"The First Four Years"

I recently attended the Society of Illustrator's talk focusing the first four years as an illustrator after graduating; which featured super-talented young panelists: Kali Ciesemier, Sam Wolfe Connelly, Daniel Fishel, John Malta, Victo Ngai, and Dadu Shin. I've been such a fan of them all, it was quite exciting to see them in person!
 It was an incredible talk where they each discussed their struggles during and after college, finding and having an art rep, maintaining a rhythm of work (Malta, for example, said he usually goes on antisocial binges when he focuses on work), and what their first real illustration job was like (oh, the stories). It was fascinating! Not to mention they all have a stupendous sense of humor (I'm guessing it comes with the job).

Ultimately, the most important lesson I came out from that wonderful discussion was that the key to being an illustrator is not so much founded on talent, but actually on persistence. It doesn't matter how well one can draw if they're cooped up in their room sulking (*ahem*). Self-promotion is a must to give life to a career.

Here's the panelist's zine featuring some of their latest work, with a cool cover by Fishel: