The lonely life of an illustrator
And finding your community
This month’s question, set by the illoguild, is ‘is it lonely being an illustrator?’. I was really keen to answer this question, because I think this is one of the most important things to consider, when embarking on a career as an illustrator, or any kind of freelancer that works from home on your own. Being ‘alone’, and being ‘lonely’ are very different things. And of course it’s helpful to be able to hide away and get some good work done. But what happens when the loneliness takes over? When I think back to my days working in full time positions, in studios and offices for various companies and start-ups, one of the things I miss the most is having work colleagues. Sitting next to someone and laughing at a meme, chatting about our weekends, asking which shade of green works best on your artwork, memorising everyone’s coffee order. It’s funny the things you remember and realise you miss. These things might sound frivolous and a distraction from work, but I would argue that they are neither. Well, they probably are a distraction from work, in the same way running is a distraction from sitting. You NEED it. Your body and mind needs a break, it needs to feel good. Yes, I’m going to say it, it’s SELF CARE.
So how do you find this, when you’re sat at the kitchen table, or at a desk in a bedroom, on your own working all hours of the day, maybe not talking to another human for hours, maybe days?! I am a proud introvert and very happy in my own company, but I still need to feel like I am connected to the outside world at times. So let’s talk about how we do that. This has been my experience. I would love to hear if yours has been different, or if you have anything to add to this. Let me know in the comments.
Become a student
I remember umming and ahhing for ages about splashing out on an online course to learn illustration. I had done a few youtube tutorials, but I was drawn to the more expensive ‘live’ courses. What does it mean, ‘live’ course? It means that you and all the students, and the tutors, are there, doing it together. You join a community, maybe a Facebook group. You soon realise the course is full of people feeling exactly the same way, desperate to make connections. You can share your progress, offer feedback, ask questions. Essentially, you have colleagues! And they could be local, or global, depending on the course. I recommend Make Art That Sells and The Good Ship Illustration. For me, this was the first step to finding a community. Finding like-minded people, and keeping in touch with them, gave me the confidence in myself and my work to push further, and put myself out there more. Here are some ways I did this:
Social Media
I joined in with art challenges on social media. As I have mentioned before, The 100 Day Project jump started my career. I joined in with, and set my own art challenges. I reached out to illustrators and authors I admire. So many of these things, I really don’t think I would have had the confidence to do, had I not found a little group of friends to connect with. Who I knew would like, comment and share my posts. People from all over the world, sharing your journey and all supporting each other. There is a saying that goes something like ‘no one supports you quite like a social media friend you’ve never met’. It sounds cheesy when come across it on Pinterest, but it’s cheesy because it’s true. In real life we may not have friends that ‘get it’, but on social media, the gateway to billions of people out there, turns out there are LOADS of people that get it. Because they’re doing it too.
Join a chat/critique group
So you met some like-minded people in a course, you found each other on social media and have become each other’s cheer squad. Now what? Take it to the next level. Get out of social media and find a little corner that is just for you. I have joined wonderful communities on WhatsApp, Discord (including Illoguid), Slack, and I’m sure there are lots of other instant message programs you can use to create your safe space. These spaces can be used to share and critique work, solve problems, gossip, moan, or just to say hi in the morning before you get your head down. If you are going to an event and you don’t know anyone, why not do a shout out on Twitter or instagram? Illoguild did this in the run up to Bologna Book Fair and we still have an active WhatsApp group, perfect for sharing our news post-fair. Scheduling video chats with these groups can be a great way to discuss and critique work as a group, or just to have a nice chat!
Collab and get work
What better way to feel connected with people than to work with them! Before you start getting work as an illustrator, and have the joy of working as part of the creative team bringing the project to life, you might want to start your own project. Myself and 3 friends started Friday Doodle Club. We post a prompt every Friday and invite illustrators to draw something inspired by the prompt. As its weekly, it means we are talking to each other at least every week (often everyday). We live in different continents, but I consider them to be some of my best friends.
Don’t forget there’s a world out there
After spending a few years cultivating my online community and friends, (making the most of a career built in lockdown) I set myself the goal of getting out into the real world more this year. It hasn’t been as easy as I had hoped, as I have had some deadlines that have kept me sat at my desk working more than I had expected to be. But I have managed to network and meet friends and colleagues at some events, including Bologna Book Fair and the London Book Fair. One of my chat groups is full of illustrators reasonably local to me, and we plan trips into London to exhibitions, talks and other events. We will be at the Lauren Child talk at Camberwell College of Art later this month, holla if you’ll be there! Travel isn’t always easy though, and I know not everyone lives next to a cultural hub, meaning it can get very expensive. But it’s worth doing a bit of research to see if there is anyone nearby that is the same as you, wondering if they’re the only person sat lonely at their desk right now. Maybe they’re working in a cafe, or co-working space? Sometimes we need to escape from our desks in order to find that connection we’re craving and meeting more local creatives. I even take my iPad along to coffee dates with friends when I am working on stuff that I can do while attempting to hold a conversation.
I hope this has been interesting, I’d love to hear how you have found your community, or if you are on the look out for your very own cheer squad. Here are some more responses to this question, from other Illoguild members:
