My interview.

Talent is were we all start, and each of us have different amounts of talent.

We take our talent and develop skills.
Skills allow us to create pieces of finished art.
Finished art is what we show to get work.
Work sharpen our skills with practical applications
Which in turn generates more work.

The amount of talent you have, and the direction you want to go in, factor into how much skill you need to develop. If the type of art you want to do involves the figure, you naturally would take figure drawing classes. But you would also probably study color theory, perspective, composition and much more.

Art isn’t just talent. Surprisingly there are “rules” to art. However art is one of the few disciplines where you can achieve success by breaking the rules. Break the rules of science and they are scrapping bits and pieces off the ceiling, or hunting down mutant rats.  Breaking the rules of art pushes the boundary of what art can do and be.

Talent allows me to draw the form of the figure, skills tells me how what kind of line to make, what to leave in, and to leave out.

Skill and talent overlap in a way that it’s impossible to completely separate.

For me, and I think a lot of people starting out, the first step is the biggest stumbling block. How do you develop the skills needed? I don’t think it’s anything you can teach in a simple step by step course. Technique’s can certainly help. I advocate drawing every day to sharpen your skills. I’m certainly always looking for new tips and tricks for the computer programs I use.

My skill as a production artists has given me a knowledge of how the entire Adobe Creative Suite works and how those programs integrate. If I want something like a tiled floor, it’s going to be faster if I put something together in Illustrator and bring that into the art as a guide, then try and work it out in Painter.

Ultimately, I think skill is a unique mental process for each person. Your progression in developing skills is a mixture of your intelligence and how much hard work you are willing to put into it. To me, learning to draw means learning to control your hand to create the line you want. Just like you learned to make your letters as a child, you would sit and write them over and over. Drawing is somewhat similar. You have to actually draw to get better. The more you draw, the better you get.That’s increasing your talent.

The more you learn, the better your art is. That’s increasing your skills. I think this is harder, since it involves seeking out information, breaking it down to understand it, and then using what you learned and applying it. Being able to think past the examples you studied. It’s one thing to learn the rules of perspective, it’s another to apply them in practices. Color theory is just that until you try it.

This is the kind of work I find a lot of people try and skip. So did I for years. Not to make excuses, all the teachers I’ve ever had, always stressed exploration over training. But the two really go hand in hand. Teach me the rules of perspective, and then let me explore what I can do, knowing those rules. Teach me the human figure, and then I can explore how to make that work for what I want.

And there was never any discourse about the work of making art. I often heard the same concerns I had from other students, I want to know the rules, I want knowledge, I want to learn. If I understand perspective, my environments get better. If I understand light and shadow, my art becomes more alive. If I understand color theory, I can control the emotions in my art.

James Gurney, the artist and author of the Dinotopia books often writes about the techniques behind art, such as how colors look in moonlight rather then sunlight, or the Fibonacci sequence. Such information is really valuable to an artist.

With a low work load this week, I’m dedicating part of this week to working through some of the Gnomon DvDs I’ve had waiting to be watched.

Don’t hack. If you take on a project, try your best. I recently worked with a client that probably won’t have a reason to hire me again, but if the chance comes along where they need my style of art again, I know they will come right back to me, no questions asked. Not only that, I’m sure if anyone they know needs my style of art, I’m going to be recommended. One of my best compliments came from this project, were I was told that it was the most professional and impressive leave behind they had done in 12 years.

So I was happy that I was living up to a goal of mine. I hadn’t always done that in the past.

I used to do some map illustrations for a boating magazine, which a friend was the managing editor. When he left the magazine, I thought, there goes that. But he left my name as a resource for maps, and in January, the new editor called to see if I had time to do a map. She asked if I did anything else, I said “Yes, I’m primarily an illustrator.” She looked at my work online, liked what she saw, and gave me an article to illustrate.

She loved the illustration so much, she’s given me more each month. On average I do one map and two illustrations. Each one has been well received. I’ve spent anywhere between 4-6 hours, which includes sketching and pencils, on them. I’m also able to charge a little more then what my friend was willing to pay.

By doing the best work I could, I’ve ensured a long working relationship with this magazine. I billed them $600.oo last year, which is about 5 total illustrations, which were simple ones. That’s about 1 every two months. I’m now doing on average 3 each month, and for more money.

I’ve learned clients seldom have problems with what you charge, if they are very pleased with your work.

There are things you can do to help make a client very pleased with you. I’ve always been an open communicator, it comes easy to me. I often hear art directors list lack of communication as something that turns them off with an artists. Mainly, they want to be kept up to date on whats going on. And if you have questions, send them. Unless you are asking hundreds of questions, I find people generally like answering questions.

I also start on the project as soon as possible. This was something I was very bad at. Oh, it’s not due for 4 weeks, and I wouldn’t start anything for 3 weeks. I start any given project the moment I can. If I get work, and I’m not working on another client’s project, I start right on that.

Several good things come from this I have found. One, ideas have more time to develop making them better and flesh them out while they consider the thumbnails. Then while I’m doing pencils, I can plan out in my head how I may tackle each particular section of the illustration for the final. How much details I may have to give any part, compared to the other, and color composition.

