Does a literary agent mean i have to write my stories too? Or does it mean they work in the publishing industry whereas an illustration agent can find you jobs also for say an advertising agency?
It just means they only work in the publishing industry and they normally represent writers too.
Author-Illustrators are seeked after, though, so if you want to write they encourage that.
@nessillustration No, that would be a total no go. Of course you have to be able to seek out your own jobs - that is spelled out quite clear in my contract. The only thing my agent asked is to inform her if I write to publishing houses, so that she can take note that I contacted them already.
Otherwise, my contract covers exclusively book work. Everything else is free range...I can involve her or not, as I see fit. And she can decide not to get involved on a non-book contract if she doesn’t want to. This past year I’ve had all possible variations: jobs completely without her, jobs with her finding and managing the contact, jobs where I had the contact, but she managed it, jobs where she declined to manage even if I asked her ....a whole mixed bag.
I actually gave in and ordered an iPadPro 2 as well. I hope it will run more stable than my old iPad with ProCreate and also be able to run PS for iPad when it comes out next year. I also love the new pencil. Apple got me again....
It´s arriving before Xmas, I hope.
For me the iPad is fundamentally a tool for when I’m traveling (which is relatively often) and a super-boosted sketchbook. I don’t use it for final illustrations on client work because there are too many things missing that create more work: CYMK color profiles, brush modes, guides (for bleed, gutter, etc...), text management (to handle layout). I’m also terribly spoiled from using the Creative Cloud - I keep all my textures and color palettes in the cloud and not having them available creates extra work too.
Also, the size is really too limited for me. I want to see a whole spread in real print size, not just a piece at a time
But it´s a fabulous tool - no question. It´s inches away (literally and figuratively) from being a complete workstation substitute....
Actually many agents will insist on exclusive contracts - particularly literary agents. This means that no matter who finds the job, if it is in their remit, they will get a percent of the contract. This is quite standard, as it is difficult nowadays to know what triggered a contact in the first place. Was it something you did or something your agent did? If your agent pitches you at a meeting and then the client contacts you directly six months later for a different job, is that your agent´s contact or yours? Marketing is also just a small part of an agent´s job. They negotiate fees and deadline and take care of all administrative or legal tasks. My agent consistently negotiated more than double what I would have asked - so I’m very happy to have her tune in even on stuff that comes through a direct contact.
You know I think your linework is amazing. You evidently enjoy the inked lines and you're a master at it - so I wouldn't see a reason to change that unless you want to. You've got it all figured out: the line control, the width variation, the way it describes the shapes - I like all of it.
Now for the render - one thing that strucks me consistently in your work it's that it's overall very dark. Your shadows and midtones are consistently on the dark to very dark side and that, combined with he limited and relatively unsaturated color palette, makes it look "heavy" and a bit "unfriendly".
Here's one of your images with the midtones considerably lighter and a slight increase in saturation (compared to the original):
As for the rendering style, why not just experiment? If you're not sure you want to keep doing it this way, try cell-shading or flat coloring and see how you like or dislike the process and results. I like rendered comic books when they are well done (like in your case) and I also like more flat coloring. It can be a bit easier on the eyes, especially when you're looking at a whole page with many panels.
@irina are you going to Bologna? Fancy meeting for a coffee there? I will be at the fair the whole week.
I’m not familiar with the UK agencies (though I know Bright on their fame alone) and @NessIllustration has given you plenty of advice from her awesome experience.
Your work is excellent and you’re more than ready to get picked up by an agent - indeed I think you can have your pick! An agent can open doors that would be very hard to tackle by yourself...but it comes at a cost, of course. For me it was totally worth it, also because I know I wouldn’t want to spend too much of my time in promotion mode (it´s already plenty, even with an agent....).
Keep in mind that a Literary Agent (representing book illustrators) will cost much less than an Illustration Agent (representing all kinds of illustrators) - 15-20% of all contracts instead of 35-50% of all contracts. You can choose a mixed setup, like I did, where you have a literary agent for book work and you take care of all other types of work by yourself. Nowadays, I think I would like to have an agent take care of all the other stuff too, so I’ll be looking into getting a second rep for non-book work next year.
