More Advice & HALLWAY SHOW!

Here's some other great points from Inside the Business of Illustration. MA = Marshall Arisman and SH = Steven Heller. ALSO **THE HALLWAY SHOW** has started a blog. Head over there, check it out, and follow it. This week's theme is Danny Devito and my piece for the week is up alongside my little sister's.MA: The work you produce has to be the best you can do. The criterion is the final image. How you get there is your own business. Illustrators are not paid by the hour. I encourage all illustration students to experiment with every medium at their disposal and not settled for what appear to be timesaving tools.
SH: You can always tell when technique overpowers concept, so that is my standard. IF the image draws more attention than the idea, then something is wrong.

Being Clear: Make a list of things you personally know about, of things you find funny or sad, of concerns political or social that you would like to address. Write a short paragraph about each. If you can't write a clear statement about your feelings there is little reason to think your pictures will have any more clarity.

SH: The worst idea is one that tries too hard to be clever, but a clever presentation free from artifice is worth its weight in gold. Today I feel that book making is as overdone as postcards. But that's because many illustrators who make book-like promotions are really just replicating their portfolio; the book is not a book per se, but a collection of disparate images.
MA: Web sites are good vehicles for promotion but the same rules apply. Only put up what you are most proud of, not what you think THEY will buy. Always know what kind of work the art director does. Too many young illustrators don't take the time and effort to research the names of art directors and familiarize themselves with past images they commission.

Promo Ideas TO AVOID: don't include your resume. Don't include work that you don't want to do.

Ethics: don't knowingly undercut a fellow illustrator to take away a job.

MA: The rejection of any assignment for ethical reasons is very personal. While some things are just out of the question, others are more subtle, requiring thought only when the offer is presented. If you believe, as I do, that images (including your own) have power, then take a moment to reflect when the intuitive or inner voice sends up a signal. Pay attention to it. It is much more difficult to defend something that you don't believe in after you've done it.

MA's commandments of illustration:
1) Thou shalt not intentionally steal the style of another.
2) Thou shalt not envy the success of a fellow artist.
3) Thou shalt not apply thy talents to a cause that sickens thee.
4) Thou shalt not continuously reevaluate thy own artistic merit.
5) Thou shalt not use money as the yardstick for success or failure.

VJ, List, & Curtis.

One of my dearest friends VINCE JOY illustrated a really great portrait of Max from Where The Wild Things Are. Vince has recently done some really cool portraits so if you could take a second and head over to his blog, that'd be awesome. He's a really great guy and he's a great artist. Check back to his blog often!

In other news, I can't get over how stupid Halloween kind of is.Also, it was Curtis McGuire's birthday yesterday and I was SUPPOSED to go to his party, but FAIL. I'm sorry I missed it Curtis. This is for you:

The Hood & The Wild Thing.

Halloween was mostly a success aside from the fact that when we began, we were the only people out trick or treating and I now have blisters, but the best part was my brother's mask. So, four hours before we started trick or treating, I went to the Halloween store to try to find a mask for my bro with my mom and we found this executioner hood and I was like, "it's either this or the devil mask" and my mom picked the hood. Well, we got the hood home and the little cardboard marquee it was attached to stated it was an executioner's hood on one side and a SAUCY BONDAGE MASK on the other side (notice the little hearts in the background). When my brother and I made this discovery, we were mortified, but I couldn't stop laughing. He was ashamed to wear it. The entire night, he just looked like a creep and everyone kept telling me how great my mask was and that they liked my nose.
Now, this polaroid does no justice to my outfit because I had cool shorts & tights but at least you get the idea (notice how pumped I am based on my thumbs up and how brother Chan is not because of his WEAK thumbs up). We raked in the candy; 3 grocery store bags full of it in our pillow cases EACH, it was a good night.
I've been working on a Where the Wild Things Are piece for some time now. I actually started the night before the movie came out and I just got around to finishing it last week and I've been waiting to post it until the time was right; now seems like the right time. So I drew the image in my notebook with microns and sharpies and scanned it into photoshop and messed around with it.

Happy Halloween!

I know I usually post between the late night hours of 2 am and 7 am, but alas I was sleeping, but better late than never, right? Today is Halloween. Hard to believe because it doesn't feel like it. I will be going trick or treating this evening with my brother. After that, I'm going to watch Night of the Living Dead. I hope everyone's safe tonight. This illustration is a Halloween Party with PIZZA, cupcakes, cookies, and punch. Nosferatu is also there!

