A Much Needed Update

My dog got bit by a snake last week.  That was interesting, for lack of a better description.  The vet said all the rain we've been having has flushed the sankes out; he already had three other dogs come in with snake bites.  She has cancer and she's blind, so I think we need to start adding "the indestructible" to her name.  She's been such a good girl though all of this, no complaining at all!

So, updates.  I'm trying out Glipho which is a social media site that's compatible with Blogger, Tumbler, and a bunch of other sites.  As of right now, it looks like I can't set a time and date for the post to be published, but I might be able to work with that . . . I'll let you know how it goes.

I entered Spectrum, found out that I didn't get in which was a let down, but I'm moving forward.  

Haven't gotten the new cards yet - they should be here by Thursday.

Justin Gerard, Cory Godbey and Chris Koelle's Lamp Post Guild is up and running, I am taking one of the classes with them.  About to start the first assignment later this week - again, I will let you know how all that goes.  

I have a commision (my first one! (Save the Dates for siblings don't count)) which is exciting.  Starting work on that this week.  

I also, in conjunction with the postcards I ordered last week, have been trying to figure out what I need to do for future promo pieces.  I've come to the conclusion that I need to do something that really exemplifies who I am as an artist, something that shows where my passions and interests lie.  

Defining my passions and interests was easy: story.  Working out how that can be developed into a tangible mail-out or email isn't as straightforward.  But I think I have decided on a place to start. Maybe.

I'm going to take some of my stories and some other people's stories (public domain) and create a small series of ilustrations and spots for each.  I'll create a summary of each of the stories and lay them out with the illustrations, print and bind it in a booklet to mail to publishers.  Hopefuly it will show that I have a concept of narrative illustration and layout, etc., etc.  

Now part of the problem is that a lot of art directors seem to want emails - but maybe that's not a problem at all.  

I'm going to start with my Steampunk Little Red Riding Hood, maybe Dragon Tamer (when I'm finished) and then probably something by Dickens - Tale of Two Cities or Christmas Carol, I think.  Eventually, I want to take a public domain book, fully illustrate it myself, hand-bind a few copies and self publish.  Tale of Two Cities is where I'm going to start, I think.  But that will be a project years in the making, so we'll see.  But that's potential-future-maybes . . . 

In the meantime I am also trying to get set up to teach some art classes from home . . . And then there's the gift I'm painting for my sister and future-brother-in-law . . . Yeah.

Right now, my goals for the week are . . . well, it's me, so there are a lot of them:

1. Dragon Tamer: new color comps and start on the final again.
2. Clean my room (this is an epic undertaking, I may not survive, so if you don't hear from me again, that's why).
3. Sketches for the New Commission - send them off for approval by the end of the week.
4. Help my mom set things up for the Garage Sale this weekend (Again, I might die . . . or get mauled by housewives.  Whichever comes first).
5. Review and edit my summary of the steampunk Little Red Ridding Hood story and lay it out in the format I am going to print the booklets in.
6. Outline my plans for teaching art classes from home.
7. Continue to revise, edit and research painting for sister and FBIL.
8. Not die cleaning my room or setting up the garage sale or participating in the garage sale.
9. Wash my dog . . .
10. Start assignment for LPG class.
11. Email sample images to art directors.

That's enough.  Right?

Contact Cards and Postcards

Just put in an order for new contact cards through Moo.com, along with a set of postcards.  I love the quality of the paper they use!

Also, your first order through them is 10% off . . .

Sorry, I've been so bad about posting.  I will try and keep you abreast of developments, but other than working on postcards, Dragon Tamer, and another project I can't tell you about, I haven't been doing much of note.

Forays into Marketing

I've been researching into this a lot, because, well, I want to illustrate for a living.  There are some very interesting things out there to help the emerging illustrator promote themselves, but I am honestly confused by the massive amount of information available.  I wish there was one place you could go to get a step by step guide on "How To Be A Working Illustrator And Promote Yourself", but everyone seems to have their own opinion.  I'm at the point that I figure I'd better just jump in and see what works.

So I think I'll be making several of these "Forays into Marketing" posts to chronicle my personal experiences, 1. to look back on and reflect later, and 2. in the hopes that my journey might help some other people.  Because this isn't a working illustrator's blog, it's mine, and I'm nowhere near working full time as an illustrator.  Hopefully reading about me being honest with my struggles and making mistakes as I make them will help someone else.

I mentioned some books I have picked up in this post.  I've been trying to compile a list of publishers I can send postcards to, and it's been . . . interesting.  Some publishers don't post their addresses and some don't want to look at unsolicited work, etc, etc.  And then some of the contacts in the books I mentioned are  purely for writers, no clear instructions for illustrators.  Gah!

I have also looked at the past year's contest winners, like the Chesley Award and others to try and get recent art director information.  I've turned up a few that way.  Still, my list seems pitifully small.

Another idea that I am wrestling with is this idea that university put in my head that my promo pieces have to be "memorable" and "unique".  Part of me wonders if that isn't just trying to guild bad or mediocre art.  But if you have good art AND a memorable promo . . . Ugh.  I'll never get anywhere with all this.  Also, no illustrators that I've seen or tried to Google post pictures of their promo pieces.  At least the unique ones don't.  Which I can't blame them for - if you have a unique idea why put it on the net for a thousand other people and their moms to steal?

Also, I only have three new pieces for my portfolio, and they're kind of on a higher level than some of my old stuff.  So do I start sending things out now? Do I wait till I have 8 or 9 new pieces?  Which at the rate I'm going wont be till December.  Of course I'm asking these questions like there's a right or wrong answer . . .

So changing topics before I start questioning the meaning of the universe - here are some sites that I am considering using for printing my promotional pieces:

Moo.com - multiple card in one batch for the same price
Zazzle
Overnight Prints
PsPrint

And Mailing Materials:
ClearBags - what I use for packaging the prints I sell in my store
E-SupplyStore - what I use for mailing the prints I sell in my store

Now, I also have a large format printer that I can use to print out my own promo pieces, but I am considering the time/cost benefit of that.  It's obviously cheaper to make everything myself, but the time I'll have to put into it might make some of the above services more effective as far as time goes.

I remember different people saying in school that 50% or more of your time should be spent on promoting and marketing yourself (holy crows).  I'm not going to lie - I cringe whenever I remember that.  But we'll see how this goes.

In other news, I've recently made a change in my life to devote more time to art, which is where I am supposed to be.  I am nervous and questioning my sanity a little, but it was past time for a leap of faith.  Basically, I quit my job and am taking part time work so that I can focus more on my art.  I think I'm walking around with a permanent deer in headlights look on my face . . .

Also I am sick again.  That's 4 times since September.  The cells in my body are conspiring against me.  But they won't win . . .