Illustration

Illustration on one page. Illustrators working in editorial, publishing, children's books, comics and character design, individual commissions, book pages, comic sequences and character sheets, and the fairs, signings and live drawing sessions being announced.

Illustration is a freelance trade conducted almost entirely at a distance. Commissioners cluster around publishers and magazines while illustrators work from wherever they live, so the work moves by email and the relationships outlast any single job. Editorial rates have been flat for years while publishing and games have grown, which has moved many illustrators toward books, character work and licensing. Generative image tools have pushed usage rights and authorship to the front of every negotiation.

Commissioning editors tend to arrive looking for one specific register, so artist pages carry a whole body of work rather than the six pieces that fit a grid. Sequential work stays sequential: a comic page posts as a page and a set of character turnarounds stays together instead of being scattered across an upload feed.