Greetings
g3s
I have been lurking in the corners a bit and watching from afar....
you all seem to be kind and gentle folk...no rabid replies at least....:
)
So I have decided to peek my head out and say hi.
Hi
After a pretty bfa, ten years of sign painting, on again off again
design work and two kids I have decided to actually go after my intended
career, illustration. (the book industry I think) I am currently
updating my portfolio, reading artist market like its the bible....and
am panicking over what I should do for my promotional package.....any
ideas?
Sondra
Terry Miura
longer foam at our mouths. Maybe I should just speak for myself....
the Artists Market is a good place to start. What I would do, if I were in
your position and was going after the book industry, is to first put
together a rigorously edited portfolio. The quality and style should be
consistent throughout. If you are going after the children's book
illustration, you'll need several images depicting same characters in
different environments, and have a consistent look about them.
After that, I would build a web portfolio, clean and well designed. Doesn't
have to be fancy, but it should load fairly quickly and it should be easy
to navigate. more junk you put in there, the less professional it'll look.
If you're doing this purely for portfolio purposes, you don't want to put
pictures of your family vacation, for example. At some point, you might
want to consider your own domain name. It's all part of marketing.
Now that you have a totally cool, professional web portfolio, you need the
right people to look at it. How do you do that? that depends on your
market, and it depends on your temperament. If you don't have a track
record, most agents won't take you on, so I wouldn't go that route.
Besides, I'd be weary of the agent's capacities if he/she is ready and
willing to take on someone that's just starting out. I would print promo
postcards with one or two images in full color and send them out to
potential clients. They're pretty inexpensive to print nowadays, so it
doesn't make sense not to take advantage of that. Print your portfolio URL
along with the image (s) and your vital contact info. (I just put on my
name, address, phone # , email and web URL).
Then you need to find names and addresses of people who would want to hire
you. the Artist's Market is , as I said, a good place to start, at least to
test the waters. I would also go to a large book store and look for books
and magazine that maybe compatible to what you do, and look for the names
and addresses printed in those. Most of the time, you'll find the necessary
info. Keep in mind that art directors do often change companies a lot (not
all, of course some stay at the same company for decades) so newer the
book, the more accurate the info. If you can spend the money, buying
database or mailing labels from a company that targets these markets is
also a good way to go. It gets expensive, but one or two jobs will pay for
it. If you want to spend LOTS of money, you can also try print directories
like the black book or the showcase.
If you're in a big city, call them up. ask what their portfolio drop off
policy is. most major publishers have a drop off policy, and they'll
readily tell you. you can then drop off your portfolio, with your sample
cards (leave-behinds) in them.
Remember, persistency pays. Just to put things in perspective, I showed my
portfolio to 150 art directors in new york before I got a single call. So
don't give up too soon if it's slow going in the beginning.
good luck!
terry
www.terrymiura.com
ps. if you want info on where to get post cards printed or where to buy
targeted mailing labels, feel free to email me. terry...@terrymiura.com.
Lar
Welcome!
> After a pretty bfa, ten years of sign painting, on again off again
> design work and two kids I have decided to actually go after my intended
> career, illustration. (the book industry I think) I am currently
> updating my portfolio, reading artist market like its the bible....and
> am panicking over what I should do for my promotional package.....any
> ideas?
Depends how fancy or frugal you wanna be. I don't know a lot about the book
industry although I'm hoping for more work in that area myself. On the
frugal side of things, my first suggestion is find a service bureau to get
good colour copies of your work done. People you can trust to get the
colours reproduced correctly and won't kill you with unnecessary fees for
ripping images and stuff. You've already got the Artist's Market so no need
to repeat that (even though I just did :). If you can find any
professionals in your area, try to talk to them about your portfolio. It
can be very educational!
My last idea is something I do every year or so. I make some time, head to
the giant bookstore. Get a coffee, find a nice chair in the design arts
section and browse through those 'Best of' books for inspiration. These are
the annuals put out by the graphics industry on best promotional mailers,
best ad campaign etc. Yes, they have a budget through outer space to be
doing some of these things, but it never hurts to look at quality design and
I find I get ideas on how to do stuff myself. Taking the time on your first
set of mailers to add a bit of personal design to the presentation is
great. Maybe a window in your cover booklet revealing an interesting detail
of the first page. Maybe an idea to jazz up your cover letter with illos.
Perhaps a theme you can take advantage of. For example, if you do a lot of
florals then maybe pieces for the four seasons. Illustrate some of your
favourite poetry or do book plates for a classic series. Your follow
mailers can be simpler then - colour photocopies of more work, or postcards,
but I think the added impact of a really well packaged presentation can
help. If its too expensive to mail them out then just do one or two for
your carry around portfolio and have sample that echo what's in your book.
