Becoming a Successful Illustrator

Get ready to enter the working world of illustration with this freshly updated second edition of Brazell and Davies's Becoming a Successful Illustrator.

This edition features even more 'Spotlight on…' sections, with advice from practicing illustrators as well as the people that commission them. You can enjoy added coverage in fields such as moving image, character illustration and social media. There are also new exercises to get you started planning and building your business, and over 200 inspirational examples of artwork, most of which are new to this edition.

You can expect practical tips on how to seek work, how to market yourself and how to run your illustration business in an enterprising way, with advice that will prove useful long after your first commission. Building on the resources of the first edition, this continues to be the must-have guide to practicing professionally as an illustrator.

Featured illustrators include:

Millie Marotta
Mark Ulriksen
Natsko Seki
Ellen Weinstein
Stephen Collins
... and many more

Featured topics include:

Finding clients
Agency representation
Fields of work
Financial and legal requirements
Skills in art and design
Self-promotion
Showing work
Managing your business

Derek Brazell is a manager at the Association of Illustrators and is the Publisher of their illustration magazine.
Jo Davies is Associate Professor of Illustration at Plymouth University in the UK and an active illustrator.

“I think it's a great book, exactly the kind of thing that you need when you are starting out in illustration, really informative and helpful.” – David Roberts, illustrator

“[The authors] understand their subject and audience perfectly and do a wonderful job in communicating one to the other.” – Dwayne Bell, Lecturer in Graphic Design and Illustration, University of Cumbria

“I never make my students buy books, unless they are books they'll keep on their shelves after graduating. This is one of those exceptions” – Marius Valdes, University of South Carolina, USA

CHAPTER ONE: ILLUSTRATION ENTERPRISE
Understanding illustration
Where do illustrators work?
Spotlight on... Nancy Liang
Spotlight on... Tommy Doyle
Spotlight on... Marcos Chin
Skills in art and design
Attitude
Spotlight on... Ben Newman
Knowledge
Spotlight on... Rebecca Mock
Evaluating your strengths and weaknesses

CHAPTER TWO: THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD OF THE ILLUSTRATOR
Your commissioners
Professionalism
Journalistic awareness
Spotlight on... Sarajo Frieden
How to contact potential clients
Spotlight on... Gabrielle Adamson

CHAPTER THREE: THE ART OF SELF PROMOTION
How do I get myself known?
Spotlight on... Alexandra Zsigmond
Setting goals
Spotlight on... Sarah Williams
The different forms of promotion
Spotlight on... Jack Teagle
Promoting yourself online
Spotlight on... Sarah McIntyre
Competitions, exhibitions and trade fairs
Internships and work experience
Spotlight on... Mark Smith
Spotlight on... Libby McMullin
Spotlight on... Matthew Shearer, Bernstein & Andriulli

CHAPTER FOUR: GETTING YOUR WORK SEEN
Organizing your folio and website
Visual literacy
Spotlight on... Tad Carpenter
Agent representation
Spotlight on... Ulla Puggaard
Spotlight on... Andrea D'Aquino
Spotlight on... Cachetejack

CHAPTER FIVE: SECURING WORK
The stages of forming a contract
The terms of an agreement
Who owns the rights?
Spotlight on... Caroline Attia Larivière

CHAPTER SIX: FINANCE AND RUNNING A BUSINESS
Freelance work vs employment
Spotlight on... Laura Hughes
Managing your business
Managing your finances
Additional sources of income

Activities
Appendix