As for day job, I have a 20-hour contract as art director for a small internal corporate comms agency (the corporation is big, the internal agency is small ;-)). I love it because I get to do illustration there too, as well as working with other super-talented artists and designers: I learn loads of stuff that comes in very useful also in my children illustration business. It´s also very well paid. So, since you worked in architecture, do not discard the possibility to work in the same field in a different role. I hear there is an appetite for hand-drawn renderings or sketches of spaces and not all is 3D. I’ve also been involved in designing exposition booths as part of my day job, and there are artists there too - and agencies that churn out ideas for those using illustration and sketches rather than 3D software. Do not underestimate the value of your expertise and look for creative ways to position in for other jobs.
I’d personally always favor a job that is close to illustration and has a strong intellectual involvement rather than a more „classic“ day job, like being a shop assistant or waiter. The first is a source of learning and inspiration and is generally more profitable. The alternative is often just a time-sink (though I’m sure you can get loads of inspiration from working in contact with people in all cases).
Part of growing as an artist is also learning what kind of critique you need, what kind of critique are you prepared to work with and what kind of critique is not useful or even damaging to what you’re trying to do. Art is not like building a lego kit following the instructions or putting in the plumbing of a house - there is no „right“ and „wrong“ way of doing it. I’m not a „express-your-feelings-and-all-is-right“ kind of person - quite the contrary. But after spending the last six years studying commercial illustration and the illustration world in all its facets, I think it´s too complex to expect guidance from any single source or sources - even from peer critique.
Of course many can give you honest feedback on fundamentals like anatomy, perspective, and some basic composition and color concepts. Wether that´s what you want to work on or even what you need is your decision. There are many artists who defy all of those consistently and are doing great work nonetheless.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that this community is very supportive, very knowledgeable and very open. You will get honest and constructive criticism here - different things from different people probably. The more precise you are with the kind of critique you want, the better will the response be. It´s a big help in seeing through the fog and start to understand the lay of the land. It´s still not the key to unlock progress - you’ll need to figure out for yourself what the next step is and even where the road is.
@twiggyt I think your analogy with FB being like a family reunion and Twitter a party is spot on. I find Twitter exhausting 
I find my FB business account hard going too...but I’m reading so much about how FB has the most clever algorythm and the most sophisticated targeting tools for marketing, that I’m seriously thinking of putting some budget behind it. Especially in view of my first book coming out in April.
Behance - a project should include pieces that at least feel cohesive, even if they don’t come from the same set. Many artists make a „best of the year“ project and these are often really successful. Or a „characters“ project, featuring many different characters. Or „editorial“ with all their editorial work. Things like that work well.
Another option is to include process shots and mockups, so even if it´s only one illustration, you can show aspects of its creation or show how it looks as an art print. It beefs up the project a bit if there’s not so much art in it. Another option is to design some nice themed typography and use it for your title. All that can make the project look like more than one random image or two is appropriate.
@irina Thank you! I’m still thinking about Twitter. Gary Vaynerchuk says it´s an “extroverts” medium - similar to a global cocktail party. That would explain why I never felt comfortable on it.But it´s the place where all the publishing world hangs out, so I’m reluctant to drop it. At the moment I’m not doing anything with it, but maybe not yet scrapping it completely.
I’m thinking of re-focussing on Facebook and YouTube next year. Maybe try to understand what’s going on on LinkedIn. And yes, get a lot more active on YouTube.
I´ve actually set my studio up just yesterday to record my working space. I’m playing with the idea of simply recording anything I’m working on one day per week while I chat about the work at hand or maybe some other unrelated topic and edit it down to about one hour, ...something like Will does, but while I work. Not sure I trust myself yet, but I recorded yesterday and the tracks are not too bad....and it was actually quite fun to talk to the void while working
The problem is, as always, client work restrictions. But I think I can find a solution to that. Build a time-capsule and only use it when possible or something like that.
@irina I used to dedicate half a day to a day per week. At the moment I can’t, so my social media is sleeping since about a month and a half. But I don’t want this to happen again: next year I want to be a bit more disciplined and not accept breakneck deadlines anymore.
To quote Chris Do: “If you don’t dedicate part of your time to getting new business, you don’t have a business”.