Artist vs. Illustrator

a mini look into this creative’s identity crisis.

As an artist/illustrator, I want to discuss the difference between those titles today. And maybe dissect my place in these worlds.

When you're an artist, you are creating for you. The creativity can flow from your brain onto the page (or tablet if you're like me), and your style and art become a reality, with the freedom to make anything you want with no one to answer to except yourself. In my case, self-doubt and imposter syndrome can be crippling at times. However, those feelings are a reality for any artist, so I try not to let the negativity get me down.

As an illustrator, you are not creating for yourself but for someone else. It is their vision and your job to execute that vision. Sometimes a commission, and sometimes in the form of another medium. In my case, I find it most common to get inquiries about children's books, stand-alone illustrations, or logos. Rarely do I get licensing rights for my work. Which means I am usually doing work-for-hire jobs.

For me, the question becomes, how do you stand out? What is the right way? Is it better to be an artist and never sell or an illustrator with clients but not in love with what you create all the time?

I wish I had the answers to these questions. My journey as an artist/illustrator has been to find and examine my feelings on these things. If you are an artist/illustrator/writer/creative, what are your feelings on this? Do you have this type of anxiety over your job? Do you create to create, or is it more about making a career?