What we wish we knew before starting out as artists

Some really great advice from illustrators saying what info they wish they knew before starting out as artists. Read it here.

Adding Personality and Expression to a Character

I love posting work-in-progress pics on my blog to show the process of how I work and how an illustration takes shape. Today I would like to post a mini-tutorial about drawing the face and how small tweaks to the illustration can add personality and expression to a character.

The example I'm using is my most recent illustration Manic Cure. When starting to draw a new illustration I always begin with the eyes and the face, because it's one of the first things that the viewer will look at as the eyes are naturally drawn to look at another pair of eyes.

The first attempt at drawing the face, I wasn't quite happy with the facial expression. It looked very serene and angelic and I had envisioned the character as a sort of femme fatale, mysterious being with multiple arms.

Without starting over from the beginning, I made a few tiny adjustments to the face which changed her expression from being sweet to someone a bit more cocky and mysterious. I raised one eyebrow, narrowed the eyes and turned one side of the mouth into a smirk. Very small changes which added some spark into her character.

My Billie Joe illustration is another example of how to add expression into a character. Just by looking at the angle of the eyebrows, the shadows and wrinkles around the eyes you can inject some life into an illustration and make a more compelling image.

Draw a bunch of different mouths and see how dramatically they can change the look of an illustration. They don't need to be over-the-top to show emotion, the human face is capable of showing hundreds of emotions with the most subtle changes in expression.

So in summary, to add some personality and expression to a character think about:

• Eyebrows: are they raised (surprised), furrowed (angry), or is one eyebrow raised (cocky)?
• Eyes: are they big and sweet, do they sparkle or are they narrow and mysterious?
• Lips: are they smiling secretly like the Mona Lisa, smirking or showing some teeth?
• Wrinkles: the signs of life on a person's face and a great way to show character.

The great thing about working with vector illustrations is that you can go back and make tiny adjustments. How do you like to show personality in an illustration?

Advice on freelancing

Here's a link for some must-read freelancing advice by artist Brian Ewing http://brianewing.tumblr.com/post/49291899166/some-advice-on-freelancing

Aurora Lady

Cathedral of Rebellion by Aurora Lady

I love reading the Agent Lover blog, and they featured a lovely interview with LA artist Aurora Lady. They asked her if she has any advice for aspiring lady artists, and she gave an awesome reply:

Eliminate the static! Find a job that allows you to showcase and use your talents, and if you don’t have that job yet, create it. Don’t waste time on people who are dream killers—seriously, break off all ties from them and get the hell out. Be ruthless and use every moment to work on your art—even if you are working a desk job, have notepads next to you so you can write down every idea, and listen to podcasts that inspire you while you are pushing papers. Wake up an hour early to draw before your commute. Use your sketchbook at lunch and take notes on everything.  Talk to EVERYONE about what you are passionate about, and don’t limit your social circle to other artists! Your vision is needed and there is room for every sort of perspective. Look for opportunities to help others—ask what their passions are and connect people. Most of all, just keep going and don’t get discouraged. I mean that. It’s really, really easy to say I’m never going to get anywhere with this, and stop. That’s a sad way to live. If I had given up, I’d still be living in a podunk town, wishing I had had the guts to go balls to the wall and make money off my art.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Yuko Shimizu

Some great advice from Yuko Shimizu:

First of all, love what you do. If you are not in love with what you do you can never compete in a field where everyone else have so much passion in what they do.
Have high ambitions, and work harder than your ambitions. School may be a hard work, but you will soon realize that you have to work even harder in the real world. Hard work is not so hard if you are in love with what you do.
Let yourself experiment and grow. Be open to constructive criticism. You are an artist and not craftsman who's job is to create the same things over and over again.
Don’t forget that you are running a small business as well as being an artist. Learn to be a good business person. Be nice.
Don’t ever try to be someone else who is already in the field. Be the best of who you are and who you can become. Try and aim to create something nobody else has done/seen.

I highly recommend reading the rest of her advice here.

Ignore haters

I had a go at painting some watercolour lips. It took some patience, but turned out ok!

I get tired of reading through design inspiration sites where they post some project they think is awesome, but most of the comments just whinge about how it's not innovative or creative enough to post about. So here's some wise words I found on Swiss Miss...

I always take more pleasure in liking something than in disliking something. That’s not to say there aren’t some things that deserve to be liked and some things that deserved to be disliked, but I’m never fond of disliking something.
The lesson I’ve learned is to be wary of those who are. The ones who seem to think that being critical is the same as having good taste. Those people almost never have good taste, so their opinions don’t matter.
There’s no particular sophistication required to be a critic. We know this, because children often dislike foods they learn to love as adults.
So, even if what you’ve done isn’t so great, just remember that those who can’t say so with grace, those who seem to take pride in criticizing you, their opinions don’t matter. It may very well be that you’ve created a masterpiece, and they’re just children.
If you can learn to be a fair judge of yourself, you won’t feel the need to rely on other people’s opinions.

