How To Outlast The Live Event Illustration ‘Trend’

Live illustration is really having a moment, every day more and more people are joining in, and between weddings, private events and brand events, there’s a whole load of work to go around!

However as with anything that is trendy, there will inevitably be a time when its popularity dips due to over exposure or people moving onto the next shiny thing.

I’ve been doing live events for over 13 years, so unlike what some people state, live illustration is not this brand new invention, it was around long before this trend and will resume long after.

But if you want your career to continue even after the novelty of having a live illustrator is long gone, you need to start preparing now, so let’s get into it!

There’s an abundance of people getting into live event illustration at the moment, so there’s no shortage of artist’s for clients to choose from. However when there’s an endless amount of choice, the decision process usually comes down to 2 considerations; price or quality.

To get the work you can either be the cheapest, or the best.

Being the lowest price is a tactic many companies use, however in this instance when the trend of having a live illustrator inevitably moves onto something else, the amount of people interested in it might decline.

So charging £300 per wedding when you’re booking 2 - 3 a week might mean you’re earning more than enough money now, but if it does quieten down and you only book 2 a month, £600 is not exactly enough to live on.

You’ll also find it extremely tough marketing yourself and getting clients if you decide to just randomly hike up your prices after previously advertising yourself at £300.

So underselling yourself in the present will cause troubles in the future.

So that leaves the other option, to be ‘the best’.

When people see quality and skill, usually they are happy to pay for it and appreciate the value of it. If your work is at a level where people can appreciate the skill and love the outcome, then that will lead you to getting booked more often.

As it’s skill first, novelty second.

At the moment a lot of bookings are based around the trend of having an illustrator there creating something on the spot, it’s ‘new and fun’ for people to have, so the unconventionality is currently doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

However when the market becomes more saturated and people might have been drawn multiple times at different weddings, the comparisons will soon begin, and people will evaluate the work more than just focusing on the novelty.

This has already began to happen in branded events, where guests prefer some illustrators work over others and it will likely happen to weddings soon too.

So it’s incredibly important to not rely on the novelty to keep your business afloat, because everything eventually loses its freshness and what you’re stuck with is your skill as an illustrator.

So it’s hugely important to hone your skills.

You need to make sure they’re strong enough to stand up on their own without the novelty or appeal of having it done live.

So you’re not just a live event illustrator, but a good illustrator.

This is beneficial longer term because it also opens you up to many more opportunities.

If the only thing you can draw are 10 minute figure sketches then that limits your offering for work.

If live events die down, or another pandemic happens or you become unable to travel, that means your income just stops.

So to have other avenues open based around your illustration skillset, is incredibly beneficial.

Not only will this allow you to offer more packages to your current clients, such as drawing invite illustrations, ceremony illustrations, reportage, portraits, full bodies, group drawings etc, but also means you’ll be able to offer commissions and project work that can stand on it’s own without the appeal being defined by it being a 10 minutes drawing created on site.

And with being a self employed freelancer, the best thing you can do to carve a career that has longevity is to have as many income streams as possible.

Diversifying your income is the smartest move you can do.

Having as many options open as possible is how you future proof your income.

If 100% of your earning is currently tied to live events, if the trend dies down like I said before or you become unable to travel half way across the country for a day, or because you’re needed at home, whatever it might be, then your income dries up.

So having other avenues on offer; private commissions, prints, originals, products, all these will help strengthen your offering and make your business more solid to survive any dips and changes.

All these offerings aren’t shaped or viewed through the 10 minute lens that a live event drawing is.

If you’re work isn’t strong as a standalone illustration then that’s why it’s important to hone your skills, as when people are spending their own money rather than just getting a free drawing at an event, the criteria for what they’re happy with is much higher.

But a lot of other illustrators offer these same products and services, so you need to stand out in other ways.

This is why a unique art style can be crucial.

I’ve seen a lot of live event illustrators mimic the same art styles because that’s what they see getting booked and they believe that will inevitably lead to them getting jobs.

Which will work for a while.

But if you and 10 other illustrators are all drawing the same art style, it goes back to what I mentioned at the start, people will decide by quality or pricing.

And because you’re all drawing the same style at the same quality, that only leaves one consideration… price.

If you draw the same way as someone else, and your rate is £200 and theirs is £150, why would someone pay £50 extra for the exact same outcome?

It leaves you with two options, lower your price, and you’re all end up in a race to the bottom, or you do your own thing and create a unique product.

This is why having a style that’s your own is a way of carving out a career with longevity, because if a client likes that style they can’t get book anyone else but you.

Which means you can keep your pricing stable as you’re the only supplier of it.

This is another thing that can work for a while, but what can inevitably happen is that people start mimicking your art style.

I’ve had phone calls and DM’s from people showing me artists that have mimicked my style at events they’ve attended, so it does happen!

I have a whole masterclass dedicated to live events, I know the risk of teaching people to draw and you end up sending out a bunch of mini-me’s.

But thankfully the one’s who have mimicked my style haven’t actually enrolled in my courses, I try my best to create courses that hone your own styles and skills rather than just mimic mine.

But it still happens!

And you can’t control that, people will mimic what they like, and might get paid work for it…

But this leads me on to my final point…

Innovate.

A lot of people look to what everyone else is doing, and if it’s working for them they think they need to offer the exact same.

But it’s not the case!

Yes live event illustration has proven popular in the 7-10 minutes per illustration format it currently is right now, but it’s not the only option out there.

Paintings of the ceremony are also popular, people are offering illustrated place cards for sit down meals, reportage illustration and graphic recording is also beginning to gain more traction.

So there’s other options to what you can offer, but what I also mean by innovate is push it further yourself!

Don’t wait for someone else to do it and just copy, you can come up with any idea you want and see if it works.

During the pandemic me and my agent tested a digital event idea, where people get drawn live on zoom due to no in person events happening, it didn’t take off but we tried it!

A couple years ago I came up with animated event illustrations, I create a digital animation in 15 minutes that I then airdrop over, I pitched this to brands and ended up doing this for Boss and Tiffany’s.

I didn’t wait for someone else to do it and copy, I developed the idea myself, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else do it since… whether that’s a compliment or an insult I’m not quite sure.

People may copy your art style but if you’re always pushing your work further and trying new things then they’ll only ever be lagging behind nipping at your coat tails, they’ll never really be any competition.

So never get comfortable, no matter who your clients are or how many events you’re booking, complacency will be the death of your career.

And that’s my thoughts on how to outlast live illustration being a trend!

Despite what some people might say, live illustration hasn’t just been thought up and created in the last few years, my first event was 13 years ago, I know other illustrators who have been doing it for nearly 20.

It’s not a trend that will come and go, it’s always been around, and will continue to be around, it’s just more visible and accessible right now.

So to sum up, if you want to outlast the trend of live illustration:

Don’t undersell yourself.

Hone your skills.

Diversify your income streams.

Have a unique style.

Innovate.

Don’t be complacent.

And you know one way to not be complacent? To never stop learning!

Here’s a few of my courses that I’ve cherry picked that’ll help with what I’ve discussed in this blog post, and they’re currently £100 off in November!

Courses to help:

Drawing Masterclass - Hone your skills as an illustrator by learning how to loosen up your work, utilise colour, illustrate backgrounds, concepts, posing, drawing from imagination and more.

Business Masterclass - Learn what income streams are available and how to pitch for work.

Wedding Masterclass - Help diversify your live event offering by improving your drawing skills, incorporating backgrounds, reportage and portrait illustration.

Thanks for reading!

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