Sergio Ingravalle

In my work, creating an illustration usually consists of a rough sketch, a detailed drawing, outlining, coloring, and fine-tuning. When I receive a commission that requires the creation of several, sometimes dozens, illustrations in the same style, I notice the same phenomenon over and over again.

For some illustration steps, such as coloring, I’m on autopilot. By the third illustration, at the latest, it’s like assembly line work. All that’s needed here is my craft and consistency. It doesn’t require a “creative view” or a willingness to experiment. In this phase, I can relax and listen to music, or an episode of King of Queens on the iPad, or talk to friends on the phone.

But at some stage, I always get to the point where that’s no longer enough. It’s a moment when I have to look at the subject closely and match every stroke and detail, whether it’s a portrait, a product, or a scene. I’m sure it sounds corny, but I have to feel it somehow, look at it sensitively. I can’t describe it any other way yet.

I have learned that every work deserves a certain amount of individual attention. Be it just a few strokes or color adjustments. Then it’s music off, smartphone on flight mode, and just feel and react, feel, react, until there is nothing more to discover.

The market for illustrators is large and diverse. Books, magazines, movie posters, product packaging, t-shirts, vehicles, and websites are a few areas we can create illustrations for. Agencies can even build multi-million dollar advertising campaigns based on the works of a single illustrator.

Some areas, however, are more saturated. For example, this may apply to children’s books after reading articles and speaking to colleagues. But even that shouldn’t stop us from going all the way in if this is our passion. Apart from that, there are still other areas which we can enjoy.

Children’s book illustrators, for example, could also offer storyboards. They are skilled at freehand drawing and creating entire series of illustrations. They usually can visualize quickly. That skill is necessary for creating storyboards. Storyboards are a daily tool within the creative industry, whether for commercials, game apps, or movies. Speed is essential here. Advertising agencies might call in the morning and ask for a storyboard for a pitch at noon. A fast and reliable illustrator is precious.

PS: Personally, I’m not very comfortable with storyboarding. You can find a little anecdote about this in my last post.

Having a business besides freelancing is the best we can do. For ourselves, our business, and for the clients.

Being a freelancer as an illustrator, web designer, or translator means earning a living with commissions from various clients. Our goal is to generate the commissions that suit us and that appeal to us. We want to develop and improve in our profession and eventually be happy with what we do.

Pursuing a side hustle can be a valuable asset for freelancers in this regard. Having an extra pillar of income can give us the freedom to say No.

At the beginning of my career as an illustrator, I accepted every possible request. On the one hand, I had the time; on the other, I desperately needed the money. So I took a storyboard assignment from a big advertising agency without hesitation. And I did so even though I was aware that freehand drawing was not something I was particularly good at. It was a nightmare. Neither was I fast enough, nor could the quality of my loveless drawings meet the client’s expectations. Nightshift after nightshift, I tried to get the best out of it.

The final result was finally acceptable. But the road to that point was arduous for both parties. It should be clear that the agency has not contacted me again to this day.

Being able to refuse requests is essential for our business, so we can concentrate on offering what we like most (and, therefore, usually do best). But above all, it’s about fairness to the customer. Who wants to hire an unmotivated freelancer who only accepts the job to be able to pay her rent? A well-paying client has the right to the best version of us. Anything else borders on theft.

A brilliant melody like Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers or a timeless beat like We Will Rock You by Queen doesn’t need any instruments. We can whistle or clap it, and everyone knows the song immediately. On the other hand, a flat or banal melody cannot be saved even by the best orchestra with the most expensive instruments in the world.

It’s the same with design and ideas. A rough sketch of stick figures and speech bubbles on a napkin can visualize an idea for an advertising campaign worth millions. A boring illustration composition, on the other hand, doesn’t become more exciting when we color it in Photoshop. As far as logos are concerned, Kurt Weidemann puts it in a nutshell:

A logo is good when you can scratch it in the sand with your big toe

Kurt Weidemann (typographer, designer).

Before we waste too much time working out an idea or a design, let’s just put in the minimum effort as soon as possible. After that, we can always decide whether to take it a step further or drop it. Just visualizing it in some form usually shows whether it will work.

For me, some client requests are particularly exciting. For example, when it comes to soccer-related illustrations, I’d love to get started right away with the first sketches, even before all the conditions are clear.

But despite all the euphoria and confidence about working with a client, we must remember the time and work we invest even before the first brushstroke. Email correspondence or calls alone can sometimes take hours in total. There are questions to answer, joint, binding schedules to set up, and fees to negotiate. Sometimes, there’re additional requests like, “Tomorrow, I’ll present your portfolio to the team. Could you help convince them to work with you by …?”

Carefully clarifying this framework in advance is essential and part of freelancing. However, let’s be sure about what and how much we are willing to invest before reaching an agreement so we don’t waste our and the client’s valuable time.

On the one hand, criticism and the opinions of others can encourage us. We learn from the experience and mistakes of others. That is precious for our development. How often have professors, fellow students, and clients opened my eyes in despair? Communication is an essential tool for creative work.