Also, the client thinks I’m on top and super excited to be working on the project, which I am. I may have 4 weeks, and know it will only take 1 total, why not get it done now? If more work comes in, I can take it on, knowing I can re-arrange my work load. I don’t like it when work piles up, because of me.

I also follow through on everything the client asks, so long as they are within reason. Since I always layout the terms of the work flow for each project, we can stay within them. I come across as friendly, but focused, which makes them understand that I’m open to stepping outside the agreement we have, so long as they understand what that means in terms of money. And, I don’t try and angle requests to always fall within the outline extra charges.

When I worked in a retail store, the store hired the handyman husband of one of the employees to do some sprucing up of the store. He hadn’t worked in months and the store hired him partly as a favor to the employee, but it became clear he was trying to milk the store for every penny he could, with ridiculous claims of what wasn’t covered in their agreement. He got them for an extra $400 above the estimate in the end. He also would never be able to work for the store in the capacity again, and certainly wouldn’t get a good reference or recommendation from them. His lost.

All my agreements say that changes to final art costs $XX.oo. If I get a change after I deliver final art, I weigh the request against charging this. Because if the change is minor, say a correction they missed, or a mistake, and it won’t take more then 10 minutes or so, I’m doing it for free. Basically I set out my terms, and then going off of that, see where I can give the client a little more then what they are expecting. So long as I’m not robbing myself. And I never charge a client to fix my mistakes. When I worked as a production artists in publishing I don’t know how many vendors would bill us the hours it took to fix their mistakes.

I have learned not to count the hours I work on any given piece so long as I am working within the deadlines. I’m mindful of the time I spend on a piece vs the amount I am getting. If I’m getting $150 for a spot illustration, and I end up spending 7 hours on it, but making an amazing piece, that will end up in my portfolio, I’m taking 7 hours, even though that means I just made around $21.oo an hour. I believe having amazing wow pieces to put in my portfolio has an investment in myself and future work.

There are lots of ways to get additional work, which generally results in a few extra jobs a year, and you really shouldn’t plan your business strategy on them. To date, I’ve gotten 1 job from a friend telling a client that I would be better suited for the project. I’ve gotten more jobs from just doing good work and people recommending me. Doing an amazing job on every piece has never failed to pay off in some manner. It can be more work from the same client, it could someone new seeing it and hiring me, or getting the attention of fellow illustrators increasing my network, and finally the most important one, improving my skills as an artist.

I’ve always had good work ethics, and when I started adding in a stronger, Get-It-Started and Do-Better-Then-the-Client-Expects attitude, things really started to fall into place. Good work is key, and I feel that how you interact with your clients, is part of that good work. It’s just as much my job to make them happy as it is to do good artwork.

UPDATE:

“I’ve learned clients seldom have problems with what you charge, if they are very pleased with your work.”

A few days after writing and posting this, a client asked me if I had time to do more work for them. This time it was a normal illustration, plus 5 smaller illustrations to go with the article. I came up with a price, broke down what that price included. The editor came back and said, she was going over the budget to see where she was.

I replied I am open to going a little lower, because I was really excited about doing the illustrations. She replied back:

“I would love to do all as outlined originally, but I don’t expect you to cut your price like that. I value your work and know it’s totally worth the $”

It’s always great to hear that, and know that by doing your best possible, you have earned someones respect.

I also use think everything about me had to say WOW! Look at my bell and whistles. I hear this from other artists, on why they don’t have a website yet, or business cards, or more. Have to find the right image, the right design, the right WOW factor.

Well I’ve come to realize, functional serves more then WOW. Functional reaches more people then WOW. Also, functional is easier to get to then WOW. Wow will happen in time.

The first step is getting to a functional point where if you run into someone, you can give them a business card. So instead of making a WOW business card, make a functional one. No one is going to take your WOW business card and frame it, unless each one is an original work of art. (There is your WOW, factor now how long is that going to take you?)

You don’t need a website like Actor Jim Carrey. His site fits who he is as an actor. He also has the money for it (course if this is the kind of thing you do for a living, that’s different).

I wouldn’t say my site is WOW. It’s functional for what it needs to be, an extension of me, a tool to help sell me as an artists. To often, trying to be a freelancer in the past, I got caught up in trying to be WOW. Frustrated, I never really got my act together. You read in books about being a freelancer, getting noticed, and all that. More of the WOW.

But in many ways, WOW can come from just being functional and professional. It can come from being what it needs to be. After all, I want people to hire me to illustrate. Not design business cards, postcards or websites. So my WOW, as it should be is the art on my cards and site.

By taking a step back, and realizing that I just wanted to get my name out there and get work, made it easier. Pick the images, get the materials, and go.

Recently, I’ve had conversations with people that say they want to do something, but just can’t find the time, or don’t have the energy. Frankly, I find that to be an excuse. A fellow cartoonist, Melody Often, once told me about how she lived in a van for many months when she first moved to LA. She had a drawing desk, a light, a CD player, and a battery hooked up to run those. And she drew all the time. That’s pretty amazing. So when someone says they don’t have enough room to work, I just think it’s an excuse.

