My take on Frail... As the tortoise woke up having not moved for decades...The rabbit was surprised to see where he was living...

I am probably going to be shot down for this, but I am a web developer breaking into the illustration realm. In the last 10 years of being in this industry, i think i have seen enough pitfuls to give some decent advice. I would use the following 3 Tools:

1. WordPress - Self-hosted, shouldn't cost you more than 9 dollars a month with Goddady you can also pick up your own custom .com domain for like 3 dollars. this will also allow you to get a professional email address like hello@irinasartcorner.com or whatever domain you choose. They do have a special right now.

2. BeaverBuilder - Super easy page builder that comes with GoDaddy account as well. they have a few templates you can choose from

3. Woocomerce - Free e-commerce plugin for WordPress easy to install and add products.

I don't advocate places like wix and square space because there are limitations that you will run in pretty quickly, also very hard to move from a cheap startup service to a more professional setup when things get more serious. Trust me your potential hiring customers also these are the places you go when you cannot afford a decent website. You might as well put a label on your head that says " I am trying to save on costs because I am a small startup on your forehead" Destroys your credibility instantly.

If you need help navigating the waters, I would be glad to help you get things set up and empower you to run your own show.

@smceccarelli Your answer is both profound and simple... the answer is... nothing actually. I don't know why I am asking permission. Seems silly now that I think about it. I guess all that left is to simply start.

Pattern...

Snow....

Dragon.....

@Lee-White

Thank you for your response, perhaps my assessment was a tad harsh. But I will put some points below to specify what I mean. I am sorry if this is lengthy…..

1. Website Platform

It is important to get this part right, Wix and Squarespace are starting points. I am not going to say good starting points but they are better than nothing. If you are going to use a freebee solution... don’t think that people wont notice the “powered by Squarespace or Wix at the bottom”. Rather pay a little extra to get it removed as Jake has done. Nothing screams newbie like not investing properly in your website. You don’t want to look cheap, especially when your artwork is so amazing.

My thoughts on art station and deviant are that they are great platforms to show casework, you could even add dribble and Behance. But they are social platforms, not websites, a professional has their own website, not just a social presence. Also, consider being on platforms like these make it easy to switch from you to someone else's profile... you can be forgotten quickly, because the platform allows users to browse other artists, too. Now if you have a profile on one of these platforms and then a link to your website, that would take them to your website where the focus would be exclusively on your work

One of the points Jake raises is to collect email addresses as you cannot rely on a social platforms to always be there. An email list is gold. In the same breath building, a website on a service-based platform holds the same risk. What is Squarespace closes down... you have no longer have control over that and will lose your website? Food for thought 26 Reasons Why WordPress Crushes Squarespace Every Time

Lastly, I wanted to add that WordPress has come a long way with the birth of page builders like beaver builder and elementor. Designing your website is a drag and drop experience no coding needed is a reality. You will have way more features available to you to and it's not built on a platform that could go away as WordPress is opensource and not reliant on a service.

1. Domain

Good advice with regards to domains, I just wanted to add that you should secure your domain as soon as possible... don’t wait until your ready to build a website as the domain may be taken and you will be forced to register something else. Even if you don’t build a website just reserve it for when you are ready to.

1. Home Page

The home page is the most important page of a website; its purpose is mainly to engage visitors and direct them to where you want them to go. So, look at all the pages of the website and then decide what elements are important, this will, of course, be shown in order of importance and will also be determined how each point should be highlighted.

Example:

Children’s book illustrator home page

Strong intro statement introducing who you are and what you do, your message must resonate with your target audience. If you are talking to publishers then your message needs to be directed to them.

The secondary focus can be a gallery of your best work but not all... just enough to give them an idea and then an option to view the full gallery on a separate page.

If you have done previous books you want to also highlight that on the homepage with a link to your books page, so they can see what you have done.

Lastly you need a call to action that entices the publisher to get in touch with you. I noticed on all your websites there is no prominent contact page. Now I know you are going to tell me you are busy and you don’t want people to bother. But for most websites that is what is standard and you can bet they will be looking for a way to get in touch with you.