Halloween Movies.

These are the best Halloween time movies in my humble opinion. It was a tough time deciding if Nosferatu or The Shining would be number one...in fact sometimes they flip flop, but they are both EXCELLENT.

Success!

I don't know what (much) success smells like yet, but it smelled really great when it came in the mail today in the form of my robots design printed in a metallic silver on a black shirt! Word on the street is you can pick one up from a CCS info session. I should go and get seven and just wear this shirt everyday because it's awesome:Also, here is a quick sketch I did of some people at a starbucks.This is kind of a lazy post, but I need a break. Also, it's the one week anniversary of my continuous blog posts. I feel really accomplished, but it's also kind of stressful trying to keep up with the blog. It's a race against time to churn work out, but it's good. So keep your eyes peeled for wild things, halloween something or another, THE JONAS BROTHERS, creatures, Larry David, and more.

My Life In Polaroids.

There's something really great about polaroids that can't be duplicated with any other camera. I enjoy tangible things. I like being able to hold a photo. Sure digital cameras have made taking photos convenient, but I'm a sucker for nostalgia. These are some of my favorite polaroids in my collection. They capture a lot of great aspects of my life. I have 2 packs of film left and they both expire at the end of October. If I could change one thing, it would be to have Polaroid continue making their 600 film, but regardless, life looks better in a polaroid.

Inside The Business of Illustration.

I've been reading this book called Inside the Business of Illustration by Steven Heller & Marshall Arisman. Steven Heller is one of the art directors for the New York Times and he's the co-chair of the MFA design program at SVA. Marshall Arisman is an illustrator and chair of the MFA degree program, "Illustration as Visual Essay" at SVA. I found some interesting points made in the book that I'd like to share. I'm almost half way through the book, and I know some of this may seem common sensical or you may already know it, but I hope it helps.

MA: "It is the illustrator's job, in my opinion, to develop a unique personal voice. Talent is not the issue; how illustrators develop a voice is the issue."
"it is the illustrators' job to present themselves clearly in their portfolio. It is not the art director's job to clear up the illustrator's creative confusion."
"Visually interpreting another's words is at the core of illustration. I am suggesting that learning how to illustrate your own words will strengthen your ability to visualize, in a personal way, the words of others."
"the system for young illustrators is not realistic. Four years of undergraduate study is not enough time for most people to develop skills, find their own visual voice, combine it with personal subject matter, and learn how to problem solve on demand."

SH: "I agree with you that most illustrators' portfolios are too generic, and always have been because their teachers push in that direction. I certainly see my share of portfolios that have a bit of this and that, which offers no insight into the illustrator's passions and interests. But, I've also seen my share of portfolios that are, well, so full of self-indulgent personal stuff that I often tell these people to actually go out and illustrate an existing story on their own edification so I can see how they address real editorial themes. So it's one thing to make work that is personal and another to make work that is practical."
"A great illustration communicates beyond the article that it is illustrating."

Tips/Dos & Don'ts:
SH: The best business practice an illustrator can bring to the job is respect for the art director's opinion, energy for the assignment, and excitement about a new challenge. [Marshall] you point out, they should come fully equipped with their own ideas and vision. This is their foremost commodity as business people. The tips I offer are simple. The portfolio is the illustrator's showroom, so make it sing! It should be edited smartly to reveal an ability to know how to tell stories. If the illustrator is a pure stylist, then it should be beautiful.

MA: At age twenty-eight, I began to make drawings about the things I knew something about. To put it another way, I began to make images that had meaning for me. I spent a year making drawings about guns. To my surprise, they became my portfolio. I now believe that the only way to make a portfolio is to forget about making a portfolio. Concentrate on a series of images based on your own list. Package your series in a promo piece that is the basis for your portfolio. Research the annuals for art directors who have bought images that you respect or have meaning for you. Send them your promo piece, drop off your portfolio. It doesn't matter where they are working, many of them will move to another position in a couple of years. Don't try and create samples for their publication. Show them who you are in your portfolio. Let them decide if your work is applicable. IF you present yourself clearly in your work, you will find that your client list is small but your relationships will be long lasting.
The other dos and don'ts I suggest to illustrators is don't try to be a lawyer. You must protect your copyrights and learn sound business practices but never lose sight of the fact that you are in a collaborative effort. Mutual trust is important. They hired you based on what you showed them. Give them back the level that is in your portfolio.

Omega Epic Post.

