10. I started from scratch. Here’s what I achieved in 2024

All the tries and some of the numbers

Hi, I’m Libby. I’m trying to find my feet in the world of illustration. I’ve done a load of research and I’m sharing it here, along with my progress on how my illustration journey is going. I’m so glad you could join me on this bumpy ride!

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Hi there!

I’m in Dalston, East London right now, cat-sitting over the festive period.

Misty and Eevee are providing our entertainment and the odd worm from the garden…

Just starting out

This time a year ago, I hadn’t formulated the idea to pursue illustration.

I wasn’t even sketching regularly.

I was feeling pretty low and felt like something was missing. (Here’s how it all started.)

Fast forward to today and I feel very different.

I’ve got an exciting buzz of ideas that sometimes stops me from getting to sleep at night and equally, gets me up out of bed in the morning.

A feeling I haven’t had for a very long time.

I’ve learned so much and made incredible connections.

It’s been 10 months of work and fun.

I haven’t been looking at the numbers until now.

So today I’m looking back to enable me to plan ahead.

My favourite work

Before I get into the numbers, these are my 3 favourite projects from the last year.

How I feel is my #1 metric and these brought me joy.

Feel-good greetings cards

I designed a number of cards off the back of my Autumn portfolio brief which felt like a turning point for me and defining my style. You can see some more on my website.

Party people puzzle

Some of what I call ‘TV doodles’ - doodles made while watching TV, led me to create my first jigsaw puzzle design. This image represents the skills I gained in mock-ups too!

Fertility survival

This year didn’t come without some major lows. Thank goodness for illustration, I was able to pour my energy into this fertility survival guide project which helped me find joy again.

What the numbers tell me

Illustration Work

Despite writing a blog about trying to become an illustrator, this year hasn’t been about getting illustration work.

It’s been about growing in my art practice and building confidence and community.

I only started sketching daily in February and realised I wanted to try illustration in March.

Despite this, I was approached though by 2 clients who I was glad to work with this year.

• Trusted Housesitters - for a social media post

• Private commission - Christmas card designs

Earnings < £500

These two gave me some validation that my work was appreciated by those willing to pay which was an exciting achievement.

I did send a few emails about my work to a handful of potential clients but decided to hold off doing more outreach until 2025 as I wanted to finish changes I was making to my portfolio and website.

Community Building

Community is an important factor for my well-being in work as community tends to help make me feel safe.

I do my best work when I have connections I can share with and learn from.

I decided to start this blog on Substack: The New Illustrator

My mantra for Substack has been - ‘it’s a diary for me and my sieve brain to keep a record.’ but it’s also provided much-needed community as I start out.

I’ve had people cheering me on and providing vital accountability (thank you!)

This also provided me with validation that I’m on the right track.

All your reading, comments and likes have helped build my confidence.

I’ve been making an effort not to check any stats on Substack but to focus more on my art practice.

I also decided to actively avoid Substack productivity posts and notes because I want it to be about sharing the journey more than anything else.

But looking at some of the figures now helps me plan what I want to talk about in 2025.

Substack

• Blog posts: 20 - this number is major for me as I sometimes struggle with consistency. Substack feels like a supportive platform which is one of the reasons I stuck around.

The breakdown:

• How it’s going: 10 posts - 1 post for every month I’ve been illustrating

• Portfolio briefs: 4 briefs - these really pushed my practice forward. I can see when I look at my portfolio. These were vital for my development. You can check them out here.

• Tutorial/Educational: 2 - I aimed to develop a directory for new illustrators with lots more content but circumstances this year limited my ability to create these. I’m looking forward to doing this in 2025.

• Other: 4

Most popular post: When illustration gets personal turning pain into power.

This post had 421 views. This was a personal project that helped me process some difficult things this year and I appreciate everyone’s support and encouragement with it.

Substack Subscribers: 140 - all new as I started the blog in March.

