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By Timothy Piotrowski, February 4, 2010 5:24 am

Yesterday I worked on site at a company drawing graphs for a Math book. As with many temp jobs, there is some sitting around doing nothing. During my downtime, I sketched ideas for how I want the kids to look in my Son of Kool Aid story for my book. I came to a design that I really like. The red checks mean parts I like and will develop further or try and use.

Here is the basic shape of the boys that I am going with. Sure there will be variations but the basic average boy is based on this sketch.

When I’m working on my comics, it amazes me the amount of pre-development you need to do for any given aspect. It’s easy enough to write down “SoKA being picked on by school mates”. What do all those school mates look like? I think that’s often were I spend the most time staring at the screen. It’s a good process, as I will get an idea. It might be “Fat Kid”, then I start working out what kind of fat kid. “Mean Girl” or “Nose picker”

A friend on facebook recently asked, should he plan out all the aspects of a website, sketching it out, or a few parts, and then just start to building pages, making things up as he goes along. The over all response was, sketch it out, keeping it flexible, that making it up as you go along doesn’t really work.

Planning out your art and creative process, more often then people realize, determines if you will succeed or fail.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, January 13, 2010 5:06 am

Don’t get caught unprepared if you are asked to send some samples. Even though you could have a site where people can go and see your work, you are going to be asked for more samples. Some times it’s because they want to have something to put in their file, sometimes they just want to see more.

One thing I’ve learned, make samples as you go. Regardless of the end use of any particular piece, I create it at 300 dpi. If it’s going to be used on the web, I reduce it down once it’s finished. I’ve also taken to making a sample page of my work, in the form of a PDF. Everyone you work with should be able to open and look at a PDF.

I keep all the PDFs together, in a samples folder. When someone asks me to send samples, I can pick the ones I want and make a PDF that they can open and page through, rather then having to open a bunch of files.

I keep my samples organized by what they were, my own comics, comics I’ve colored or illustrations. I do page production from time to time, so I have a bunch of PDFs of books I’ve worked on.

This way, I don’t have to worry about making up some samples when asked, I just pull from the ones I have ready. And I’m always adding to my samples.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, January 9, 2010 6:23 am

In the book, My So Called Freelance Life, by Michelle Goodman, I learned of the term PIE. Paid In Exposure, or one could take it to mean Paid In Experience if you want. It basically comes down to working for free, very little, or the prospect of money later on, if the project becomes successful. It was working for PIE, that lead to me getting work at Marvel.

I had been getting a lot of compliments about my colors in my own work. Another cartoonist and personal friend, Tim Fish asked if I would color a 5 page short story for his next book, Trust/Truth, and I was happy to do it for him. It came out great, and I did get some exposure for it. Tim told me he was pitching stories to Marvel and wanted me to color one of them. That fell through, but Marvel asked if he wanted to write a story for their next Nation X anthology, a Northstar story.

When Tim mentioned this, I asked him if I could color it, and he said he would ask the editor, who it turns out was someone that I had meet once before. The editor saw the work I did for Tim’s book, loved it and wanted me to do the coloring for his Northstar story.

That was some good PIE.

I had some bad PIE as well. I heard through the internet of a published comics author looking for a colorist for his next book. We talked, I was familiar with his past books, understood the terms of the work process, which was casual, 2 of the 3 stories hadn’t even been drawn yet. I would get paid, but his deal with the publisher was advancement on delivery of final pages, and I would get 20% of what he got from sales over 7 years, paid once a year. Now that sounds like a great deal, and it is if the book does very well. But it was a book of gay erotic comics. Small audience.

I got the first story and started coloring. One thing he had made clear that I should put paying work before his, but this attitude changed, and the professional relationship came under strain and combined with other factors, I decided it wasn’t worth it anymore, and put him in contact with a few other colorists, who would actually like to work in erotic comics.

See, I really don’t have any interest in doing gay erotic, and I was going to use a fake name for this. I wasn’t excited about it like I was coloring Tim’s story or the comic for Marvel. I was enjoying it, and committed to doing the best job possible. At the time I started, I wasn’t doing anything in particular, and thought, I’ll make contacts after the work comes out, there could be some money too. But I couldn’t show my work, because of the nature of it. So I would have this awesome work, that I could only use to get more work doing the same. Work that I didn’t want to do.

So PIE needs to also something that you want to do. In fact, PIE should only be done if it’s something that you want to do, because otherwise you end up with work you can’t do anything with. The Exposure part goes out the window. Now if I did for the experience learned from coloring a long story, that would be a different matter.

But I can get that experience elsewhere, even on my own.

So if you get a chance to work for PIE, keep in mind, it has to be Exposure or Experience in a direction you want to move in, other wise you are just giving your work away for nothing. Don’t do that.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, January 8, 2010 10:38 am

So, I’ve mentioned that I did some coloring on a comic for Marvel. Well there are sneak peaks going up, so I can now post those links, since I couldn’t post art before because of the NDA. I did the coloring for the Northstar story which is the 3rd story in the book. The two pages right after the brain in a jar.

Here are pages from each of the 4 stories in the book.

