Why choose illustration as a career?

 I’ve always loved art, and particularly loved flicking through pictures books and encyclopaedias since a young age, digesting the illustrations more than the words in most cases. I simple love to draw, and have been doing it all my life, so to pursue a future in this field has always been an aspiration of mine.

 I constantly find inspiration from books, games, film and music, being subconsciously influenced and filling my head with ideas for illustrations. It seems natural for me to read a book for example and instantly draw characters or scenes from it, expanding upon these to create my own narrative to spin off from the original texts. You could say that illustration comes naturally and i find it a great hoppy as well as a career prospect.

 At the moment it is only a hoppy, and although I do free commissions for people on internet forum and work alongside indie game makers [people like myself, creating low-tech video games], making custom artworks and illustrations, i don’t produce work for money. The thought of actually gaining an income from something that I take to be a pastime and something I find effortless, is very appealing.

 I would like to pursue a career in teaching [preferably lecturing illustration or teaching art] and have freelance illustration as a secondary income, but there are many different careers within illustration that I could lend my hand to leaving me a wide choice of jobs should my plan not work out.

 Other fields that interest are animation or game design. Ive always dreamed of seeing my drawing, animated, and I already dip into game design, as i said before, working with indie game makers and producing artwork for my own game designing exploits. Illustration is a rich world for me, with many paths to go down.

 Another aspect of illustration I have, is working with clients [free work] and the enjoyment i get from receiving a brief, working on an illustration and seeing the excitement and happiness it brings the client is really gratifying and really gives me a boost of confidence about myself and my work. Illustration can be appreciated and viewed by everyone, so there is defiantly and client base out there, and an audience to acknowledge your work.

 Id like to think that in my future, ill make an impact on society in some form and help people, so aiming for a career in illustration and/or teaching of it, will no doubt do that. Be it sharing my knowledge and ideas with students or bringing stories to life and aiding advertising with images etc.

 However, it is apparent that illustration is a tough world, and it can be hard to get yourself known, but through hard work and networking its possible to get big clients and lots of acknowledgment. The strife and thought of achieving that is highly appealing, and I sense the achievement of doing so is great, making my future an exciting prospect.

In short, Illustration is my life, and always have been. To continue doing what I love till I can’t do it anymore is more than I could ask for in life, and would make me very happy.