This number means a lot - that 140 people might be interested in my journey as a new illustrator but it’s not a number that I’ll be using to define my success in 2025.

Instagram

I’ve also been building community on Instagram.

Meta isn’t my favourite company but Instagram is a place I currently feel comfortable.

I respect those who have decided to make elsewhere their home and I get it - I no longer use Facebook or X because they actively make me feel low.

Instagram is all about visuals and it has also become a visual diary for me.

It’s a place that helps me evaluate my work. For some reason once a piece is out in the world I see it from a different angle and I begin to ask myself:

• Could I have added something extra?

• This piece differs to my current style, which do I prefer?

• Why does this stand out more?

(I really need to develop these evaulation skills without the need to post!)

I also love the community on Instagram and my focus has been about making engaged connections.

I actively try to connect with other illustrators and it’s less about following those I can’t connect with, if that makes sense.

I also save lots on Instagram, using it similar to Pinterest.

I keep categorised lists - which I should really write a blog post about - would that be helpful information?

Here are my Instagram stats for my new account @libbybrewillo

Followers: 1250 - all new as I started the account in February.

Reach: Last 90 days: 10,349 - Thanks to a @thenew_illustrator Affinity tutorial I shared to my stories.

Highest reaching posts in last year - no surprise that most are reels, but surprisingly the most successful was a tagged story (of a reel.)

Engagement: Last 90 days: 932

• By top posts likes:

  

  I use this information as a barometer of what people find joy in and connection with. Some are coupled with captions relating to personal stories of my progress and achievements which people seem to enjoy.

• Content interactions: Last 90 days: 5309

I’ve made lots of genuine illustrator connections on Instagram, many from courses we’ve both taken and the interaction means a lot to me.

I’ve loved seeing others develop as illustrators because its hard and we need to support each other.

I use an app-blocking tool called Opal to manage my usage. It sometimes works!

I also repurposed an old business account for @thenew_illustrator (I know, it’s cheating a bit but it was a dormant account I worked hard to build from scratch in the past and was in need of use)

This account has been a bit quiet but I intend it to become more of a ‘my process’ account to partner with this blog in 2025 than @libbybrewillo which I see as my portfolio.

Followers: 4,442 - I don’t remember the starting point but it’s stayed about the same as illustrators join and I remove inactive followers.

All this data will help me as I plan 2025 goals. I’ll be sharing the tools I’ll be using here so look out for my next post.

Achievements List

Here’s a fun illustration I did sharing some of my ‘tries’ of 2024:

I wholly recommend making a list of things you achieved in the last year.

It’s been a practice I’ve done for a few years and really helped me gain some perspective.

So let’s look at what I did over the last 10 months:

• Started a daily sketching practice and became pretty consistent - I need this for my health now!

• Attended 3 major courses: Getting Paid to Draw, Make Your Mark Bootcamp (which I seriously need an affiliate link for I’ve had SO many people contact me about it through my blogs) and Non-Fiction book planning with Owen Davey

• Designed a range of greetings cards

• Received my first commission!

• Tried my first product illustrations

• Tried my first editorial illustrations - and got my first art director feedback!

• Tried my first branding and advertising illustrations

• Tried my first children’s book illustrations

• Started a digital co-working community with

  Jenni Macklin
  - I’m so grateful for connecting with Jenni, a fellow former Engineer, and using our connection to connect with others. Here’s to lots more digital drawing co-working in 2025!

• Grew a new social media account

• Created (and maintained) a blog - maintaining this has been a huge personal achievement

• Created a website

• Created a portfolio I feel proud of

• Printed my first business cards

• Started an in-person illustrator meet-up through the Inky Goodness community in London, celebrating the end of 2024 with a Christmas meal together.

And I did it all without a home. We’ve been cat-sitting, moving house every 1-3 weeks all year and managing hospital treatment in between. It’s been a ride. Thanks for being here with me.

I’ve felt more alive this year than ever.

Thanks for reading!

Libby