I could go through examples for each different type of illustrator based on their services but that would take some time, maybe if others have questions, I would be happy to respond.

1. Advice on about, portfolio and services is solid, the only extra advice is you always need a call to action on your website pages. There is nothing worse than scrolling to the bottom of a page the visitor has consumed your content and there is nothing….. You need to tell them what to do next….

2. Blogs
   As far as blogs are concerned jake hit I the nail on the head… its good to have them as they help from an SEO perspective in creating depth to the website and bringing traffic in from different resources. Remember from google's standpoint it reads texts, it cannot read images unless properly formatted, but you still need enough text on pages.

Also, it is a big misnomer to say people don’t read blogs……. Well written blogs are still very much alive, the problem is people are lazy and don’t write quality blogs. But the ones that follow good guidelines are read all the time and contribute hugely to a successful website.

1. Images

All 3 of you get this part wrong.... sorry guys…. Images are your most important selling point. It's how Google knows how to index you properly because it knows what the image is and where to index it for searching. By doing this correctly you can increase your traffic to your website exponentially. Here is an example…… from each of your websites…. Don’t be mad at me just pointing it out….

@Will-Terry
HotTubSM.jpg – would be more effective if it was renamed to “animals-in-a-hot-tub-will-terry.jpg

Google reads the word “hottubsm”…. The google search engine things…. Mmmmmm what is that …. let's just chuck in in the miscellaneous pile…

@Lee-White
Illumination.jpg – yes it describes the image but not fully. “water-color-illumantion-concept-lee-white-print.jpg” is way better. It tells Google the medium, about the image, who did it and that it is a print.

@Jake-Parker

headshot04.jpg - that is the name of your first image… Buy now I know you know where I am going…. Better to be called “jake-parker-illustrator-comic-author.jpg”

I am going to stop at this point hopefully this has been helpful.

Day 6 - Husky fellow... Arrrrgh

I have a simple question, everytime I listen to a podcast of late you mention you are also doing a video where we can actually see you too. But when i go to youtube there is nothing there. Am i missing something ????

Coming from a graphic design background. Here is mine, I am sure as I get more into art I will change it to something artsier....

@Lee-White I agree with @NessIllustration. To elaborate her point a little more. The main issue I have with places like Squarespace and Wix is the long term offer. Yes setting it up is quick and you can band out a website, services like these are always tiered and limited. Meaning once your website is up and running, sooner are later you are going to want to add some integration or functionality and then that's when they say please upgrade your account so you can have this new feature. So it could be a payment gateway or a newsletter feature or even a better way to showcase your gallery or you could run out on the number of pages you are allowed. This is how these services work, they get you hooked in at entry-level and then when you well invested, you feel obligated to move to the next tier of payment and before you know it what was once cheap is getting more expensive.

Wordpress does not have these limits and there is literally a free plugin for every extra solution you want to an addon or a once-off payment for a premium solution, either way it is much better to invest in the right platform than to have to redo everything from scratch when you find out that your current service can longer help you or it costs too much to maintain.

I wish I could be a lecturer on SVS to show people just how easy it is to set up a website using WordPress. The only costs for the student will be the cost of a domain and their monthly hosting which is really cheap like between 5 to 10 dollars a month. I could show them ....

• How to get started, buy a domain, set up a blank WordPress install

• How to add pages, posts, and media

• How to properly prepare and plan your website

• Best practices for each page and understanding effective layout

• Understand basic SEO principles,

• How to maintain their website and keep it safe from hackers

Just a thought, I have 8 years working with WordPress, there is a lot I could offer on this subject. best of all they won't need to know any coding at all...

Hi Everyone

I am a brand new member and hail from South Africa. A little nervous to ask my first question, there are so many talented illustrators here and I have so much to learn. I have just listened to the podcast number 7 on 3 point perspective " 10 reasons I won't illustrate your children's book "... I was was wondering if it is wise to illustrate and write my own stories, I have so many ideas...