My friend Marc, tries to spend all his time painting and creating. I find that inspiring. We send each other screen shots of what we are working on, for feedback. Because we are both passionate about doing the best work we can, so we use each other (and other people) as checks. Sometimes you are just to close to see objectively, so having someone else give input helps a lot.

I’m a doer. Unless I’m actually doing something, I generally don’t talk about the things I want to do. I’ve got lots of ideas. But I only talk about that which I’m actually working on, and only in limited amounts. I’m a firm believer in putting the energy into doing the work, not talking about the work.

Passion allows me to accomplish a lot. I think it’s a real mark if a person is serious about being a creative type. At this point, even though it would be nice not to have deadlines, I can’t see myself not drawing. This morning, I finished the last details on a project, and then sent the final files off to the client. I said I would give myself an hour to read, before I get started on the next job, but that lasted on 20 minutes, before I started writing this. I really can’t just walk away from the drawing board (so to speak, since I work digitally).

Passion for what you do, is an amazing force.

Oh and here is the final version of that sketch of the guy breaking out of the ropes from my last post. Enjoy.

I have a host of smaller one off comics that I’ve scripted out. An idea for an ongoing comic that can be done in sections, because each section stands alone.

So, yeah ideas, I got. I have the desire and ambition, what I am building is discipline to sit here and work. Hence my new mantra. I wake up and I tell myself that. And I try and keep it in mind during the day. It’s easy to get distracted in this day and age. Internet gives the illusion of human interaction. Video games give the illusion of accomplishment (When it’s always just stick and carrot). TV lets you take your mind off the hook. Even our phones are a distraction.

The fact is, I’m never going to be the cartoonist I want to be if I don’t develop the discipline to work on comics, all the time, not just when the fire is hot. I am developing making the fire hot as much as I can.

You can apply that mantra to anything you want in life. If you want to lose weight, you need to do things to lose weight, if you want to be muscular, you must work out work and build your muscles.

And then as a treat to his new followers, decided to do a live broadcast of him coloring a page for a comic. So about 10 of us logged in and got to watch and listen to him explain his process, and why he was doing what he was doing, in terms of color, lighting, and reader focus.

We got to ask questions and talk it was a great spur of the moment thing.

I’ve heard some artists say they avoid twitter and facebook. And I understand why, it’s way to easy to get sucked in and find you spent 5 hours bouncing around these social networks, chatting and such. I sometimes do it myself. The trick is to limit it. Discipline in how often you check them. I tend to try and make checking them a reward for doing X amount of work.

So, when used right, they can lead to some great things.

I did some sketches, and then had to put it away to focus on paying work, and now I can get back to it. I thought I had handwritten them out, as I generally do, and hadn’t gotten around to typing out. But looking through all my current project journals, I couldn’t find them. Oh here is a sketch from the new work.

So I looked in the folder on my computer, and low and behold it was there! I had typed it out, in fact, there were no hand written notes, because it’s not a lengthy project.

Because I had gotten into the habit of putting things where they belong, when my memory came up with something different then reality, I wasn’t left having to redo work.

I credit my organization habits to working corporate publishing. You really have to be organized when you are the person handling all the files, for several books all being made at the same time. You either get organized, or end up being frustrated and hating your job.

But even without working at a big Publisher, or some other company, you can be organized.

I’ve got one folder I keep the files for my various comics in. Broken down by Client or project. Everything for that goes in the main folder, and gets organized inside. Black and white art, finished pages, layouts, reference art and more.

However you decide to organize yourself, the main thing is to be consistent. Each project will require it’s own categories. Certainly I don’t have a folder for LegalDocuments for my own work, like I do for a big client, like Marvel.

But I am consistent in putting the files where they belong. And not inventing a new category, or using temp folders, which end up never being deleted. It gets to the point where it becomes automatic, and so when I go searching, I generally find things right where they need to be.

You can be like this with your business side of being a professional artist. I have a folder for all my stuff pertaining to being a freelancer. Samples, resumes, art of business and postcards. Invoices, contracts (Which get printed out, a little note written on them for what, and then filed).

Yeah, it sounds like a lot of work. The biggest work is just figuring out your needs. Once you get that, the rest is just follow through. And your needs may change over time, or you many think of a better way of doing things.

For example, when I finish a page for a comic, I make a RGB jpg of the page, at 200 and 72 DPI, so if I have to show someone, it’s ready to go. If I take screen shots to send a visual along with a question, I keep those in a folder along with these low rez images. Why? Those are not files I will need to keep, so once the project is over, I can delete the folder, without losing anything important, and get back some space.

All those lo rez files and screen shots can start to take up space.

After all, which is more work, taking a few seconds to save a file to the right spot, or trying to remember the script and notes to a comic you wrote 3 months ago, and haven’t looked at more then once in that time?

Then my friend Marc, posted he was going to write about his progression on one of his works, so I’m coping his idea somewhat, and I’ll post how this illustration is coming along. This is an attempt to learn something new and to try something I haven’t tried before.

When I get started back on the Kool Aids son story, I will post progress here as well.

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