The start of a new year is always a great time for reflection so without further ado, 2009 was the year that…

…I launched zero2illo

…I had a digital painting tutorial featured on PSDtuts

…I had my first published work

…I became a father

…My illustration style finally fell into place

…I was interviewed by the best illustration podcaster (in my opinion) of 2009

…We hit the road again

…I realised that working towards your goals sometimes means working on something else entirely.

This last point needs a little more explanation as it’s an important one because it was a bitter, but very necessary pill to swallow.

Sometimes, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to fit everything in and over the last six months this has become very apparent and something had to give. Illustration is my passion but I just haven’t have the time to put in to it to start making it pay.

With the responsibilities that come with being a husband and father, I had to priortise the businesses that we already had up and running as they were the main income source for our family. I wrestled with the fact that I had started to gain a small following on the zero2illo blog, that I had contacted other illustrators to request interviews with them, that I had been interviewed for something that I wasn’t able to give more of my time and attention to and that I had finally started to make some progress with my work.

It was so hard to let go but I know it’s temporary and it’s not as though I don’t enjoy the other work I currently get paid for (graphic design), I just didn’t want to let people down.

But then I realised something – by focusing my time and effort on our other businesses, we were building up passive income streams, setting up marketing channels, streamlining our services and getting our house in order…all of which means that in a month or two, I will be able to focus on my illustration career and this blog more than I ever have before and because of the time we have put into the other businesses, my wife will also have time to help me with this blog and my portfolio site (which is going to make a huge difference as she is a one woman dynamo when it comes to business and marketing!)

Temporarily loosening the grip on my illustration aspirations has been really hard but I now know that it was the right decision and that makes me more determined than ever to make 2010 a big year for illustration.

I’d like to thanks everyone for sticking with me while I get things sorted out and for all of the support and comments throughout 2009, believe me, they really do mean so much to me.

Wishing you all a successful and profitable New Year of Illustration,

Jonathan

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Still busy with the day job (Graphic Design is my bread & butter while I’m working towards my illustration goal) along with taking a more active role in the site my wife and I run called ‘Location Independent’ which focuses on breaking free from convention and being able to live and work from anywhere you choose.

I wrote a post a while ago about our Location Independent lifestyle and will be mentioning it more on this blog as the months go by as it’s an interesting option to consider for other aspiring and working illustrators out there.

I also came to the realisation this week that I’ve fallen in to bad habits again with the amount of time focussing on what other illustrators are doing – both looking at their work and questioning my own abilities (something I’m sure all you other aspiring illustrators are familiar with).

My aim for this blog is to try and share with readers a practical and successful route to becoming a full time illustrator and in order to do that, I have to reach that goal myself so that I can authentically share with you what has and hasn’t worked.

With limited time at the moment for my illustration goals due to other commitments, I need to make every minute count. My daughter is now 8 weeks old and things are starting to get a little easier with routines starting to be established, so it’s time to get things back on track and make this work.

Week In Review

With the imminent release of ‘The Big Book Of Contemporary Illustration‘ featuring 4 of my illustrations, it’s important that my portfolio site is looking ship shape. Who knows who might see my work in the book and what it might lead to, so I need to make sure everything is looking how I want it to and also that it reflects the current style of work I do and equally importantly, the type of work I’d like to be doing.

I’ve almost finished the collage illustration for ‘The Barn Owl’ and have planned out the next piece in my set of 12 British Birds – ‘The Swan’.

I also fired off a few emails to other illustrators that I’d like to interview for the blog.

The Week Ahead

• Tie up all of the loose ends on my portfolio site – including adding the Barn Owl illustration once completed (currently have a placeholder up there at present with just the sketch).
• Refine the sketch and start work on the collage illustration for ‘ The Swan’.
• Gather more info for the zero2illo post I’m putting together on ‘Passive Income From Illustration’.

I have a few new resources that I’d like to share with you but am saving them for a resources round up post later in the week, but I did want to share this inspirational post about the amazing Bernie Fuchs from the amazing blog ‘Todays Inspiration‘.

Finally, I always like to include some art on these posts – so here’s the collage illustration for my new (soon to launch) web store…

Related posts:

1. Month In Review & The Week Ahead 10th-16th August

Enough about that though, it’s time to get back into the saddle and crack on with my illustration journey.

Month In Review

This month has pretty much been filled with the shock and awe of becoming a new dad, changing nappies, soothing all the crying (well, trying to!), rocking my little girl to sleep and enjoying lots of lovely cuddles.

