Research point - copyright, pricing and real clients.

Find out about copyright laws in your country. What do you need to know?

I live in the UK where copyright is automatically created when an original piece of art is created. There is no requirement to register an artwork and works are protected from being used without the creators consent. (GOV.UK) Copyright will last my lifetime and for 70 years after my death, this needs to be considered if I want to use work from other artists to create an original piece, maybe as collage. I can sell or licence my copyright or permit another agency to use my work and give me royalties for the use. (GOV.UK) I also have a right not to have my work defaced or used in a way that I don't approve of (GOV.UK)

There is a nice, straightforward explanation in Becoming a Successful Illustrator and various agencies who can offer advice including the Association of Illustrators  which I really ought to join...

How much would you charge a client for your time? Think about how you go about working this out. 
Pricing is a complicated area. There isn't a lot of specific advice online because it depends on things like number of copies and area of use. I did find a table of fees here from the a.n and a lot of advice about adding up your overheads and working out what you need to earn. That works well to a point but doesn't take into account the potentially different overheads of illustrators in different areas of the country or the world. Work tends to be priced per image or project rather than per hour. Experience counts for some variation in fees and commissioners are encouraged to come up with a budget for the work that they want which can clarify things. Again the Association of Illustrators have some guidelines for members.

Real clients
Identify an easy client you could work with.

• Somebody who would benefit from having an illustrator to do some work for them.  I have done some scientific illustrations for work colleagues. Does that count? They have no budget because they are studying to be specialists in their field and are expected to publish their research in order to be deemed suitable to sit their exams. Because the market for veterinary journal articles is very small research publications sometimes expect the authors to pay for their work to be published and authors don't receive any payment for their work. It's controversial but we work on an exchange basis, I get to learn about their subject in greater depth which improves my understanding of my job and I use my work as professional learning to maintain my qualification (training courses cost many hundreds of pounds). Also I get my name on their paper which makes me look a lot more learned than I really am. I could approach the university to see if there are official illustration requirements now that I have developed a body of work that proves that I can produce suitable work that has been accepted for publication. 

• I've been producing my own design of Christmas cards for many years, more recently selling the surplus for a charity that catches my attention. This last year it was for a local homeless charity and I do think that it would be interesting to design a card specifically for them to sell. My cards have always featured my animals because they were originally designed for the veterinary practice that I worked in and subsequently designed to appease friends and family who expect them to feature my pets. I think that it would be interesting to do a design that features pets in a homeless situation because people find animals more approachable than homeless people so it could be a soft design which is attractive to buyers whilst still conveying the message of homelessness.

I need to improve my skills at approaching potential clients and selling my services. People won't come to me if they don't know that I exist. I need to create a portfolio and send it out to people who I have identified could use my work and pay me for it. I need to identify my market.