Subscribesweet nothings
I sent art off today to an art director… it was the first part of a spring time campaign I’ve been working on for (I can’t tell you yet), and I’m really nervous because I’ve not heard back yet. I’m so pleased with how the art turned out… so bright and colorful and happy. I hope they liked it. What if they hated it? Why didn’t they email back? They’re just busy, right? eep! They hated it. I’m not going to let my head go down that path anymore, and instead I’ll talk about other things…
Like… I think I’m a slow reader. I’ve been reading the Prince of Tides lately and I’m only half way through it. It’s very interesting and I find myself thinking about the characters and the dialogue when I’m sitting down to paint. Different scenes play through my head and I can perfectly imagine the lighting, the accents, the color slants. I should have been a cinematographer. When I was younger I wanted to do the opening scenes in movies… the beginning credits where its seems like the art director has a creative heyday. They are always so interesting. One that springs to mind is the beginning of New World. Just beautiful. Anyway, slow reader: Yes, I can’t seem to find the time to sit down and read for as long as I want. It’s been all about work lately…
So much so that I can’t think of much to give here… sorry about that. Is there anything you’d like to know? I’ll try to answer in the comments if you want. How’s that? Anything you’re curious about?
Penelope-
I just recently stumbled across IF and I’ve been having a blast on the
illustrations every week. I’ve obviously also been lurking around your
site and I find your work fascinating.
Do you research your paintings? By that, I mean do you find photo references
or use models or can you pull all of these beautiful images out of your head?
Just curious about your process.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Sincerely, Karen Blados
i loved “Prince of Tides.” I have found that Pat Conroy tends to
have a slow writing rhythm. The sentences and descriptions are so
chunky. It took me a bit of getting used to, but then I liked being
forced to slow down.
Happy Friday, grrl…
Karen: Yes, I use reference most of the time! I usually think about what I want the image to be of or look like (angles, p.o.v. etc) and then I do a quick sketch with no reference… just out of my head to get the composition right. Then to get angles and arms and etc perfect, I usually either take a picture of myself in the pose (my favorite option… I like changing myself into an old man or a fat lady!) or I look up photo reference and draw from that.
I have a question! At this point in your career, do you find more clients are coming to you now (“Hey! We saw your work and loved it, could you do so-and-so for us?”) or is it still a very pro-active, go-get-’em move on your part in sending out portfolios and promoting yourself? Granted, one should never sit on their hands for long periods of time, but are you more able to concentrate on producing your art and let the marketing side rest briefly?
Lynn: Kind of. Sometimes I get a call where a client says they saw my work in a magazine, but not very often. I haven’t had a single call yet where the art director says he saw my work in CA, which I find surprising… So all that means that I still need to do self promotion regularly. Mostly that consists of postcards (which I find work the best) and email tidbits from my rep, which go out every few months. Whodathunk that postcards would work so well!
Postcards are the way to go. I was shocked to find out that an illustrator I know sends out 200 A MONTH. I do a self promo mail out once a year. I think it is time to step up the pace. :)
Whatever happened with your notebooks? Weren’t you considering consolidating
them at one point? How many do you have going at once? I’d prefer to have just
one but for some reason I don’t like mixing the work
stuff with the personal stuff.
Interesting info on postcards, I didn’t know they worked that well. Do you take
the shotgun approach to mailings or only mail to a targeted list that you’ve
put some research into?
Donna: Ah… the notebooks. The idea of consolidating to just one crashed and burned in just a few measly weeks. I need separation of church and state apparently. :) So, right now I have one messy green sketchbook to catch all my loose roughs, a pad of tracing paper, one small journal that I write in and do my mini-paintings in, one catch all notebook for notes and always stickies on my computer. It’s chaos, but it works for me!
For postcards, I initially tried to compile my own lists but found that to be ineffective because I couldn’t generate a big enough list. So now I use AdBase ( http://www.adbase.com/ ) for lists (through my rep) and that has been a great tool!
Would post cards be the next step for someone who’s just getting started or
would it be better to join one of those porfolio websites to display art? Any
adivce for us newbies looking for work? I’ve been working on my style for over
a year and a half and I’m at the “now what” stage?
Frizz: your art rocks! I couldn’t find a portfolio site for you… do you have one besides blogger? I would say that would be your next step: a place where art directors can visit your work and learn about you a little. I would do that before postcards so you can reference your site on the back of the cards.
For now I would shy away from portfolio sites. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve not had much luck with those at all… bummer too cause they’re sometimes pricey.
Also, try to go after local business (if you haven’t already)… do some editorial work for your local paper and maybe some local boutiques… it’s a good way to get the ball rolling.
I am going to write an essay on the steps to becoming an illustrator… I just haven’t gotten around to it yet with everything else going on! I hope it will be helpful though…
I think most creatives tend to be slow readers. I know the reason I read slowly is because I keep getting caught up in the details of a story, the visuals in my head, the catchy lines that I try to memorize or reflect on. Just makes for a richer experience. Problem is being able to relax enough to get absorbed. Not easy when you’re busy or stressed.
Thanks, Josh, for that vindicating comment. I *hate* admitting to people that I’m a such a slow reader, or how few books I ever actually finish, and the distracting focus (oxymoronic, but true) as well as the ever-present busyness really does go a long way toward explaining my pitiful volumes-per-summer consumption.
desribe SC in a picture – hee hee – and Colin too w/ words./…thanks, fall is coming here!!!!!!
