Did you know the art you create has value? Yeah I know, it’s weird isn’t it. That thing that popped out of your brain onto that page, people will buy it. With hard earned MONEY. I remember the first time I realised I could actually genuinely trade my art for money. I had just finished 4 years of a biology degree and had made the massive realisation that I couldn’t bear to spend one more day working in a lab and needed to follow my childhood passion of working in the creative industries. I found an affordable college course in Central Manchester, and we were invited to create some art and try to sell it in Manchester Craft and Design Centre. I drew a little line drawing of an octopus and put it in a frame. And someone bought it for £10. £10! That was a lot in those days… I couldn’t believe it. Suddenly creating a career and a life as a creative felt like it might be possible.
Illoguild are a global collective all pursuing careers as illustrators. Every month we decide a topic and collectively answer it. This month the topic is MONEY. It is always really interesting hearing the different perspectives, so I would encourage you to have a browse through the Illoguild page.
So after this enlightening experience selling a doodle of an octopus, I continued to study and had a few jobs creating logos and posters for people starting businesses. I got a portfolio together, and I managed to get onto the third year of the Design and Art direction course at Manchester School of Art. By now it was 2008 (credit crunch!) and we were very strongly advised to stay in education as long as we could as it was not a great time to be out in the scary world of work trying to start a career. I am very lucky I was able to do this and am so grateful for that extra year developing my creative skills.
For my final piece I created a big concentric circle wood thing, I’m sure it had some meaning at the time, but all I remember is that the Chancellor of the University wanted to purchase it, so I suddenly had to figure out a price for this big wooden structure I had made. I imagine they would have accepted any price I came up with, and for some reason I decided it was worth £400. It’s funny the thought process that goes through your head when you try to put a price tag on your art, isn’t it? How long did it take? How much did the materials cost? But don’t forget all those years of working and studying and paying for courses that went into getting there. And the fact that you were even able to think to make it in the first place?? Priceless right?! Valuing your own work is vital for any artist, but it is so much easier said than done, I still struggle with this daily.
My first job after graduating was in a surface design studio. The studio had been sent an invitation I designed for our final year show and they thought the rainbow lines concept would work really well as a repeat pattern. So I was freelancing but I was part of a studio and I wasn’t responsible for selling my own work, or deciding how much it was worth. Relieving myself of the responsibility of selling and negotiating a price felt a little easier to me. Turns out they have already figured out the price of a lot of stuff.
I then spent the next decade or so working as a Senior Digital Designer and Creative Director for various companies, start ups and agencies. I moved from Manchester to London, then to Sydney Australia and then back to the UK to Brighton. I had a mixture of freelance and permanent positions but they were mostly always for large companies. This felt like a pretty good idea at the time and it was wonderful to be able to explore other parts of the world whilst getting paid a decent wage. I was able to put my creative skills to good use, even if it may not have been my dream job.
The hard part of working like this though, and I’m sure this will resonate with a lot of people reading this, is that it doesn’t really leave time for much else, especially once you have kids. The desire to spend your days doing something you really truly love, whilst also maintaining a happy work/life balance, that’s the dream, right? Is it possible? Well I still have no idea but I decided to try. In January 2020 I started thinking about becoming a full time illustrator. You can read about this part of my journey here. I know from the experience of telling people who do not work in the creative industries; going from ‘Creative Designer’ to ‘Children’s Book Illustrator’ can seem like a small jump. But in reality, it is very much like starting from the very beginning again. It can feel daunting to start a brand new career when you’re the wrong side of 30 (or 40, or 50, wherever you are when you made this leap) and it takes a lot of sacrifice to retrain, invest in yourself and take time making bad art and not earning.
But despite suddenly finding myself at the bottom of the pile in a brand new career with a lot to learn, I was able to see how my previous career would benefit me. I believe that whatever you were in a past career, you will have gained wisdom and experience that will help with the next step. I already knew I had a good work ethic and could motivate myself to get a lot of work done off my own back, as I had worked as a freelancer before. I knew I had a design-eye and would be able to put together portfolio pieces with a decent composition, working text and image together. But most of all, I knew I my art had value. Does that mean I always get paid a decent amount for my illustrations? No, not always, but sometimes you need to weigh up whether a project is worth it for other reasons, besides the money. And sometimes people just don’t value your work, but you got bills to pay. I am very fortunate to now be represented by an agent, who supports me and fights for me to get what I am worth, but this still doesn’t mean I am always able to get the price I want. I am, however, grateful to be able to outsource the money and negotiations part once again though; I know my strengths. I now work full time drawing silly doodles of octopuses, among other things. I pay for my daughter’s gymnastic lessons, for the electricity in our house and for all the books I seem to need to have in my life, all with money made from drawing. No its not easy and I burn out regularly, but it is possible…
It’s sad that as a society we struggle to place value on art and creativity and we are still often expected to do it for the love of it, as if money is a nice bonus. It should be normal for people to find both happiness and financial security from their job. Finding the confidence to know your art is good, and you that should be paid appropriately, is such a valuable skill. This is especially true for women, who have to constantly prove their worth in the workforce regardless of the job, but especially when turning a ‘side hustle’ into a successful career. This is why it makes me extremely happy to see people creating a life for themselves as an artist or creative as I know it has most likely been a struggle to get there. Everyone’s journey to finding happiness is so varied, and it is all an ongoing process. I am still trying to work out how to get the balance right. I would really love to hear how you got to where you are, and where you are on your journey, if you’d like to comment.
Illoguild talk money! To hear responses to this topic from other Illoguilders, take a look at these links below:
Katie Stack:
Jen Gubicza:
Noreen Anne:
Adam Ming:
Carla Hoffenberg:
And Stuart White of Write Mentor has some interesting figures about the money behind the parts of publishing we don’t often see:
Thanks for sharing your journey! And I'm saddened that Manchester hasn't kept you to itself 😅 I've been learning to illustate for a few years now, maybe two 🤔. Before that I tried weaving, and macrame 😅 This was when COVID hit. Before THAT I was a face and body painter for nearly four years and would teach now and then. Before before before all that I studied fine art painting at Man met like you, well sort of. Graduated in 2011 and painted in studios for a few years. I'm hoping to finally get somewhere soon at the grand old age of 47 😅🤷♀️