Common challenges you WILL face as a freelance artist navigating self-employed life - with insight from 6 creative professionals:
Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.
I hope by this point we all know this wise sentence to be a bit of bs, one of commonly repeated phrases contributing to the romantic myth of The Artist. Being able to create artwork for a living is a massive privilege, requiring a generous amount of luck and lots of hard work. It’s also a slow burn career, and it often takes years to establish yourself, especially if your background (like mine) isn’t rooted in generational wealth and connections. There are so many wonderful things about working in the arts, but too often we have to learn the challenges and intricacies of self-employment when they confront us face to face, leaving the good old Google search + trial and error method to deal with them.
As an illustration student in my early twenties navigating life in a foreign country, I had no idea what kind of industry environment awaits me after graduation. Talking to aspiring creatives today, I still see a lot of anxiety and self-doubt. I’m a huge believer in sharing experiences and bits of knowledge as means to help develop skills and prepare for both joyful and difficult situations one is bound to encounter while embarking on a creative career. And one thing needs to be said: there will be challenges. It’s a guarantee, but it’s also ok.
So let’s talk about some common obstacles freelance artists face in 2025.
When I work with art students at workshops or guest lectures, I never avoid talking about things like business skills needed to grow freelance work, or dealing with anxiety of pricing your services - and I think there’s a sense of relief when these things are out in the open. I’m very fortunate to have an amazing art community of fellow creators where gatekeeping doesn’t exist, and the conversations with them help me keep working and stay sane - but I realise that not everyone has that, and that entering creative industries often feels overwhelming and unknown.
A group of fantastic creators have joined me to share their insight and experiences with creative freelance work in the current unstable climate. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but a collection of issues and topics that tend to come up in conversations again and again.
Let’s jump into it, shall we?
In this post: navigating quiet times and client contracts// delayed projects and unreliable schedules // finding creative ways to reach out to new clients //importance of art community // and more!
Things take A LONG TIME.
If - like me - patience is not your strongest trait, you might have a hard time with the fact that many freelance projects can stretch in time, even despite a previously agreed schedule. In my experience, the bigger the project, the bigger the client, the more people who need to see your work development and give their feedback - the more time things tend to take. This is why it’s so important to work out a way to schedule and plan your work ahead, understanding the difference between the freelance gigs which will be quick and get paid asap (things like personal commissions for portraits, DnD characters illustrations or editorial graphics with a quick turnaround) and the projects requiring bigger investment of time and labour, which will yield fruits in a long time from now (comics, book illustrations, visual campaigns for brands etc).
I wrote about freelance work schedule in more detail in this blog post, but today I want to highlight that yes, projects can take unexpected turns, and while you can take steps to protect yourself, it’s not always entirely in your control.
I had someone inviting me to do a guest lecture because they remembered seeing my art talk two years prior. After my first comic got interest of a publisher, it took 4 months just to confirm the pitch and further 2 years until my graphic novel was out in the public. Often I finish comics work for clients, get paid in time (yay!) and then need to forget about until it gets officially announced and released in six months or a year. I usually try to switch up between long and short term projects, and have some options for additional income (taking part in art markets is a great help).
Things really can take a long time.
It’s crucial to agree on a schedule with a client beforehand, and ideally request a deposit if a project is long-term. More on client interactions and negotiating contracts below in point 4!
“I love comics because I can do so much of it myself; I can write, draw, colour, print and sell it. I love my collaborators (I promise), but I’ve always (mostly jokingly) branded myself as someone who doesn’t play well with others. It can be difficult to accept that sometimes to make the cool project with the cool publisher/ writer/ whatever you’re going to have to wait. The project that you’re pouring your heart and soul into is just one of ten projects an editor is dealing with and they’re only human and may miss an email or five. Sometimes pitches take months to get looked at, sometimes you’ve got to re-ink a page the day before the printing deadline. There’s no how-to guide for this and it would be out of date by the time it was written; it can feel very amorphous and honestly it’s a miracle anything gets made (that’s a joke, i love comics, promise x).”
