 2019).

 Overall there are plenty of different ways to make connections, especially in the internet age we live in, to help get a closer look though I am going to look at Hackett Illustration, who was a local illustrator before moving to Bristol, he works mostly as an editorial illustrator, though he also does advertisements, book covers, and many other areas of illustration as his main sores of income, though it is important to note that he also has a popular instagram page and sells prints and books through there, though his main source of income is from commissions. To help get these commissions he is with the London based agency Eyecandy Illustration Agency which is where the majority of his clients come from, though he also has an online website with a large portfolio and other client based work. He uses this type of freelance to create the majority of his income though the different methods he uses to get clients, this is something I could learn from and potentially apply in the future.

Like with small business type freelance this has a lot of great points to it, the main one being the stability in the work especially if you are working for an agency where you could be regularly getting commissions to work to. It also has the advantage of their potentially being more pay as clients who want something huge for say an advertisement campaign, are going to pay a lot more which could potentially sustain the illustrator for months. This does also mean that there are more breaks and a greater amount of time of then the previous sort which could be a huge bonus. There are however huge downsides and that being while in an agency stability might be good but if you were not clients could dry up, especially if constant connections are not being made, which makes networking a constant need that needs to be met. There is also the problem of all the work your will be creating would be for the client and so they would decide everything you make leaving little room to direct you own work or take initiative with it since it needs to please the client which can be a huge bummer to some illustrators. Overall though it can be argued that the pay and more consistence in the work can overshadow the problem and make it a much more viable option.  

In conclusion the key to all of this is diversifying as almost every illustrator works in both types of illustration but it does come down to what is preferred and for the illustrator to focus and grow each one. For me I do prefer the small business type freelance more as I like the freedom in the work, but having a cliental and potentially working through an agency is also very appealing and could definitely be a possible option for the near future.

Boss, S. (2019). The Best Places To Network. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/2007/05/04/networking-meeting-people-forbeslife-cx_sb_07networks_0504places.html#543e378c77d8 [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].


Displate.com. (2019). How To Sell Art On Instagram In 2019: The Basics. [online] Available at: https://displate.com/blog/how-to-sell-on-instagram-2019 [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].


Winter, D. (2019). How to Sell Art Online: The Ultimate Guide. [online] Shopify.co.uk. Available at: https://www.shopify.co.uk/blog/211990409-how-to-sell-art-online [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].