Comments on: sweet nothings

By: Donna

Donna — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:57:31 +0000

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! :-)

By: michele melcher

michele melcher — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:04:08 +0000

Thanks for the advice!

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:30:12 +0000

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.

By: penelope

penelope — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:14:06 +0000

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. :)

By: penelope

penelope — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:51:06 +0000

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. :)

By: penelope

penelope — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:47:32 +0000

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. :)

By: penelope

penelope — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:33:59 +0000

Nadine: I have “Eat, Pray, Love” on my to-do reading list. I hear it’s wonderful!

By: Michele

Michele — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 14:12:58 +0000

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

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 05:55:20 +0000

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.

By: jimmy

jimmy — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 23:59:38 +0000

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.