5 Essentials For Live Event Illustration
Live event illustration is one of the most lucrative jobs out there for fashion illustrators, you can earn up to £350ph+ and with it being incredibly in demand as well, there’s no shortage of jobs.
However it isn’t entirely easy money, as they’re not suited for everyone!
I’m not saying this to big myself up but events are highly skilled if you want to do them well and there’s a lot more that goes into them than just being able to draw, so let’s get into some must-haves if you want to begin live event illustration.
Draw Quick
Let’s get the most obvious one out the way first, live event illustration is all about numbers, people hire you for events that usually have a chunky amount of guests, and a decent amount of those guests will want to go home with a drawing.
The industry standard for live event is 10 minutes per illustration, but this isn’t set in stone. Some clients differ, I’ve had jewellery brands hire me and give me 20 minutes per person, another time it was 1 hour per person. Other times I’ve done events like the one for Burberry where I was illustrating faces onto pre drawn figures and that was one every 2 minutes. But as long as you can do 10 minutes then that’s all good!
Don’t get caught up in seeing people offer 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes per drawing, be proud of the quality of your work and let that speak for itself.
Be Adaptable
I’ve had events where I’ve had to leave my backpack in the employee part of a department store and could only quickly grab some of my pens, I’ve gotten to an event and realised I’ve forgotten my eraser, forgotten my pencil, I’ve got to events and they didn’t have a table for me, the paper that they’ve supplied isn’t suitable for markers, there was an event where we were outside with no lights.
Live event illustration really can be a triathlon of drawing, you never know what’s gonna happen and what you’ll be confronted with so you need to be chill and adaptable. We’re not turning up like Mariah Carey with a specific rider and instructions that have to be fulfilled or we walk, so If you can only draw with a specific set up then you’re gonna struggle, no matter how much you iron out details pre-event, things still arise! So best to be able to go with the flow.
In Module 8 of the Live Event Masterclass called ‘situations’ I go through as many examples of these as possible and test you with the homework, so that’s a good way of seeing how adaptable you are!
Be Social
A lot of event illustration is in the social side of things, most of the time it’s hired as a form of entertainment so you gotta bring the fun! Being able to hold a conversation and pay attention to your sitters is the bare minimum, but if you hone the social side of it as much as your art side then people will want to have you at every events because you’re fun to be around!
People have to enjoy the experience of getting a drawing done as much as they enjoy the finished piece.
The other thing is, especially when you’re working with brands, most of the time you’re sent to stores and places you’ve not been to before, and it can feel like turning up to your first day at work over and over again. Going into a store where everyone’s colleagues and you’re fresh blood, but for one day only.
So you need to be able to go into that store and make friends, talk to people as if you’ve known them ages, the retail staffs opinion of you can have an effect on whether you get booked again, and who are they going to want to work with, the one that was silent in the corner or the one who they had a good ol’ laugh with.
Have Stamina
A lot of people underestimate the energy it takes to do live events. it’s one thing to do a 10 minute one off sketch whilst cosy at home, it’s another to do it in a new environment, surrounded by people and to do it for 3, 4 even 8 hours, back to back.
Most illustrators do a max of 4 hours at events, I think the longest one I’ve done it 9 hours and that was without a break. But you do flag after a few hours but the amount they’re paying you and the client expectations don’t, so the drawings you’re doing 5 hours in need to be as good as the ones you start the day off with.
The stamina is a bit hard to work on unless you do live events, but the homework each week on the live event course is to illustrate 6 people back to back no breaks, this can help start building it up!
Have Thick Skin
Not everyone will like your work, most of the time it’s not a sign your work is bad, it’s just people have different tastes.
You could draw a photo realistic illustration of someone and they could still look at it and complain because that’s not how they see theirselves, so you never know what someone’s bringing to the table when viewing your work. But even if someone hates your drawing (which never happens but just saying) you still have to power through and draw the rest of the people.
You’re bound to hear something from someone trying to be funny, or people that just have no filter ‘why have you drawn it like that?’ ‘where’s my other eye’ ‘that doesn't look like me’ but you just roll with the punches and laugh it off, so if one bad comment sends you into a spiral then you gotta thicken your skin!
And that’s it! That’s my essentials!
My Live event masterclass has been designed to hone all these and more, so if you want to do live events but aren’t sure if they’re a good fit, this is a good way to find out.
Or if you do live events but want to push your skills with feedback from a fellow artist (me!)
Or even if you’ve no interest in drawing at events, a lot of people join this course to loosen their work up and get quicker at drawing.
If you’re any of those, then come join! Last time this course is going to be available this year, so hone your skills before the busy festive season.
The Live Event Fashion Illustration Masterclass begins 8th September, there’s 6 spaces left!
