Cool Careers - Freelance Illustrator and Cartoonist

Interview with Leo Lingas: Freelance Illustrator and Cartoonist, Toronto, ON

"I definitely get a thrill seeing something I’ve done make it on air or into the public domain. It is nice to see a project right through to completion and see it become available to the public."

1. How would you describe what you do?

I draw or paint to client specification.

2. How did you get started?

When I was really young I drew a lot and always wanted to be a movie director. I got into animation so I could combine these two interests and “draw” movies. I then realized how many drawings are required for a movie –hundreds and hundreds of frames for a single piece of work! So instead, I became interested in cartooning. I went to OCA (Ontario College of Art) and put a program together that combined fine art, illustration and industrial design to create a sequential art program. I then moved to working mainly with single illustrations and now have shifted back again to storyboarding and using many illustrations in a piece.

3. What do you like and dislike about what you do?

 There is a lot that I like about it. I get the most satisfaction from being able to work at something I am good at – that I have mastered. I like it when my skills are acknowledged and I enjoy being able to work independently and stay close to my family. I have been afforded a lot of freedom to juggle my schedule and be there for my family.

I don’t like the unsteadiness of it. I was raised in a “salary” household and started my career chasing salaries. The uncertainty of no steady paycheque is tough. I am also not a great fan of negotiating – but I am getting used to it. Also, critique, is especially hard critique is hard to take. I have been getting better at it and coaching my clients so they can give me feedback that is useful – although recently I have not had to deal with this as much as in the past.

4. How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I have several different businesses – three separate store-fronts. I have advertising clients that hire me for rendering projects (see www.leolingas.com), which in my case, involves doing preliminary illustrations for advertising ideas or “comps” – which are quick illustrations of what a campaign would look like. In this case, I have a flat rate per piece according to established business standards. In Toronto, there are a few lists where illustrators can be found by clients looking for rendering services.

My second business is fantasy illustration for games (see www.leoillustrator.com) – table top, card games or video games. Examples of this are Orcs, Goblins and Fairies, etc. I charge a flat rate, but there is a bit more negotiation involved. My prices are a bit in flux – I don’t do this work as much anymore and most of these clients do not have the same budget as advertising clients. The challenge is to find a client that recognizes the value of the work and is inline with what advertising clients are willing to pay.

My last business is caricaturing at parties. (See http://www.leolingas.com/Caricatures/Caricatures.html) For this work I charge an hourly rate. Overall, I invoice my clients and they have 30-60 days to pay and then I chase after them like any other freelancer.

5. What education or skills are needed to do this?

You need to draw and paint. There are some courses that teach illustration or comic book art courses or animation (which is different from what I do since it involves illustration over film time). Any course will teach you the basics to develop the very same skill set. This skill set gets applied differently in different business models. I actually think you need to focus on your drawing and painting skill set first. Once you have professional level skills in these areas you can then focus on the business model you will follow. As a freelancer, you also need to be able to negotiate and manage money. Of course, computer skills are also very helpful today, but are supplementary to the basic drawing and painting skills.

6. What is most challenging about what you do?

Meeting my own expectations is a challenge! Because of all the storyboarding work that I do, it is a challenge to meet all of the deadlines and organize my schedule well.

7. What is most rewarding?

 You know what? I definitely get a thrill seeing something I’ve done make it on air or into the public domain. It is nice to see a project right through to completion and see it become available to the public.

8. What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Treat it like a job. A lot of people enter into it as a “dream career” and think it will be fun and easy. While it certainly can be all of those things, a large part of the work is not that. It is work that people can consider tedious or boring. If you can’t get used to the tedious nature of any job you won’t get the satisfaction you are seeking – and this job is no different.

9. What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

I think the last question touched on it! A big misconception is that it is easy. Our whole industry, as illustrators, has pay rates that are really depressed because the market is flooded with people who are happy to do it for “praise alone.” They are so happy just to be illustrating and to have a client. People devalue themselves and it has an impact on all of us. There is a story about a cartoonist for a major newspaper who was chided by someone who said: “You must have the easiest job in the world! All you have to do is come up with 1 drawing each day!” The cartoonist answered by saying that what the public doesn’t see is the 50 drawings he had created that day in order to get the one that was published. I think that sums it up best.

10. What are your goals/dreams for the future?

My main goal right now is to own my own intellectual property. I grew up loving Star Wars and I want to own my own franchise with a vision that other people can connect and interact with and make part of their lives. It would be something that would provide sustainable income for me.

11. What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I think the one thing is that my parents both de-romanticised and romanticised art. They firmly believed that it could be a dream job and a creative existence but that there was no money to be made. I’ve learned that there absolutely is! As professionals in the industry, if we connected more frequently and talked about the business side, we’d be in a stronger position to raise the bar for what is a valid and beneficial career. It is not necessary to starve! For more information about me and my work, please visit: www.leolingas.com or www.leoillustrator.com

Thank you Leo for sharing your career with Challenge Factory! Your views on being a freelancer as well as your perspective on artistic pursuit as a business is certainly interesting - and very cool!

Are you curious about other professions? Read additional interviews in our Cool Careers Series.