OMG, this is the most resourceful artist's clip I’ve ever come across! After COVID, I lost my job and became an independent illustrator, but I realized how difficult it is to survive by just doing what I love or what I do best. I was considering exploring Upwork or other freelance job platforms, and I have to say thank you so much for sharing your experiences. Your tips and insights have given me the courage to put myself out there and be more proactive in looking for work. 🔥💕
Hi Bloem! You appeared on my YT today when I was feeling a bit sad about my job situation, I have been a bit stuck on a job I don't like, but I'm also a freelance illustrator. I went on Upwork a while ago but I feel like I maybe didn't try that hard. This gave me the courage to try again anyway, working on my profile now
Hi Debora, thank you so much for your kind comment, this makes me so so happy to hear ! I’m sorry to hear your job situation is a little bleak at the moment, Upwork can be a bit tough and discouraging at times as well but hopefully you manage to get some nice projects from it !! Good luck 🤞🏼💗
@ hi Bloem, I wanted to come and update, as I got my first order on Upwork today, took me some days to set it up again and also some self doubt, but I finally achieved what I couldn’t do in years, hahah :) will keep pushing through it. Thank you for the motivation again!
Oh thank you so much for taking the time to comment, that’s really great to hear ! I made the video not knowing whether it would be interesting to anyone but i’m really happy with the reception it’s gotten ! And thank youuu, really happy i managed to land this project 😭🫶🏼
thank uuu ! yes fully through upwork and i’m currently two weeks into the project and its going very smoothly 🥰 i think theres quite a lot of opportunities for long term projects via upwork but i think that some of them may try to get you to continue outside of the platform? which i have decided is too scary for me 🙈 are you using upwork yourself ? or thinking about trying it out? :)
This was excellent! realistic, not inflated results. I literally started clapping when you announced the long term project! Congrats! I appreciate this honest review. Very informative. I do have one question, how do you record or track billable hours. Do you just say hey this took ten hours and they go with it, or is it a budget decided before hand and even if it takes more or less time you have to stick to the commitment? Thanks for the info!
Thank you so much that was exactly what i was going for, i’m happy it resonated ! 🥰🥰 This is a super interesting question i wanted to address in the video but it was already so long i couldn’t fit it in 😂 Both the clients i worked with in the video had a predetermined budget so it was up to me to try to finish the work in the amount of hours that added up to the budget. This means sometimes maybe cutting back on some revisions or supplying less sketches at the start for example if you think you might not have enough time. i think it’s also important to keep the client up to date, for both i was giving updates on progress and how many hours was left and whether i thought i would finish it in time/what i was doing to make sure i would. For tracking hours Upwork has a really interesting system where you can track them directly through upwork, with a timer, it tracks the movement of your mouse and keyboard, so you can ‘prove’ to the client you are working when you say you are and it takes a screenshot of your screen at random times to upload for the client in the ‘work log’. There’s also a possibility to upload manual hours instead of track them through Upwork but i honestly think it’s easier through the app and also helps with accuracy and trust for the client. I even used the tracker when I was working on my iPad and just let the client know that’s why there was little activity on my computer at the time. The client can put a limit of how many hours you are allowed to work per week usually aligned with their budget so if you go over budget they have no obligation to pay you. Sorry for the incredibly long paragraph ! Let me know if you have any other questions 💗
I started out on upwork years ago but there were never any anime/manga focused contracts. maybe I'll try again since that's where I specialize, hopefully it's better than years and years ago.
Hmm.. are there a lot of webcomic cartoon style (simple cartoons) in Upwork? I'm afraid they won't pay the right amount because of the simple approach. And.. The thing that puts me off on using it is the bidding system they use..