I had started a new collage illustration the week Mali was born and so far I have completed the background – a night time scene this time which was really fun to do, trying to come up with interesting ways to represent the moon and stars.

Here is a pic of the composition sketch and how the finished background looks so far…

The Week Ahead

• Finish the barn owl collage
• Start work on the next collage in my ’12 British Birds’ series – ‘The Swan’
• Put together a new post based on all of the resources I’ve been storing up over the past month
• Hopefully hear back from the illustrator who will be the feature of the next interview – he’s been away on holiday and is due to be getting back to me with answers to the interview questions next week. As soon as I hear back from him, I will reveal who he is!!!

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5: Ask Questions

It’s easy to be intimidated by those illustrators whose work and careers you admire – thinking that they wouldn’t give you, a lowly aspiring illustrator, the time of day.

Don’t let this put you off – all of the established illustrators I have approached so far have been warm, friendly and only too happy to answer my questions. Some of the illustrators I’ve approached have also been kind enough to give me a thorough critique of my work too.

Not everyone will be super helpful and you may find, as I have, that on social networking sites like Twitter, Illustrators sometimes band together and can be a little cliquey – but don’t let this put you off, for all those people I’ve encountered I’ve also connected with 10 times as many illustrators that are only too happy to share their experience.

(NOTE: Asking questions is great, but be sure to give back too – platforms like Twitter shouldn’t be just about what you can get. Sharing the tips and experience that you’ve gathered on your journey with other aspiring illustrators is just as important.)

Remember, it’s also always a nice ego boost when someone likes your work and values your opinion enough to contact you for advice – your email may just make their day!

6: Illustrations Commissions Aren’t The Only Way To Earn A Living From Illustration

For a long time I’ve been of the mind set that to make it as an Illustrator you need to be at the mercy of Art Directors and land a steady string of commissions, but this isn’t the only way to make a living as an Illustrator.

There are many avenues to sell your work directly to your target market through sites like Red Bubble, Etsy and Cafe Press.

You could also look into licensing your illustrations for use on greetings cards, wrapping paper, clothing, jigsaws etc. There are lots of opportunities out there to build a steady stream of passive income, allowing your illustrations to continue to earn you money long after they have been created.

Recently I’ve been looking at ways to take control of my career and income by creating my own markets for the illustrations I produce. I’ve been working hard on some custom illustrations and will be launching this new venture via a website next month.

I’ll be following the website launch with an in depth article on this blog discussing my approach, including the ’1000 true fans’ principle (more on this in the article).

The lesson to learn here, is to be creative and think outside of the box to find an audience and market for your work in this modern digital age – consider all of the options available to you.

7 Network:

If you, like me, are a bit shy about blowing your own trumpet and marketing yourself and your work….GET OVER IT!!!

This isn’t easy and I’m still learning, but through this blog, using twitter, setting up a Facebook page for my work, creating tutorials for other websites and approaching other illustrators, I’m starting to get my name out there.

It’s amazing how many of our website design clients (the day job) think that as soon as their website is live, thousands of people will flock to their website, which in turn will lead to thousands of pounds/dollars of business. But if no one knows your site exists, no one is going to visit it.

I’m not going to lie, this networking lark is hard work and not something that you just do once. Networking is something that needs to be a core part of your marketing efforts, but in time, if you put the hours in – it will pay off.

8: Collaborate With The Right People Or Just Do It Yourself

Collaborations can be great when you have a shared vision, you are both highly motivated and both parties bring equally to the table. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as I have now learned this lesson) when these things don’t align, it can be an energy draining experience and a big waste of time.

As the life of an illustrator is a solitary one, it’s easy to get swept away in the excitement of working on a collaboration, but ask yourself one question: Is this collaboration taking you closer or further away from your ultimate goal?

I learned this the hard way and wasted countless hours before decided to severe the cord and focus solely on reaching my own illustration goals.

I hope that through sharing the lessons that I have learned so far, it might help you guys avoid some of the mistakes I have made – and of course, if you have any lessons of your own to add, please do share them in the comments

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This is something that has been in the pipeline for a while now, but have only just heard from the author when the official release date will be.

Website addresses will be featured along side each illustrators work, so it will be interesting to see if the exposure results in any commissions – I’ll be sure to keep you updated.

You may be interested to know that I was approached to be featured in the book after the authors researchers found my work on Illustration Friday, having illustrated one of their weekly topics.

Taking part in weekly challenges like those on Illustration Friday is not only fun, a great way to practice and create new portfolio pieces – you also never know who else is watching!

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