Let me give some background about myself and history to perhaps put things in perspective. Professionally I own a small web dev and graphic design firm. Its been very successful and I have been going for about a decade now. So why the need to shift?

My line of work can really hit a creative brick wall after a while. The coding and graphic design can be mundane and there is a lot of client dictatorship in my line of work. So I am not really enjoying it even though I land regular work and I am pretty good at it.... but I don't love it and I feel my creative muscles are been wasted away.

As a child to young adulthood. I never watched any TV. I read lots and lots and lots of books. I am one of 9 children so when we went to the library we all took 4 books out and I read all my books plus most of my siblings every 4 weeks. Also, I drew a lot in pencil a lot growing up and loved it.

I have always wanted to get back into illustration and over the past year have been learning a lot from Von Glitscha an illustrator teacher and vector artist on LinkedIn learning. I am currently busy putting together a few digital products to launch my own Etsy store, just to sell digital printable and earn a little extra on the side.. I have learned a lot there but there was still something missing. One of the challengings on linked was to draw 21 days which I did and it became addictive in a very short space of time.

This is when I first came across inking and learned about inktober. I came to svs learn, saw who the authors were and then googled @Will-Terry. When I saw your artwork it hit me like a ton of bricks, wow ... I had to stop and just stare, I knew this is what I was supposed to be doing. I think have been watching your videos on youtube every day between my work for the last 2 weeks. I just cant get enough. Then I started watching @Jake-Parker's videos as well and i was blown away again. I love your inking style but will terrys fine art style is equally just as cool. So much love and passion goes into your work and you can both feel and see that. @Lee-White I have not had a chance to properly look through your work as yet.

I have since joined svslearn and am going through each of the learning courses one by one. Evert morning I am listening to your podcast episodes while I train in the gym, its replaced my music and its way more interesting. Sorry for the long banter...

I am willing to do whatever I am told to improve, no critique is harsh and I am willing to be humble and just breathe in the lessons and learn. And yes I am willing to put in 10 000 hours to be an expert in this field. I am already a business owner so I know all about constant failure, trying a thousand times over and developing a thick skin.

My approach to this journey is to do as a student but as an entrepreneur. I want to create art that sells and don't mind self-publishing, I already have a strong background in marketing because of my current career?

Do you think I should / can write my own books? ( have at least 6 books with rough outlines of content, but no illustrations that why I am here to learn first) I don't mind this journey talking 5 years or more before I even publish the first book. Ok I shall shut up now... But honest feedback and help would be greatly appreciated.

@burvantill That is a good idea let me put some thought it and write it out as a detailed post. It may be quite lengthy but I will break it down into sections to make it easy to follow. It will be purely WordPress based however, not any other platforms.

@Coley i have been toying with putting an online course for this exact purpose for some time perhaps its time to do it, but maybe niche-based, like just for artists....

@Lee-White I agree with @NessIllustration. To elaborate her point a little more. The main issue I have with places like Squarespace and Wix is the long term offer. Yes setting it up is quick and you can band out a website, services like these are always tiered and limited. Meaning once your website is up and running, sooner are later you are going to want to add some integration or functionality and then that's when they say please upgrade your account so you can have this new feature. So it could be a payment gateway or a newsletter feature or even a better way to showcase your gallery or you could run out on the number of pages you are allowed. This is how these services work, they get you hooked in at entry-level and then when you well invested, you feel obligated to move to the next tier of payment and before you know it what was once cheap is getting more expensive.

Wordpress does not have these limits and there is literally a free plugin for every extra solution you want to an addon or a once-off payment for a premium solution, either way it is much better to invest in the right platform than to have to redo everything from scratch when you find out that your current service can longer help you or it costs too much to maintain.

I wish I could be a lecturer on SVS to show people just how easy it is to set up a website using WordPress. The only costs for the student will be the cost of a domain and their monthly hosting which is really cheap like between 5 to 10 dollars a month. I could show them ....

