For those of you who are considering the world of Art or Illustration as a sustainable, viable, career choice, you should read this and consider a few things before just diving in.  Even if you dont feel like reading this 5 billion word journal, at least skim through parts of it because the information im posting here was something that took me years to learn and i dont want you to have to go through the same things i did.

In highschool i learned that the most important thing to being a successful artist was to just simply be good, i thought if you were good enough and deticated enough you could make it anywhere.  Even if you are extreemly talented you cant just draw whenever you feel like, a good artist is deticated and committed to making images and laziness is something that will not gain you any success.
Over the years i realize that its not enough to simply be good anymore, you have to have contacts, and you have to constantly sell yourself to people, and sometimes in life, your hard work doesnt pay off the way you would like it to.

The world of Illustration to me is like throwing a rock into the ocean, and trying to get as many people as you can to notice the waves and ripples you made.  
Illustration is essentially a freelance career, and you will always be looking for work.  Those of you who are starting out in the business may find it very hard to get work, no matter how talented you are.  The life of an artist in general is not a stable line of work, in the beginning your jobs may vary from every few months to almost a year without being contacted for anything. And for those of you who dont like the risk and uncertainty should find a stable line of work for those first few years trying to carve yourself as an artist.

There are many markets open to illustrators, the main two are advertising and editorial illustration.  Of course there are several careers that are full-time staff jobs, but they are limited and rare.  Other markets open to illustrators vary depending on the style, working habits and nature of work but they include: childrens book illustration, book and manual design, medical illustration, video game and character design, storyboarding, and comic books.

The things you put in your portfolio is the way you wish to represent yourself. Of course there is no set rule as to how many peices you wish to submit but the standard is at least 10-12 peices of your best work.  Dont put in something that your not proud of just to pad your submission, you want to impress the people who are going to hire you.  A common misconception is that the more variety you have in your portfolio, the chances of getting work is higher because of your diversity, but that is wrong.  Try to keep a consistent look in your portfolio with many of the same style adn themes in your work.  Art directors dont want to sit and decide whether or not they can use you if they see only one peice they like, a consistent body of work will determine whether or not you get chosen for a job, or have someone tell you: "Well call you back" which in other words means: "Thanks but no thanks."
You also want to know the kind of person or company you want to work for is best suited to your style. If the company you want to submit to mainly publishes photorealistic, traditional style artworks, dont submit cartoon/manga-style CG work, although some companies are more accepting of newer styles than others so do your research before you send stuff out.
And even if you dont get a call back from the person you sent to, follow up on your submission.  Keep sending them new stuff, which is not to say to harass them, but be fammiliar.  Even if they wont have a job for you, someone they know might see your stuff and contact you through that, the point is to just keep trying and never, ever give up.

So you've submitted your stuff to several art directors, editors, and publishers which means you'll be getting a call back from them soon right?  Well... not really.  
Even though what you submitted to the art-director/editor is amazing and everything, there just might not be a job at the moment which would lend itself to your style.  They may refeer you to another art director/editor who has a suitable job that fits your style, but the main thing is that just because you dont get a call back it doesnt nessiarily mean that you suck, it might just mean that there is no avaliable work for you at the time.

These rules apply to almost any line of work for illustration, from comics to editorial, from character design to book publishing, the genereal process is to send stuff out and simply get noticed.  There are other ways to get noticed as well, some include setting up in comic conventions, trade shows and as many art exhibits as you can attend.  
Also, an alternative to finding work is to hire a rep who will find work for you and take care of the business side of illustration since most artists arent exacltly: "people persons."  Reps charge a 25%-30% commission for every job you get and are often reluctant to take on new artists although there are rep out there who will.  IF you are intrested in the idea of finding a rep contact
[link] which is a non-profit manhattan based company which lists suitable reps to contact and try to bridge the gap between artist, and client.

When i was about to graduate from highschool, everyone around me was always telling me how good i was, and the few sensible people in my life told me that although i had some talent, i should at least find an alternative career choice just in case illustration didnt work out for me.  But i let it get to my head and decided to rush head-into art without any knowledge of the industry or the competitive nature of the work, not knowing that there might be a possiblity that i could fail or that one day the people i love may depend on me to help and i wont be able to do anything for them.  If you are ever considering a career in art, dont make the same mistake i did and find some sort of alternative career that is stable before you decide that your good enough to make it.
That is not to say to ever stop drawing, but to put it in a horrible analogy that doesnt span fifteen paragraphs: "dont put all your eggs in one basket."

Nothing in life is secure, and nothing lasts forever.
and i know most of you are nodding your heads at this from the comfort of your computer at home, surrounded by your friends, family and loved ones and i truly hope none of that ever changes.  
But you have to consider that things will change someday.  You wont be young forever, the people you love wont be around forever, and unless you know what you want in life, you cant sit around deliberating your career forever.

I cant help but think sometimes that maybe the awnser or solutions are out there someplace, that there is a perfecally logical, simple solution to all my problems and that the only reason im having trouble in life right now is because i lack this knowledge, which is why im writing this journal, for those of you who lack the knowledge listed above just so you dont have to go through the years i did to learn it.
Although the competitive nature of illustration and art in general may make it seem like artists take pleasure in other artists failures, i truly mean it when i say: good luck to every last person out there who's pursuing a career in art and illustration, the world is a cold, strange and unforgiving place for us artists and i really hope we can all make it somewhere in this world.

Maybe someday i'll look back on this journal, like all the other previous journal entries i've written on DA which are placed beside me, and think that this was just a tough time in my life, maybe someday ill wonder why i ever typed a 5000-word journal exploiting my insecurities like some attention starved poet.  and maybe someday i'll be reading these words again from the comfort of a warm place, with the people i love still by my side and think that this was all just a big learning experiance.

But for now, i think i'll just stew around and worry about my future.

-Ray.



Best Friends/ amazing artists/ people I've meet or known on DA/ casual aquaintances/ VERY casual aquaintances/ enemies

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