My first year of being a self-employed artist
No. 05 | December Newsletter
Hi friends,
Happy December! I cannot believe the year is coming to a close.
November has been an intense month for me — working on the final art for a picture book, wrapping up commissions, and meeting deadlines at my part-time graphic design job. Phew! Then I finally celebrated my birthday at the end of the month with loved ones.
Year-end highlights
Professional:
Launching my newsletter on Substack has been one of the best decisions I’ve made this year. I’m loving the platform and I’m excited to keep building upon it.
2022 marks my first full year of being completely self-employed!
My first picture book, Bonnie’s New Old Outfit, was released in September.
I worked on a big and fun project with a publisher which included lots of visual development work and finishing the final art of two books.
I have now illustrated a total of three books so far!
I joined a support group of children’s book illustrators, making artist friends (even met a few IRL), making me feel less lonely pursuing a career as an illustrator.
Personal:
I got engaged to my wonderful partner of 8 years. ❤️
I’m so happy I was able to go on a wholesome fall road trip to the east coast of Québec with my Dad and sister, making memories I’ll cherish forever.
My first full year of self-employment
2022 marks my first full year of being completely self-employed and what an emotional rollercoaster it has been. Coming from a corporate graphic design background, I found that freelancing requires a different mindset than I was used to and I am still adjusting to all the uncertainty and anxiety that comes along with it.
Outside of the constant worry about the future, I really enjoyed the freedom and flexibility that came with creating my own schedule. Now that I’ve had a taste of this lifestyle, I find the idea of going back to corporate very difficult.
My journey so far
In order to reflect on this past year, I think it might be helpful to provide some context on my career journey so far.
I graduated in 2018 with a fine arts degree from a local university, focusing primarily on realistic portrait painting and dabbling into printmaking. I lived at home to save money and graduated with very little debt which I paid off within a year of graduating.
I found my way into the tech startup world working as a graphic/visual/UI designer throughout university since startups were common where I live, which is what lead me to the full-time jobs I had. On the job, I learned so much from mentors and peers about design and client work.
In 2019, I started getting really serious about developing an illustration practice on the side of my day job, dreaming of illustrating children’s books. While I didn’t study illustration specifically, my fine arts degree gave me a great foundation to start filling in the gaps through online research, courses, and practice.
I made art and posted it on Instagram almost every day, which helped me begin developing my illustration style and process along with building an audience. I began making products like art prints and greeting cards, opening an Etsy shop, and selling them at a couple of art markets and local shops.
At the end of 2019, I moved back home and made the leap to quit my job in order to focus on pursuing my illustration business. Admittedly, I didn’t have a clear plan in place. Plus, we all know what happened in 2020... I panicked and found myself looking for a full-time job again and back in the corporate world before I really gave self-employment a fair chance.
I decided I wanted to start moving away from creating physical products and shift my focus toward children's book illustration. Alongside my day job, I continued to work on my art on the side. I took a picture book illustration course which helped me land my first picture book clients.
By the end of 2021, I felt burnt out from my day job and needed to make a change. With a few client projects lined up for the following year, limited expenses, and savings put away, I felt like making the leap to quit my job (again) was a relatively low-risk decision, and something I needed to do for myself.
Here I am now at the end of 2022, having made it through the full year of being self-employed.
Stress and anxiety get in the way of creativity
Everyone’s situation and tolerance for risk are different. Even though I had the privilege of minimizing as many risks as I could, I still found myself riddled with anxiety around the unknown.
Some people thrive on the pressure of having to make things work, but I am definitely not one of those people. In retrospect, I can say that my first year went okay, but I spent a great deal of time paralyzed by worry and fear — time I could have been investing in my personal art and business. I know I have the potential to do better, especially if I put myself out there more, which is something I aim to do in the upcoming year.
In the last quarter of the year, I took on a part-time graphic design contract (freelance), which helped give me some consistency in my income and made me feel less anxious, making a huge difference in my mental health. Having a day job (whether part-time or full-time) can be a superpower that allows you to focus on making work you want to make. The pressure of needing it to succeed financially can get in the way of the creative process.
Diversifying income streams is key
Unfortunately, it’s really difficult to make a sustainable and livable wage through art alone. The reality is that most artists have multiple income streams which collectively make up their income (and we need not forget taxes). It’s important not to “put all your eggs in one basket” so that when there are seasons when particular income sources are not as fruitful, you have other streams to keep you afloat.
My streams of income this year primarily consisted of children’s book client work and my part-time graphic design work, along with a few commissions, print-on-demand shop sales (INPRNT), and retail sales. In the next year, I want to keep working on developing and diversifying my income streams. I want to primarily focus on children’s book writing and illustrating, but I would also like to dive into video content, teaching, and possibly a paid subscription membership on Substack (similar to Patreon).
Community and support system
While I consider myself to be mostly an introvert, it can get a bit lonely working from home on your own. One of the biggest benefits of social media is that it can be a great way to connect and make friends with other creatives, which lead me to find an amazing support group of children’s book illustrators this year. When creatives get together and share their experiences openly, it helps everyone advocate their worth and helps make the industry fairer.
I’m forever grateful for my partner and my family who have always been so supportive and lift me up in the moments when I doubt myself the most.
Celebrating progress
I’m super proud of myself for taking the leap into self-employment this year. It was a scary decision, but I learned many lessons and grew a lot in a short amount of time.
Four years ago, becoming a children’s book illustrator was just a dream and now it’s a reality I am actively pursuing. I’ve still got a long road ahead of me in terms of making it a sustainable long-term career, but I can say I’ve made a lot of progress since I started, and I must remember to celebrate the wins.
Thank you for being here!
It feels vulnerable to share my honest experience, especially since social media doesn’t necessarily paint the full picture, but I always appreciate it when others are open too.
Hope you enjoy a good rest. I know I’ll be taking it easy myself. Happy Holidays!
Talk soon,
Danielle
What a year! Congratulations on all your big wins & thank you for being so open about the less glamorous bits of being self employed. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for you in 2023 💛
You should be so so proud of everything you’ve accomplished this year. Your first book is wonderful and I’m so excited to see your future projects. I hope these last few weeks of the year are relaxing!!