How to Become a Freelance Illustrator: Tips for Rates, Clients, and More

Discover practical advice to start your illustration career, including how to value your work, find jobs, build a client list, and thrive in your dream job

From exploring the woods of North Carolina, to painting in her backyard, it seems destined that Jessica Roux (@jessicaroux) would become a freelance illustrator specialized in flora and fauna.

In this exclusive content for the PRO community, Jessica shares expert advice for starting out as a professional freelance illustrator. Covering pricing, licensing, social media, and more, learn the day-to-day essentials of being a successful professional artist.

Since graduating, landing a job, and turning freelance, Jessica’s designs have appeared as prints and stickers, in publications like The New Yorker, and even in her own book, Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers.

She notes that early on, it may feel like this is an “unrealistic”, dream job: but now she feels the opposite, and couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else!