To think it's time to give up on my career?

[PassTheCordialCordelia]

I worked for over 30 years as a children's illustrator and author, including a nifty little side line selling individual prints and originals. I have worked with writer's, web designers, large brands including John Lewis and Anthropologie, and was also successful doing art markets and product design.

Around 2015 things started to slow riiiight down. I had a decent social media following but it began to stall. I worked very hard to get things moving again, trying out new ideas, focusing on capturing new audiences as well as my old ones, but experienced no improvement. I spent some time wondering if the work was the problem, but it still appeals to people when they can actually see it. Even so, I get next to no communication from brands or buyers anymore, so wonder if the entire field is struggling.

I then put more effort into offline marketing, again to no avail. It has cost me a fortune in materials, good paper, travelling to markets and hiring space.

I think the world has just changed? There are possibly millions more people doing this now than previously, and the barrier to entry has dissolved due to digital technology, AI and every (wo)man and her dog getting into illustration as a side hustle.
I'm a bit worn down now after over 9 years of fighting to keep relevant. I have truly worked my arse off to expose the work.

I don't want advice about how to recover it, and I do have skills I can take into new work, but I do think I need permission from myself to just quit. I feel like I am letting myself down if I stop, but it is wearing me out. There are many other things I am passionate about so am not too concerned about that, and I have some savings to help me through a transition, but not for too long!
But trying to stand out and earn a living this way isn't that great these days. Some are doing well but it can fall off quick.

I think loads of people are struggling to get work at the moment across many different professions and formats. It's like the world is running out of money ( although the billionaires seem OK)
How will you support yourself and are you OK with starting out at the bottom, for peanuts?

I had a very small inheritance that has been half chewed away already. Work came in fits and starts over the pandemic, but stalled completely around 2022.

I cant afford to faff around any longer.

It will have to be peanuts to begin with. I think avoiding that has eaten away at my time, so it was a false economy trying to recover my old earnings!
What is my alternative? It was a good career while it lasted, and I appreciate many never get to do it for that long. But yes, times are changing.

Do it. I now have a second career after completing clinical masters and actually rediscovered the joy of making art. Now when a project comes in, I am excited rather than stressed about "what's next".. because my "next" is always covered by my day job which I also absolutely love. Plus I love not having an emotional and mental load of constantly scouting for clients, updating my socials, driving to markets and doing my accounting.
When I first threw in the towel, I had a lot of discouragement from friends and family but 5 years on, I don't regret my decision for a second.

Of course you are not unreasonable. It sounds like you aren’t on a position to retire, so you may need to think about what else you can do instead. I think there is a lot of potential in education - teaching people about how to be illustrators for example. I’d go on a course like that. I’d probably buy a place for my teenage daughter too, as it would be a nice thing to do together.

Thank you. I am in my early 50's so it's a bit daunting. I have interests in a completely unrelated field, and would have to start from a very modest situation. I will always create artwork, but this would free me up to do the work I have wanted to do for over a decade and haven't been able to risk - watercolour landscapes, just for my own pleasure...ahhhh!

Sometimes a well just dries up, and we might not know when, exactly, to jump ship. If I had jumped ship in 2020 I would be far, far better off financially now. I can't go back in time, and crying over spilt milk won't help me.

It's difficult to come to terms with, but the alternative (carrying on the grind and getting further into financial distress) isn't good either.

I would say, go for it. I'm a writer but despite making decent money from fiction, I've always had a well-paying day job. The struggle is one I'd rather have - rather than struggling for money, I struggle to find the time to write, and since having young kids it's even harder.

Still, I think I would go mad trying to make a living out of it when even selling a book is so unpredictable. I couldn't live with that uncertainty. I think there's no harm in taking a steady job that gives you time to only create art you really care about. My recommendation would be to try and do something three or four days a week, so you still get to dedicate full days to your art and have weekends off.

All businesses (and careers) need an exit strategy. It’s not giving up or failing or anything else. You did it, you were successful, and now the market has changed.

It’s totally understandable that you’d have feelings about changing direction but just think about the excitement you’ll have for a a new career vs. keeping a waning one going.

Celebrate your success, say goodbye and feel bad for a bit, then jump in to your new adventure.

AI is bound to be a big source of loss of work.

There are business that are building reputations on not using AI - the obvious ones are some news media organisations like the Telegraph and the Financial Times - but there are bound to be others in your client base. I would look for them and focus your energy there.

I don't know whether quitting is the right thing for you as its hard to say without the full info.

I would definitely look into other options and pivoting before you do. These days all you need is one viral moment for your business to change in a second. Custom illustrations for influencers?

If you are going to jump horses, it's better to get the second horse up and runnign along side you before you do. It's always easier to get a new job from a position of strength in the old one in other words.

sorry thats probably all not very helpful.

I think financially I need to quickly find new work, but will be able to rethink my creative stuff once settled.

And you are right, struggling to revive something that is basically dead in the water is a sunk cost, and that applies emotionally as well as financially. It has really worn me out, I am stressed to the hilt and dream of letting it go. I don't look forward to starting from scratch, but at least I would have a chance to alter my future.

The financial hit has already happened, I can barely excuse buying new art materials.

If I had jumped ship in 2020 I would be far, far better off financially now

But if you had, you might have spent these last five years cursing yourself that you weren’t brave enough to pursue your love of art. Whatever you do in life, there is always the ‘other thing’, the thing you didn’t do. You can now be satisfied you gave it your very best, and it did work, but finances/whatever have put you in a situation where you have to be practical now.