freelance info

[rach83]

so im a junior in college and i have not thought about it until recently, what are good ways to get my freelance career started. do i hire an agent? what have you all done? help! im feelin' kinda clueless.

[madhatta]

here's what i've started doing: hanging out with people in my own department in college. Then getting drunk with them at the pub and meeting their friends. This opened a door of opportunity for me.

also: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkejcF_2BbA

[rhughes]

Well, you're off to a good start by signing up for message boards. A big part of freelance work is getting people to look at your work and then (hopefully) talking with them about it. Networking is key, but so is advertising!!!

Find out what boards are out there for the type of work you're looking for and then start signing up, posting work, and getting to know people.

[peeplesart]

the best way is networking and getting your work out there. just like rhughes said.

I started by meeting different people in the industry. getting crits and contacts.

my first gig came from the internet. my writer found me on deviant or another board.

[jayodjick]

Assuming we're talking about comics, my advice (which admittedly may not be the best, I'm sure someone knows a better way) would be to concentrate on your sequential pages, and do up a good variety - show you can do action stuff, quiet moments, show you can draw people in civilian attire, in addition to superhero / superbabe / monsters n whatnot. Show you can draw buildings, cars, all that stuff.
I feel broken record-y, but show you can tell a story...then, plug your artwork and samples at company message boards, and keep an eye out at places like Digital Webbing to see if anyone is looking for artists, and try your luck.

If that's not working for ya, you can always try just doing some comics of your own, and see if that gets you more attention / contacts.

Oh, and make sure when you put up a link to your gallery or deviantart page / website, that the link is correct. Sorry, peeplesart, couldn't help myself!

[rach83]

Mar 18, 2009 18:25:48 GMT -5 jayodjick said:

Assuming we're talking about comics, my advice (which admittedly may not be the best, I'm sure someone knows a better way) would be to concentrate on your sequential pages, and do up a good variety - show you can do action stuff, quiet moments, show you can draw people in civilian attire, in addition to superhero / superbabe / monsters n whatnot. Show you can draw buildings, cars, all that stuff.
I feel broken record-y, but show you can tell a story...then, plug your artwork and samples at company message boards, and keep an eye out at places like Digital Webbing to see if anyone is looking for artists, and try your luck.

If that's not working for ya, you can always try just doing some comics of your own, and see if that gets you more attention / contacts.

Oh, and make sure when you put up a link to your gallery or deviantart page / website, that the link is correct. Sorry, peeplesart, couldn't help myself!

thank you so much ;D all of the things you said are very helpful!

[jayodjick]

I hope it helps a little bit - but thanks for the thanks! LOL

[nikkigraves]

These guys are right, networking and forums like these are the vital key to getting your name out there, wether as a freelance artist or looking to get hired at a company of any sort. I've talked with some people in the conceptual art biz for THQ and other places, they say the same thing as well. Having a variety of work in your portfolio and even having it online seems to be a must nowadays too -especially if you can swing a solo website. Make sure you have contact information like an email....they seem to frown upon phone numbers and are kinda iffy on addresses.

[rach83]

Mar 24, 2009 12:07:54 GMT -5 nikkigraves said:

These guys are right, networking and forums like these are the vital key to getting your name out there, wether as a freelance artist or looking to get hired at a company of any sort. I've talked with some people in the conceptual art biz for THQ and other places, they say the same thing as well. Having a variety of work in your portfolio and even having it online seems to be a must nowadays too -especially if you can swing a solo website. Make sure you have contact information like an email....they seem to frown upon phone numbers and are kinda iffy on addresses.

whoa... i didnt realize that folks in the biz frown upon the use of phone numbers. if i was thinking of trying to work at a company, but im not sure where to go. i'm not all that well versed in the illustration field and im not sure of what names to look out for? .... did that make any sense? can anyone toss out some names to research?

[nikkigraves]

It's some info that I've gotten from a few peeps who teach Interactive Media @ the University I go to. While email's ok because you can screen out the stupid junk emails, phone numbers can warrant a whole other type of creepy people...When I've been working on portfolio sites, they say no phone numbers.

This is where google's your new best bud. If you know a specific company you're interested in, check their company website...some of the staff might be listed on there (which means more information to search thru till you find a portfolio.)

[theartslave]

Never stop creating the things you love creating. The more prolific you are, the more material you are used to doing the better suited you will be to hit the ground running. Also, the more you keep creating material, the better you can get; just be careful not to reinforce bad habits—always focus on improving your game, and the best way to do that is to keep creating what you love! The next thing you know, you're amazing, you have a good body of work to show off on those message boards and portfolio critiques! Pretty soon you'll have wannabes and established pros talking to you as a peer (or grasshopper). Don't look for too many parades in your honor, however... just try to do excellent work, and the kudos will come.