Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Finding an Illustrator: the Non-Typical Route




I wasn’t sure how to go about locating an illustrator. There's not way I could illustrate it myself; I'm pretty thrilled if someone recognizes that the deer I've drawn is an animal. There’s probably a book or checklist that would be helpful; out there somewhere… A google search left me overwhelmed. Places with illustrators for hire I found particularly helpful:






Ultimately, though, I decided to go with an old standby: Craigslist. 

I know what you’re thinking. Craigslist?! You’re going to experiment on publishing a book and you’re using Craigslist?! Except, I live in a wonderful college town with incredibly talented and artistic people, and illustration jobs are hard to come by (technically, I first offered to hire my sister who, unlike myself, is a fantastic artist, but she shot me down), and all I was asking for were simple line drawings. Besides, I only had $100 total set aside for illustrating. Within 24 hours I had over a dozen responses, many accompanied by beautiful portfolios. And one guy who told me that he charges $100 per page, so if that’s what I meant, he was my guy (it wasn’t what I meant). 

I finally decided on one illustrator for two reasons: because she had attached her elance.com profile, which had glowing testimonials from previous clients, and because her portfolio was bright, fresh, clever and fun. We emailed back and forth a few times, before I decided she was my gal. She gave me a two week timeframe to have the illustrations I’d described completed, and one week for making any adjustments I’d like. Now, I guess I wait. 

How do you go about finding an illustrator? Has anyone else used Craigslist before (or are my methods horrifying and barbaric)?

3 comments:

  1. Two weeks seems pretty quick to me! Has the deadline extended at all? How many pictures is she doing? Is she going to be able to do the typesetting so it's ready for print?

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    1. Lorna, she actually asked for an extension last night. She is doing 26 pictures, but I am doing the typesetting myself.

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