Enjoy!

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By Timothy Piotrowski, January 6, 2010 8:56 am

Last year in March I got laid off from my production artist job at a big educational publishing company. And I was fine with that, and I went on unemployment and my husband has a full time, good paying job, so we were going to be alright. And I thought, now is another chance to do my thing. I’ve always wanted to be a freelancer, even if I was just making enough money to not have to get a 9-5 job. I’ve done that most of my working life, and it’s just not for me.

Since then, I’ve learned a lot about being a freelancer, and getting work, so I thought I would write about that.

Network

By networking, I mean with others who are trying or are doing what you want to do. I learned this from personal experience and from reading the book, My So Called Freelance Life, by Michelle Goodman. I started going to figure drawing groups which lead to getting to know other artists and making connections. This kind of network gives you support and information. Got a problem with a client, ask your fellow artists if they have ever had that problem and what happened, how did they work it out? You may also get work. If someone is to busy to take on a new client or a client wants something they don’t do, they may recommend you. Your style might be just what they are looking for.

Not to mention, it’s awesome to be able to talk shop with friends who do what you do. It’s a real learning process, hanging out with others. The figure drawing groups gives me a social and creative outlet. I’ve seen my skills improve with just the once a week meetings, and now I’m looking for other outlets for this same type of activity.

Use the Internet to your advantage. Facebook and twitter are great for networking. Twitter more so, I think. Find artists that you like who twitter. Follow them. I’ve gotten several jobs via twitter. Artists fall through and sometimes people will twitter looking for an artist. I responded, we chatted and I got some work. For me, I follow people in the comics industry, and comic authors mostly. Someone that draws comics isn’t going to need a cartoonist often, maybe a colorist.

Facebook is a great way to show off your art. More on that below.

Actually do what you love, regardless of pay

You have to work at what you want to do. The people that seem to create effortlessly, probably do so because they spend much time creating. Want to draw, then you need to draw. Want to paint, then you need to paint. Much like how you learned to write, repetition is the key. You learned to write your ABCs by writing rows and rows of letters, the same goes here.

It’s not often that we get work that can also translate into a portfolio piece for whatever reason. So when not working, work on something for your portfolio, that you feels shows off your abilities. I know, it’s hard to just come up with ideas. Pick up a magazine that uses a lot of illustrators, pick an article you like, and come up with your own take on how to illustrate it.

Working all the time, for me teaches me how to do things better, work faster, and keep my focus for longer periods of time. That’s something I can have trouble with, keeping my focus. I’ve come up with tricks to try and help keep that. My favorite, set a timer, and you aren’t allowed to do anything but the task at hand till the timer goes off. I generally find that I will be at a point that I don’t want to stop when the timer goes off, and end up working a few more minutes. Then take a little break, check your emails, and all that, then set the timer again.

Show your work

I hear to often from people that they don’t like what they did, and don’t show their work. You will never get feedback, nor will anyone stumble on your work if you never show it. Unless you tell people, they will never know that what you ended up with, wasn’t what you had in mind. One rule I have, work a piece until it’s done, regardless of how it’s coming out. If it’s for myself, I don’t stop and start over, I work through. And I try to learn from it. Finishing a piece is important lesson to learn. That’s another thing I hear from people, they don’t finish what they are working on.

If you get an online portfolio, don’t let people know about it till it’s ready. That means no sections with “Content to come”. Just don’t put that section up. You can always add it later. Having multiple sections on your site isn’t going to make you look any better to clients, but empty sections make you look unprofessional. If all you have is 10 samples of your work and a resume, put that up and make it easy for someone to look at it. Don’t put an entry page, go right to the main attraction. Don’t put a blog if you really don’t intend to blog save once a month at best.

It doesn’t take much work to post something once a week and it can’t be “So, not much to say this week”. If you are drawing/sketching/painting/whatever several times a week, post that and talk about it. Did you like what you did, any realizations about it? Do you feel you improved? And try and keep it professional. Personal is fine, so long as it’s not bitching. Really complaining about the world at large and all it’s injustices are best suited for a private personal blog.

Can’t afford a site of your own, or a professional one? Use facebook, and make a fan page, or deviantART to at least get your work out there. The thing with these is that some art directors don’t go to these places to find work, but might be willing to go look if they ask you for samples. It’s best to just have your own site I think.

Those are three things I learned well the past year, trying to feed myself as a freelancer. Hope it helps.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, December 3, 2009 11:40 am

The last two weeks, I’ve been coloring a comic for Marvel, for the Nation X anthology coming out in January of next year (sorry, no sneak peeks). I’ve colored comics before, but this is slightly different, and of course, it’s for Marvel. It’s been a great experience, as I finish up over the next few days. And it’s been a learning experience. In terms of what works, what doesn’t how to do things, how to do them quicker next time. All things I will take with me to the next thing I work on.

My art education, in terms of creating, is sadly lacking. I majored in art, but my teachers, all who were extremely talented people weren’t the best teachers. And in time, I realized they are artists who teach because it’s steady income, while giving them time to do what they love, and puts them in contact with a wide range of young artists, and keeps them fresh by that exposure.

