First Annual Nuts & Bolts Conference July 9-10

Learn what it’s like out in the real world from some of the world’s most respected illustrators. Join us in an intense two-day event that will explore the ins-and-outs of promotion, provide self-defense tips on how to protect your work, give you direction on building a stronger web presence and share with you the three things every successful illustrator knows as well as talking about the do’s and don’ts of being a young illustrator.

We’ll offer studio tours, a complimentary online portfolio review as well as a Premium Subscription to 3x3 Magazine that includes our illustration annual. You’ll also receive a free copy of A Blueprint for a Successful Illustration Career.

We’ll encourage you to interact with our speakers and ask questions before, during and after the conference. We’ll top the conference off with a cocktail reception with all our speakers on our final day.

Everyone starts where you are today but by attending this conference you’ll have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful. Register today

One of the reasons I want to do this conference is that I don’t believe young illustrators get off on the right foot. No school has time to adequately prepare a student illustrator—or designer or fine artist for that matter—for the real world and as a result the illustration industry remains static. Fees haven’t changed in forty years. Illustration has lost much of the respect it once had among art directors, editors and advertisers. But I feel that can change if we provide young illustrators with a better set of tools and that’s why this conference is so important.

What I’ve discovered is that successful illustrators are all very astute business people as well as being talented illustrators. At our conference you’ll benefit from their trial and errors to help you avoid some of the pitfalls of starting your career as an illustrator. That’s good for your career. And ultimately that’s good for the industry.

Illustration by Tibor Karpati