I can’t really remember because those jobs usually didn’t apply to me so i would skip them but i did see quite a couple for manga/webtoon comics and also comic graphic style illustrators, a lot of the time looking for a person to come onto the project long term. I think it’s maybe more difficult if you go into the website only doing one specific type of work, because it limits your options by a lot. I also really hate the bidding system i think it’s so bad 😖 I believe if you set up a free account on upwork (and don’t buy any connects yet) you should be able to take a look at the jobs on there and see if any are interesting to you, before investing any money into the platform. Then if you do see some you like you could also buy a small amount of connects and only apply to those? I think if you offer only one type of ‘service’ maybe Fiverr might be a better fit? Though, I haven’t tried it out myself so I can’t say much about how it works.. Hope this was a bit helpful 😅
Had my first job on upwork this end of the year, good thing about it is that its long term, but they pay me 6 dollars each illustrations lol, and other than the bad communication, they expect me to finish a whole piece under 2 hours 🤡
long term yay ! 6 dollars per illustration not so yay 😭😭 if the illustrations were super super simple maybe but it sounds like they’re still expecting pretty high quality and complex illustrations 😖 i hope for better clients in the new year !! maybe once you’re done with them, their review on your profile might help you gain other clients :s
im not sure because i saw some of the people you showed being american but for example i live in mexico and the minimum wage per hour is lesst han 3 dollars here so that could explain why there were people betting so little. if i got 10 dollars an hour i would be gaining double than an entry level job at walmart, obviously freelance work isnt always 40 hours a week 4 weeks of the month, so you want to compensate. That said when you are desperate you just take anything. Sorry for the wall of text lmao
i did think of that too ! but i guess because it’s an American company i think it would make sense for them to follow the American minimum wage? But yeah it’s true there’s people from all over the world on there and happy to work for very different fees but i think that also becomes an added difficult for people that need a higher fee to afford to do the work :/ (also very much understand people bidding lower because they really need the money 🥲)
Very helpful video. I am definitely not there yet with my portfolio, but I wanted to ask. Do you think there is a market for traditional art there (scanned and edited of course) or is it absolutely necessary do go digital? Thank you and congrats.
Thank you! I’m happy to hear that 💗 And yes I do believe there is quite a couple traditional art requests, i’ve especially seen a lot of watercolour requests, if that happens to be your preferred medium. I’ve seen some invitations, portraits, architecture drawings. I don’t think it’s as much as the digital requests but i think you should still be able to find something ! 🤞🏼
it is not :) and if it were it would be marked as such. as i stated many times throughout the video there are a lot of things i did not like about upwork and the main one being having to pay to apply for jobs and the bidding system to let your application be put higher on the pile. however at the same time it is a huge platform and there are a lot of job opportunities on there so its a personal choice to either find the fees you pay worth it for the money you make or not. for now i have definitely found it worth it especially after months of struggling to find client projects elsewhere it really worked well for me. if it isn’t for you then it isn’t for you :)
definitely some people ! but there are definitely some high paying clients on there :) and it’s nice you can choose to only apply for the clients who are willing to actually pay fair prices 🙏🏼
$20 a hour is an insult to yourself and all of us before you. A starting deli worker at Albertsons makes $19 and hour. What’s your worth. Part of all this is any newb can get on upwork. Make a profile and call themself an illustrator. Guess ya get what ya pay for.
hi! as mentioned several times throughout the video i’m not american and as you probably know 20$ an hour means something very different depending on what country you live in, hence why there are also a lot of people bidding much lower than even i would be able to. and also years of experience and portfolio define your hourly rate. i would definitely prefer to be paid more per hour ! but i also need to adjust to the platform where there are a lot of people bidding much much lower than 20$ an hour, which is a big negative of Upwork as i mentioned throughout the video :)
OMG, this is the most resourceful artist's clip I’ve ever come across! After COVID, I lost my job and became an independent illustrator, but I realized how difficult it is to survive by just doing what I love or what I do best. I was considering exploring Upwork or other freelance job platforms, and I have to say thank you so much for sharing your experiences. Your tips and insights have given me the courage to put myself out there and be more proactive in looking for work. 🔥💕
this video made me decide to give upwork another chance
oh, that makes me really happy to hear ! i hope you have better luck trying it out this time
This video was very helpful , thank you for sharing your process 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
i’m happy to hear it ! thank you 🥰
Hi Bloem! You appeared on my YT today when I was feeling a bit sad about my job situation, I have been a bit stuck on a job I don't like, but I'm also a freelance illustrator. I went on Upwork a while ago but I feel like I maybe didn't try that hard. This gave me the courage to try again anyway, working on my profile now
Hi Debora, thank you so much for your kind comment, this makes me so so happy to hear ! I’m sorry to hear your job situation is a little bleak at the moment, Upwork can be a bit tough and discouraging at times as well but hopefully you manage to get some nice projects from it !! Good luck 🤞🏼💗
@ hi Bloem, I wanted to come and update, as I got my first order on Upwork today, took me some days to set it up again and also some self doubt, but I finally achieved what I couldn’t do in years, hahah :) will keep pushing through it. Thank you for the motivation again!
