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Skills that raise your pay

• Concept art

  Designing characters, creatures and places for games and film. The best-paid branch of illustration.

• Storyboarding

  Drawing fast and clearly for film, television and ads. Steady studio work.

• 3D modelling

  Blender, Maya and digital sculpting tools. Illustrators who can also build a model are much harder to replace.

• Motion

  Making your drawings move in After Effects opens social and advertising budgets.

• Medical or technical illustration

  A small, well-paid niche. Usually needs extra science training.