Where Are My Freelance ArtJobs?
Will Terry you are a man much wiser than your age. You could not be more right about the times we live in and what we each as both artists and businessmen must do to earn our share of the profits out there. ~Steven Watson
I’v been blessed as an artist but…
I have been blessed with many connections in the illustration world and many more since I started this blogging a few years back and those connections seem to be growing. Every day I get asked questions related to the freelance illustration markets -from how to improve the craft of illustration to how to find markets and clients and I spend a fair amount of my time answering them. I enjoy this time each day.
I’ve turned down Projects.
In the past month I have been offered three different freelance projects for publishing companies all of which I turned down due to the lack of budgets. I don’t want to seem ungrateful – beyond the fact that it’s flattering to be wanted – I realize that I’m in a different position than many illustrators since I’ve been at this a while and have spread out my income streams. I defend the right of our clients to offer what’s in their own best interest as we must decide to accept or reject based on our best interests. Some people complain about the price of a water bottle at the gas station…but they don’t have to buy it. But it’s the latest offering that I wanted to discuss.
While art ed is still costly, Commissions are dropping.
If you’ve gone through an illustration program on a University or art school level you know that illustration rates have either stayed the same over the last 100 years or gone down. The offering I received this week was half of what I used to get paid from that particular client. This made it very easy to turn down but that’s not the point. The point is that what I’ve been saying (see my “Tips for Illustrators” blog posts) is coming true. Prices that have at least “held” for decades are now going the other direction. We are competing on a global scale at many levels. With the ability for individual artists to publish their own music, books, videos, etc the big companies are having to adapt to the competition. It’s one reason entertainers like Jimmy Kimmel are releasing anonymous videos on youtube (like twerking girl catches on fire) to generate traffic back to his show. And have you seen the new “Cary” ad? My favorite prank yet. Our clients – the people we want to hire us are suffering from the noise just like we are – they are competing with us when we release our own products.