So, here is an Omega Epic Post containing a lot of notebook pages that have drawings/saying/quotes/pictures/and found things on them. I'm working on a Jonas posting for my JB buddies and I'm also working on putting together a bunch of good stuff from this book I'm reading for illustrators. Oh and keep an eye out for some cut outs which I'm doing because my buddy Ben wants me to (I expect some watercolor from you, Ben. DEAD SERIOUS). Live to party. Keep it real.

"Janine! Do You Know Who This Is?"

I've been working on portraits and creating a likeness. I know you can't really rely on your mom for an honest critique because she's biased by default, but I asked her if she knew who this was and she replied, "What do you think? I'm an idiot?" She could tell and that was all of the validation I needed.

All American.

You know what I love? The movie Stand By Me. What a classic. I did this drawing based off of things from that movie. I worked on making the font look like the original and I also wanted to nail the PEZ font. I had fun with this piece. I feel like Stand By Me is a very American movie so here is a very American house that I found while walking. This is the most patriotic house in America (or it's at least in the top 10).

Horizontal.

These two are from my notebook. They're the only two that turned into horizontal drawings. It's only appropriate that they go together. One is of an old gas station and the other is from the inside of a subway. Party on, Wayne.

I'm BACK!

Well hello world. Does anyone still check blogs anymore? I'm re-vamping my layout. While I'm composing the sketches and what nots that I've been working on, I'll leave you with this drawing I completed when I was 12 years old. What a gem.

Super Mario.

I think it's necessary to pay homage to one of my favorite characters in both my child and adulthood. My entire family (including parents) have been playing Nintendo games forever. We've grown up with both Mario and Zelda. So, this is dedicated to all of the countless hours spent playing the video games we grew up with. I'm working at the CCS Pre-College Summer Experience as a mentor. 56 high school students come from around the globe to live on campus for a month and experience college. It's pretty cool. Although it has kept me more than busy, I was able to work on this a little bit each night.

Spiral Bound.

I've taken a break from the portraits for a bit. I'm actually working on a series right now, as suggested by Ryan Callahan, but I won't disclose the three that I'm working on. I was cleaning out some things last week and found a small 3x5 spiral bound notepad that I've decided to make my sketchbook. It's great because it's so small. I draw in it, tape pictures in it, and write things down like notes and quotes. It's fun! I don't have much done in it, but here are a few cool pages.

Spock!

I saw Star Trek. I'm not a fan of Star Trek. Honestly, I'm more of Star Wars fan myself, but I gave it a shot. I literally clapped and screamed awesome at the end (two of my fellow art friends were in the theatre as well; one of which being Micaela Ruiz). So this is dedicated to Spock. This is a combo of Leonard Nimoy (old Spock) and Zachary Quinto (new Spock). I decided to save myself some clean up time by doing this via photoshop. Live long and prosper!

Graduation Day!

If you had asked me a month and a half ago if I would be graduating, the answer would've been questionable. I had such a rough semester that I honestly didn't think I would be graduating. I hadn't done much work (well I did, but it was terrible) and my attendance wasn't that great, but at the end, I cranked the volume from 0 - 10 and worked my butt off! I created an entire body of new work (the portraits) and I made up for my lacking attendance by helping the department set up for the student show (that debuts tomorrow). All of the hard work paid off when I walked across that stage and took my family and friends to see my wall (pictured below). It was a real treat seeing everyone's walls finished and congratulating one another on 4+ years of hard work and dedication to our school and craft. Tomorrow is opening night. I really hope I sell some work, but I'm excited for everyone to see it. 2009 is flying by and graduating from CCS is my biggest achievement yet. Thank you to everyone that has supported me along the way. Also, I was interviewed and featured in the most recent issue of "C" which is the alumni relations magazine through CCS. Matt Chung and Bailey Isgro were also featured; everything's on pages 4 & 5. You can check it out by click HERE!

MJ & Wall-E.

I had some extra spots on my senior wall that needed to be filled so I planned on pulling an all nighter last night, BUT exhaustion got the best of me and I fell asleep only to wake up at 9 this morning and FREAK OUT. We had to have our walls finished by noon and I still had 2 pieces to do so I set to work! In 2 hours, I busted out both of these! I apologize for the pictures, but I didn't have time to scan them so I took a quick picture and left to finish setting up at school. Michael Jackson ruled during his Thriller era and Wall-E killed the big screen with his debut. These two characters along with the others I've been posting will be for sale at the College for Creative Studies' Student Exhibition Opening this friday through the end of May. I'm selling the originals in really cool frames for only $80 each! Stop by, see my wall, enjoy the work, and direct people toward it! If nothing else, stop by and say hi! I graduate tomorrow and Friday is the opening so the next post will have pictures of graduation/opening night. I'll come up with a new piece by Monday so stay tuned for that. Enjoy the work and have a fun weekend everybody!

