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Illustration Guide: Create, Upload & Make Money As An Illustrator

by Designhill Tweet - in Illustration Design

Last updated on October 11th, 2022

The illustration is a popular type of art used on various sites, stores, books, newspapers and magazines. It is indeed the preferable art that helps artists to make money. Like, they create unique illustrations and get them printed on most demanding and selling products. However, an artist should follow some proven tips to earn a decent earnings for selling artworks. This illustration guide can help you to get in the right direction to create and sell the art pieces professionally.

Once, illustration was just a hobby as it had minimal commercial use. Later, advertisements started showing up illustrations, and then its use picked up. Now, illustrations are everywhere, thanks to digital printing techniques.

You will find illustrations printed on daily used products like custom t-shirts, hoodies, accessories, lifestyle products, phone cases, etc.

It has opened up new earning opportunities for illustration artists. They can come up with remarkable new artworks that catch viewers’ attention.

But, many new illustrators who have little experience need guidance. This career must be approached in a professional way to achieve success. If you’re one of them, no worries, we’re here to help!

Here Is The Illustration-Guide That Tells It All About Creating, Uploading, And Making Money As An Illustrator

How To Create The Best Illustrations?

01. Make Some Quick Sketches

Start the illustration creating a process by first making some sketches on the theme of your choice. Use a pencil to create a series of rough sketches by hand.

In this way, you will draw some quick sketches of the characters and their movements. But compare those many sketches to find which of them is more engaging and interesting.

Make Some Quick Sketches

Once you have picked the one sketch, try to draw it further in different shapes such as rounded, sharpened, hypertrophied, etc.

This will help you know which shape is more suitable to the nature of the character. Make sure that the sketch and character show up the right emotions. Keep a pencil and paper always handy. You never know when the idea will approach you.

02. Get Some Inspiration

Inspirational thoughts and creative things are the fodder for an artist to come out with something unique. So, before you work on a theme, visit the other artists’ latest works online or offline.

Get Some Inspiration

Also, go into nature and visit things around to stimulate your creative brain- your creative spirit. This is the way to have an outstanding idea that you can work upon and make money as an illustrator.

03. Choose The Right Composition

Make sure that your composition for illustration is perfect. A well-balanced composition will help in showing the dynamics of illustration in your work.

Choose The Right Composition

It is also important to balance your elements or characters in the artwork to make them look distinctive. It would be best if you tried to add rhythm also to the composition.

04. Check The Entire Scene

Viewers will look at your illustration work in its entirety and not from your eyes. Therefore, check the finished work to find if it fits well in the scene or not. The scene must look complete from all angles.

Check The Entire Scene

05. Use Colors Thoughtfully

Illustrations are all about bright colors. But the choice of color palette as per the illustration theme and scene to create the right mood. The choice of colors is also helpful in setting the tone contrast of the composition.

Use Colors Thoughtfully

06. Find The Right Platform

After you know how to create unique illustration works, the next step is to find a platform to exhibit your artwork regularly.

You should choose a Print-On-Demand platform like PrintShop. POD site is the one that lets you place an order for printing your illustration works on different products of your choice.

Find The Right Platform

Then, illustrators can ask the site to sell your artworks to the customers. Not only that, but the site also delivers the product having your artwork print to your customers.

However, make sure that you choose the right platform that lets you have many advantageous features for making money.

Why PrintShop by Designhill?

PrintShop by Designhill is amongst the best POD platforms that you can rely on to build your career out of your illustration skills.

Here Are Some Good Reasons To Use PrintShop by Designhill

i. High-profit Margin

PrintShop by Designhill lets you decide the profit margin you wish to earn by selling your illustration works. The platform gives complete freedom to artists to keep retail prices reasonable. You can easily make anywhere between $10 to $19 as profit on each piece of clothing with your art print.

ii. Great Quality of Products

This site uses high quality products on which you will print your illustration works. Consequently, your chances of selling the art prints on such quality products go higher, and you earn more money.

iii. Quick Delivery

PrintShop delivers your products with prints of your artwork to your customers. This relieves you from the worries of managing the delivery issues.

iv. Managing Your Payments

The platform also manages all your payment issues. It would help if you did not worry about getting payments from the customers. Every payment process goes through this platform. It also keeps a tab on your shipment information and lets you know about it.

v. 24/7 Live Support

PrintShop also runs a state-of-the-art customer service to ensure that your clients and others are resolved quickly.

With these and the other host of features, ensure that you can rely on PrintShop to conduct your daily business of creating and selling art smoothly.

How To Open Your Online Store on PrintShop?

So, open your online shop at PrintShop by Designhill. There is no fee charged to start your online store on this platform.

Just provide your required information in an easy form and get started with the site to create your store. You can showcase your illustrations and graphic designs at the store.

After starting the store, display your illustration works either independently or as mockups on clothing, etc. products. When people visit your store, they will see many of your illustration works displayed on t-shirts, etc. products. This gives them a glimpse of how the artwork will look on that product.