Hi Debora, congrats !!! that’s so exciting 🥰🥰 i’m very happy to hear it ! and thanks for taking the time to let me know
This video is super helpful! Congratulations on the long term portrait project!!
Thank you so much, Sally! 🥰 Happy to hear it was helpful !
for only six weeks on upwork you seem to be rocking it!
thank you ! it’s going much better than i expected it would ! 🥰 happy that i decided to give it a shot
Rarely I actually write comments, but this vid was so helpful! Thank you a lot! And also congrats on your long term project - sounds like a dream job!
Oh thank you so much for taking the time to comment, that’s really great to hear ! I made the video not knowing whether it would be interesting to anyone but i’m really happy with the reception it’s gotten ! And thank youuu, really happy i managed to land this project 😭🫶🏼
OMG congrats!! You landed the long term project through UPWORK?? This is insanely cool!
thank uuu ! yes fully through upwork and i’m currently two weeks into the project and its going very smoothly 🥰 i think theres quite a lot of opportunities for long term projects via upwork but i think that some of them may try to get you to continue outside of the platform? which i have decided is too scary for me 🙈 are you using upwork yourself ? or thinking about trying it out? :)
This was excellent! realistic, not inflated results. I literally started clapping when you announced the long term project! Congrats! I appreciate this honest review. Very informative. I do have one question, how do you record or track billable hours. Do you just say hey this took ten hours and they go with it, or is it a budget decided before hand and even if it takes more or less time you have to stick to the commitment? Thanks for the info!
Thank you so much that was exactly what i was going for, i’m happy it resonated ! 🥰🥰 This is a super interesting question i wanted to address in the video but it was already so long i couldn’t fit it in 😂 Both the clients i worked with in the video had a predetermined budget so it was up to me to try to finish the work in the amount of hours that added up to the budget. This means sometimes maybe cutting back on some revisions or supplying less sketches at the start for example if you think you might not have enough time. i think it’s also important to keep the client up to date, for both i was giving updates on progress and how many hours was left and whether i thought i would finish it in time/what i was doing to make sure i would. For tracking hours Upwork has a really interesting system where you can track them directly through upwork, with a timer, it tracks the movement of your mouse and keyboard, so you can ‘prove’ to the client you are working when you say you are and it takes a screenshot of your screen at random times to upload for the client in the ‘work log’. There’s also a possibility to upload manual hours instead of track them through Upwork but i honestly think it’s easier through the app and also helps with accuracy and trust for the client. I even used the tracker when I was working on my iPad and just let the client know that’s why there was little activity on my computer at the time. The client can put a limit of how many hours you are allowed to work per week usually aligned with their budget so if you go over budget they have no obligation to pay you. Sorry for the incredibly long paragraph ! Let me know if you have any other questions 💗
Congrats on the longterm project! Omg!!!
thank you so much! 🥺🫶🏼 it was really unexpected but couldn’t have come at a better time honestly 😅
thank you so much, very informative
oh thank you, i’m happy to hear it !
I started out on upwork years ago but there were never any anime/manga focused contracts. maybe I'll try again since that's where I specialize, hopefully it's better than years and years ago.
oh, maybe the trends have changed since then ! I hope you find some cool projects 💗
Hmm.. are there a lot of webcomic cartoon style (simple cartoons) in Upwork? I'm afraid they won't pay the right amount because of the simple approach. And.. The thing that puts me off on using it is the bidding system they use..