- Beck Kubrick | Comics Artist (Dead Girls, Meat4Burgers, Rick and Morty) | Portfolio
“The real bane of my life is thinking some thing is finished and should be invoiced for, only for countless rounds of amends to come back. I moonlight doing Web development work, also freelance, and even if I stipulate a limit to the amount of amend rounds, more always come back. Things that they believe were misunderstood or now that they've seen them in action they've changed their mind. It adds hours and hours of work to every project, not to mention just reading and replying to the emails, plus the planning, research and actual development work.
So much of freelance life is cyclical. These things happen over and over, and I try to plan and prepare for them but they still happen. Client's putting projects on hiatus can be another source of stress - I've given so many unpaid hours to potential projects, discussions, research and development, only for the project to disappear. This has been somewhat rare, though that does make it sting more when it happens, as there are only so many hours in a week or in a year, so you plan your time and your projects accordingly.”
- Joe Latham | Illustrator and Comics Artist (Haru series, Lustration & Other Stories) | Portfolio
2. Going full time freelance vs. juggling multiple jobs
In our collective perception going full time freelance seems to be the end goal, the ultimate happily ever after: you made it, and if you’re doing this full time that means you’re certainly making a comfortable living out of your creative work, only climbing up. In reality, a decision to go full time freelance is only a beginning of setting up your creative work as a one person business, and requires years of pro-active work.
For many artists doing their work “on the side” of another job seems like a weakness or even a symptom of failure. But the truth is, there are many advantages that can come from combining your art work with part-time employment. For many people taking the plunge into full time freelance work might not be an ideal solution, whether it’s because of the instability it brings or the initial investment it requires. Perhaps working alone at a desk all week, without an external schedule, is not a lifestyle they find comfortable. Perhaps they find it more safe and beneficial for their wellbeing to have a stable income from a part-time position, which takes pressure off and allows them to focus on the creative projects they’re most passionate about.
I could keep listing possible reasons, but the bottom line is: going full time freelance is a personal, individual decision - and often a difficult one. Each artist’s career path is different, and so many of us combine multiple income streams. It doesn’t take away from the value of our creative work.
“As usual, I find myself with several friends and associates tentatively offering work - but future work. Work that needs funding to be secured, work that comes only after an undetermined waiting period, work that might fall through entirely. What’s more, all around me I see my older, more accomplished, more established contemporaries running into the same problem. Many artists are finding that they need to seek new income streams, whether within the art industry or - in my case, as it increasingly seems - out of it. There are a few things I find solace in: First, that my 5 ridiculously fulfilling years of lecturing and cartooning happened at all, and I can be grateful for that good fortune. Second, that nearly all of the great cartoonists I know, every single one of whom I look up to, have non-art day jobs. It’s normal, and they make it work.”
- Imogen Mangle | Illustrator and Comics Artist (Galatean Girlfriend, Filth and Grammar) | Portfolio
3. Freelance work = solitary work
For many people, working alone at the desk or in your own studio all day every day is a dream come true. And it often is! But consider working on a huge project like a graphic novel or an animation. A passion project you pour all your heart and effort into. You spend 8 or more hours each day working away, staring at your own drawings. Eventually, being in your own head for so long with only very occasional feedback from an editor or a client can cause feelings of doubts and anxiety, and, well, loneliness. It’s a certain lifestyle that won’t be ideal for everyone - and I think it’s so important to understand that even if you happen to be a natural introvert, there are some steps you can take to ensure the solitary work doesn’t affect your health.
I’m definitely one of these people who love working alone. I cherish the long hours spent in my home studio nook, working away and going through an ungodly amount of podcasts and YouTube essays while I ink and colour comics pages. BUT. I really don’t think this would go as smoothly if I didn’t ensure the following things:
Staying in touch with my fellow creatives and people who enjoy my work - through social media / Discord servers and, most importantly, numerous art events and comics festivals where I can see them in person!
Getting daily exercise - gym, walks and lovely stretches to clear my head and keep me healthy and safe from constantly bending over my desk like a little goblin.