When customers buy the products, you order PrintShop to print that artwork on that particular product and deliver it to the customer.

But make sure that you showcase your best illustration work only as it will help in building a certain perception about your artistic abilities.

While showcasing your artwork as mockups on the products, give a short description of the customer’s product and art.

How To Upload Your Art?

As an illustrator, you will be more often creating a lot of artwork. This means that you will upload much of the art to your online store to display and sell. Therefore, uploading your artworks such as custom wall art at PrintShop is an easy process. All you need to do is to select your product at the site.

Then, set your price for the product that has your art print. This process takes only a few clicks to complete. In this way, you can showcase your artwork to millions of visitors. You can thus sell your illustration works directly from your online store.

Product Categories At PrintShop

Another thing to note while you are at PrintShop is that you have access to many attractive and trendy products. These are the products on which you will order PrintShop to print your illustration works to sell.

Here Is The Product Category List With A Few Illustration Examples

01. Men’s Clothes

You have access to men’s apparel that is always in demand so that you can sell them more. These clothes include custom long-sleeve shirts, t-shirts, tank tops, ringer/polo t-shirts, hoodies sweatshirts, and zip hoodies.

Just Ride Unisex Crewneck Sweatshirt Designed by Rurufi456

Just Ride Unisex Crewneck Sweatshirt

This illustration gives the men’s t-shirt a new look and makes it a salable item. A motorbike and rider with two towering trees and the sun make this illustration unique despite being mostly in black and white.

02. Women’s Clothes

You can pick products from custom tank tops, t-shirts, long sleeves t-shirts, crop tops, and hoodies sweatshirts in the women’s clothing section of the product category.

Botanical illustration protea flower Women’s Boyfriend T-Shirt Designed by Maria Amelchenko

Botanical illustration protea flower Women's Boyfriend T-Shirt

A simple but lovely flower illustration is the key feature of this t-shirt for women. With such colorful artwork, you can surely sell more t-shirts to the women customers.

03. Kids & Babies

Kids’ and babies’ clothing is also highly salable items that you can print your illustration pieces and sell them more. Such clothes include custom hoodies, t-shirts, and bodysuits.

Cat Illustration Toddler Short Sleeve T-Shirt Designed by Janinedoringo

Cat Illustration Toddler Short Sleeve T-Shirt

An illustration of a cute cat like this helps in selling kids t-shirts and the artworks even more. Just come up with such a unique cartoonish illustration work and you are bound to make more money by selling such art pieces.

04. Accessories

Amongst accessories, tote bags are perhaps the most sold items as women most likely to carry them as fashion accessories or just as a useful bag. You can display your illustrations and get them printed on tote bags as your way to sell art and earn more money.

LEFT THE NEST EC8001 Organic Cotton Large Tote Designed by D.okuart

Left The NEST Organic Cotton Large Tote

This tote bag has the print of an illustration work that depicts a mom bird with her eggs. A lot of elements and the predominant use of red and white colors make this illustration unique.

05. Home & Living

You will have wall art in the Home & Living section, which are the framed posters for home walls. These items are also amongst the most selling ones as it is an essential part of home decoration.

Lost in the woods Framed Poster with Frame Mat (cm) Designed by Carnisillustration

Lost in the woods Framed Poster

This framed poster for home wall decoration appeals to the eyes due to its uniform use of one color. This illustration is unique in the sense that it shows a girl who looks somewhat sad and lonely, lost in the woods.

06. Phone Accessories

Everyone wants to keep smartphones safe from any potential damages. So, phone cases also are regularly in demand. You can display your illustration pieces on custom phone cases to make them look trendy.

Beautiful princess creative illustration Liquid Glitter iPhone Case Designed by Irina Rakyta

Beautiful princess creative illustration Liquid Glitter iPhone Case

This illustration shows a princess with someone in her heart and a lot of wild imagination in her head. Surely, this is a unique illustration idea on which the illustrator worked hard to create the piece.

Hopefully, this illustration guide gives you enough information to create and upload your illustration works and make money. But do not expect success overnight.

You need to put your best efforts into making your online store at PrintShop a happening place for the visitors and buyers. Also, you can register on sites like fiverr to gain clients and make money.

Wrapping Up

Illustration artworks are attractive and impressive art pieces that people love to buy and showcase. An illustrator can make a lot of money out of displaying and printing unique illustration works on most selling products such as clothes. If you follow an illustration guide, you can properly learn how to create and make money using your illustration skills.

Get Your Illustration Design Ideas

Designhill is the most reliable and fastest-growing custom graphic design crowdsourcing marketplace that connects a thriving community of graphic designers from across the globe with clients looking to source high quality graphic designs such as logo designs, banner designs, packaging designs, merchandise designs, web designs and many other designing works at affordable prices. In just six months of going live, the startup has helped more than 1500 businesses source unique graphic designs and has paid out more than $70000 to its ever-growing community of 29,000+ graphic designers, logo designers, visual artists and illustrators from all over the world. Facebook | Twitter | Google+

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