Pixar letter

Found this letter by Pixar animator Austin Madison here. Transcript below:

PIXAR

May 17, 2011

To Whom it May Inspire,

I, like many of you artists out there, constantly shift between two states. The first (and far more preferable of the two) is white-hot, "in the zone" seat-of-the-pants, firing on all cylinders creative mode. This is when you lay your pen down and the ideas pour out like wine from a royal chalice! This happens about 3% of the time.

The other 97% of the time I am in the frustrated, struggling, office-corner-full-of-crumpled-up-paper mode. The important thing is to slog diligently through this quagmire of discouragement and despair. Put on some audio commentary and listen to the stories of professionals who have been making films for decades going through the same slings and arrows of outrageous production problems.

In a word: PERSIST.

PERSIST on telling your story. PERSIST on reaching your audience. PERSIST on staying true to your vision. Remember what Peter Jackson said, "Pain is temporary. Film is forever." And he of all people should know.

So next time you hit writer's block, or your computer crashes and you lose an entire night's work because you didn't hit save (always hit save), just remember: you're never far from that next burst of divine creativity. Work through that 97% of murky abyssmal mediocrity to get to that 3% which everyone will remember you for!

I guarantee you, the art will be well worth the work!

Your friend and mine,

Austin Madison

"ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!"

101 Ways to Find Inspiration, Stay Motivated and Achieve your Goals

Finding inspiration through blogs is the best! I was reading through the weekly Link Love post on the Active For Fashion blog and I came across a link to SillyGrrl's list of 101 Ways to Find Inspiration, Stay Motivated and Achieve your Goals. Definitely worth a few reads!

Wowmagz

Issue 13 of electronic publication Wowmagz

Detailed work by Tony Midi

Interview with Marcos Chin

I was recently interviewed for issue 13 of the digital design magazine Wowmagz. Packed full of design and illustration goodness from around the world, I particularly enjoyed reading an interview with illustrator Marcos Chin. When asked the question about advice for new designers, he says:

In the beginning it's important to constantly create new pieces even if you are not commissioned by anyone to do so. Having perseverance and a strong work ethic is more important than talent, I truly believe this.

You check out issue 13 here.

The Handmade Marketplace (part 2)

So this post continues on from part 1. There have been times when I am reading an interview with a designer in Rock Sound magazine, and I am amazed to find out they are the same age as me (or younger!), yet they already have an extensive portfolio of work for big bands and concerts. And other times, I find out that designers I really admire have gone to study design later in life and are only just finding their creative niche in their 30s.

So I found this piece of advice in The Handmade Marketplace from Liz Smith really inspiring...

Don't worry about where you are in the process of building your business. Everyone is at a different stage, but everyone is at some stage. Listen to people ahead of you, help those who are still catching up to you, and don't be intimidated by people who seem to have it all figured out. No one has it all figured out.

The Handmade Marketplace (part 1)

I recently read the book The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin. Since the explosion in popularity of handmade goods and Etsy, more and more people have been selling their creative goods online and in markets around the world. This book is a guide to how to set yourself up as a crafty entrepreneur. There are some good pieces of advice in the book, and reading about how other people quit their day jobs to do what they love is quite inspiring.

I just want to share some advice I read in the book from Diane Gilleland, I can really relate to her advice of 'putting yourself out there'...

If there's something you dream about doing for a living, find a way to do it right now. Seek out some small way to engage in it without pay or for minimal pay - and not as a job working for someone else but as your own effort.
I wanted to be in business for myself as a crafter for years, but nothing happened until I started putting myself out there via my blog and podcast. Those led to more opportunities and, more importantly, got me to begin embracing the role of entrepreneur.

There's another piece of advice that I wrote down from the book, but that post will be part 2!

How to steal like an artist

I just read an awesome post on Austin Kleon's blog with advice for creatives. He says that "It’s a simple list of 10 things I wish I’d heard when I was in college." I definitely am going to re-read it more times. Find it here.

Advice to Obey

Whenever I'm reading interviews with designers and illustrators, I love when they get asked about advice for other designers. I was reading an interview with Shepard Fairey in issue 99 of Rock Sound Magazine, and I found his message of 'never give up' to be very inspiring:

"My advice is, if you stick to what you believe in long enough and keep making work, eventually it's gonna find an audience. People should always find an outlet for their artistic passion and make it happen on nights or weekends if they can't do it full-time. Never give up. Also, don't chase design and art world trends in order to try to succeed more quickly. You've got to just do what you believe in and then your day will come. No one ever gets anywhere or any respect for just jumping on art or design trends. There are a million Banksy copycats out there but there's still only one Banksy. I'm just too stubborn to give up, so it eventually had to work out for me. But it is totally hard."

If you want to read the rest of the interview, you can access it here. Thanks to Design Shard for scanning the interview.