Seeking professional advice...

[N D Hill]

Dear conceptart.org community.
I feel that I am in need of some professional advice.

I'm currently in the process of finishing up my BFA in fine arts at a State University. I had my BFA show this past spring and now it's becoming all too apparent that the cocoon of academia is quickly dissolving. Anyway, I've only had a couple freelance gigs, illustrating book covers for some small-time publishers. These jobs pretty much fell into my lap and aside from them I don't really have any professional experience as an illustrator or concept artist.

My employment as of late has consisted of fairly cushy jobs such as digital image restoration, assistant curator to my university's image library as well as the assistant to the Arts Promotions Director here. However, as these jobs have only been open to students, I have no illusions that I'll probably end up in some retail position on the outside to hold me over. Local gallery jobs, graphic arts jobs, and photo finishing jobs are few and far between and very competitive amongst an already experienced base. With this in mind, I plan on pursuing my MFA after taking a year off from school so in the future I'll at least be able to supplement my income in some academic setting. And really most of my plans will only end up holding me over till something else comes along. Making art will always be my top priority however. With my state university fine arts education but commercial aspirations, I find myself not really at home within either the commercial illustration or the fine-arts camps. On my own, I've been working on my portfolio with no real formal technical training, trying to get whatever exposure I can locally and online, but without any significant monetary results thus far it's hard to keep myself going.

I guess what I'm finally getting at is the question, where do I begin? I've just started applying and sending samples of my portfolio to a few freelance job postings found on these forums but with little luck. I'm afraid that I'm simply a terrible entrepanuer and know of no where else I could be looking. I'm a little unsure of what I should be searching for as well and what I can expect to find. As far as what I want or think I can manage best at this point, I'm still more of a creature/character designer. Though I'm trying to expand into a broader range of subject matter with the intentions of becoming more versatile. My clients thus far have been small publishers seeking cover illustrations and bands independently producing self-released albums. The pay has been nothing substantial but it's all served to produce portfolio fodder. I'm really keeping my options open to any possibilities in order to expand my artistic horizons and I have no intentions to specialize in any one thing this early in the game. I realize that work requires a great deal of improvement to be able to able to qualify for any descent paying, stable gigs but right now, I'll take anything I can get.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
Peace.
-Noel

[Storyboard Dave]

Patience there young grasshopper!

No need to sink both feet into getting the MFA just yet. First off, ask yourself why do you want to spend more money on getting the MFA? Is it really going to help you land more work with an MFA in hand? Do you really even need one for the profession you're going into?

My personal opinion (for what it's worth) is that you spend that time re-working your portfolio to adequately fit the real world. Like you said, that veil of academia where theory is taught, and not enough brass tacks relevant sensibility, is still showing in your portfolio. Employers don't want to see pieces that look like assignments. They want to be able to look at a portfolio with some real world parameters; they want to see pieces done with creativity but look as though they were created for a real client. The people hiring simply need to feel a comfort zone and a connection to your portfolio. Can they simply make a buck off of your skills??

Re-evaluate yourself in the sense by asking yourself- what do I have to offer a prospective employer? More likely than not at this stage of the game you're not going to offer much beyond brute force, muscle and a second set of hands. You simply have not earned anyone's trust just yet. Would you let some fresh faced art school graduate spearhead your multi-million dollar project? Probably not. But then that's where you offer yourself up to do every menial taks there is in a studio. Your eagerness to work, go that extra mile, and do the dirty work- backed by a talented portfolio obviously, will earn your employers' trust to handle larger projects. Good juicy assignments are earned and not handed out like Halloween candy.

Same holds true for freelance assignments. Have a portfolio with realistic work in it again. Earn the trust of prospective employers. Have a track record built with countless grunt jobs (you're doing that now). Ask any successful illustrator and they can tell you horror stories of how many hideous t-shirt designs, logos, caricatures, funeral parlor ads, tattoos, kids' books, spot illustrations, and such that they've had to endure.

No one jumps right out of college and lands the Time magazine cover job nor is the lead concept designer on a video game... not to my knowledge anyway.

So my advice is to get a menial job by day, re-vamp your portfolio by night towards a very specific job/ market you want. It's not easy to be self motivated at this point; you no longer have an instructor with a hard deadline looming over you. It's all on you and how badly you want to be in this field now. Do the research on the jobs you want. Tailor your portfolio to each client (I don't believe in generic one size fits all portfolios) and then send them your samples. Target your market; find out what it is they're looking for and hit it dead on. Be surgical with your precision.

It's never easy starting off but everyone starts off at an uneasy point in their career. No one is that immensely talented and more importantly- trusted, where they springboard out of college to the big time. It takes time and effort to build up your reputation; it's earned through hard work and perseverance.

Good luck.

[N D Hill]

Thanks for the advice, Dave. I appreciate it.

[Storyboard Dave]

Thanks for the advice, Dave. I appreciate it.

No sweat dude. I hope it helps.