IMFA #12: Interview with Felipe Barros on Freelancing as an Artist
Today we have Felipe Barros to share with us his experience as a freelance artist.
Qn: Can you give us an introduction about yourself and what you do?
I'm a freelance illustrator and concept artist from Brazil. I'm a huge geek, so I work mostly with fantasy and sci-fi stuff!
Qn: So how long have you been freelancing as an artist? What were you doing before that?
I've started dedicating myself to freelance full-time about 2 years ago. Before that I used to teach English at a private school here in Brazil.
Qn: What prompted you to move to freelancing?
Well, even though I enjoyed teaching, I was quite unhappy because I felt like I wasn't doing what I really wanted in life. I've loved drawing since I was little, so I decided to give it a shot and do it professionally. Two years and seven billion painting tutorials later, here I am!
Qn: What are the challenges you face when freelancing?
I guess the hardest part of being a freelancer is finding ways to be noticed in a sea of other artists, many of whom are much better than you. But that's probably true for everyone; there'll always be more skilled and experienced professionals in any given area.
What's important is developing a personal style that's appealing and that can be associated with you.
It's a bit of a cliche, but it's true that you should find something you like to do as an artist and specialize yourself to the point that it becomes internalized. People need to look at your artwork and recognize it's yours, because then it's much more likely that they'll think about your style and say "that's the guy I want!", and no one else will be able to do what you do.
Another aspect that might feel a little threatening if you're starting your career in art is that you'll never stop studying and learning, but to me that's a good thing, actually! It means I'll always have that awesome feeling of discovering new things and methods, and it'll never get boring!
Qn: How do you market your services? Do you or how do you use the internet to do that?
Pretty much all of my clients are from other countries, so the internet is an indispensable part of my job. We're very lucky to live not only in an age where you can do these types of things remotely, but also to have all kinds of tools that make everything easier that professionals from even 6 or 7 years ago didn't have. Things like digital signing services and cloud storage are huge time-savers, and they allow me to have a more productive use of my time and more jobs. A huge part of freelancing is being able to communicate well and fast.
Qn: Do you have any problems looking for paid assignments? Where do you look for jobs?
In the beginning, most of my jobs came from forums and websites dedicated to freelance work such as Freelance.com. I still use those venues, but I gradually started developing long-term business relationships, and currently these represent most of my income. It's definitely better to focus on long-term projects, even if they offer a smaller compensation than a one-time thing. Plus, sometimes you make friends that way!
Qn: What do you wish you had known when you were started out freelancing?
Actually I'm doing a video series on my YouTube channel where I talk exactly about that!
There's a lot of stuff I wish I'd known before, but probably the most important one is that you need to give your work the proper value before other people do. At least when it comes to art, there's nothing to be gained from underselling yourself.
Qn: What advice would you give someone who's thinking of starting a career as a freelance artist?
Don't give up! It might sound obvious, but seriously, DON'T GIVE UP.
Developing your skills as an artist is an extremely slow process and our brains aren't well adapted for this kind of long-term vision, so it's easy to get discouraged. However, with dedication and time it's completely possible to make a comfortable living as a freelance artist, specially with all the tools and resources that are available for free nowadays. There's no excuse not to follow your dreams!
Check out more work from Felipe Barros at
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