I can’t really remember because those jobs usually didn’t apply to me so i would skip them but i did see quite a couple for manga/webtoon comics and also comic graphic style illustrators, a lot of the time looking for a person to come onto the project long term. I think it’s maybe more difficult if you go into the website only doing one specific type of work, because it limits your options by a lot. I also really hate the bidding system i think it’s so bad 😖 I believe if you set up a free account on upwork (and don’t buy any connects yet) you should be able to take a look at the jobs on there and see if any are interesting to you, before investing any money into the platform. Then if you do see some you like you could also buy a small amount of connects and only apply to those? I think if you offer only one type of ‘service’ maybe Fiverr might be a better fit? Though, I haven’t tried it out myself so I can’t say much about how it works.. Hope this was a bit helpful 😅
Had my first job on upwork this end of the year, good thing about it is that its long term, but they pay me 6 dollars each illustrations lol, and other than the bad communication, they expect me to finish a whole piece under 2 hours 🤡
long term yay ! 6 dollars per illustration not so yay 😭😭 if the illustrations were super super simple maybe but it sounds like they’re still expecting pretty high quality and complex illustrations 😖 i hope for better clients in the new year !! maybe once you’re done with them, their review on your profile might help you gain other clients :s
im not sure because i saw some of the people you showed being american but for example i live in mexico and the minimum wage per hour is lesst han 3 dollars here so that could explain why there were people betting so little. if i got 10 dollars an hour i would be gaining double than an entry level job at walmart, obviously freelance work isnt always 40 hours a week 4 weeks of the month, so you want to compensate. That said when you are desperate you just take anything. Sorry for the wall of text lmao
i did think of that too ! but i guess because it’s an American company i think it would make sense for them to follow the American minimum wage? But yeah it’s true there’s people from all over the world on there and happy to work for very different fees but i think that also becomes an added difficult for people that need a higher fee to afford to do the work :/ (also very much understand people bidding lower because they really need the money 🥲)
Very helpful video. I am definitely not there yet with my portfolio, but I wanted to ask. Do you think there is a market for traditional art there (scanned and edited of course) or is it absolutely necessary do go digital? Thank you and congrats.
Thank you! I’m happy to hear that 💗 And yes I do believe there is quite a couple traditional art requests, i’ve especially seen a lot of watercolour requests, if that happens to be your preferred medium. I’ve seen some invitations, portraits, architecture drawings. I don’t think it’s as much as the digital requests but i think you should still be able to find something ! 🤞🏼
@@bloemloete I actually do watercolor, ink and some mixed media. Sounds good, I might give it a try in the future.
That’s very informative thank you 🤗✨
happy to hear it was helpful ! 🥰🥰
Is this a sponsored post? (By upwork?) if so you should mark it as such.
it is not :) and if it were it would be marked as such. as i stated many times throughout the video there are a lot of things i did not like about upwork and the main one being having to pay to apply for jobs and the bidding system to let your application be put higher on the pile. however at the same time it is a huge platform and there are a lot of job opportunities on there so its a personal choice to either find the fees you pay worth it for the money you make or not. for now i have definitely found it worth it especially after months of struggling to find client projects elsewhere it really worked well for me. if it isn’t for you then it isn’t for you :)
Upwork is evil. You shouldn’t have to PAY TO BID on jobs. Gross. 🤮
Just shows people don’t value artists
definitely some people ! but there are definitely some high paying clients on there :) and it’s nice you can choose to only apply for the clients who are willing to actually pay fair prices 🙏🏼
$20 a hour is an insult to yourself and all of us before you. A starting deli worker at Albertsons makes $19 and hour. What’s your worth. Part of all this is any newb can get on upwork. Make a profile and call themself an illustrator. Guess ya get what ya pay for.
hi! as mentioned several times throughout the video i’m not american and as you probably know 20$ an hour means something very different depending on what country you live in, hence why there are also a lot of people bidding much lower than even i would be able to. and also years of experience and portfolio define your hourly rate. i would definitely prefer to be paid more per hour ! but i also need to adjust to the platform where there are a lot of people bidding much much lower than 20$ an hour, which is a big negative of Upwork as i mentioned throughout the video :)