4. How much I’ve spent so far as a new illustrator - was it worth it?

Reviewing my finances for the last 4 months

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 grateful to be cat-sitting for old friends of ours, Buddy and Elvis in Clapton this week. There are a whole host of inspiring musical names in that sentence.

Like me, the cats have been feeling the heat in the 28C-degree London weather (that’s 82.4F.) This is pretty unique for London and us Brits are trying hard not to complain.

Cheery Elvis enjoying the hot weather

I’m super happy to have finished a sticker set design this month! I am planning to get them printed so I’m very excited about that.

Mindful cats stickers

I’m still working on my London map but I’ve gained a lot of knowledge with Affinity from the sticker project, so I feel confident I’ll soon be finished with that brief too

Also - I’ve set up a digital drawing co-working next week with fellow new illustrator and blogger

Jenni - Tiny Leaf Press

- check out her blog Tiny Press.

Click for registration details

I’m so grateful for meeting Jenni through Introvert Drawing Club - it’s all about connections in this community and I’m excited to connect with more digital artists.

Hey big spender

I’m hitting you with the hard stuff this month and giving you a low down on my expenditure. It’s been something I’ve been meaning to analyse for a while as I’m not sure of what I’m spending per month.

I’m quite considered when it comes to money but I want to look at my spending and review whether all my expenses have been worth it.

I’m not sure yet, but I'll have a better idea when I’ve laid them out.

So let’s get into it…

Big things

It’s been around 4 months that I’ve been committed to illustration, in an attempt to make it a long-term thing.

My biggest expenses so far have been courses.

• Getting Paid to Draw with Mike Lowery - £750

  A 2-month course focused on masterclasses from experienced industry professionals and 3 key assignments. 17 masterclasses in total, a guided course from Mike and a community forum.

  Highlights: Art Directors from Wired and Frankie magazine, Kyle Webster, a formula to get paid work and how much money to expect in different sectors.

  This was invaluable for me as a complete newbie and definitely worth the money.

• Inky Goodness Make Your Mark Bootcamp - £600

  A 6-month course which includes a 12-month Inky Goodness Collective membership. 12 modules. 4 masterclasses, 6 industry assignments, industry mentors, feedback sessions, buddy groups, industry assignments and a community forum.

  I’ve just started, but this seems like a great next step after Mike’s course. It feels intense, the calibre of the other illustrators is quite high as you need to be accepted onto it so I feel it’ll push me a lot further - and I get 12 months of benefits. It feels like it’ll be well worth it already!

• iPad Air & Apple Pencil Pro - £700 (with trade-in)

  I was really struggling to run our 32GB iPad with the illustration programs I needed to utilise. I was also super limited on the number of Procreate layers due to the storage. So upgrading to 256GB gives me loads of storage space so I don’t need to juggle external storage and a bit more power to run everything I need. The Apple Pencil Pro has more features too.

Big things total £2050

This is a big number for no clients but I needed these courses to get my feet off the ground. Considering this figure includes the hardware I use every day, it feels like a good investment.

Mike’s course was a breakthrough for me. It gave me invaluable confidence and I made an amazing friend out of it and many other online cheerleaders that I’m so grateful for.

I have my eye on one more course later this year… I’ll share more about that in one of my next posts….

Other Things

• Serif Affinity software - £80 (in the half-price sale)

  I almost missed Affinity’s sale… 3 packages equivalent to the Adobe Suite, I feel like this was an absolute bargain.

• Switching my substack to my domain - £40

• Posca markers - £40

  

  Posca marker testing

• Other art supplies/sketchbooks - £100

  Should there be a spending limit for art supplies? As a nomad, I have to fit mine in my suitcase so I’m super limited. Maybe a good thing!

• IT accessories - £80

• Books - £20

• Orange Beak Book Rhyming Workshop - £50

• Social Media Coaching - £65

  This is a new one this month and I couldn’t give up the opportunity to do it after meeting Polina Belenchuk at an event. It’s 3-weeks and in a group of 5 artists and illustrators and it’s been invaluable so far. Bring on the reels!

• Domestika credits - £10

Other things total £485

Total £2535

Annual on-going spend

• Association of Illustrators membership - £225

• Inky Goodness Collective membership - Free until June 2025, £130 thereafter

• Introvert Drawing Club Substack subscription - £60

• Draw Brighton Patreon membership - £3.40/month = £41

• Tom Froese Patreon membership - £8.40/month = £100

• Draw 21 membership - £59

• Domain (thenewillustrator.com) - £9

Annual on-going spend total £494 = £40 / month

I feel like £40/month is a really respectable number and I expected it to be more actually.

I’d LOVE to sign up for more subscriptions, memberships and courses but I’m just at content capacity right now, especially with the Inky Goodness course.

How am I paying for all of this?

You may be wondering with no clients yet, how I can afford this stuff.

I’m the Co-Founder of another business with my partner. Currently, I manage the recruitment on a very part-time basis which provides me the time to pursue illustration.

For the last 3 years, we’ve also been cat and house-sitting which has meant that for a large proportion of the year, we don’t have energy or rent bills. I’m so lucky to have been able to do this.

This month’s resources and what I’ve learned

Materials I’ve used

I’ve been quite digital-focused this month. In my sketchbook, I’ve been using mainly brush pens, a graphic marker (Pigma Graphic 2) and some fine liners.

But….

As I mentioned above I’ve just bought some Posca paint markers! I’m about to lean into colour and I’m very excited. I’ve managed to find space for them in my suitcase…

Workshops & Tutorials I’ve taken

• Social media mentoring with Polina Belenchuk

Events I’ve attended

• Yoillo - animation screening and illustrator meetup

  I love this meetup and am glad to have made more lovely illustrator connections.

• Progressive Greetings Live - the greetings card Expo in-person in London

  This was an eye-opening insight into the greeting card industry. It was great to see card companies and illustrators displaying their work and get a feel for the market. What did I learn? It’s quite saturated!

Other things I’ve been consuming

• As part of Inky Goodness Make Your Mark Bootcamp:

  Scientific rules for making & breaking habits - Steven Bartlett on Youtube

  Definitely worth a watch to understand how habits are broken.

Clubs I’ve been joining

• Draw Brighton Life Drawing

• Pencils4Tea - Kirsty Lockhart on Zoom via Instagram

  My new favourite weekly draw-along to music - 1 song - 1 portrait!

Pencils4Tea portraits

• The Introvert Drawing Club (I have upgraded to paid subscription)

  • Portfolio co-working with

    Beth Spencer
    & Sarah Dyer

  • Drawing SneakyArt with Nishant Jain on replay - wow this workshop was worth my subscription fee - loved it!

• Picture Book Flow sketch together - Claire Alexander

  • A free monthly drawing co-working for character design/picture book illustration

What I’ve learned this month

• You can never have too many illustrator connections - fun and exciting new things will blossom when you least expect it.

• I’m not spending too much each month. I’m getting so much great content from what I am spending and I feel like my portfolio will really shape up in the next 12 months.

• My workshop attendance has reduced. Finding balance is key. Spend time in nature, and take time to notice because when you feel more balanced, productivity will grow. I’m working on this one and plan to share more next month.

What I’m excited about for the next month

• Everything Inky Goodness

• Finishing maps, London and my ongoing Pottery studio map project

• Co-working with Jenni and our digital drawing friends

Has any of this spending insight been helpful for you?

Reply or comment with anything that resonates.

Thanks for reading!

Libby

#hibadge2024