Quest for Work Experience

Ekaterina Koroleva
Illustration and Visual Media

Quest for Work Experience.

I wanted to be a game artist, but the skillset wasn’t there yet. “What to do? Anything and everything in between. Do an online CGI course! In the meantime, do some other artsy activity.”, - I thought to myself and set out on a quest to find a job placement.

The London Book Fair!

It was very  good idea to volunteer, and DPS gives you a good excuse to be cheeky and inquisitive and to ask around, whether people need any illustrators in their publishing houses. I went and asked the people in the illustrator’s zone, how did they get there. They said that you just have to apply in time and pay a fee for a wall space and\or a table. Also it is useful to ask publishers from other countries if they need illustrators. The first time I actually needed business cards and regretted not having printed them in time. Have a portfolio on the ready and print some business cards with a link to it.

Network everywhere!
ComicCon is no longer purely for entertainment! I found out that many story writers are looking to hook up with artists in order to create comics. There are also comic zines you could submit your illustrations and sequential comics to. At ELCAF you can find out about big and small publishers not only from UK, but from all over the world. The most interesting are usually the small independent ones, but often they don’t have enough work to employ interns. Never hurts to ask though!



Even just going to talks, giving talks or staying in an AirBnB with a creative person can help expand your network of art connections. I once stayed in the house hosted by a professional illustrator, which gave me some idea of the workflow of a creative professional.

Other than that, I'm still sending email, still waiting, like many of us on DPS.

Instagram: @thegreatartofkate
www.behance.net/Katya_Kor

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