Finding Your Way as a Picture Book Illustrator
A collaborative discussion between and about building sustainable careers in children’s book illustration, transitioning from other creative fields, and the business side of art.
Jacob: When you decided to really push towards being an illustrator of books for kids after your work as a graphic designer, what was instantly transferable and helpful? What do you wish more illustrators would do that came naturally from this experience?
Valerie: There are a lot of things that I take from my design career that I think make my illustrations better. First, design elements that have been hammered into my brain—like contrast, hierarchy, space, balance, proportions, colors and values—are present in my illustrations. I also have a strong understanding of typography and how a book is printed, so art directors don’t have to make me change my work to fit within margins and bleed.
The other thing is that I’ve been designing for brand for 25 years now, so I know how to do marketing, what’s important and how to tell a story. I also know how a freelance career can be hard and how to keep yourself sane (I have lots of been-there-done-that experience, lol). My take on it all is that now I get to do something I truly love with my style and a touch of my spirit. It’s awesome!
What I wish more illustrators would do is treat their illustration career as a business venture! They need to figure out their rates, build a good portfolio and website, create a newsletter and seek out those art directors’ emails and pitch! Stop wasting their time on making reels to gain Instagram followers—put that time into solidifying your career’s foundations.
Valerie: So you’ve been a kidlit illustrator—and author as I read in one of your recent posts—for longer than I have... Looking back to your first years, is there anything you wished you’d done sooner?
Jacob: Yes! I waited too long to approach agents and editors with my work. I can find perfectionism a great place to hide to avoid bad news. “It’s not good enough so I’ll just work on this alone and not ever share it.” And the truth was always that rejection and a “no, not yet” is helpful information. I also wish I’d gotten to the nuts and bolts of the work sooner. Trying to illustrate a manuscript without the pressure of it being a real life project would have taught me a ton. Sketching and finals are just two stops on the book making journey.
Jacob: How do you balance the business stuff with the creative stuff? How do you build up the muscles to do both well?
Valerie: I think we need to change the word balance—like achieving work-life balance, which is total bullshit in my opinion—with FOCUS. My whole year is divided by seasons (a cuter word than quarterly) which have different focus. Having been a freelancer for a while, I know what happens when in the design world, and fortunately the illustration world is very similar. For example, in the summer season, I focus on creativity and personal projects because the business and publishing side is fairly slow.
That is how I managed to achieve my goals, by the way. I focus on one big thing at a time, along with 2-3 smaller projects peppered along the way. I have a quote from George Lucas (said through a Jedi) written on a post-it on my desk: “Your focus determines your reality.” In order to do something well, you need to give it your undivided attention—business tasks, creative projects, parenting—you can’t half-ass it if you want to really build something!
Valerie: I’d love to know what your creative process is, both for designing an illustration and writing a story? Where do you get your inspiration?
Jacob: That’s an excellent way of seeing it. There is a natural rhythm to publishing and figuring out when to take advantage of slow spots makes a lot of sense.
My creative process, big picture, is a series of habits that I do daily or weekly that are just me showing up and being open to new ideas, new stories, new ways of telling stories, etc. Drilled down a bit, most of what I do revolves around story. An illustration is most often hitting its mark when it’s asking questions. What happens next? Who are these characters? Why should anyone care? Style, techniques, etc are often secondary to this main thrust.
Writing is newer to me, but usually starts with a question that I find quirky and compelling. What would happen if a Jellyfish found out he wasn’t a fish? If it’s a picture book idea, drawing and writing can happen at the same time — which is pretty exciting and a touch overwhelming.
I get inspiration from everywhere! I think paying attention is an artists super-power. I of course love a good picture book and have spent a lot of time studying my favorites.
Jacob: What do you think most illustrators get wrong about marketing? What are some simple day-one changes that could bolster what we’re trying to do?
Valerie: It might be counter-intuitive, but casting a wide net — so being present on all the social media, plus YouTube etc. — won’t get you more work. You might think, the more people see my work, the better my chances, but what you actually need to do is find who will actually give you work and reach out directly to them, however uncomfortable that may be. Find the art director, editor, the person in charge of product design in a company, the creative director in that agency... Contact them directly with an introduction email. This will give you much more success than posting a reel on Instagram! Marketing is about reaching out to the right people.
For simple day-one changes:
Make sure it’s easy to reach you on your website!
Put your best work on your homepage
Make sure your info is consistent on all socials—same image/icon, same blurb, etc.
Start your list of people to reach out to and contact them once every season with new work
What you can achieve in one month:
A simple portfolio website (you only need 3 pages for starters: homepage/portfolio, about and contact)
A Substack where you can express yourself and start a following
Find a community of illustrators to chat with or start a critique group
The last things I find super important: Find what makes you unique and push that forward! I was recently queried because I am Canadian and the publisher wanted to have a Canadian artist! You don’t need to describe your art (an art director will understand by seeing your work that you like texture) but explaining where you get your inspiration can be interesting.
Also, don’t hesitate to brag (and I’m looking particularly at my female colleagues!). You won an award? You are working on a book to be published next year? You worked for a famous brand? That should be on your homepage, in your emails, etc. First paragraph? You bet!
The best (and easiest to get) clients are the ones you’ve already worked with: when a gig is over, send a positive “I’d like for us to work together again” email and be sure to keep that connection alive!
Jacob: Goodness. So much good advice here. I did some of those things right out of the box, but some took years to implement. I think we, insular art hermit types, can lack the verve to reach out to the people who can give use the work. Hoping this is the boost folks need to jump.
Thank you, Valerie!
What questions do you have about building a sustainable illustration career? Let us know in the comments below.
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Really helpful, thank you ☺️
This is such a fantastic interview! And so much of it applies equally from the writing side. Definitely gotta remember to follow-up with a thank you after my current work-for-hire writing project!