Being an illustrator

I can now say I am an illustrator who accomplished over 20 years in this illustration industry. All the time being a freelancer and self employed. And how did I do it.

By being a specialist at what I do most, being good at what I do. And always try to explore and grow technically and artistically, and diversify.

Understanding I never know everything, so being humble and always open to learn new things. Aknowledging that being an illustrator, and a Freelancer and self employed at that, means your running a business.

Understanding the importance of chasing clients. Making cold calls. Networking. Having a proper portfolio website. Knowing to use social media, but not being an addict of it.

Going up in the morning. Setting the alarm clock. Take an early shower, breakfast. Checking the news in the morning. And check my email and social media for inquiries.

Updating my website. Writing a blog about things I know about, and about my work and life around it. And updating fairly regularly.

And never stand still. Move forward. Open to new adventures. You can have good and bad clients. And one bad client is bad paying clients. People who like you to work for pennies.

Bad paying clients are a waste of time over time. And you find them on various freelance sites like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, Guru. Stay away from those.

Instead look around in your own neighborhood, surrounding. Many local and domestic companies are looking for freelancers, and pay fairly. And way better than those freelance sites.

Learn to dare to loose a client. Learn to loose a deal. When you learn to dare to loose, that’s the time when you respect your own work, and may start to get proper clients and people to work with.

Learn to dare to negotiate and dare to move away from a deal if it doesn’t feel good for both parties of a deal.

Have fun!

Stefan Lindblad

Illustrator and graphic designer