My Career: Illustrator Laura Callaghan

Did you always want to be an illustrator?
No, I actually had a place on a primary school teaching course but deferred it last minute to work on a portfolio for an art school application. I wasn’t really aware of all the career routes there were in the creative field until I was in college. It was a tutor of mine who recognised I had some promise in illustration and steered me in that direction.

In college, I studied… visual communication, which is graphic design basically. The college I studied in didn’t have a dedicated illustration course at the time but this was the course which aligned most closely with my interests. I went on to study for a one-year MA in illustration once I had graduated.

My most formative work experience was… probably the graphic design internship I did while in my final year. The studio I worked in was great and the staff couldn’t have been nicer or more accommodating but it made me realise I wasn’t really that interested in a traditional design job so I started looking into illustration MAs.

My first real job was… I’ve been working in some form or another since I was 14 but my first ‘real’ illustration job was when I was still studying, I created some illustrations for a book of poetry.

The most invaluable thing I learned early on in my career was… to value my own time and ask for what it is worth. When you’re freelance there is always a fear that every job enquiry is your last one, so there’s a tendency to keep clients happy and be a bit of a yes-man. I’m a people pleaser by nature so I find it hard to ask for more but the reality is that when you’re working on your own, you are your only advocate; no one else is going to offer you a pay rise or suggest you be compensated more. If you don’t ask, you don’t get!

A common misconception about what I do is… that it is not ‘real’ work and you are spending all day every day doing what you love. It is a very fun job but it’s also not that different to a traditional job, you are still answering to a client, often working on images you would not choose to draw yourself and there are plenty of boring admin-related tasks like bookkeeping and promotion that still need to be done.

My main responsibility in work is to… create something that the client is happy with while still remaining true to the kind of work I want to create.

Do you have a career mentor or someone you look up to/seek advice from?
My partner is a comic artist and he is my sounding board. He is always straight to the point and can often see solutions with fresh eyes that I can’t – I am very grateful to have him!

The biggest risk I have taken in my career so far is… going fully freelance five years ago. Up until then, I had been working part-time as an in-house graphic designer alongside my illustration work but it was getting too difficult to juggle the two so I took the plunge and decided to just focus on the illustration. It wasn’t easy giving up the security of a monthly wage but it has allowed me to develop as an artist.

I wake at… whatever time my two-year-old decides is morning!

The first thing I do every morning is… get my son breakfast, make a coffee and check my emails.

My morning routine is… chaotic! I’m always aware that the clock is ticking on the amount of child-free hours I have to work so I like to be sat at my desk as quickly as I can.

I can’t go to work without… background noise. I always need a podcast or TV programme playing to help me focus on my work.

I travel to work by… foot. I work from home in a little studio room so have a very handy commute up a flight of stairs!

On an average workday I… will work on a client brief (it could be anything from a publishing project to packaging design) or if I am lucky, I will be working on a personal piece which will often end up as a print in my online store.

I start my working day at… around 9:15am once I’ve gotten home from the creche run and have had a quick breakfast.

The first thing I do at work is… respond to emails and make a list of things I need to get done.

I usually spend the first portion of the day… problem-solving, working out what a piece will look like, what the colour palette might be, what symbolism to include and sketching out very rough thumbnails as a first step.

I break for lunch at… whatever time there is a natural break in what I am doing, when I’ve finished a sketch or decided on a composition. It can be anywhere between 11:30am and 2:30pm.

The most useful business tool I use every day is… a lightbox. It’s a very illustration-specific tool, but it helps me figure out sketches and compositions easily.

I save time by… trying to remove as many routes to procrastination as I can. I try to get all of my life admin, lunch prep, laundry etc. out of the way in the morning. If I don’t, it is always lurking there downstairs, distracting me.

I rarely get through my working day without… checking IMDB to see what else the actor in the thing I have playing in the background has been in.

The best part of my day is… when I’ve figured out a composition and have a sketch I’m happy with, the problem-solving part is done and I can just do the meditative painting part.

The most challenging part of my day is… trying to fit everything in, there are never enough hours in the day.

I know it’s been a good day if… I feel like I’ve accomplished at least half of what I set out to do. I notoriously overschedule myself so if I can cross 50% of things off my to-do list, I feel very happy.

I usually end my day at… 4:45pm so I can pick my son up. If I have a lot of work on, I’ll pick things back up again in the evening. When I’m working to tight deadlines, I can sometimes work until 12 or 1am but I try to limit the amount of late nights I work these days.

I switch off from work by… cooking and spending time with other people, preferably not talking about work!

Before I go to bed, I’ll… unfortunately, inevitably, check my phone.

I often prepare for tomorrow by… writing a to-do list for the next day. My life is a series of lists, but it’s the only way I can wrap my head around what tasks I have to do.

After a long work week, I de-stress by… getting out of the house. The only downside to working from home is you never quite leave the workplace behind, so I like to get outside in the fresh air at the weekend, eat food I haven’t cooked myself and with any luck, have a pint or two.

The accomplishment I’m most proud of is… making this my full-time job for the past five years. Being able to earn a decent living from my art is no mean feat and I know how lucky I am. 

If you want to get into my line of work, my advice is to… create the work you want to get hired for. Consistently drawing is the best way to find what you love to draw and what it is about your outlook or style that makes you unique. There is no shame in having another source of income alongside your artwork, many of your favourite illustrators will have second jobs to supplement their income, it is a difficult line of work to make a steady living in so make it work for you!

I’ve just finished working on… an exhibition called ‘Apocalypse Chow’ at Hen’s Teeth in Dublin in partnership with Tanqueray. I created a series of paintings, fabric hangings and bespoke tableware for a feast at the end of the world and had so much fun working on these personal pieces for the past few months! At the moment I’m working on a lovely publishing project which will have me doing a lot of painting over the next two months!

Laura Callaghan’s Apocalypse Chow collection, including original paintings, fine art prints, banners & stunning tableware, is available to buy online at hensteethstore.com. Photography by Mark McGuinness.