From Self Taught to Her First Illustration Job

Tammy Troyer

Dundee, OH

Associate Degree in Illustration

Design student Tammy Troyer is a high energy creative. While some of us spent the summer relaxing, Tammy spent it helping refugees in Greece and getting stellar grades in her online Illustration classes at Sessions College. Tammy’s odyssey to learn graphic design began with some simple church projects, but it’s now developed into an ambition to be a designer or illustrator for children, as communicating visually and helping kids are what she is all about. When she’s not landing her first book illustration job, playing guitar, or learning cello, that is…

Q: How did you first get interested in graphic design?

I’ve always loved and appreciated art in its many forms. I started working for a church a few years ago, and slowly started doing small graphic design projects. As it turned out, I loved graphic design and started to gain knowledge through experience and a LOT of Googling. I never actually had any formal training until I started my courses at Sessions, and now I have a solid basis of graphic design knowledge and technique.

Q: Why did you choose an online illustration degree program? Was a flexible program important to you?

A flexible program was extremely important to me. Since I took a few gap years between high school and college, I had an established life outside of school in a way that my friends that went to college right away didn’t. I didn’t want my education to completely take over to the point where there wouldn’t be room for the other important things in my life.

I think the thing that ultimately led me to choose Sessions was the number of concentrated art and design majors. Had I gone to a larger university, I would have had to spend four years getting a fine arts degree. I already knew my career ambitions, and the fact that I could choose Illustration as my major was definitely the ideal choice.

Q: You recently took time to do some volunteer work overseas. What was the cause and what organization sponsored you to go there?

I spent a few weeks teaching English to Middle Eastern refugee children living in Greece. I have a friend that lives in Athens, Greece and works at a refugee camp there. I had been speaking to her about the refugee crisis since it first started, and always felt a desire to help. Finally, the timing worked out perfectly for me to visit for three weeks to teach English to refugee children who are missing out on crucial years of school. Learning English gives these kids a huge advantage once they grow up, since it’s the most widespread language in the world.

The place that I did my work has no leadership or organization, so they rely on volunteers to come in and teach the kids. I did not go through an organization. I raised the necessary funds myself and received help from my friend living in Athens to find lodging. Trying to find my way through Athens by myself was daunting at first, but it was an experience that forced me to grow a lot in a short amount of time, and I highly recommend it to anyone!

The students only spoke Arabic, Farsi, or Turkish, and understood very little English. My studies in Illustration actually came in very handy during my volunteering experience. It was really helpful to be able to make drawings of the English words that I was teaching. It was important for my drawings to be well done and easily recognizable so the kids could understand the words.

Q: Were you able to continue your online studies while doing your volunteer work? How did you juggle the two?

Trying to juggle my education and my volunteer work was actually quite difficult. I wanted to be able to focus solely on my work with the refugees while I was in Athens, so I put together a plan that enabled me to get all my work done before my trip. I had to do between two and three extra classes each week for five weeks before my trip. There were a lot of late nights and times of frustration, but ultimately I am so glad that I just grit my teeth and worked my way through it.

Q: What inspires you while you are working on creative projects?

I get inspiration from numerous places. Oftentimes the thing that works best for me is to listen to a certain playlist that fits the overall mood of whatever I’m designing. If this doesn’t work, I go on Pinterest or something similar and look at designs that I love.

Sometimes if I’m really stuck on a project, I distance myself from it for a little while and take a walk, play with my dogs and cats, or play piano. Usually when I come back after giving myself a break, I’ll have a mind full of fresh new ideas.

Q: Outside of school, what are your outside passions or interests?

My biggest passion in life is music. As a kid I would write songs and play a little plastic keyboard. That evolved into playing flute for my high school band, singing in my high school choir, taking piano lessons, and taking voice lessons. Since then I’ve taught myself how to play guitar and ukulele. I love that there is an endless amount of instruments and new things to learn in the music industry, so I can never be done learning. My next musical endeavor is to learn the cello!

Q: What are your plans after graduation, and what do you think will be your first steps to achieving them?

After graduation, I plan on working as a children’s book illustrator. I’ve always loved drawing, but I never enjoyed drawing “realistic” pictures, and preferred silly, whimsical cartoons. I also feel that one of my strengths as a designer is making art that appeals to children. Once I put all the pieces together, choosing this career seemed like a no-brainer.