• How to get started, buy a domain, set up a blank WordPress install

• How to add pages, posts, and media

• How to properly prepare and plan your website

• Best practices for each page and understanding effective layout

• Understand basic SEO principles,

• How to maintain their website and keep it safe from hackers

Just a thought, I have 8 years working with WordPress, there is a lot I could offer on this subject. best of all they won't need to know any coding at all...

@Lee-White My apologies, I was having a bad day. Feel kinda sheepish now...

Please know I have the utmost respect for you guys. "I guess I got carried away with the first part of your intro to the podcasts.... " some times we are gonna agree, sometimes we are going to argue...., but every time you are gonna learn something new.

@Lee-White

Thank you for your response, perhaps my assessment was a tad harsh. But I will put some points below to specify what I mean. I am sorry if this is lengthy…..

1. Website Platform

It is important to get this part right, Wix and Squarespace are starting points. I am not going to say good starting points but they are better than nothing. If you are going to use a freebee solution... don’t think that people wont notice the “powered by Squarespace or Wix at the bottom”. Rather pay a little extra to get it removed as Jake has done. Nothing screams newbie like not investing properly in your website. You don’t want to look cheap, especially when your artwork is so amazing.

My thoughts on art station and deviant are that they are great platforms to show casework, you could even add dribble and Behance. But they are social platforms, not websites, a professional has their own website, not just a social presence. Also, consider being on platforms like these make it easy to switch from you to someone else's profile... you can be forgotten quickly, because the platform allows users to browse other artists, too. Now if you have a profile on one of these platforms and then a link to your website, that would take them to your website where the focus would be exclusively on your work

One of the points Jake raises is to collect email addresses as you cannot rely on a social platforms to always be there. An email list is gold. In the same breath building, a website on a service-based platform holds the same risk. What is Squarespace closes down... you have no longer have control over that and will lose your website? Food for thought 26 Reasons Why WordPress Crushes Squarespace Every Time

Lastly, I wanted to add that WordPress has come a long way with the birth of page builders like beaver builder and elementor. Designing your website is a drag and drop experience no coding needed is a reality. You will have way more features available to you to and it's not built on a platform that could go away as WordPress is opensource and not reliant on a service.

1. Domain

Good advice with regards to domains, I just wanted to add that you should secure your domain as soon as possible... don’t wait until your ready to build a website as the domain may be taken and you will be forced to register something else. Even if you don’t build a website just reserve it for when you are ready to.

1. Home Page

The home page is the most important page of a website; its purpose is mainly to engage visitors and direct them to where you want them to go. So, look at all the pages of the website and then decide what elements are important, this will, of course, be shown in order of importance and will also be determined how each point should be highlighted.

Example:

Children’s book illustrator home page

Strong intro statement introducing who you are and what you do, your message must resonate with your target audience. If you are talking to publishers then your message needs to be directed to them.

The secondary focus can be a gallery of your best work but not all... just enough to give them an idea and then an option to view the full gallery on a separate page.

If you have done previous books you want to also highlight that on the homepage with a link to your books page, so they can see what you have done.

Lastly you need a call to action that entices the publisher to get in touch with you. I noticed on all your websites there is no prominent contact page. Now I know you are going to tell me you are busy and you don’t want people to bother. But for most websites that is what is standard and you can bet they will be looking for a way to get in touch with you.

I could go through examples for each different type of illustrator based on their services but that would take some time, maybe if others have questions, I would be happy to respond.

1. Advice on about, portfolio and services is solid, the only extra advice is you always need a call to action on your website pages. There is nothing worse than scrolling to the bottom of a page the visitor has consumed your content and there is nothing….. You need to tell them what to do next….

2. Blogs
   As far as blogs are concerned jake hit I the nail on the head… its good to have them as they help from an SEO perspective in creating depth to the website and bringing traffic in from different resources. Remember from google's standpoint it reads texts, it cannot read images unless properly formatted, but you still need enough text on pages.

Also, it is a big misnomer to say people don’t read blogs……. Well written blogs are still very much alive, the problem is people are lazy and don’t write quality blogs. But the ones that follow good guidelines are read all the time and contribute hugely to a successful website.