Alf!

As the pickiest human being on the planet, pizza is my favorite food. However, Alf's favorite food is cats. I don't like cats myself (as food I mean), but I'm not an Alien Life Form so I guess I wouldn't. This is America's favorite alien, Alf!I graduate in 2 days. It hasn't hit me yet, but I am nervous and excited and a little bit scared. Also, I have been working hard on putting my senior wall up so I will post pictures of that after graduation.

Larry King.

America's favorite interviewer; Larry King.

Joaquin Phoenix.

Although Joaquin Phoenix flipped out awhile ago on Letterman, I decided it was still pretty necessary to create a portrait of him. I found this really great picture of him online and I cut his hands out and used them in this portrait because I think it helps the whole crazy angle. I don't know if Joaquin is crazy, but he is GREAT and it's all because of this guy that I got my spark back. Thanks, Joaquin.

Also, I received an email & did an interview. You can read it if you'd like HERE.

Wolverine & Susan Boyle.

I'm all about Celebrity Portraiture/Iconic figures. That's what the next couple of weeks are going to be about. Let's start things off with Wolverine (also known as Hugh Jackman) and Susan Boyle. I just look at this piece of Wolverine and I laugh so hard because of his muscles and his claws and I love Susan Boyle because she is Britain's under dog. It's all about mixed media these days. Rock and roll.

Obama-Rama!

I started this piece back in January and just got around to finishing it up. I was fortunate enough to actually attend the inauguration with my long time friend, Zack, and what an event it was. I've never been much into politics, but I've always been a fan of history and to say that I was at an event like this was overwhelming for me. I also think the fact that it was an unplanned adventure added to it being overwhelming; in a good way.I did this using ink and a nib and I also used acrylic and cut paper.

The following is from Obama's inauguration speech. It was pretty inspirational/moving to hear it in real life and to be surrounded by over a million Americans, all eager to stand together, and believe as a whole. People eager to believe that things can change and, over time, they will.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Epic Return.

This entire year I've been fighting what I really enjoy doing. I've been trying to paint, I've used colored pencils, I did pen and ink, and a whole lot of other things in between, when all along, I was ignoring what I truly enjoyed and what I truly enjoy is cutting things out of paper. I've taken it to a new level and I now paint paper and cut that out, but the thing is; I see things in shapes and I like to make shapes and cut them out. It's FUN and I thoroughly enjoy it; I LOVE IT. So, it took me until the end to have a moment of clarity and, by then, I had an entire semester's worth of crap-work and I decided to get rid of all of it and do a bunch of cut outs and they looked better than all five of my paintings combined. I've got a long way to go and I know that, BUT I feel great about everything and I'm excited to show you what I've been working on. Forgive me for my absence (yet again), but I'm back for GOOD. The first piece was circus themed done in illustrator and photoshop. The second piece was for the Detroit Zoo and I did it in Photoshop. I didn't get to turn it in, but I did it anyway.

Stephen Schudlich.

I have no excuse for being absent. I have just been taking some time off. After almost 3 months, I think I'm back in the game. MAKE A STEVE. TAPE IT UP!

Giacometti!

For our final piece in Senior Studio, I wanted to play around with my cut paper idea, but instead of regular paper, I decided to paint paper and then cut it out. I drew the hands on wallpaper with pencil and cut those out and the eyes belong to Elvis Costello. I thought they were perfect. I think the concept behind this piece is really interesting so I'm going to share it here. It's one thing to see an image and it's another to understand the idea behind it. This is based off of a blind contour I did of the swiss sculptor, Giacometti. In Art History, I learned that he was a really stand up guy and everyone liked him, but it was later discovered (I don't remember how) that every time he met a woman, he would think of ways to kill her. So with this piece, I wanted to make his eyes and hands the focal point. I originally had eyes for him, but I thought that these eyes were better because it's as though he has masked intentions and the fact that these eyes are looking off might give someone a questionable feeling (maybe anxiety?) and his hands have rough, sketched lines because he was a sculptor and relied on his hands (but also wanted to kill women with his hands). I did a lot of messing around in photoshop so this is Tradigital (traditional and digital) and I think I am going to explore this process further over.

