Hotwalls

So, a few weeks ago my illustration group and I visited the Hotwalls studios, built in historic fortifications located in Southsea. We poked our heads into some of the studios and talked to some of the local artists, causing some very fun revelations. For example, how much someone can charge for their original pieces and how much they can sell for additional merchandise like coasters and mugs as none of us really knew now much we should be selling our work for and how much we can sell it for. In addition to this, it also became apparent how long the process of getting started in illustration can be but on the other hand we were also given the idea that we could be in a studio like this a year after university because this was the story of one of the other artists at the studio.

Tips and tricks

We were also given a few tips about becoming a full-time illustrator. For example, multiple artists said that when they first started out that they had an additional job to help support them until they could make illustration a full time thing, cards and prints are a really good starting point for selling your work and getting it out there, if something sells really well or is really popular then you should keep selling it (even if it doesn’t really fit with the rest of your aesthetic), find a type of illustration style that makes you want to get up in the morning and work and sometimes it may take some time before you can make illustration a full time thing and that’s ok!

While walking around the studios I began to realise that having a studio like the ones there was what I had dreamt about since I realised that I wanted to pursue a career within illustration, if I’m being honesty, I was kind of in awe the whole visit.