1. Images

All 3 of you get this part wrong.... sorry guys…. Images are your most important selling point. It's how Google knows how to index you properly because it knows what the image is and where to index it for searching. By doing this correctly you can increase your traffic to your website exponentially. Here is an example…… from each of your websites…. Don’t be mad at me just pointing it out….

@Will-Terry
HotTubSM.jpg – would be more effective if it was renamed to “animals-in-a-hot-tub-will-terry.jpg

Google reads the word “hottubsm”…. The google search engine things…. Mmmmmm what is that …. let's just chuck in in the miscellaneous pile…

@Lee-White
Illumination.jpg – yes it describes the image but not fully. “water-color-illumantion-concept-lee-white-print.jpg” is way better. It tells Google the medium, about the image, who did it and that it is a print.

@Jake-Parker

headshot04.jpg - that is the name of your first image… Buy now I know you know where I am going…. Better to be called “jake-parker-illustrator-comic-author.jpg”

I am going to stop at this point hopefully this has been helpful.

@Jake-Parker

First off I wanted to say. I love all the podcasts and have listened to every single one. I have learned a lot and love this community.

With regard to this episode, I wanted to point out while there were many good points raised on this topic, there was equally just as much incorrect advice given which was relegated to guesswork.

As a web developer that has worked in this field for over 11 years. There is so much I wanted to add to this topic. I am breaking into the illustration field.... so I have a lot to learn, but as a web developer, I am a seasoned veteran that has worked with business of all sorts and sizes.... There was too much advice here that is way off the mark.

If you like I can add more guidance to this topic.

I just want to point out that you can register a domain with .art on the end if yourname .com is taken. I could not find my name so I registered my domain as www.geoffreygordon.art ... I don't have content yet as I am still learning but I wanted to reserve a domain so long. I just have my Instagram feed at the moment.

This post was inspired by "What Are You Working on This Year?" podcast. A from what jake said I suffer from idea debt heavily... meaning I have so many ideas and i go nowhere because I don't know where to start, so nothing gets done.

I would really appreciate some solid advice, from the veterans here, please. I have been a member here for about a year. What a great and talented group to be part of. So my concern is the money-making side of art and the direction I would like to go in. I hear a lot of people trying to get an agent or want to work as an illustrator. What if you don't want any of that, what I mean is .... what if you just want to create your own books or artwork to sell. I come from being a web developer for the past 12 years and running my own business so I understand client relationships and the finance part of the business. My dream is to simply create my own stuff and sell it. I have no interest in publishers or other authors. I am rambling so I will get to the point, here is what I am thinking...

1. I want to sell artwork on Etsy, Red Bubble, and Society 6.
2. I want to write and illustrate my own books, I will self publish or kickstart it.
3. I am thinking of selling prints, stickers, custom object art sets.

My medium is inking, I am also good at vector work. Since this is a whole new area I am breaking into, I have just been inking pics of fan art and posting it on Instagram..... I get likes but no follows.

I was thinking

1. grow a fan base on Instagram doing fan art
2. when it's big enough....open a website and sell art online

I am still going through the tutorials here on svs since I am not so competent digital coloring.... but learning aggressively with clip studio and a pen tablet

After that long into I have the following questions:

1. What are the best art product ideas to make money?
2. Is it best to do work digital or traditional, I have to the tools to do both?
3. Must I develop my ow art or should I do fan art?
4. Am I going about this all wrong or any thoughts or advice?
5. My business pays the bills so I have time to ease into this field and no pressure to earn, just want to transition out of what I am doing. This means I only have about 3-4 hours a day I use, how should I use my time?
6. Should I develop my own style first ?

I am sure I sound like an absolute noob, but any honest feedback would be appreciated

Hi @Dwayne-Neckles

If you want to learn about vector art, I would highly recommend LinkedIn learning and doing Von Glitschka, a true professional... https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/von-glitschka?upsellOrderOrigin=default_guest_learning

Then for the animation of vectors learn adobe aftereffects ...
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/after-effects-cc-2019-character-animation-essential-training/after-effects-for-animation

wild

ornament