Occasional change of location - taking my work into a cafe or having a freelance co-working day with a friend. Sometimes cabin fever can kick in.
TAKING DAYS OFF! You might laugh, but you know: being self-employed is amazing, because I can choose when to work….So I work all the time! Separating your work time from the rest time is SO crucial - and something I definitely still struggle with.
“I think what’s been harder for me recently has been the isolated nature of being full time self-employed and working on long term graphic novel projects. I don’t really have any co-workers, and while I juggle around 2-4 editors at a time I only maybe send them one email every few weeks to check in on a milestone or discuss the project. What’s been helpful is having a group chat with other full-time freelance friends with similar work cycle/process to me so we can talk about our daily goals and encourage each other to stick to them, or tell each other we have a lot on our plate and reassure ourselves if we don’t get everything we wanted done.”
- Shazleen Khan | Illustrator and Comics Artist (Buuza!, Saving Sunshine) | Portfolio
4. Pricing your work and negotiating client contracts
The object of so many anxieties, especially among the young creatives - and probably a topic for a blog post on its own!
I think we can all relate to the feeling of unease while starting to cast a net among potential clients. When the first commission requests come in, they can feel so precious. It’s really common at the start to feel an overwhelming relief that someone wants to hire us for creative work. Unfortunately, this can often lead to agreeing to the project hastily, underpricing your work (because what if I send a quote and they say no?) and not securing a good, safe contract.
In 2020 I got my first “serious” commission request for a product packaging from a mid-size American company. I was so inexperienced and over the moon that they wanted to put my work on their product that I quoted them £250 for the whole thing. Now I know my price should have been at least five times that. It was a true learning experience, working with an art director for the first time on something that felt like a proper career step. Ultimately though, the project was put on hiatus after I completed all the work for it. (Don’t worry, I was paid, and the company was lovely to work with even though I’m sure they could see I’m an industry newbie).
These things are something that should be taught to us, so we don’t have to figure it all out on our own. I can assure you though, the more you work with clients, the easier things will get. You’ll work out your professional tone, feel less intimidated by emails and feel more confident in setting your price and checking contracts.
“A contract is ideal. Even if you’ve written everything down in an email laying out things like upfront deposits and kill fees, you’ll have a proof that if anything does go wrong you’re somewhat protected.
A key thing is getting that upfront deposit so that if a client suddenly ghosts you or disappears for weeks, you’re somewhat compensated. It’s okay to walk away from a project if things aren’t working out. It happens to everyone.
It can be incredibly frustrating when these kind of things happen but making sure you get upfront deposits and transparency of deadlines/edits can help if it becomes unsalvageable.”
- Beth Morris aka BAM Create | Graphic Designer specialising in film posters, key art and branding | Portfolio
Over the years I’ve learned to be pro-active with my client communication. I ask plenty of questions, let them know my work process and schedule, so we both know what to expect. If I don’t hear back for a while (happens a lot), I politely follow up. I’m sure that I over-explain things sometimes, but I keep in mind that many aspects of creative process which are obvious to me might be alien to this particular client.
“Communication is KEY. Lay everything out with the client so they know where you stand, what they want, how many rounds of edits they get for the rate, etc. Don’t be afraid of letting the client know if they’re passing that threshold.
Try and get timelines laid out so you have a good idea of how much time you will be working on a project, and if this ends up being less rigid, make sure you will get paid for your time as the project is going along. “
- Beth Morris aka BAM Create | Graphic Designer specialising in film posters, key art and branding | Portfolio
“Finding creative ways to reach new clients is a tricky one - typically I would email any clients I've enjoyed working with in the past and just tell them about any recent projects I was particularly proud of. This has normally been enough to plug any gaps, as a large part of a good client relationship is treating each other with kindness. My baseline for a good client was simply 'have they ever referred any other clients on to me?' because if they have then it means they like me and want to share that with their friends. If not, it could mean that they want to keep me secret so that only they can get their special low low prices. I promise you, these people do exist on both sides of that fence.”