Even though I’m still in school, I actually have already taken steps towards my career and have landed my first book illustration job! I’m currently working on the preliminary sketches, so everything is still in the early stages but I’m so excited to already have this huge opportunity. After I graduate, I would love to do a three month internship where I could gain basic knowledge of the children’s book industry. I also plan on spending a lot of time sending my portfolio to publishing companies.

To learn more about online illustration classes at Sessions College visit and chat with an Admissions Advisor.

9 Things Self-Taught Graphic Designers Don't Know They're Missing

9 Things Self-Taught Graphic Designers Don't Know They're Missing

Do you really need a degree to be successful today? It’s easy to wonder when prominent figures like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have become wildly successful despite dropping out of school—even if you know they’re the exception to the rule.

If you have hopes of becoming a lawyer or a surgeon, bypassing a formal education isn’t really an option. But if you dream of being a designer, you’ll inevitably ask the question sooner or later: Is a graphic design degree necessary?

The honest answer is no—it’s not absolutely necessary. There are certainly exceptional self-taught graphic designers who have launched careers without a formal education. While it’s true that it can be done, that doesn’t mean it’s the best route for you. There are several overlooked advantages of a formal education that you should consider before trying to stake out on your own.

We spoke with a handful of graphic designers with degrees who insist their formal education has played an instrumental role in their careers. Our panel of pros revealed nine things they never would have acquired without earning their degrees.

9 Things self-taught designers commonly miss out on

There is no shortage of graphic design blogs, tutorials and resources out there to teach you standard software skills, but our experts agree that there are several important elements and experiences that self-taught graphic designers commonly lack.

1. A network

Networking so often tops the charts for career essentials—and the world of graphic design is no different. In a deluge of online portfolios, LinkedIn resumes and online job applications, the designers who have connections to a company tend to rise to the top of the pile. Anna Kate Bryan, senior graphic designer at Made Outside, believes this was part of how her graphic design program paid off. “In addition to all that I learned, I have been able to land multiple jobs and projects through the connections I made with other students and faculty.”

Self-taught designers can feel isolated and restricted to the more formal avenues of job hunting. But one of the joys of a graphic design program is a facilitated network of mentors and peers who can introduce you to others in the field.

Additionally, many design companies recruit from the universities their employees attended, according to Victor Ng, designer at the Ford Foundation. Most design schools will also organize events bringing employers to campuses to connect with students—and offer career-priming services like resume workshops or portfolio reviews.

2. Graphic design history & fundamentals

The graphic design field has been around longer than Adobe Photoshop™—and there’s more to it than knowing how to use the tools at your disposal. While knowing your way around common design software is an asset, that doesn’t mean you have the background needed to know how to use it well. Knowing the history of the craft and mastering basic design concepts help you build a solid foundation on which to form your entire career.

“Self-taught designers are generally looking for which buttons to push to get the job done rather than learning from the ground up with design principles,” says Ashley Schwartau, creative director at The Security Awareness Company. She says she can often pinpoint self-taught graphic designers’ portfolios because of their disregards for basic design fundamentals.

3. Freedom to fail

“The one thing I took for granted most in college was the freedom to fail and to fail spectacularly,” Ng says. Failures in the real world result in dollars lost, customers angered and brand sentiments tarnished. But in school, the worst outcome is a bad grade and a bruised ego.

Ng says he’s grateful for the opportunity he had to be experimental with his designs in college. He was able to worry less about the finished product and focus more on the actual process, which helped him develop into the professional he is today.

4. Proper treatment of files

Many self-taught designers are unaware of how to properly set up clean files for professional printing, says graphic designer Anita Magaña. Design courses will teach you when to use a JPG versus a PNG versus a TIFF. You’ll also learn the difference between bitmap files and vector files and how to properly check files for color and CMYK separations before sending them to print.

“I consistently have to fix files from the previous designer [at my company] who had no formal training,” says David Block, entrepreneur and seasoned graphic designer. He frequently encounters files that have no regards to bleeds, improper image sizing and inconsistent margins—all things he claims a formally educated designer would never do.

