Illustration Life Update

Sarah VanDam

I’ve never been consistent with this forum, but I just want to share how my career has been going lately in a longer, more vulnerable and less curated way than on other social platforms.

First, here’s my timeline:

I graduated from BYU in illustration in 2021. Depressed and WAY burned out.
I found my first and so-far best freelance client, a company called Discover Magic, through a flyer on campus. At this point, I’ve done a little over 20 jobs for them, most of which are hidden picture puzzles. Like this:
I was hired full-time by Dowdle Folk Art in Lindon, Utah in September of 2021 to paint images for puzzles. I painted 99% of their Monterey CA puzzle, 15% of their San Clemente puzzle, and 75% of a Colorado puzzle that still isn’t out yet. I also started designing a Hawaiian puzzle for them where everyone in the picture is holding giant shrimps…
After only working at the Dowdle studio for 6 months, I decided it wasn’t a great long-term fit, and I left in late winter of 2022 just in time to take Children’s Book Pro.
I decided to actually finish the book from Children’s Book Pro. In the meantime, I also supplemented my income by working at an ice cream shop where all servers dress in Colonial costumes.
I went to a Discover Magic conference in Orlando, Florida in January of this year, and I’ve never had such a big spotlight shone on me IN MY LIFE. They got me up on stage, took pictures with me, presented me with an award and essentially gave me a personal workshop in self-confidence. My artwork was projected for everyone to see and printed on banners and magic trick props. I was a celebrity who made close to minimum wage.
One of the magicians at the conference, Joe Romano, wanted to make a children’s book to sell at his school magic shows, which he does over 200 of in a year. He loved seeing my work on “Hansel and Gretel,” which still wasn’t finished at the time, and we agreed to explore the possibility of collaborating on a book together.
I published my version of “Hansel and Gretel” on Amazon KDP in the spring (with some difficulty because Amazon made it really hard to claim that I was the author of this version). I was not expecting or hoping to make many sales (which I haven’t, and I really didn’t promote it anyway), but I did want the experience of finishing and “shipping” a whole book.
I shifted my focus almost entirely to “My Dad Invented the Smile”—A book about the history of the smiley face—with Joe. In the meantime, I moved back in with my parents in Idaho for the rest of the year.
I also started doing a daily art drawing challenge with BYU illustration students and alumni where, after doing a bunch of random stuff, I started working on watercolor flowers that were cohesive enough to make into cards and bookmarks.
In September, I added my original watercolor paintings to an Etsy shop that I’d opened nearly two years before but didn’t have any products on except for a print-on-demand t-shirt.
I started adding prints and now have 21 sales and two really awesome reviews.
I just approved the proof of the book, and it’s in the printing stage. It’s case-bound this time, and we’re going to learn how to manage inventory. This is the title page:

Now that I’ve gotten THAT all out, I’ll write about what’s happening next and where I hope to go in another entry soon.

Jeremy Ross

Doing good @Sarah-VanDam ! Love the cover of Smile!

Thanks for sharing your story and progress in your illustration journey.

MerryMary

@Sarah-VanDam that is exciting about your new book. The cover looks charming

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Sarah-VanDam hi Sarah! That’s really great to hear. Sounds like you had quite the art journey so far. I wish you all the best.

Mimi Simon

This is like the art version of the Christmas cards that random neighbors leave on my porch describing all the renovations they got done and places they travelled.

Sarah VanDam

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Thank you!!

Sarah VanDam

@Mimi-Simon Haha, that’s funny. I hope I didn’t over-share… Please do let me know if you think I should redact anything I said.

Mimi Simon

@Sarah-VanDam No it's all good, I enjoyed reading about your journey, I've just been getting some random Christmas cards so the comparison was on my mind. I should have specified that the art version is way more interesting.

Lee White

@Sarah-VanDam Amazing Sarah! thanks so much for sharing that!