Through
the Trees
Build your reputation strategically to become known for the art and illustration work you most want to do and attract better paid, better fit commissions.
Available as a small group programme, or 1:1 mentoring
Apply nowYou’ve got years of experience making and selling art, your visual style is solid, and your clients love working with you. You’re getting work… just not enough of the right work.
When the opportunities that are landing don’t feel aligned, that’s not the luck of the draw. That’s a positioning problem.
The good news: Positioning problems can be fixed, so that every project that comes through genuinely lights you up and challenges your creativity.
I designed this programme to help artists and illustrators get more briefs you can get your teeth into, so you go to bed feeling satisfied and fulfilled.
Yes, this is marketing for artists, and as someone who has helped artists across disciplines promote their creative work for nearly three decades, I am very familiar with how uncomfortable it can feel to ‘sell’ what you do.
In fact, many of my clients tell me that even the word “brand” makes them feel uneasy. If that’s you, consider this:
Replace the word “brand” with “reputation.”
A brand is really just a set of tools to help you proactively to build your reputation so you get known for the work you love doing and earn a living from your craft.
That’s what we’re doing in Through the Trees. Building your reputation with every tool at our disposal, along with a simple, artist-friendly marketing plan.
We take everything you’ve built in your career to date – your experience, expertise, style and portfolio – and use it to build your reputation strategy, sharpen your positioning and build a simple marketing system that you actually use because it suits your energy, plays to your strengths and aligns with your personality.
By the end of the journey
You’ll know precisely how to communicate the value of your work because you’ll know what makes you the right choice for the clients you want, and you’ll have a clear repeatable way to stay visible to them, so commissions come in more consistently from the right people.
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“Working with Nicola has clarified the huge swirl of feelings and ambitions I had around my illustration business. After a decade growing a stable client base, I still felt unfulfilled and pulled in lots of directions. Now I can target my efforts towards work that lights my creative fire, and it all feels achievable. Essential marketing advice aside, I’m no longer trying to pretend to be someone I’m not, so the whole business feels lighter, more natural and exciting, and I think that comes across to potential clients too.”
Eliza Wolfson Scientist and Illustrator
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“You will be happy to know that the objectives we identified on a journey Through the Trees are being met pretty quickly. I am fully booked with projects from Montreal, the rest of Canada and the US until Spring. Not to mention collaborations with authors and a publisher. The plan is working and I am working the plan!”
Julien Chung Picture Book Maker
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“I would 100% recommend working with Nicola, especially for illustrators and other creatives. Not only is she brilliant at taking a jumble of information and seeing the thread which runs through it, but she’s also incredibly knowledgeable about the illustration industry, the problems we face, and how to overcome them.
I genuinely feel it’s something of a wonder that Nicola’s offering for illustrators exists.”
Katherine Kannon Map Illustrator
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“When I started working with Nicola, I dreamed of working on book covers. Now I’m working on regular book cover commissions, and it was working with Nicola that got me here.
As an illustrator, I’d always felt I had to do a bit of everything to make it, but the approach was damaging my career. Through the Trees helped me understand what I was doing out of love and what I was doing out of pressure. I wish I’d met Nicola sooner and discovered my inner warrior years ago! Everything becomes more easier.”
Simona De Leo Book Cover Illustrator
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“Working with Nicola has been transformational. Before working with Nicola, I saw marketing as a box-ticking exercise. Now I see it as a way to bring my art to life. I had a very skewed view of marketing before. I saw it as all about sales and numbers, and I assumed it would feel contrived and uncomfortable. Working with Nicola completely changed my perception of what marketing could be. I now see it as something that can come from an authentic, personal place, a creative way of speaking to the people you’re trying to reach.
I had been practising my art for years and years, but I reached a crossroads. I was no longer excited or inspired. My skill in drawing and surface pattern design didn’t mean anything anymore. I feel like I’ve found my creative edge again. My work is flowing again and it comes completely from the heart: it feels unmistakably me.”
Dominique Johnson Illustrator and Designer
Why care about this now?
(Besides the fact that you’d like more of the kind of work you love.)
Just like when the internet arrived in the late 1990s and when digital stock image banks, like Getty and iStock, arrived in the 2000s, the industry is changing. AI has disrupted everything, and creative work without strong positioning behind it doesn’t stand a chance against the banal outputs of generative AI.
If your work doesn’t speak to your ideal clients as a must-have, you’re not going to get commissions. Even brilliant creative work and strong portfolios are no guarantee of success. But…
Opportunities are still there for experienced illustrators who have a depth of expertise, anchored in an impressive portfolio, and positioning that speaks to the hearts of the clients drawn to your unique work.
These are the opportunities we’re going to position you for.
In the current landscape, the reputation and marketing side of your practice isn’t something to paper over or treat as an unwanted obligation, it’s the missing piece that will help you communicate your value with greater confidence and turn your experience into consistent four figure commissions.
