How I became an illustrator and then live event illustrator
DIY and an LP player
I wasn’t super artistic as a child and drawing definitely wasn’t my forte. But I loved doing things with my hands and getting lost in my little world creating something. I remember spending hours doing little DIY projects from activity books while listening to children’s books on my LP player (because that’s how we rocked in the ‘90s). Looking back, it wasn’t the love of drawing that pulled me towards being an illustrator, instead it was the magnetic power of the flow state. I was longing to recreate that as an adult and managed to do it through illustration.
After a not particularly artistic high school, I was a little bit lost about what to do. I knew I wanted to go to university but I wasn’t really sure what would suit me, so I followed a friend of mine to study international relations. At that point, I wasn’t even aware that art could be a career, it just wasn’t on my radar at all. While I was at university, I did an internship at a creative consultancy in Brussels, and even though it didn’t bring me closer to what I wanted to do as a career, I got to know Brussels and what it was like to live abroad and I really loved it.
Moved to Brussels, now what?
When I eventually ended up in Brussels for good, my artistic side was still a mystery to me, and I started working at an NGO. While I was there, a friend of mine introduced me to a Dutch illustrator. She was making illustrated journal entries of her daily life and inspired me to start doing the same. That was the first time I ever picked up a pen and pencil as an adult, without knowing where it would take me. While working for this NGO, as I got more and more invested in my creative side, my boss encouraged me to incorporate it into my work as well. So I started creating hand-drawn infographics related to the work we were doing and taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator while doing it. When my internship was over, I was able to sell an illustrated map of Brussels to the Brussels office of tourism, and that’s when I thought, ha, maybe this could actually be a career…
This is not the actual map I’m talking about (it was less fun).
Discovering graphic recording and diving in head first
That same year, in 2012, a friend of mine suggested that I take part in a graphic recording training. I had no idea what it was but I was intrigued so I attended the training in Budapest. It was really exciting and really hard, but I felt a connection, like this was the direction that I needed to take. From then on, I incorporated graphic recording / live event illustration into my offering and built my business from there.
Getting off the freelance rollercoaster
Very often, it was a struggle. The mental health aspects of the freelance rollercoaster were not often discussed at that time and I felt like I was completely alone with the difficulties of running a freelance illustration business. But every time I felt like I was about to give it all up, came a project that turned the whole thing around again. After years of highs and lows, I took a step back and went to work for a company. It was a very useful reset and I’m grateful to the team for the opportunity, but ultimately, that wasn’t for me either.
I’m now back a freelancing with a newfound understanding of how mixing art with business can work for me. It turns out that the highs and lows, the unpredictability is not for me. But I think that there is another way to be a freelancer, and now I’m focusing on creating systems that lead to a sustainable enterprise.
Unsolicited advice
If you are also interested in live illustration as a career, here are some things I wish I had known when I started:
#1 It takes years
It takes years to build up enough momentum and clients that can sustain you full time. I was lucky enough that I had family support and was able to focus on my illustration work from the get go, but this is a very privileged position. If you currently have a job, try doing live illustration on the side at first and build slowly from there until one day you feel confident that you can take the leap.
#2 This is a business
Treat this job as a business. It took me a long time to consider myself a business as opposed to an artist with a “thank you so much for hiring me maybe I should pay you instead this is so great I love my job” mentality. You are providing a valuable service and you need to price it accordingly.
#3 Invest in your skills
You need to invest in your skills. Practice and learn from others. You don’t necessarily need to invest your money, but you can definitely invest your time. Learn about layout, colors, icons, metaphors, and prepare before every job to make the best work possible.
#4 Get out into the world
This is a big one. Many illustrators are also introverts who love to hang out at home in their PJs drawing away on their iPad but this will not bring in projects. You need to get the word out about your work because “without clients, you don’t have a business”. One thing that artists often forget is that just as we use our skills to offer value to our clients, we can also use it to offer value to our own business. In this case, learn about marketing, sales, networking, all that jazz, and incorporate these into your day to day. I understand that many artists are yucked out by these but without these, again, you don’t have a business. Plus, these tasks are not so bad and you can befriend them with time and intention.
A list of the people who have inspired me along the way: Anna-Desnise Floor, Mike Rohde, Eva-Lotta Lamm, Alejo Porras, Adrien Liard, Katie Chappell, Austin Kleon
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk. Keep drawing, keep creating!
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