This year I have really tried to focus on what kind of practitioner I am. Since the beginning of this course, I have struggled with exactly what type of illustration I want to produce and I have come to a conclusion by process of elimination. Building confidence in my practice is something else I wanted to work on this year so that by the time I finished I really felt like a professional.
It wasn't until the final presentations that something really clicked and I was able to identify what kind of practitioner I am. Through hearing some of my peers declare that they did not think of themselves as illustrators, I think it gave me the confidence to state that I am not an illustrator in the classical sense of the word and I have different aspects of my practice. For too long I tried to confine my practice to one area so realising that this doesn't have to be the case was a big relief. With this in mind, I think this was why I struggled to identify agencies or studios to contact - I was looking for something that encompassed my whole practice (which is quite broad). I understand now that I should target agencies or studios based on one area of my practice - for example I could send some of my character work to one or perhaps some of the typography work to another.
Contacting people in general has really helped me with my confidence. Initially I was hesitant to write emails to people in case they just ignored me - which was the worst they could do and I soon realised it wasn't anything personal, they were probably just busy. The few responses I did get from other practitioners were really encouraging and motivated me to reach out to others. It also got me to consider who else I could contact, so I set about finding opportunities to get my work out into the world - now I have a few art markets booked and I'm excited to start selling and meeting new people!
When it came to addressing my creative and online presence, I don't think I really had many issues and I really enjoyed the whole process. The only problems I came across were related to decision making when it came to what artwork to use - and this stemmed from not really knowing what sort of practitioner I was. I am pleased with the promotional material I have created so far and I'm confident that it is consistent and looks professional. If I change my mind about it in a few months, then I have made it easily update-able. If I did have longer to work on it however, I would look into creating different promo packs for the three avenues of my practice (one for character, one for typography and one of applied illustration). These are reflected in my portfolio however, so I don't think it's necessary to make this change until I have a substantial amount of work for each.
Forming a collective/partnership with Abby (the Pink Cat Club) has probably been one of the most defining moments for me this year. It made me consider how we can present ourselves as a brand and encourage each other to find as many opportunities to get our work out into the world. When it comes to my individual practice, I would also like to shape that as a kind of brand because I am really interested in creating products with my work. Creating a blog for my practice and another for the Pink Cat Club will be essential to defining them as brands. I think it will also be a really valuable tool for reflection as I will no longer have my programme blog!
Overall I have had a really positive experience with this module. I have had many moments of self doubt but having the opportunity to reflect on my goals as well as hear about other peoples has helped me identify what makes my practice unique. Although I haven't been hired by any one just yet, I am confident in my plans for after I graduate and what I need to continue to do to get people interested in what I can do!
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