Hope these are worthwhile ideas for you. Later :)
Lar
**********
The Many Faces of Lar
http://www.sentex.net/~fresco/faces
(updated Feb3rd/01)
**********
g3s
usually when someone new joins a news group all hell breaks loose and the silly
dolt that peeked out from behind the bush runs screaming for the hills...not so
in here.
Just out of curiosity, and to get my bearings, what area of illustration do you
folks haunt. I have chosen for good or ill, the fantasy genre of the publishing
industry, though time may change that. I am also curious as to the medium(s)
used. I work primarily in acrylics but am considering the possibility of
changing to oils, and of course the occasional pen and ink. But as stated
before, I am still in the update the ancient portfolio stage.
Well that is enough rambling and poking for one post.
Thanks again
Sondra
Lar
> Just out of curiosity, and to get my bearings, what area of illustration do you
> folks haunt. I have chosen for good or ill, the fantasy genre of the publishing
> industry, though time may change that. I am also curious as to the medium(s)
> used. I work primarily in acrylics but am considering the possibility of
> changing to oils, and of course the occasional pen and ink. But as stated
> before, I am still in the update the ancient portfolio stage.
I love fantasy art but I'm not looking in that area professionally. I know a couple
pro fantasy artists, and they work mostly in the gaming industry, illustrating books
and cards, as well as selling their own prints. It's a shame that market seems
relagated to that narrow opportunity. Personally, I've been pushing myself as a
caricaturist, but I'm also looking for children's illo work. I've only done one
small book project and I've got another fellow who wants to self publish his story
but I'm in that for the money, not the promise of glory. If his cheques actually
arrive then I'll do the work ;)
I'd worry about oils for pro work just because deadlines can be tight. I suppose if
you can do your own photography you can ship transparencies to the client instead of
originals. Got a website for us to 'ooh' and 'aaaah' over yet?
janeecake
Hiya Sondra!
I'm here just for the camaraderie. :) I'm trying to discover what i'm good at
and how this art thing all works. I liken myself to a young Grandma Moses, in
that i didn't start to do art till I got to be 43. :P I have yet to venture
into "real" media. I'm learning digital art now; my tools are my Wacom, and
Photoshop/Illustrator. I should think that if/when i ever muster the courage
to paint or draw on something real, i'd use my computer art as "models". I
wonder if this is back-ass-wards, or if other people get into art this way.
Always me, Janee
--
"The sweetest coconuts grow at the top of the tallest trees."
--
Visit www.myjanee.com for Janee's Photoshop Tutorials, Photoshop Resource Links, PS Tips from the Newsgroups.
Main site: http://www.janeecake.com -- ICQ #63005204
My email addy is munged. Take out the trash before responding.
Artboy from Oz
Make yourself comfy and pull up a chair.
I've always been happier drawing that painting, being self-taught, but I can paint up a storm if
paid to.
I work in Prismacolor pencils, graphite, pen&ink, pastel, charcoal, aquarelles....anything that'll
make a mark. Sometimes I paint in acrylic or ink, occasionally oils.
These days I mostly scan in drawings and go for it digitally (bless you, Wacom) or generate the
whole thing digitally.
I do pet portraits here in Melbourne, I'm illustrating a couple of books digitally in the U.S.
(thank God for the internet) and I'm negotiating with a feller in Austria to illustrate on-line
games.
Diverse enough? I'm a tart...I'll do anything for money. One day I'll go back to doing stuff just
for the love of it.
Welcome
Greg
Terry Miura
I'd say 90% of my work is Magazines. may be 5% Newspapers, and 5% Book jackets. I've done some album
covers, web stuff, but those are exceptions. My medium is digital collage,
so I'm heavily dependant on Photoshop. 10 years ago, I was doing everything by hand. I would do mixed
media most of the time -watercolor underpainting, sealed, then rendered in oil, then some acrylics for
funky effects (taking advantage of the fact that oils and acrylics don't mix) Sometimes I would go
back in with grease pencils and gouache if I had some line work to do on top. so yeah, just about
everything mixed in and whatever works works.
You can definitely use oils for illustration work, but you do have to mind the deadlines. Book jobs
you usually get a month or two, so it's not like it would be a huge problem. For tighter deadlines, I
used cobalt drier, liquin, and Krystal Klear. You could easily kill yourself using this combination in
a non vented room so I wouldn't recommend it, but it sure came in handy for rush jobs. Nowadays, if I
have to draw or paint, I rely on Photoshop. but once in a while, I'll do it the old fashion way, just
for kicks.
My fine art stuff is all oil. thick, gooey oils. yummy...
terry