Our university was visited by illustrator Ben Tallon for a lecture earlier this year. It was a really good, informal talk about the breaks and pitfalls we might experience as illustration graduates. Tallon had graduated from our course several years ago, and was in a great position to advise us about our futures should we become freelance illustrators.
The part of his talk about how he took time to find his own style after uni was very interesting to me. He spoke about how other illustrators influence his work, and how just trying to imitate their style never works. I would say a target for our class is working towards an original, signature style, so I was really glad to hear him address that from personal experience. His advice was to persevere experimenting with digital and traditional media, even while working after being a student. It wasn’t until after he got his degree that he became comfortable using Photoshop in his current style.
It was also interesting to hear more about the transition from graduate to professional illustrator, which he also spoke about by describing his own life after uni. He came across as funny and honest about what we can expect, such as working independently in your own studio, supporting yourself with a part-time job as well as illustration work, and building a client base. The story about how, as he put it, ‘invited himself over’ to an art director’s house when he was struggling for work, and how it paid off, was funny, memorable and a good indication of the effort a self-employed person would have to put into self-promotion.
I think Tallon’s talk settled my mind about life after graduation, because even though the future is as murky as ever, his straight-forward attitude to working life just made me feel more positive. His advice was sound and he was in a perfect position to advise us about our futures which made his experiences really relevant to us.
So thank you for speaking to us Ben Tallon :)
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