On the other hand, the quality of our work is highly dependent on our ability to protect ourselves from external influences and opinions when necessary. For only in silence can we listen to our inner voice.

But each person is different in this respect. Brainstorming in a group, for example, can inspire some people’s creativity. In conversation, they bubble with energy and ideas. For others, however, collective thinking is counterproductive. They need time alone to think about the problem deeply and introspectively.

Figuring out what supports or hinders our creativity is an exciting process. Recognizing our highs and lows, and perhaps even logging them in writing, can bring about fundamental change.

Each of us starts from zero – zero composed melodies, zero written poems, zero painted pictures, zero successes, zero failures, zero experience, zero attention, and zero followers.

We glance at our creative role models and the massive community they’ve built over the years. They have so much recognition in the form of likes, retweets, and comments. We wish we had that, too.

But not having attention can be a creative blessing. We will never be as free and at ease to create as we are today with zero followers. We can experiment, play, and do whatever we like. After all, we don’t have to be accountable to anyone or meet any expectations of others.

As soon as we share our work with the world, we must remember that it will be influenced. Whether positive or negative is not relevant. The fact is, the comments and number of likes will inevitably trigger something within most of us. Some work will get more attention than others. That will influence us, even if it’s just a little bit. That one nasty comment, among dozens of compliments, stays with us for weeks, maybe forever. That influences us, too, and with that, our work, focus, motivation, and creative development.

Feedback and followers will come with consistent social media channel maintenance. At a certain point, this is also beneficial for our further development and maybe even necessary. However, we have it in our own hands when that point in time is. And until then, let’s relish and enjoy our creative independence and freedom.

As artists, designers, and illustrators, we all have role models who inspire us. Beginners and students, in particular, tend to cling to their heroes initially.

But all that idolizing eventually gets us nowhere. At some point, we must pick up the pen and ask the only important question: What exactly fascinates us about our hero’s works? The answer is right in front of us. As we contemplate the artworks, we observe ourselves. What happens to us as we do so? What touches us? Is it perhaps the colors, the strokes, the subjects, the material? Finding this out while becoming active in the process is the key to our own artistic style.

When we watch toddlers painting or blowing into a flute, we might be a little envious of how unselfconsciously and unbiased they approach things. Pablo Picasso said:

Every child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist once they grow up

Pablo Picasso

Let’s see why this is true:

1. Toddlers feel no resistance to start – no procrastination, no overthinking, no anxiety over a blank canvas. Children get started right away with what is in front of them. They paint, craft, and drum fearlessly.
2. Toddlers try everything without expectations. They don’t know failure in creating. When they paint a picture, they don’t care about the result. It has no meaning, no value to them. It is all about the moment of painting. They also don’t care (yet) whether we, the adults, admire their works or not. We are the ones who see value in their paintings by collecting or hanging them on walls. The toddlers move on as soon as they finish without looking back.
3. Toddlers are immediately in the flow. As soon as they have something interesting in front of them, they grab it. We adults need time and think about strategies to get into a creative flow as quickly as possible and not get distracted by e-mails, news, or social media.
4. Toddlers enjoy the freedom of being unattached to their identity, yet. It’s all about perception. They try everything they can find. They don’t define themselves as illustrators, composers, chefs, or professional tower builders. Adults do this to ensure their place in society and write it on business cards. On the other hand, a toddler can be everything at once, always, and sometimes even at the same time.

When we watch toddlers playing, we see the pure act of experiencing and creating—such a great role model for us adults.

When I was about 18 years old, I read a sentence in a small book that I had never forgotten:

A bridled tongue makes the head wise.

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When we get excited about something, we want to talk about it. Maybe we want to apply to a university, go on a backpacking trip to Tibet, or take the leap into self-employment. These decisions are groundbreaking for our future. If we are serious about it, we should let this thought grow inside us before we spit it out too soon. Otherwise, the following may happen:

1. There are always dozens of arguments against our decision, usually from people who care about us, for example, our parents. They wish only for the best and for us to have a more effortless and carefree life than they had. That is natural and lovely. But the easiest is not always what is also best for us. We can talk about our plan confidently when we are sure we won’t let ourselves be diverted from it. We have already reflected on these arguments and successfully disproved them for ourselves.
2. Talking about our dreams gives us the deceptive feeling of already being in the middle of the process. In talking, we become euphoric and picture ourselves passing the aptitude test for college, standing in the Himalayan mountains, or driving our first Porsche. The feeling that we are already on our way creeps in. But that is simply not the case. We haven’t actively done anything yet to fulfill our dream. The journey does not begin until we have sat at our desks to prepare for the test, apply for the visa, or draw up a concrete business plan.

The tricky thing about talking about our dreams is that we load ourselves with unnecessary weight before we even take the first step. The arguments our parents brought up might sound reasonable and logical and now the first doubts arise. Or our friend, to whom we have described our plan so emotionally, now regularly asks how things are going. Without realizing it, we suddenly have to justify ourselves, and we take the risks that our motivation fades away.