5. Presentation skills

“Being able to present your designs to someone—whether it’s your art director or a client—can be really daunting because it carries with it the fear factor of public speaking,” says School of Design Dean Jennifer Ayotte.

She says the ability to confidently articulate the rationale behind your color choices, font selections, art elements and overall layout is a sign of a true professional. Formally educated designers have plenty of opportunities to perfect their presentation skills in order to stand out when it really counts.

6. Critiques & feedback

“It takes a lot of practice to not take criticism personally,” says designer Andrew Le. In a competitive and collaborative industry like graphic design, it’s important to have thick skin. He says learning how to talk about design objectively helped him advance his vocabulary and detach himself from his work.

Ng says his college critiques simulated real working environments where people often have strong, opposing views. He describes the evolution that occurs between freshman and senior year—the timeframe during which students go from saying, “Is this good?” to “Tear this apart!” His formal education taught him to grow from the negative feedback rather than dwelling on it.

7. Perspective

It’s not often that you have the opportunity to be surrounded by individuals who are just as passionate about design as you are. In its most basic form, graphic design is about solving problems. The beauty of it is that no two designers will solve the problem in identical ways.

“It’s uncommon in a professional setting to have dozens of peers in the same room working on the same thing in drastically different ways,” Le says. He adds that each project is a lesson in perspective, whether it results in idea envy or disdain.

8. Cross-specialty collaboration

In a graphic design program, you are learning more than one skill, emphasizes Alison Kellner, founder of Beolio. “Graphic design is made up of a number of different specialties, and by joining a great program, you are able to workshop both on your own and in teams to accomplish various tasks like building a website, branding, typography and even motion graphics.”

Kellner says the other major benefit to this exposure is working in a team with people focusing on different areas of specialization—and learning to balance the design collaboratively. “While you can always freelance on your own, if you plan to work for any type of agency, you'll need to learn how to cooperate with different designers that have different styles, skills and specialties. Getting practice with this early really makes a difference, and it helps you to see problems from new points of view.”

9. Well-rounded soft skills

“The ability to work as a designer is much bigger than our respective hard skills,” Bryan says. “In addition to design skills, you will be expected to have the same soft skills that design schools give you: the ability to show up on time, the ability to finish an assignment in a timely fashion, the ability to take critiques and implement them, etc.”

In this way, Bryan says the learning environment directly mimics the experience of working as an employed designer. When prospective employers see formal education on your resume, they can well expect that you are coming into the position with this type of preparedness and professionalism.

After her design program, Kellner noticed that she was able to get more creative with problem solving than before. “Ultimately, my education helped immensely with my time management. I started my own agency about four years ago, and it was like a dream come true.”

For self-taught designers and beginners alike

Our experts have made it obvious that there is a lot to gain by earning a degree in graphic design. That being said, they also agreed that formal education is merely the starting point. Every great designer needs to be a self-taught designer in a certain way because the industry never stands still.

“Unlike self-taught graphic designers, I can say without a doubt that I didn’t miss out on anything by going to college,” Le says. Take his word for it—it’s time to take your graphic design career to the next level!

If you’re ready to ditch the tutorials and become a true professional, the Rasmussen University Graphic Design program can provide you with everything you need to get started!

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published in 2015. It has since been updated to include information relevant to 2021.

7 Tips For The Self Taught Artist

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Not many of us have the luxury of going to a top art school and learning how to draw and paint in person. If you are like me and do not have this luxury, then you have the added challenge of being a self-taught artist (as if learning art was not hard enough).

There is nothing glamorous about being a self-taught artist. In a perfect world, I would love to be taught by some of the great masters of drawing and painting at a top school.

On the flip side however, I would prefer to be a self-taught artist over going to an art school which does not teach art as if it were a trainable skill.

As a self-taught artist, you will have a tough but rewarding road ahead. You will not have the structure or guidance provided by a top art school, however, you will have the freedom to learn how you please.

If you are disciplined, then you can achieve anything as a self-taught artist that a trained artist could achieve. In fact, formal art training can be restrictive to the learning of some artists, who may be better suited to the self-taught path.

Some of the great masters of painting were self-taught, including:

Albert Dorne – mostly self-taught.

