Materials and Processes
Most editorial illustrators must work with tight deadlines, with commissions being “spread over days or a week, sometimes longer, but rarely extending beyond two weeks” (Selby, 2022) so time management is a key part of the process. Another important skill is being able to gather visual research this can be by collecting ephemera (Blechman ,2014) or by using a sketchbook in an experimental way (Ager, 2023), to test different materials, colour schemes and layouts. I think that research that research into your subject can help you have a better understanding, which enables you to come up with better concept sketches for your piece, however when dealing with short deadlines it could be hard to do specific research, instead one could choose to do life drawing of subjects they tend to gravitate towards when accepting jobs to make their overall understanding better.

In recent years moving image has become sought after in illustration as the landscape changes “and whoever is hiring you will most likely expect your artwork to be animated in some way.” (Lossing, 2020) Some knowledge of Photoshop, or similar programs is needed for a freelance illustrator as even traditional work will need to be scanned, cleaned up and made to the correct size.