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Introduction
The Basics
How Books are Made
Getting a Book Published
Being an Illustrator
Getting Work Experience
Training in Illustration
Illustration Studios
Starting to Freelance
Approaching Publishers
Getting Paid
Illustration Agents
Illustration Assignments
Materials & Media
Other Sources of Advice
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Please Email Amanda if you have other illustration questions.
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Q
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How did you make the transition from student to professional?
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A
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It was quite a shock for me, going from being at college with a room full of other students to working alone all the time, although it was less distracting and I probably got more done. It took a long time to learn how to be disciplined enough to keep my head down and also to build strategies to compensate for working alone and avoid feeling isolated.
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How did you get into the industry?
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After I left Cambridge Art School I moved to London to look for work. I had already illustrated a pack of Happy Family cards for Dinosaur to be sold in National Trust shops. It was great to have that in my folio to show that I could see a job through, as well as my student projects which included a series of drawings for Old Mother Hubbard. I rang round lots of publishers and made appointments, which you could still do fairly easily then.
I had done a bit of work experience while still at college, at the 'Part Works' company Orbis in Covent Garden, and then went on to work for an ex-tutor in a graphic design studio near Tottenham Court Road. I also worked for a typographer/designer I was put in contact with and who designed books for ELTA OUP (part of Oxford University Press) from his studio in Clapham. I worked there on and off for a few years and would get odd bits of illustration for the OUP books to take home and do on a freelance basis - that gave me a start. My 'Old Mother Hubbard' pictures were spotted by a man in an antiquarian bookshop in Covent Garden who made me an appointment to see someone at Aurum Press. They commissioned me to illustrate the rest of the book, so I was of launched like that. Looking back it was all a bit haphazard.
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Q
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Was it hard to find work?
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Yes, there was lots of plodding around London seeing people with my folio, getting work here and there. It's easier now in some ways, as work can be seen by publishers on an illustrator's website, although the publishers themselves are a lot less accessible now.
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Has it become easier now that you're more well known?
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Yes, most definitely. I turned a corner around 1994 and have had work consistently since, apart from a five-month period in 2005. I still update publishers with my latest work though, as there is so much competition around.
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Is it good to have your own website?
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I do think this is a great option when you have enough professional standard work to show.
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Are websites such as childrensillustrators.com worth it? They are so huge!
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It can be worthwhile, as a site like that is going to get a lot of visitors, especially if you haven't yet got enough work to create your own website, or you could put some of your work on a website like childrensillustrators.com as a showcase in addition to having your own site. Obviously these sites cost, so you'll need to weigh it up. However, you can of course offset any charges against tax, as long as you have a receipt.
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Is it helpful to have contacts within the publishing industry? Might they be helpful in spreading your name around?
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If you have a contact within the publishing industry, it could be really useful to ask them if you can have a chat to find out how their side of the industry works. However, you could be putting them in a difficult position if you expect them to represent your interests by talking you up to their colleagues - unless they offer, of course!
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Are there any other good ways you would suggest to get an insight into the industry?
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It's worth finding out whether there is a local group of illustrators who meet up in your area. In Cambridge, we had a group that ran for many years. There were illustrators from all stages of their careers and we met one evening a month in different people's houses and had a natter over a glass of wine. It was really useful - people got a lot of informal support from each other, as we all had different experiences. It didn't work so well when we tried to organise events such as exhibitions and talks on a more formal basis within the group. I think we were too diverse.
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Q
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In response to your request for illustration queries on your website, I am writing to ask if you would consider taking a look at some of my work and advising on it's suitabilty for book cover illustration. I graduated ten years ago in Fine Art printmaking, but frustratingly I haven't been able to find the commercial niche for my ideas, and so currently work shifts in a factory and make images in my spare time for the love of it.
I work almost exclusively digitally nowadays, but will often incorporate any number of techniques to get a result. The work I produce is a little unusual, and would probably be best described as a combination of whimsical and dark in it's themes, which probably explains why I've found it difficult to place in commercial terms. I do however, think that it may well lend itself well to book covers and wondered if you would be kind enough to give me your opinion on it's suitability to that end.
It would be a delight to hear from you via email. In the meantime, many thanks for the advice you already offer on your website.
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Thanks for getting in touch, your work looks really interesting, I like the images very much, they appeal to my dark visual tastes. I'm afraid the book jacket market isn't an area I know very much about these days. I did a few covers in the 1980's, but as you'll be aware, the imagery has changed so much since then. Your work may well be more suitable than mine, possibly for CD covers too, but I guess it would be a matter of you being used for just the right project (so in the right place at the right time) as it has a very specific look. Are you, or have you considered becoming a member of the Association of Illustrators? I know they do portfolio reviews and can give good commercial guidance. It sounds frustrating to have to earn your living from other work when you enjoy your art so much. I wish you well and hope you find your niche and can make some money from it. The commercial outlets you find for your work will probably depend on how happy you are to adapt your style to fit a brief and you'd need to demonstrate that range in your portfolio. If you wouldn't be happy doing that, looking for a gallery through which to sell your distinctive images could be a better route to take
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My background is decorative textiles, costume construction and theatre design. I have always wanted to Illustrate. After a long career break, children and far too much procrastination I am trying to develop my style and put together a Portfolio.
For a first portfolio do you think it's best to use copyright free written material, or does this really matter? (more procrastination).
Love your work and will try your technique for successful paper stretching tomorrow.
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Thank you for your enquiry. I wouldn't have thought that you would be infringing writers' copyright by basing your samples on their texts, as your images would be under your own copyright - however, I'm not a copyright expert, so you might need to research that further. Would you just see these pieces as samples to show publishers what you can do in response to a text? A point to bear in mind is that if a publisher were interested in basing a picture book idea on some of your samples and the text you'd used was out of copyright, then the copyright aspect would present no barrier.
Decorative textiles, costume construction and theatre design all sound wonderful areas to work in - I imagine that your decorative skills could translate very well to book illustrations. Good luck with it anyway and with the paper stretching - I found that method online and it's been pretty fool proof!
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