I graduated college with about 3-4 months of living expenses saved up from part time retail and restaurant work and was lucky enough to find a v cheap apartment with roommates. I was able to do income based repayments for my student loans 1/ https://twitter.com/litebox_info/status/1319012658146910212

I was EXTREMELY lucky to get 2 recurring gigs within my first year out of school. One was illustrating a weekly newspaper column for $150/week, which just barely covered my rent, and semi-regular work from an e-book startup (who ended up ghosting me on my last check )

Those regular gigs sustained me while I got the occasional editorial job. The only reason I was able to start freelancing in New York is because of the cheap apartment. I stayed there for 7 years, and lived hand to mouth for about 3 or 4 years after graduating.

I’ve been doing freelance illustration for 7 years now, and still can’t support myself on editorial alone. I probably make about 50% of my income from editorial work, the rest comes from illustrating/animating for commercial studios, and teaching 6 hours per week.

I pay closer to market rate rent in Brooklyn now but still split expenses with my partner which is also a huge help. I also had health insurance through his job until this April.

I’ve been extremely lucky in my career, but even in my more prosperous years I make an entry-level salary. I’ll never be able to raise a kid or buy a house in my city. Illustrators wages are FAR below what they should be considering the level of expertise we bring to our jobs.