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I have a lot of issues with editorial illustration, the main one being that even those at the top of their game, winning awards and getting prestigious gigs, are still struggling to make ends meet if they don’t have another source of income https://twitter.com/litebox_info/status/1278485872497905667
In 2015 after two years of doing editorial on the side while working a day job I hated, I quit my job and moved back in with my parents to pursue editorial full time. I was getting work consistently but stringing together 200-700$ gigs wasn’t adding up.
Rates have remained stagnant for decades, magazines have shuttered, and work for the web somehow pays less (???). The work is fun but the self promo is exhausting and disheartening. Editorial is still pushed as a viable full time career option in art schools but imo it isn’t one
While I don’t regret my art school education and I’ve made a good art career for myself in other ways, there’s a lot of debate about rising tuition costs and it’s valid to ask whether the carrot being dangled in front of you is even worth it
