Oz Comic-Con: Tips from Australian Comic Artists

Hey Restless Readers, I had a chance to attend the Oz Comicon which was held in Adelaide on the weekend hoping to take home some creative vibes and I was not let down.

There was some amazing art on display and an array of panels filled with a bunch of creative minds who all had something different to say. I gained a lot of valuable knowledge from many of the panels but the Aussie Comics Panel proved the best one for me. It consisted of five Australian comic artist practising in the industry today. Doug Holgate Queenie Chan, Dave DeVries, David Yardin and Jon Sommariva. I've attached a link to each artists website so be sure to check their work out.

There was a lot of information to take in during the panel discussion but there were a couple of things that really stuck with me that I felt would be useful to any illustrator trying to find their way into the industry. The first piece of advice came from South Australian illustrator, Dave Devries, who stated that there were three essential keys to getting jobs as an illustrator. They are:

Exceptional work

Nice

Reliable

He continued, stating that you only need two of these three keys to succeed. If you are reliable and a nice person, but your work isn't the greatest you can still find a job. Likewise, if you're an exceptional illustrator and reliable but a complete jerk, people will find a way to work with you, and so on.

The other piece of advice was the importance of having an online presence. Every member of the panel shared how they promote themselves online and all agreed that having a presence on the internet is an essential part of becoming a successful illustrator. Each artist had a different method of sharing their work to an online audience including blogs, personal websites, social networking websites like facebook and twitter and creative community websites like deviantART. One of the panel members stated that sharing some of your personal interests like favourite movies books and other hobbies helps the audience that is viewing your work to connect with you. I wish I could have recorded the whole panel to post up on Restless Colour because it was really interesting and helpful but alas, I have given all I can remember. I hope you can take something from this post. Keepitcool.