Key skills needed to become an Illustrator.

The skills required for any Illustrator are a high degree of competence in drawing, designing and having a professional approach towards every project taken on. My particular area of Illustration requires good - excellent drawing skills, original ideas and a fresh approach to rendering an image and communicating information through the use of visual language. Besides the technical and arty side of things any area of Illustration also requires a great deal of social interaction with potential clients and customers.

 As well as scouring various websites on the skills required to become an Illustrator I came across a thread on a forum site asking for the key skills needed to become a professional Illustrator.

Heres what I found:
                                             
"What are the top 3 traits or skills every illustrator must have to excel?
Can you suggest any tips or insights to develop your illustrator expertise? "


 Here is R.L. in Adelaide, Australia's reply. (An Illustrator based in Australia.)

" I'm sorry, but I have to put more than just 3.

1) The ability to acknowledge and understand other artworks and artists.

2) Being able to create artwork that can portray different meanings.

3) Knowing the general artistic techniques

4) Patience - not everything works out the way you want it to.

5) Take criticism - you are not creating artwork just for yourself.

6) Able to work under pressure - as you need to meet deadlines.

7) Work with different mediums.

8) creating a style that everyone will know you for (not necessarily if you want more of a range).

I can't think of more right now, but these (I guess) are essential to become the illustrator that everyone wants to hire.
Good Luck! "

Although this is quite a generalized answer and not very genre specific, it does highlights the key skill requirements and gives some very informative feedback.

I think I have the basis to most of these key skills. All I have to do now is develop them further and learn from other Illustrators. I do think a weakness for me is the transition to using other media and material I haven't used before as I have somewhat trapped myself in a preferred media comfort zone. But I think realizing this issue is a step in the right direction.


Here is a link I found that explains the fundamentals of what being an Illustrator is all about: http://education-portal.com/how_to_become_an_illustrator.html