As long as clients are not commissioning you at ridiculously low prices and undervaluing the work because you are a student, I don’t see a major problem.

There are always exceptions to the “rules” it’s tough to blanket statement that “all students should not freelance”.

For example, myself and majority of my fellow students during our illustration course days, would not have been confident, professional or skilled enough to take on freelance work whilst studying.

Your work seems consistent and solid and it’s awesome that you’re getting an early start into earning a living , however if you’re still studying then I can understand an educator being concerned about allowing yourself enough time to explore and push your work forward as part of your studies. A lot of students aren’t mature enough to juggle this.

On my course - our tutors were very much about breaking our perceptions of how we SHOULD draw, and wanted us to explore and expand our thought process, so much so that I feel some of my university work is still BETTER than a lot of my current freelance art because I was genuinely experimenting and not playing ‘safe’.

And then on the other side, you’re actually making money and producing nice work which gives a whole other giant ton-load of experience which you would never get by “just” studying.

That’s my personal opinion as a practicing creative. Would be awesome to hear from a teacher’s point of view.

Hey everyone, I'm Leilani, an illustrator from the UK currently living and working in Dubai, UAE.

I've been freelancing since I graduated 10 years ago, but sporadically - the majority of my time is dedicated to my day job in Graphic Design, which I do enjoy... However, my goal for the next 5 years is to build up my illustration clients so I can freelance full time.

This forum seems really friendly and full of a variety of talent keen on giving useful critiques and support. I hope it's fine that I'm not an SVS student, I would love to stick around the forums

Here's a sample of my work, and you're very welcome to visit my portfolio website www.tao.cx (the more polished stuff) or follow me on instagram @instaleilani (doodles, sketches, random photos!)

Looking forward to getting to know you all via the forum posts!

Hey there! I'd echo what smceccarelli mentioned and encourage removing a few more pieces. OR removing duplicates, I noticed some artworks appear in the Illustration gallery as well as in 'projects'.

Your work is rich and gorgeous, but it also means that looking at a lot one after another, fills the brain so much, personally I get overwhelmed (in a good way! but still overwhelmed)

Curate all the portfolios down to their absolute essentials.

Keep only your absolute favourite pieces that makes you feel that you want to produce MORE work of the same (or better) standard.

@marsha-kay-ottum-owen Cute mushrooms, I like that they all have different patterns on their tops

It would be nice if the soil was darker, maybe even consider extending the speckle shadowing effect you have going on?

Hi Julie!

From first impressions, I can't see anything to worry about. Even though you work across different mediums, a quick glance at your website and instagram accounts shows a really consistent 'hand' and style to your work. It does all feel like it's the work of one artist.

Can't believe I'm writing that as I often have the same panic myself about my own work.

If I'm pushed to point something out, then there's an instagram post of a watercolour mouse reaching out which is slightly more 'traditionally cutesy' compared to your other work which all seems to have an edge to it.

But still, it's clear you doodled that in your own style. It wouldn't confuse me at all.

What would help is to segregate your website portfolio into sections, if you wish to showcase childrens' illustration together, tattoo work together, etc.... and just remember you don't have to show EVERYTHING in your portfolio, only pick your strongest work that you want to get more of.

Social media accounts can be more experimental, most people are OK with that.

But definitely see what others on the forum say, they're super helpful here.

@smceccarelli very valid points raised which would make for some great discussion points for future episodes (e.g. projects such as apps and interactive storytelling etc, new ways that illustration is being commissioned).

However I do think this episode was supposed to be hyper-focused on the topic of being approached by an INDIVIDUAL (not a publisher or company) in the context of the traditionally published childrens book route, and isn't meant to discourage from other kinds of offers that may come to the table.

The colour scheme on the far right is nice - I like the rich/warm tones. Do you want her to be almost camouflaged against the background? Like she is mysterious and blending in with nature...

If you're not tied to that, why not experiment with the background a bit to bring out some more contrast. OR consider developing a bit of a background scene

It may be a bit expensive, but an iPad with procreate seems to be really awesome for a lot of people. A friend of mine uses his iPad purely as a digital sketchbook and is drawing/inking his latest comic project solely using that and procreate! It makes me want one too!

