River Cousin

“I had a really weird journey starting out,” says illustrator River Cousin. From dropping out on his first day of uni to learning via creative play, he’s a poster boy for the non-traditional career route. Now, he has a self-sufficient practice creating and selling prints and working on commissions for album art, film posters and more – with clients ranging from A24 to L'Impératrice and The New York Times. From undercharging in the early days to staying true to your own creative voice, River shares his lessons from his creative career so far.

What I do

My creative practice
I’m an illustrator, working mostly on commissions for album art, posters and packaging. In my solo practice, I paint and make prints under my own name, River Cousin.

Influences and inspiration
I get hyperfixated on something new every five minutes, so there’s always a new artist, writer or album cover that influences whatever I’m working on at the time - recently it’s Stanley Spencer, the Bloomsbury group and Philip Guston. But spending time in nature is the most consistent source of inspiration for me. Nothing really matches the creativity that exists in nature; it never, ever gets boring and it’s present in most of my work.

My training
I didn’t have any formal training (I did spend one day at uni, but more on that later), so for me, the most important thing was encouraging myself to play without putting any pressure on the process, as well as learning software like Photoshop and Illustrator early on, before it became my full-time career.

Favourite recent project
I LOVED working on the poster for the film Dream Scenario. The director Kristoffer Borgli trusted me from start to finish, which led to something I was personally invested in and enjoyed making. My favourite part of film/album art commissions is scouring the film for small details and easter eggs to incorporate into the poster, from specific items of furniture to little objects lying around. Plus, I got to spend a day drawing Nick Cage’s face, so that’s one ticked off the bucket list.

A day in the life
Get up and beeline for my plants, get involved in some light gardening and sort out the current thrips situation. Coffee, Fruit & Fibre cereal, then catch up on emails and continue on whatever project I’ve got going. If I’m not working on a commission, I’ll play around with some painting or collage stuff or try out ideas for a new poster. Get hyperfixated, lose eight hours, then off to bed.

A starter pack for my job:
Nicorette gum, coffee, an old Wacom tablet, Photoshop, those little stapled pads that waiters use, Graphis Annual books, blue-light glasses.

How I got here

Starting my creative journey
I had a really weird journey starting out. I didn’t get into any of the universities I applied to after leaving college, so I spent a few years just drawing and learning Adobe software, working a graphic design job at my uncle's vape business and making friends’ album covers in my spare time. By the time I reapplied and got offered a place in LCC for Illustration, I had already worked with a few record labels and started building my career, so I just took the leap and dropped out after my first day to keep pursuing my own thing.

I had to work twice as many hours and take any commission I could get to pay rent, but the payoff was that I was entirely self-sufficient. Knowing that I had turned down the more conventional route gave me the incentive to do it well.

Landing my first few jobs, clients and/or commissions
My first commissions were from friends who were also just starting their careers as musicians, so I came to work with record labels quite organically. Through word-of-mouth, I started to land more commercial jobs with bigger clients, getting used to the process of meetings and quoting for my work quite early on.

Biggest challenges along the way
A slightly broader, longer-term challenge is staying true to my own creative voice. Being on Instagram has been so beneficial to my career, but sometimes it’s too easy to create things or take on projects that might get more clout or recognition instead of what I’m really into at the time. Now, when working on a new project, asking myself, ‘Would you have this on your own wall?’ or ‘Would this inspire you if someone else made it?’ helps a lot. Even if it means not having the most consistent work, it ultimately leads to projects that I love making and feel genuine.

My social media and self-promotion vibe is…
‘If you build it they will come’ sounds unbelievably obnoxious, but this was my whole thing when I was starting out. Be loud and present online until someone notices - which doesn’t have to mean churning out ASMR paint mixing vids, although if that’s your thing I’ll probably watch it. As long as you love what you’re making and you make a lot of it, people will feel that and connect with it.

Three things I've found useful in my career:

My greatest learnings when it comes to making money and supporting myself as a creative:
Like most creatives, I started off massively undercharging for my work. Offering affordable pricing for clients was something I felt was important, and in return, I gained their loyalty. But, it’s not the most sustainable way of working long term, so increasing my rates to reflect my growing experience has become an essential part of sustaining myself as a freelancer.

My advice

My most useful career tips
Doing a job quickly doesn’t always mean you should be paid less! A day rate is useful, but if you're skilled enough to finish the job quicker than others, the client benefits from that and should pay you accordingly. They’re not just paying for the time it took to finish the project, they’re paying for your expertise which takes years to cultivate.

What I'd say to someone looking to get into a similar role
Just make stuff all the time. I think that’s the best way to show people the full range of what you do. Work with artists/musicians/businesses who are just starting out or on a similar level to you, and make as many connections as possible – they will always come back later down the line.