Robots Revisited.

I am revisiting the robots. What can I say, I love them. I reprinted them and wanted a silkscreened look and, most importantly, I wanted color. The color is done using watercolor. So, I'm done with this set. I'll have to draw a new set over break.This past Saturday was Noel Night here in Detroit and it's one of the most festive nights EVER. Anyway, my good friend Chris Houghton was doing caricatures and he offered to do one of me, for me! What a treat. He did a fantastic job and I gave him the liberty to give me a really red nose (in reference to Joe Sorren or the Puffs commercials; depending on how you look at it).I'm really starting to notice how small the network is around these parts. Mike and Vince were talking about filling a sketchbook over break and Vince told me about it and I told Chris. As for the challenge, I might just try to fill a sketchbook over break. It would take me so much work to do it, but I think it'd be worth it. I am also going to be doing one piece of art a day and posting it to my blog over break (like Chris Houghton's Dailies).

In 4 days I will be comatose for about 3 days.
Then I will wake up and do some work.

Long Time, No See!

This is an experimental piece for senior studio. This semester my work hasn't really been that cohesive, but at least I'm not being a stick in the mud!

Get Em While They're Hot!

This was more of an experiment/challenge than anything else. I wanted to try to fuse the drawing with the cut out technique. I also wanted to make the grill using silver foil to see how it would translate once scanned. I like Tony. I would probably buy one of those sno-cones from him.

Senior Studio & Blind Contours.

We've got a new president and I've got some new work! I've been getting back into painting and, as a result, I've produced these images. The first one is Butch Walker. Butch Walker is one of my favorite musicians (ever) and this is a sort of homage to him. With both of these assignments, I wanted to take a new approach to my work. I read in Illustration Now that there's this illustrator that starts his work out with a blind contour so he isn't influenced by a style so I did that with these. Basing my idea/sketch off of a blind contour, I was able to rely on my hand as opposed to outside influence. I really like working this way because, as my dear friend Maria Filar pointed out, I'm not trying to make it realistic. Here's the initial sketch that the painting was based off. I really liked the sketch a lot and I think I may go back and try to do something with it, but here it is:And here's the finished painting; rendered on wood using gouache and mixed media:I finished this assignment up yesterday and handed it in today for critique. It's based off of Eric from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Eric has a really great hat collection so I put his crown hat on him because he is a king! I mostly wanted to experiment and just have fun with this piece and my mission was accomplished. I used acrylic (as opposed to gouache) and some mixed media:

Land Ho!

It's Halloween (Happy Halloween!) and I can't BELIEVE that time has flown the way it has. I was thinking about back in the day when time probably didn't fly by so fast. Take Christopher Columbus for instance, he was on a boat for a long time (approximately 588 days) and I can't imagine that time flew by during those days. This is my version of Columbus. I didn't want to be influenced by anything so I did this from my head; although I was subconsciously influenced by Lane Smith. I came up with the sketch while having a dinner rendezvous with some friends at Applebee's a few weeks back. The other night I was really inspired around 5 am and decided to do a finish using cut paper/found paper. I guess you could say I'm starting to do construction/paper cut outs again.

Big News: Shirt Style.

This is a big post for me. I mean, I think it's a huge deal, but it might not be to you. It's not everyday that this happens though so I am just going to say it's a big deal and that's that. So remember this little diddy?Well, I stated back before summer started that it was going to be on a shirt, but I wasn't sure if it would happen. After all, seeing is believing (although some will say believing is seeing. I like both) and so today at 9 am I get a text message from a dear friend by the name of Brandi Keeler that says, "Is that supposed to be me on your shirt?!" and I was SO EXCITED to get to school. I didn't rush right over to student life, but when I did get there, I was jumping around (leaping is more like it) and I was all smiles and to top it off, they are using the shirts for our GEEK WEEK (which we celebrate at CCS. It's a week long event of competitions between departments and big fun in general). Dan Long probably thought I was insane, but this is a big deal! You know when musicians say they're always really excited and weirded out when they hear their song on the radio for the first time? That's what this was, minus the weird part. So, I took this overzealous picture (using photobooth even though it takes horrible pictures) of myself displaying the shirt:
I want to really give a huge shout out to Bryan Durren though. He was my teacher in the winter semester prior to school ending. If it wasn't for him, I never would've had the opportunity to do this piece or to have it picked so, THANK YOU, BD!