life as a book illustrator || Q&A || commissions, portfolio, clients...

Finally, the Q&A (and painting process) is complete! This took me a while, and I really hope my answers are helpful. ❤️ I'm painting a book endpaper (for "Fangs for Nothing") and I'll talk both about the art process and working as a freelance illustrator: How I got started, how I got commissions, my experience with social media, art portfolios, and reaching out to clients, contracts, working internationally, and some of the hurdles I've encountered. 🥰 I also added a disclaimer in the actual video, but just to make sure, here too: I'm still relatively new to this industry, not a veteran, so I'm just sharing my experiences and tips that helped me personally - there are so many different ways to work as an illustrator, and my advice might not apply to you. I hope it helps, though, or you enjoy the painting process! Shop & Portfolio : https://www.evydraws.com Instagram :   / evydraws   Patreon :   / evelynepark   INPRNT : https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/evybak ✧ HELPFUL RESOURCES ✧ A line-up of interesting books and guides: https://www.illustrationhistory.org/r... A great starting point: https://businessofillustration.com/pr... https://businessofillustration.com/go... The "What Publishing Paid Me" Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/... I've also found it helpful to look at guides for authors, to see what kind of licensing needs and concerns they might have: https://sinclairpublishers.com/blog/b... ✧ ART MATERIALS ✧ Arches paper : https://amzn.to/4sPgs7g Golden Acrylic Paints : https://amzn.to/3PMGp71 OPEN acrylic paints : https://amzn.to/449lgIu (I mix my OPEN and Fluid paints with the regular heavy body acrylics for more control over drying time and texture.) Acrylic paint : Raw Umber UK - https://tidd.ly/4qX2hvH US - https://tidd.ly/49YVN9T ProArte Brush Set for Acrylics: UK - https://tidd.ly/3Njm762 US - https://tidd.ly/4sKy70z Akoya Synthetic Line: UK - https://tidd.ly/3NjgKDU US - https://tidd.ly/3Z581I9 My camera : https://amzn.to/4gSCFfM Microphone : https://amzn.to/3Y1dezO I may earn commissions for purchases made through links above * These small commissions come at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support of my channel! ✧ CHAPTERS ✧ 00:00 book illustration Q&A 00:35 thumbnail sketches & references 02:08 planning art 03:43 illustration check-in 1 09:10 emotional connection 10:50 daily (and monthly) structure 13:24 starting commissions 15:00 taking the plunge... 17:24 charging for illustrations & commercial licenses 20:20 contracts and AI... 22:20 promoting my work 23:50 Etsy, Instagram, and other platforms... 25:00 Bookish Artists Compendium 25:35 illustration check-in 2 27:25 criticising my past art... 28:25 painting process 31:05 protection (?) from GenAI 32:45 working internationally in South Korea 34:05 networking & community 36:16 starting late, slow progress, some optimism :) ✧ MUSIC ✧ Chillpeach - Loading :    • [no copyright music] 'Loading' cute backgr...   Chillpeach - Purple :    • [no copyright music] 'Purple' lofi backgro...