manu montoya

Several people asked me about my experience in the illustration world, how I got to where I am, how I got an agent, and if it is possible to make a living from illustration.

I’ve decided to write it down so it can be useful for more people and naturally it is just my opinion and personal experience. There are several ways to become a professional illustrator, this is just my path.

A little about me: At school, I was already scolded for drawing all the time in class. I wanted to give a commercial approach to my drawing skills and decided to pursue Graphic Communication and advertising at the University of Medellin because, as far as I know, there wasn’t a career as “Illustration” in Colombia at that time. Years later I did a master in Art Direction in Elisava (Barcelona) and in the meantime, I worked as a designer in advertising agencies. That was going Ok until I decided to follow my passion (which I resisted because I was afraid) and become a fulltime illustrator.

For me there are three essential things that are present in my process: 1. Discipline (constancy) 2. Good relationships 3. Luck

The process has been long, many have seen me tracing Simba, drawing manga, making Harry Potter characters and trying all kind of styles, which brings us the first theme: “style”

DO NOT BE OBSESSED WITH THE STYLE

It is something you’ll get to with time and changes with us, with our way of being, of seeing the world and of what we live. I think it is important to feed on others, photography, music, dance, art, culture. But YET MORE IMPORTANT is to look inside us and ask what we like, what materials we are most comfortable with, what we want to tell and who we are.

I think that like any other skill, it is something we have to exercise daily. You do not learn overnight and I am sure that behind every good illustrator, there is a lot of work. As well as behind the great athletes there are hours and hours of training.

How did I get to work with an illustration agency?

I will answer this question explaining what I previously cited as the three fundamental points of my process:

Discipline: A lot of work, but beware, conscious work (thinking about how the composition and how to tell a better story). Here comes a tip: to start, you can make series of illustrations showing consistency. E.g. Three illustrations of a classic children’s story.

Good relationships. Surround yourself with positive and critical people. People who support you and at the same time challenge you to improve. I like to think that Illustration is a healthy world where we are not competitors but colleagues sharing what we know to help each other.

Luck. Luck will come as a result of all the work we have done before. Send emails to the companies you would like to work with, see if your style fits the agency you like. If you do not receive an answer, do not be discouraged, keep working, sometimes they do not have time to respond or simply your process still needs to mature a little more.

TIPS: 📚 Studying or taking courses can help a lot.

🔎 Always be curious, always be hungry to learn, improve and evolve.

🖍 Enjoy the process. It shows when we love what we do.

💰 Finance tip: When you work as a freelance you can receive a payment today and the next one in three months (or more). Be sure to save your money. I’d like to add that in difficult times I had the support of my family and friends.

Summary

The process is long, but you need to be curious and enjoy it. Be constant and conscious of your work. Surround yourself with good people. And last, but not least: Hard work makes you lucky.

There are many “failures” behind each success. And by “failures” I mean the processes: Sketches, rejected arts, unfinished projects; from which, we will most likely have learned something and will make us grow step by step.

Recommendations: Bobby Chiu’s YouTube channel Podcast: The Illustration Department Podcast Book: Illustrating children’s books. Martin Salisbury

Manu Montoya

WRITTEN BY

Manu Montoya

I’m an illustrator and art director based in Barcelona.