- Joe Latham | Illustrator and Comics Artist (Haru series, Lustration & Other Stories) | Portfolio
5. When work goes quiet…
Ah, yes. You’ve been busy, you’ve been doing fine, the workflow was great - and suddenly, things kinda die out. You go from working all the time to a couple of quiet weeks and the panic creeps in. You might eventually find yourself dipping into your savings to cover the basic bills. You wonder if this is the end. You wonder if you did something wrong.
The truth is, quiet times are fairly common and fully expected in freelance work. They can be a source of a lot of stress, but unfortunately it is a nature of the job. Some months of the year are busier than others. For many makers, time period leading up to winter holidays can be the busiest and bring the most income. For me, personally, autumn tends to be super busy thanks to the comics festival season. As you develop your business, it’s important to understand how these patterns work for you, and how can you make sure to make the most of the quiet times: have some emergency savings, a client contact list to reach out to and ideas for self-initiated projects to do meanwhile.
“Right now I'm neck deep working on my third Graphic Novel, which is 300 pages long. As a result of this focus I haven't earned a penny in months. Since before Xmas in fact. I've always kept a buffer that allows me to live for a few months without collapse. It's not easy to factor this in, and if things were to drag on longer than a few months well then that's when big problems arise.
When work is quiet I have a tendency to say 'yes' to low paid freelance gigs, feeling grateful but drastically underpaying myself for the work, which triggers a cycle of self-deprecating thoughs. 'This crappy pay is all I'm worth. My work is terrible and that's why my income is bad.' And then all of a sudden I have too much work on and I can't juggle it all, but I can't ask for help because I've said yes to projects that are so poorly paid I couldn't give them to anyone else.”
- Joe Latham | Illustrator and Comics Artist (Haru series, Lustration & Other Stories) | Portfolio
6. Social Media fatigue
This is perhaps the most time-relevant struggle. As we all well know, the social media landscape has changed so much over the years, and many of us are experiencing feelings of frustration, fatigue and hopelessness around building business via instagram or using similar platforms to market our services, meet fellow creatives and be seen by potential clients.
If you’re a small creator on instagram, this might sounds familiar: not only a tiny percentage of your followers is shown what you post, but you feel like you’re throwing your artwork into a vast, vast void. Organic reach became so much more difficult. The algorithm and the whole system of these platforms is designed to reward capitalistic endeavours and inflammatory behaviour. I actually made a short video speaking on this topic, and you can watch it here.
When I host guest lectures with Illustration students, I still get a lot of questions how to build a following and get reach on the socials. They focus on it so much, they miss the fact that a large following often doesn’t translate into more work, and that investing all your efforts into a social media platform might lead to a burnout instead of career development. Personally, I have been shifting my focus away from social media and towards interacting with fellow artists, attending more events and sharing more detailed, long-form texts - like this one. If you’re struggling with getting your work seen, know that we’re all in this together - so go an comment on your favourite artists work, start a conversation, collaborate with someone, find an art meetup near you. I guarantee it will be more rewarding - professionally and spiritually!
“When I first started creating wearable art in the 1990s, it was seen as punk, going against the grain of a society where things were being mass produced and technology was hot in the build up to the millennium. In the last 10 years, more and more people are turning to sustainability, learning handicraft and art based skills which is fantastic, but now stading out from the crowd and getting your work seen is less about talent, quality or uniqueness and all about how you appear on social media. The most useless, bland products can go viral if the algorithm decides it, while genuine artists are struggling to make ends meet.
The clients I do get are patient, polite and usually returning customer, but finding them to start with is a struggle. My ideal work work either be a residency at a theatre/opera house, or having my designs mass produced so I can spend more time designing, at the moment everything is made with my own two hands.”
- James V | BananaCustard Costuming | Costumier, Actor, Burlesque Performer | Instagram | Shop
Conclusion?
We need to have an on-going conversation about the challenges, which are normal and expected while developing a freelance business. No gatekeeping in the community.
Thank you to the wonderful, talented James, Joe, Beth, Shazleen, Beck and Imogen for sharing their experiences in such an honest way! Click on the links below the quotes, visit these creators’ portfolios and follow their work!