If an iPad is a bit over budget. Then look at the starter graphics tablets that you can plug in to a laptop/computer... Wacom is always a great brand, but there are many entry-level alternatives too...

Just be aware that getting used to a tablet WITHOUT a screen takes a little longer to get used to. Tablets with a built in screen are easier to adjust to.

Hey this is interesting! Kind of reminds me of a Team ICO game blended with Viewtiful Joe. Nice!

Will you be exploring this idea more?

These thumbnails are rad. I love 'em.

It may be a bit expensive, but an iPad with procreate seems to be really awesome for a lot of people. A friend of mine uses his iPad purely as a digital sketchbook and is drawing/inking his latest comic project solely using that and procreate! It makes me want one too!

If an iPad is a bit over budget. Then look at the starter graphics tablets that you can plug in to a laptop/computer... Wacom is always a great brand, but there are many entry-level alternatives too...

Just be aware that getting used to a tablet WITHOUT a screen takes a little longer to get used to. Tablets with a built in screen are easier to adjust to.

Hi Julie!

From first impressions, I can't see anything to worry about. Even though you work across different mediums, a quick glance at your website and instagram accounts shows a really consistent 'hand' and style to your work. It does all feel like it's the work of one artist.

Can't believe I'm writing that as I often have the same panic myself about my own work.

If I'm pushed to point something out, then there's an instagram post of a watercolour mouse reaching out which is slightly more 'traditionally cutesy' compared to your other work which all seems to have an edge to it.

But still, it's clear you doodled that in your own style. It wouldn't confuse me at all.

What would help is to segregate your website portfolio into sections, if you wish to showcase childrens' illustration together, tattoo work together, etc.... and just remember you don't have to show EVERYTHING in your portfolio, only pick your strongest work that you want to get more of.

Social media accounts can be more experimental, most people are OK with that.

But definitely see what others on the forum say, they're super helpful here.

So cool to see the slideshow I hope to take part in the next challenge theme... do you guys do one every month?

As long as clients are not commissioning you at ridiculously low prices and undervaluing the work because you are a student, I don’t see a major problem.

There are always exceptions to the “rules” it’s tough to blanket statement that “all students should not freelance”.

For example, myself and majority of my fellow students during our illustration course days, would not have been confident, professional or skilled enough to take on freelance work whilst studying.

Your work seems consistent and solid and it’s awesome that you’re getting an early start into earning a living , however if you’re still studying then I can understand an educator being concerned about allowing yourself enough time to explore and push your work forward as part of your studies. A lot of students aren’t mature enough to juggle this.

On my course - our tutors were very much about breaking our perceptions of how we SHOULD draw, and wanted us to explore and expand our thought process, so much so that I feel some of my university work is still BETTER than a lot of my current freelance art because I was genuinely experimenting and not playing ‘safe’.

And then on the other side, you’re actually making money and producing nice work which gives a whole other giant ton-load of experience which you would never get by “just” studying.

That’s my personal opinion as a practicing creative. Would be awesome to hear from a teacher’s point of view.

@c-davies it’s gorgeous, love how it feels simple yet there’s so much detail and those overlapping ripples are

@sweta-roy-choudhury no worries, it’s really beautiful overall so these tweaks would just help refine the piece. It’s still very strong as is cool, glad I could help .

Heya! I don’t think you need to polish this any more. It looks great and you would risk overworking the style if you try to add too much. Looks lovely, really!

Love how you used a real reference to help ground the piece. I should remember to try that more!!! Really looking forward to the final colour treatment

Heya! It’s coming together really nicely. My first impression is that the following bugs, need slight edits to be less prominent. They are really cute so don’t get rid of them! Just try to edit a bit and see if it helps.

The top one it’s a little hard to read the smiling open mouth - at a glance I thought it was a triangular nose (I think it’s a mouth, right?)

The center one (orange body) perhaps reduce the size of his eye and face? I keep being drawn to look at its cute face when the focus should be the mantis.

The bottom one isn’t as distracting, but just see how the other edits balance out.

That’s my gut reaction on the piece. Other than that I love the atmosphere and the shadow cast behind the mantis is cool. It’s a really charming scene

Another vote for the blue scheme here! Just coz like you mentioned - it’s not the typical kind of colour scheme for this theme. Which makes it more unique. The autumn warm ness is beautiful but more expected/familiar.