Are ya gonna do a Halloweenie participation-type thingie this year ? Like the costume thing the one year, and the illustration thing last year….
It’s getting to be around that time!
(I’m a big kid and will NEVER EVER grow out of Halloween and the joy that this change of season always brings!)
Michele… I was indeed thinking about something fun for Halloween. I gotta get that rolling since we’re almost through September! Eep!
I’m a slow reader too. And it is particularly frustrating when at the library or the book store surrounded by all these hundreds and hundreds of books that look so so good. I want to read this! and this! and this! A few months ago I heard Elizabeth Gilbert reading from her book Eat, Pray, Love on an NPR show. I had never listened to a book on tape before, but listening to her tell her own story, I immediately thought, “I don’t want to read this book, I want to listen to it”. I bought the cd, and I have already listened to it two or three times. I put it on when I am in my studio, and it is like having a friend sitting in the corner telling me a story while I work away.
Hey Penelope, just wanted to say thanks for answering the questions! And also for being so generous in sharing your experiences and advice with the rest of us. :)
Hey Penelope, you sound like you are doing much better. I’m glad for you. You mentioned (i think in your iconic interview) that one of your goals in the beginning had been to be in CA Magazine. I saw your “Fresh” article back before I knew your work and it was what led me to your blog. Sorry I’m not a paying contact. Even though you said no a.d.s have contacted you from it, it is still a very cool accomplishment. It has been one of my many art goals too. Finally the question: How did the “fresh article happen”? Did you have to contact CA? Or did they take notice of you somewhere or what? BTW, thanks for the advice about portfolio sites. It has been one of my goals after updating my website. I had doubts about it after 3 years of dismal directory participation. I want a good return on investment and the postcard thing sounds good.
i do have some:
do you listen to music while you work?
if so, what kind of music? and how do you relate to that?
do you see strong connections between illustration and music?
take care.
x.
Okay Penelope, here ’s another question…and somewhat dumb sounding…but how did you go about getting a rep? Did you send out mass samples to reps that you found your style fit? What was the initial contact? By phone or email?
And what did you send them? Cd? Postcards? Tearsheets? What was the initial type of conversation? Where did you end up finding a rep that you felt comfortable with?
Wow…so many questions. Reason I ask is because sooner or later I’m going to have enough stuff to start shopping around for one myself. I dont’ want to go the Half-baked route that I did before, where I sent out just about everything I ever did (well, not THAT bad, but even if the styles didnt’ match!) etc.
Your advice is appreciated! (Other’s advice as well!)
Thanks a bunch!
M
Nadine: I have “Eat, Pray, Love” on my to-do reading list. I hear it’s wonderful!
Jimmy: The Fresh article was out of the blue, actually. I don’t know how CA heard of me, but they called me up one day (as I was shopping at Goodwill) and said “Hello, this is so and so from Communication Arts. Are you familiar with our magazine?”… and I nearly fell down. Then they asked me to be the fresh feature and I, of course, said yes and it all shook down from there. So, I guess my answer is: I don’t know. :)
Alex (hi Alex!): I only listen to music when I paint… if I’m doing email or working on the computer I get too distracted and need silence. But when I’m painting I listen to all kinds of music… my favorite right now being African drumming music. Something about the rhythms and beat make me really get into the painting and it just flows more naturally I guess. But overall, I’m pretty lame when it comes to music, meaning: I don’t really seek it out on my own. I rely on my husband and friends to show me what they’ve been listening to. If it weren’t for mixed cds from friends I’d be in silence all the time. :)
Michele:
I started looking for a rep by poking around online and finding out who I thought was communicating well and being seen. In magazine illustration by-lines, I’d see illustrator names and then look them up to see if they had a rep to find out more, too. But I narrowed it down to a few that I thought were prominent and had a group of artists that I admired…and thought my work would fit in well with, and I emailed them. At first I emailed and said that I was not looking for representation…just a critique of my work from their experienced standpoint, and I got acquainted with them that way. Scott, my rep now, gave me the most in depth critique. He called me and went through my portfolio piece by piece telling me what he thought was strong and what I could take out. It was really helpful. But two others of the reps just rejected me outright. No critique or anything… Oh well.
After that I emailed some of each of the rep’s artists and asked how they liked their rep… were they doing a good job? What kind of promotion did they do? Were they happy with the amount of work, etc? Many artists were very nice and emailed honest critiques, which I appreciated.
So from there I updated my portfolio, adding more work and taking out some of the weaker pieces. I also kind of narrowed it down to two I wanted to work with and kept sending them reminders that I was alive… an email here and there telling them what’d I’d been up to… “Hey I worked with this client. Here’s the piece I did. The experience was good.” That kind of stuff. I hoped I wasn’t bugging them, but thought that was the best way to show them that I was passionate and working my butt off.
And one day, Scott called me and said he’d been liking my progress and asked if I were ready for a rep.
I think I went about it a little passive aggressively… hee. I think actually emailing the rep and asking for representation would be just as effective. :)
Since we’re all talking about reading, I HAVE to suggest “The Giver” by Louis Lowry. Such a great book. Quick read. Also the companion books, “Gathering Blue,” and “Messenger”.
They, uh, are probably in the young adult section. I read at a 3rd grade level or so ;) Big wurds is scary.
Thanks for the advice!
Thanks for opening the floor to questions Penelope! Lots of great info here. Frizz’s artwork is wonderful, and did you see Michele’s roller girls poster? Really awesome! :-)