I feel terrified to admit I’m going through a rough time financially while at the same time I’m gaining some momentum in my art practice.

I’ve been having the same problem. I do brand/illustration work and clients have been really flaky. I mostly work in tech and it has been weird here. I’m not sure if it is the same in other industries or not? Freelance also subsidizes my art stuff, haha!

To support my painting practice I do digital illustrations (and I have been for many years) but I have never had this much trouble finding work. Not sure if this is an industry wide thing or just a me thing.

I think we should get rid of the shame around having another job next to an art career (and I’m very very lucky mine has been in an art adjacent industry) but I suffer from this shame myself aswel.

Since I started painting and posting that more prominently I assume people just think that’s how I make all my money and I left illustration. While the reality is that without my clients I wouldn’t be able to paint at all.

Not really sure yet. I think dust will settle at some point and folks that stuck around will get work again. I’m not sure how long that will take, or if it will happen. I guess, in general, I am casting a wide net for types of gigs and roles.

Yeah that’s what I feel aswel but everyone has been so quiet. I also have been I guess, I feel a little scared sharing this sentiment on say twitter but maybe I should 🫠

Not just you. The illustration landscape has become weird, lean and brutal, and the change has been unsettingly rapid. There seem to be quite a few reasons why (I’ve been researching, interviewing people, talking to colleagues) and it’s a lot!

Yeah same thing! I used to work mostly in tech as wel … I guess it makes “sense” with all the layoffs but I kept having hope that that wouldn’t affect freelancers.

What’s your strategy for the next step?

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