professional pratice

Children’s illustrators often work for advertising agencies, publishers, event managers, or magazines/newspapers. A very vast majority work from home and on a freelance basis and create studios in their basement etc. working full time as an illustrator can be a lot hence why a lot of artists will go out for a walk as a break. Debbie Ridpath Ohi is a children’s book illustrator. She recorded a day in her life that shows how busy and demanding the job can be. Another example is Children’s book illustrator Kass Reich who talks about how she only takes 3 projects a year, it takes her around 4/5 months for each project because of how much back and forth there is between the client, editors, and illustrator. Because of how long it takes, many artists in this field have other jobs on the side to keep themselves financially stable. One extremely important thing for someone in this field is to have a client list showcasing who you have worked with. Without this, getting a job as a children’s illustrator is much harder hence why it’s more difficult to start out.

I decided to look at some real briefs given to artists in this field. It will often showcase in very simple terms what the client wants to happen for each page. For example, the boy goes sledding down the hill. This brief also specifies the sizes, how many pages, and the actual story.

A very key illustrator currently is Charlie Mackesy. His book the mole, the Fox, and the Horse. It’s for children but appeals to a wide variety of ages. This children’s book focuses on important topics such as relationships, fears, hope, dreams, and kindness. These are important things to teach children. This is why he is so key as an illustrator.