Wow congrats! I would agree completely about the creativeness vs debt. There have been times I have had to take jobs I would loved to have turned down. I definitely love love it when someone comes along that I can turn down now that amount of freedom is priceless. Kudos to you on not going back into debt as well. Not an easy thing to do it's very tempting to go deeper in debt. When I bought my house they tried to convince me I could get a house for twice what I got mine for but I knew in my career layoffs happen for creatives so I declined. I did not go out and get a new car when mine was paid off shes 10 years old and still running. Many of my friends over the years have made fun of my living location but it's safe, cheap and yes boring hehe but I am ok with that. We have no debt outside of the house and it is halfway paid off can't wait until it is paid for as well. I pay cash for everything including my computer upgrades etc. I heard a quote recently that kinda hurts a little because I haven't followed it but I think I will going forward. "If you can't afford to buy two, you can't afford to buy one". This actually makes sense there have been times I cringed a bit when I bought a new mac knowing that if just one client project fell through I'd be in trouble so now I don't do that anymore.

I think it would be an excellent topic for a podcast - especially in the type of complex setups you describe. I don’t have experience with that type of constellation, as the contracts I had so far either comprised transfer of all rights for a certain period of time (all educational projects I had so far) or had very specific royalties set up for all types of uses (including digital). When I hire illustrators for editorial, the contracts specify only a certain type of use (for example „digital“) and if you want to use the art in a different way you have to re-negotiate. I’m not aware of other setups and it would certainly be interesting to learn about that.

I`ve been turning down all enquiries that regard digital publication only so far (like story apps, educational portals, etc...) just because it happened that the conditions they offered where not interesting for me.

I can highly recommend Clip Studio Paint Pro for only USD 50. I used to work mainly in PS but Clip Studio Paint is, in my opinion, superior to PS when it comes to brush engine and other artist friendly tools. It does not offer that many filters but that is more for photograph post production anyway. It is also available for ipads. Hope that helps and happy drawing!

@jazeps-tenis ooh, you’re hitting awfully close to the whole “fine art vs illustration” tension with your points. Which isn’t to say that they are not good points, but since you brought it up I think we might as well go a bit deeper. 😉

On the one hand, you have the fine artist. This artist has a message, or just a desire to create, and makes their art the way they want because they are an artist. And maybe someone likes it and pays for it after the fact, but the important thing is that the artist was true to their art.

Then you have your commercial illustrator. They have skills for sale. People in need of those skills offer money to get the images they want. The illustrator may or may not enjoy what they’re creating, but the important thing is that they’re being paid.

And then there is the whole range of in-between and exceptions, so you can think of it as a spectrum if you like. So maybe for someone who is closer to the Fine Art side would be less concerned about critique. They’re in it for the art and the act of creation, receiving approval in the form of money (or any other form for that matter) is secondary. Those aiming more toward the commercial illustration side, however, need that critique, because approval, specifically in the form of money (eventually, hopefully 😉) is part of what they are “in it” for.

Being more toward one side or the other isn’t inherently good or bad. It’s just a different reason for developing a similar skill set. These classes/forums tend to appeal more to people aiming to become commercial illustrators, thus the general support of critiques.

Which isnt to say that there isn’t, unfortunately, some tension now and then between the two sides, but that is a whole ‘nuther debate that I'm not ready to get into.
😊

@buddy-skelton Excellent point! I will do that!

Good ones. I think I would re-word "Not overly blending colors" to "using mostly flat colors with texture". Which is not a huge difference, but I think its what I am drawn to. Thanks 🙂

@carriecopa I love this style, too! Thanks for sharing the video. 🙂

You should take a look at Helen Oxenbury's work. I just saved a stack of her illustrations on Pinterest for inspiration & master copy options. I'll have to add some by Tim Probert!

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Google Image search for Helen Oxenbury

Hi hired quite a few freelancers on Upwork working as AD...and some for my own business too (the one that did my website, for example).
Conclusion: I would never offer my services as a freelancer on Upwork. I have a private profile there as copywriter, funny enough, but I've only bid for jobs once or twice (I thought it would be a way to practice some writing).
There's nothing wrong with Upwork per se, and while both quality and prices are all over the spectrum there are skilled freelancers there, doing good work for a fraction of the Western World fees. BUT - if you offer work on Upwork you are targeting a client group that is mostly concerned with budgets AND you are competing on pricing with people who live in India, China, Philippines, Eastern Europe and loads of other countries where the cost of living is very low. If you live in Europe or US you simply cannot win a race based on pricing and you cannot make that a defining element of your business.
That's why I also react coldly to people that ask for your "fees" or "how much would it cost to do x..." in the first contact. It may turn out to be an awesome opportunity but my first reaction is: "if that is your main concern, then you're probably looking in the wrong place...".
That said, there is definitely a place for people in the upper range of budgets on Upwork too, and I've hired a few of those through the portal too - but it depends on the kind of service and I'm not sure illustration is a good one.

I used to be a video editor and filmmaker, but I haven't kept up with specific tech. All the same, what I would ask first is what do you already have? Is your computer powerful enough for editing? Do you have a phone with a decent video camera? Also where will you be shooting and what's the lighting like there?

I would also strongly emphasize that sound is at least as important as video, but it doesn't have to be that complicated. If you want nice tight and focused sound either look for a lapel mic (though these are prone to picking up rustling of clothes) or my choice would be a shotgun mic mounted on a boom arm, about 12-18 inches away and pointing not at the mouth, but at the top of the chest. This can helps reduce plosives and give a nice resonant sound. Even this may be overkill. Sometimes throwing a blanket over a hard surface can do more for sound quality that an expensive mic. Shoot some test footage with audio and play around a bit.

One thing that helped me jump ahead in my drawing skill was being taught gesture drawing. Starting lightly with that 5 year old scribble mentality and slowly tightening it up to find the shapes as others have said was the game changer for me. The bonus is that after some light gesture drawing if you make a mistake it doesn't feel so bad because the picture isn't perfect from the start.

@smceccarelli That's good to hear, thanks! Over time if I can shift more towards the art I'd happily do it, but its good to know that its possible to start like this.

@chip-valecek thank you! this helped 😃

Thanks @Sarah-LuAnn and @Heather-Boyd for their opinions. It helps me, because I was a little insecurity about my portfolio and work with different techniques.

@kevin-longueil Dang, looks like I missed out! I'll have to keep an eye out for future sales

There's this cool little show staring Drew Brophy it's only five episodes but it's fun. His wife is a licensing genius. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tsZpZG3-UI&list=PLs_Sid3kLIkIooaLoGLTnlXXwoMXIbGpq

@lauraa we couldn’t do this without the word of mouth... thank you!

Hello,

her are my thoughts, overall the image is cute and the line work is pretty good but it could have more weight in shadow areas and less in the light areas. I feel like the glasses are off kilter on the middle animals face because they look like they are centered but the head is turned slightly. The way the paw on the animal on the left is sitting over the other paw seems a bit off but this could be fixed with value. Also maybe putting ears on the left animal would help Identify what it is.

@carriecopa I will check out Buffer as well. Looks like Instagram is the way to go right now, and that is the one I'm leaning toward as I know it to be image oriented. Thanks for the help.

@rachy I think it always seemed so shiny and perfect, and that's why I liked it. I've never seen a real ham look that nice - perhaps she captured the true essence of ham or something.