Therefore, let’s mature our dreams long enough in silence before we destroy them by putting them out too soon.

Mentors, motivators, and coaches often use the term procrastination in connection with the creative process. Many people, especially inexperienced ones, can relate to it. They know the fear in front of the blank page and the constant postponement of the task.

The advice from experienced mentors is usually “Take action. Don’t procrastinate. The first step is the biggest.” I can also confirm this; you can find my thoughts about it here. Once we have drawn the first line, written the first sentence, and played the first note, we are already in the middle of the creative process.

Yet little is written about the opposite of procrastination: the precrastination, the tendency to do things too quickly, too soon, too hastily, or too rashly.

Great ideas require incubation time. We need time to look closely, observe, absorb, experiment, and let thoughts grow and connect. Leonardo da Vinci puts it this way:

“Creativity sometimes requires going slowly, pausing, even procrastinating. That allows ideas to marinate”.

Leonardo da Vinci

Social media experts recommend taking action and posting consistently, daily, and as much as possible. I think that’s a great way to gain followers and attention and to feel productive. But is it the best and most effective way to get the most out of things? Isn’t this advice the fuel for precrastination and, thus, the direct path to banality?

As always, the truth lies somewhere in between. Let’s not wait too long, but let’s also think about Leonardo from time to time before clicking Publish too soon.

1. I am feeling good – A new habit of writing enriches my daily routine and, therefore, my life.
2. Consistency is key – I knew from the beginning that it wasn’t primarily the quality of the writing that mattered. I also learned that it’s not about quantity. It’s all about consistency.
3. I am turning my back on resistance – Daily writing becomes an unconscious automatism. The fear and resistance to getting to work disappear more and more with each blog post.
4. Done is better than perfect – Now I understand what Seth Godin means when he says, “good enough to ship.”
5. Itt’s a great way to meet great people – After a while, you have a swarm of content that will inevitably attract the attention of mind-liked people over time.
6. Repetition is part of it – It’s ok to write about a topic over and over again. It’s never the same. The subject might not have changed, but my experiences, perspective, opinion, and thoughts about it might have.
7. I am proving professionalism – Writing about my work consistently demonstrates additional skills and attitudes to audiences and potential clients. It conveys credibility, curiosity, courage to make a statement, and adherence to deadlines, which builds trust.
8. It’s all about me at first – Please check this post for further information.

“I’m really proud of how this illustration worked out.” I heard this phrase often from my fellow students when they had to present their latest work or designs to the professor and the class. It is a strange feeling to hear this phrase myself, ten years later, from students before I look at their work.

The sentence expresses pure self-protection. In reality, behind it lie the words, “Please don’t be too harsh with your criticism.” Especially as beginners, we identify particularly strongly with our work. I can relate to that. That is only natural. I remember the feeling when one of my drawings turned out particularly well. I would look at it days later and ask myself, “How did you do that?“

But over time, we realize that this attitude makes it difficult for us to grow. We start to understand that we’re not the star of the show. Our work is. The ego seeks validation, which inhibits creativity and productivity. Improving and optimizing it is all that matters.

Praise and recognition may feel good when we receive them, but we gain more if we seek constructive criticism. It makes a huge difference in our attitude whether we hope for positive feedback or specifically ask right away what we could have done better about our work.

Sometimes we have clear pictures in our heads. Be it an idea, an illustration, or a clear vision of which new table would fit perfectly in our living room. As clear as the images may appear in our mind’s eye, trying to describe them to another person is usually doomed to failure. Others can’t see what we see by telling it with words.

The same is the case with music. We ask a friend, “What is the title of this song?” and start whistling, humming, or tapping the melody. In our head, it’s spot on, while the other person has no clue at all. We can’t understand why she does not recognize it. It’s so obvious! When we finally remember the song’s title, enlightenment strikes, and she goes, “Oh, I see… I would never have recognized that.”

We are primarily visual beings. Seeing and recognizing comes easily to us. I never explain my illustration ideas to the client. I have to show them. For one thing, when I try to visualize them, I first recognize for myself whether the concept works at all. On the other hand, they give the client and me a joint basis for discussion.

We are all expected to keep climbing in many parts of life. Our society is built on growth. Businesses strive for a higher profit than last year. A soccer team strives for a higher ranking in the coming season than last season.

Each and every one of us also usually strive for more, be it a higher salary, a bigger apartment, or a better cell phone. Lowering our newfound standards is perceived as a step backward, or perhaps even a failure – by others and ourselves. It’s hard to feel comfortable again in a second-hand Nissan Sunny when we’ve driven a Mercedes for years.

But to move forward, we need time for ourselves. To think, to reflect, to survey. We need solitude and tranquility to be able to learn from our mistakes and realign ourselves. Only then will we come back stronger. We sometimes have to take a few steps back to take a run-up.

One thing is sure. No one will voluntarily give us this time—neither our society, Netflix, or Instagram. We have to take it.