Vincent van Gogh – studied art briefly at the Antwerp Academy, but this had little influence on his approach to painting.

Paul Gauguin – was a sailor and stockbroker before he began painting.

Charles M. Russell – no training at all.

James McNeill Whistler – mostly self-taught.

Winslow Homer – no formal art training.

Winslow Homer, Artists Sketching in the White Mountains, 1868

So if you are on the self-taught journey as an artist, here are 7 tips to help you.

1. Be your own worst critic

It can be easy to put on rose-colored glasses when viewing your own work. But in order to actually learn and improve, you need to learn how to judge your art in an unbiased and critical manner.

If on the other hand, you are your own biggest fan, you will never identify any weaknesses or areas to improve on.

If you feel your ego is getting in the way of your learning, then put yourself out there and submit your work to competitions and galleries. You may be quickly humbled.

2. Expect nothing, but aim for everything

If you expect too much as a self-taught artist then you will quickly be discouraged if it doesn’t go your way. Being an artist is hard enough as it is even with formal training.

However, it is also important that you have an almost unbound optimism. You should be aiming to achieve whatever you desire.

This is what drives you forward. You may not achieve everything. In fact, you should certainly not achieve everything you desired.

If you have, then you probably did not dream big enough.

3. Copy the masters

Sometimes the best way to study the techniques and processes of the great masters is to just try and copy their works. This will give you a better understanding of the problems they faced, the strokes they made, the colors they selected and their overall approach to art.

The objective with copying master artworks is not to try and replicate them, but rather to get a feel for how the artist worked.

This should only form a small part of your studies though, as it is important you develop your own style.

(See the supplies page for details about what I use and recommend.)

4. Consistency is key

If you want to be a successful self-taught artist, then it is important that you simply put the hours in. Unfortunately, this is the hardest part about being self-taught.

Most of you will have day jobs and other hobbies. You do not have the luxury of studying for 7 hours a day at art school.

So you need to find the time when you can. Optimally, you should have regular sessions throughout the week. These do not need to be long sessions, but they should be focused and dedicated.

You need to seclude yourself from the world and make those sessions count. Put on some music and tune out the rest of the world. Half an hour of solid practice is much more effective than 7 hours of wavered practice.

A common pitfall for self-taught artists is waiting for that perfect time to practice (which as you will find never comes). You will just need to make do sometimes.

One of the best changes I made was to incorporate small paintings into my training and aim to complete them in just one session. This is the complete opposite to spending weeks trying to finish a huge studio piece, which often will just end up being unfinished in storage.

Small and quick paintings will keep your inspiration fresh and will make sure you do not get bogged down on a larger piece.

A great book which is based on this idea is Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often To Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist. A recommended read for all artists.

5. Don’t compare yourself to others

When you are not surrounded by other studying artists, you may find that you end up comparing yourself to very established professional artists (generally those whom you discover on the internet). What you need to realize is that all professional artists were amateurs at one stage.

Look at the professionals for inspiration, but do not compare yourself to them. Only focus on yourself and how you can improve. That is all that matters.

6. Document everything

I am a firm believer that you should document everything you do, even when you are in the early stages. There may be a time when your early works will be very significant to you.

When you observe your artworks as a collective group, you may be able to identify any areas of weakness that you may not have been able to identify from an individual piece.

For example, when looking at a group of my recent paintings I noticed they are generally much more saturated (colorful) than a group of my earlier paintings. This is because in my earlier paintings I was using too much white. I was not able to identify this issue from the individual paintings.

I find social media can actually be a great way to keep a record of your activity as an artist. It can act as your own storyline which highlights your progression.

7. Take part in the art community

Unfortunately, nothing comes close to the community of being in an art school. The next best option is voluntary involvement in the art community through competitions, exhibitions, art demonstrations and online forums.

If you get actively involved in the art community then you will not feel so disadvantaged from not going to art school.

Want to Learn More?

You might be interested in:

Painting Academy – learn more about the fundamentals of painting.

30-Day Creativity Kickstart – if you are struggling with confidence and productivity.

Supply List – what I use and recommend.

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate it! Feel free to share with friends. If you want more painting tips, check out my Painting Academy course.

Happy painting!

Dan Scott

Draw Paint Academy