From lost in the woods to a clear path through
 Where you are |
Before |
After |
|---|---|---|
| Your reputation: what you’re known for: | Before: Not sure. Murals? Editorial? Explainer graphics? All of it? | After: Known for the work you most want to do |
| When you talk about your job to someone: | Before: Skilled and established yet freeze or ramble when someone asks: what do you do? | After: Talk about what you do with greater confidence and clarity. People smile and nod along when you tell them |
| What your prospective clients see: | Before: A website reflecting the artist or illustrator you were 10 years ago | After: A brand that makes you proud because it’s rooted in who you are now; clearly communicates your point of difference and reflects your value. |
| About promoting yourself: | Before: Marketing “just isn’t me”, so you resist trying new approaches, to test and make it work better | After: A weekly marketing rhythm that suits your personality and feels sustainable: with time for personal projects and life…parenthood, the mid-week hike |
| Your working week: | Before: Scattered across projects, because you’re still trying to catch all the fish, even though you’re well past wanting all the fish | After: A calendar of commissions for the work you most want to do |
| Valuing your creative work: | Before: Quoting higher prices still fills you with uncertainty, and you often over-deliver on small budgets | After: Deeply felt confidence in the value of your work, which helps you quote accordingly and get paid appropriately |
| On getting your work seen by the right people: | Before: Resentment over doing it because you’d prefer to be spending your time on your creative work | After: A totally new perspective and approach to getting your work seen, so much so, you wished you’d done this piece of work years ago |
How we’ll work together
There are three parts to the journey.
Step 1 of 3
Part one: Get clear what you want to become known for.
By the end of Part One, you’ll have complete clarity in your direction and have a fully defined and aligned reputation building strategy that will help you become known for the work you most want to do. Supporting the illustrator you are now, part one is about planting roots for real, sustainable growth and giving you the clarity to step into the market with a supportive mindset and greater confidence.
Step 2 of 3
Part two: Position yourself so the right clients immediately understand your value.
By the end of part two, you’ll have strengthened your positioning in the market by amplifying what makes you different and clearly communicating your offer across your audience touchpoints.
As a result, you’ll have elevated what your audience sees, so clients instantly see the value of your creative work and pay appropriately.
Step 3 of 3
Part three: Build a marketing system you’ll actually enjoy sticking to.
By the end of part three, you’ll have begun to build an audience of future clients through testing and finding a marketing system you can repeat month on month to consistently bring new aligned clients into your world.
What you’ll leave with
You leave with three working resources that you’ll come back to again and again: every time you write a newsletter, consider or quote for a job, or plan your week.
- Your Brand Warrior Toolkit
A clear reputation building strategy you’re proud of. - Your Warrior Five Brand Board
A positioning that reflects the artist you are today. - Your Brand Warrior Roadmap
A marketing system you’ll actually stick to.
So that you can become known for the work you most want to do and take ownership of your reputation, so it leads to better-paid, better fit commissions.
You don’t leave with:
Course notes that keep you motivated for a week and then put in a drawer.
Why this works so well
I do this work because creativity is one of my core values and it’s part of who I am. Hence why I’ve spent 25 years helping artists across disciplines raise awareness around their work.
Truth is that I love nothing more than hearing about someone who is brave enough to bring an idea to life. An idea that starts as a scribble on a piece of paper, that you grow until it blossoms into something original and new, never seen before.
More than ever, I believe for society to thrive, we have to protect and champion creative careers, and this is partly what we do together on Through the Trees. We champion your creative career together by strengthening it and finding a sustainable and joyful path for you to follow.
Our shared value around creativity and everything it stands for is part of what makes our partnership so special.
You: the experienced illustrator with the skill, style and portfolio to prove it.
Me: the experienced brand and marketing mentor, with over 25 years’ experience of helping creatives from across disciplines to get their work seen.
We genuinely do make a great team and when there’s a connection and it’s a mutual fit, a journey Through the Trees creates a turning point that permanently changes how you attract commissions and opportunities.
Why me?
They didn’t teach you brand and marketing back in art school, and why would they? You went to learn about your craft, explore your creative voice, and have fun making and creating work.
With 25 years of experience in the creative industries, my job as your coach, mentor and guide on a journey Through the Trees, is to share the marketing insight that perhaps you weren’t given.
Having led on marketing and brand strategy for leading organisations such as the Association of Illustrators and Arts Council England; delivered workshops for collectives like Rotterdam Illustrators and the Small Fry Collective; and coached and mentored hundreds of artists and illustrators from around the globe in 1:2:1 and group settings, I understand exactly what it takes to get your creative work seen, valued, and hired by the right people.
Ready for
the journey?
I’m now welcoming applications from experienced artists and illustrators to join me for the next round of Through the Trees, beginning January 2027.
Small group programme | 10 places
A six-month journey to sharpen your positioning, build your reputation and create a marketing system that helps you attract more of the commissions you love, alongside a small group of like-minded illustrators.
Investment: £2,250 (payment plans available).
If you’re ready to become known for the work you most want to do and attract better-paid, better-fit commissions, I’d love to hear from you.
The first step is to apply below. If it looks like a good fit, I’ll invite you to a call to talk through the programme, answer your questions and explore whether it’s right for you.
I also have two places available for private 1:1 mentoring starting in January 2027. If you’d prefer to work together privately, you can indicate this on your application and we can discuss on our call.
Next round of Through the Trees
begins in January 2027
Warrior wisdom
New tools land in the newsletter first. Brand and marketing advice for artists and illustrators, without the hard sell.