8 Pros and Cons of Being an Illustrator

More and more young people who love to draw become illustrators because it is an attractive profession with a high salary and a freelancing environment.

But we will share with you the pros and cons of being an illustrator so that you can better visualize the tasks of this job. Read on to discover what they are!

If you work as an illustrator, you have some benefits as below:

1. Comfortable Working Environment

In animation studios, illustrators often have very comfortable workspaces where they can get ideas for their artwork. They can comfortably talk to each other and use the phone to not be secretive when working.

In addition, this advantage is even evident when you are freelancing. You can choose any working environment you want. If you don’t like a solemn work environment, try pursuing an illustrator career.

2. Flexibility

As a freelance illustrator, you take control of your work. The customer will be the one to request you. However, you can use your methods and schedules to get things done. So if you’re a night owl who enjoys freelance work, an illustrator is a great choice!

3. High Income

Companies often pay a high salary for the position of an illustrator because they contribute a lot of creativity.

Meanwhile, the income of a freelance illustrator is somewhat more unstable. But, they can take on many projects to get the desired income. The earnings of an illustrator are unlimited as long as you keep making progress.

4. You Can Choose Your Work

Unlike boring office jobs, the job of an illustrator gives you the freedom to choose your clients. If some project does not suit your style, you can reject it.

Besides, you can choose the project after considering the workload and remuneration. So, you will be less likely to encounter challenging projects.

5. Work from Home

Work from home as an illustrator

Currently, many companies employ freelance illustrators to save costs. This fact is an advantage of this job.

As a freelance illustrator, you need the inspiration to work. Thus, you can choose your work wherever you want.

You can work from home, in your favorite coffee shop, or at a library. It doesn’t matter where you work, but what matters is that you feel comfortable creating unique works of art.

This interest is probably something that art lovers are willing to pursue this career path. Everyone wants to strike a balance between passion and making money. Fortunately, a freelance illustrator can be an option.

Below are some cons of being an illustrator you must consider:

6. Large Initial Investment Cost

The setup can be expensive if you don’t have the necessary hardware and software available to create your illustrations.

If you are an in-house illustrator, your employer will provide you with these materials, but you don’t have to start from scratch.

You can start by buying yourself a high-configuration laptop to make good use of graphics software. A drawing board is also a necessary device in this work.

They are expensive but can go with you for a very long time. Thus, do not be afraid that you are throwing money out the window!

7. Limit of Work

As we said, the job of a freelance illustrator is often unstable. There will be times when you don’t have any projects. This disadvantage will make it difficult for newcomers to earn an income.

But those who have worked for a long time will not feel this is a problem because they already know how to arrange their work to create a stable income. They have built a brand for themselves, so the lack of projects rarely happens.

8. Can Make You Lonely

You will have little or no interaction with co-workers. This problem will reduce your communication skills and can make your job boring.

However, you can increase your inspiration by joining artist groups. You can share work-related experiences to progress together.

You can choose to work at the office to avoid this inconvenience. You will interact with colleagues to increase work efficiency when working at the company. From there, you will no longer feel lonely at work.

Skills That an Illustrator Must Have

In addition to hard skills like drawing and using drawing equipment, you must have creative thinking, good communication skills, and so on. Read on to learn!

Creative

Creative thinking is one of the most valuable skills of an illustrator. It is the ability to make something trivial or unfinished become memorable.

Illustrators have to think and imagine creatively beyond conventional conventions. This skill makes good illustrators come up with great ideas.

You can practice this skill by following famous artists and finding the uniqueness in their works.

Besides, you can create a mood board before you start drawing something. This step makes it easier to come up with unique ideas. Many illustrators have used this method with success.

Communication

Although illustrators don’t communicate much with their colleagues during the drawing process, they talk to clients regularly. This process helps artists to understand the customer’s requirements to draw the most satisfactory work.

If you lack communication skills, you may have to revise your work over and over before it’s finished. This problem wastes your time and reduces your credibility.

So you must practice communication skills to convey what you want to customers. You also need to know how to listen to make voice conversations easier.

Style

You won’t be able to succeed in this industry without building your unique style. This style will help people recognize your work as soon as they look at it.

To do this, you must learn from those who have come a long way. At first, you can follow and imitate those people.

Once you have determined what you want in your work, you must develop that style. This process will be difficult, but if you try your best, you will succeed.

Personal project

You must have personal projects to express your style before applying for an illustrator. You can draw anything from these projects.

For example, you can create a portrait project and leave the portraits you have drawn. If you love drawing landscapes, you can create a landscape painting project. Try many different themes and styles to make your profile more diverse.

Conclusion

The opportunities and obstacles of being an illustrator have helped you be more clear about this job, right? After researching, you need to consider these factors to choose your career path. Illustrating is an attractive job worth pursuing if you have a talent for painting.

Practice the skills mentioned above so you can start this career path! Don’t forget to visit our website to read other articles in this area!