Being an illustrator can be very difficult when trying to make a living. We all go through ‘Lean’ times throughout our careers. I rely on painting people,family and pet portraits, and Ive painted peoples houses too. There is another way to help a little when the finances are tight. I belong to a stock illustration organisation. Its good in a few ways. It enables an artist to present their work to an international audience, you can upload as many images as you want. You become an administrator when you sign up, and can manage your work ,utilising tags, changing the order etc. Its a good way to Copyright your work also, with a watermark and in a contract that they send you to sign, before they can sell your work for you. The artwork remains the property of the artist. So in effect when someone likes your work (its the same system all illustrators should have) they can use the actual image (which they purchase)or they commision your style, if they want both they have to pay for both! so in effect you can sell the image hundreds of times. I believe the percentage you pay to the agency when you sell is justified, if only for all the exposure you gain. Here is the address: http:// stockillustrations.com/
Its a little quiet on the work front at the moment. When its quiet its a good idea/opportunity to create self-initiated portfolio pieces. Most artists, being creative minds tend to have a lot of ongoing ideas, so subject matter is usually to hand. I Personally, like to work on 2 or 3 pieces simultainiously. So I have 2 drawings that I want to work up into illustrations, both of which will be produced digitally. The first is an idea thats been around for along time in my sketch book, The subject is alcohol, and the levels of dangerous intake, how some people become very dependant on it to dangerous levels for their health. Ive used the idea of the more dependant they become, or otherwise, they become trapped inside the bottle, others are able to break the habit(breaking out of the oppression of drink). Its quite a basic composition. I work up my drawings/ ideas on a large piece of paper perhaps A3 size I like the fluidity while realising an idea. If the piece was for a client I would add another stage, after the initial rough, where I would reduce the size considerably and produce a much more refined copy to send to them. So,when the sketch is done I scan it into photoshop.
The second piece will be an illustration of a band at a gig, its far less conceptual than the other. Its a subject ive wanted to include in my portfolio, for a few reasons, it gives clients another view of my style and how it would work with this kind of subject. Its one step closer to finishing than the other piece as ive already layed in the first layer after scanning in the drawing.
So there you have it, keep in touch to see how they progress to the final artwork I
will include in my portfolio.
Well here is the first one done(Alcohol dependancy)As you can see I modified it a little as I went, this usually happens, its part of the process, you can always see things better with ‘fresh eyes’,still, its seems to have turned out ok, well I hope you like it, please leave me a comment, good or bad. When I have 5 pieces I put them into my portfolio. Off now to finish the other illustration.
Visit todaysinspiration.blogspot. com Featured illustrators from past times; James R bingham, Austin Biggs, paul Nonnast. Wow!
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