Professional Illustration Turn Your Passion into a Career

Learn the techniques and tools to turn your illustrations into something more than a hobby
During their career, professional illustrators often have to assume several additional positions: publicist, administrator, community manager, and even lawyer. Going from drawing in a notebook to being a professional illustrator adds a series of challenges and opportunities that every creative must face, usually by themselves and in a self-taught way.

In this course, Laura Varsky—illustrator and teacher of the course Vector Pattern Creation and Commercialization—will give you the tools to understand how to position yourself in the market and to take advantage of the identifying features of your work. You will analyze the step-by-step of a professional assignment, taking into account the legal aspects of an illustrator’s line of work.

In short, this course works as a practical guide to start your career as an illustrator, trying to avoid any missteps or setbacks.

Laura will introduce herself and her work as an art director with illustrators. She will also tell you about her professional career and some of her influences.

You will learn some characteristics of illustration as a discipline and its scope, to then understand the markets in which an illustrator works and the types of clients, projects, and average budgets they face.

Then it will be time to professionally identify yourself, choosing with which aspect of the profession you feel comfortable with and starting to illustrate in series, under the same theme.

Once you define what type of illustrator you are, you must introduce yourself to the world, defining your name, signature, portfolio structure, self-promotion strategies, and products that you could sell.

Knowing when to take on projects and when not to is a large part of an independent illustrator’s day-to-day, and Laura will guide you through it, helping you balance your private life and profession.

You will understand the legal details that will help you put a price on your work and negotiate your paycheck favorably. You will see different ways of carrying out a job, from the assignment to the finished work.

Finally, you will learn about the different formats for the delivery of your work, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each one.