But it also means that I didn’t any practical training in art. Regardless of what some people might think, there are practical elements in art. Material’s knowledge, composition building, even color theory. It’s very well to experiment and make discoveries, but you need some base to work from.

So these days, I’m always looking for information about these very subjects. While I might be a better artists if I had that training then I am now, I probably would still feel like I was still reaching towards something. I’m always looking at other artists sites. Which is good and dangerous.

It’s to easy to find someones work who makes it all seem so easy. It can lead to you trying to make your work more like theirs, which probably isn’t a good idea. Mostly I look for inspiration, problem solutions, new ways of looking at a problem. But at times, I feel that “Oh man, I want to do stuff like that!” I bet many artists do that.

But you know, you have to stay focused. There is always going to be an artist out there that does something that makes you drop your jaw. Sooner or later, someone will look at your stuff, and you’ll be on the other end. I’ve had that happen a few times, and you know, it’s a great way to get some perspective on things.

When someone is going on about my stuff, compared to their stuff, all I’m seeing in my stuff is the things I wanted to do, could have done better, mistakes I didn’t see then, but see now. So I’ve learned. What I see, what someone else sees, are often two different things. If a piece doesn’t come out the way I wanted, but still works, no one is going to know it’s not 100% what I had in my head, unless I tell them.

What I’ve also learned because of that, don’t hide what you are doing, because you feel it wasn’t what you wanted. One, you will never get feed back if you only show what you like. In fact, it’s sometimes good to show what you don’t like, maybe someone will provide some insight, some constructive criticism, that will help you next time to get closer to what you wanted.

I’ve known a few people like that, who hold everything back, and then get frustrated with the lack of growth in their art. One thing it does, when you feel you failed, is stops you from trying again. Success encourages you to do more, failure can make you want to stop. So the first thing I had to teach myself, redefine failure. Or eliminate the concept from your work.

If you are drawing for yourself, work a drawing to the end, even if it ends up not going where you wanted to. First it teaches you to work to an ending. A lot of people can’t do that, because they get frustrated. Also, learn to switch tracks. While coloring this comic, there would be times I would get stuck for what colors to use. Rather then sit there and stare at the screen, I would go color something I knew the color of. Eventually I would come back with a solution to the area that stumped me.

I think it’s important, as an artists, to not get frustrated on work that isn’t going like you want, and learn to complete, and try and fix along the way, or learn why it didn’t work.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, November 25, 2009 6:38 am

Take a look at this segment of an illustration I did:

I love the texture I got on the wainscoating. It looks like painted wood, where the wood wasn’t treated, and the paint is peeling off, following the grain of the wood, and that the paint has become discolored in spots. There’s something splattered on the baseboard.

Um, I can’t remember how I did it. I hate when I do that. It was one of those moments where, trying new things, clicking here and there, using new brushes and just going to town, and when it was done, I was asking myself “How exactly did I do that?”

I need to get into the habit of taking a few notes while I work and figure/find a way of doing something. I have the original art, still broken down in layers, so I can go back and look at  stuff, and maybe figure a few things out.

I guess it’s the nature of the beast, when you are in the zone, and things are flying fast and furious.

NOTE: There won’t be any figure drawing this week, as it’s a Holiday week.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, November 4, 2009 11:11 am

So, here is another page of colored comics. Now, while I like this, I do feel it’s not as tight as the other page, and I think it has to do with to much going on. So I’m going to try a few things in the way of experimenting, to see if Ican make a more unified page.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, November 1, 2009 5:57 am

So, still haven’t gotten drawing done. Still doing color samples for Marvel. Which I’m enjoying very much and learning so much, through experimenting. I’ve got one more sample I want to do, a full page comic, which takes a while to do. Here is one page:

There was quite a bit of layering and such going on here. Take this panel, for example, here are 4 shots taking it from flat to final.

Whew, it’s a process that requires a lot of focus. FYI, if there are any fellow cartoonists out there looking for a colorists, or any fellow cartoonists that know another cartoonists looking for a cartoonist, I’m looking to flex my skills!

This was a page from My Mutant Heart, written and drawn by Tim Fish.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, October 31, 2009 3:49 am

With my new goal of drawing every day, here is one of the things I worked on yesterday. I didn’t actually draw, like I intended to, but there is a tie in to drawing.

I’m up to do the coloring for an 8 page comic for the next Nation X Anthology, and I had to submit samples. I got asked to submit more samples. I’ve done some coloring work, submitted all that, and some of my own stuff, but my own stuff isn’t the kind of stuff Marvel publishes. The art above is from a book I’m coloring that won’t be done for some time.

So over Thursday and Friday, I put together more samples, asking other cartoonist friends for line work that I could color. I think my second set of samples came out better then the first set I sent. And I noticed that attending the figure drawing group has definitely made a noticeable difference. The shading on this and the other pieces came out extremely well. Very happy with it!

Drawing is pretty much the basis of good painting, and cartooning. Sure you don’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to look real, you just need to be able to make your drawing convey what you want it to say.

Now I have lots of coloring samples, so I’m going to put up a coloring section on the comics page.