Category Archives: Illustration

a BIG ole Parade, You know? for Kids.

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an image I did for Harcourt awhile ago –

a challenge, & fun trying to fit all the animals

I like how it turned out. for the most part, even though the perspective isn’t perfect. I was going for a Richard Scarry kind of a look. It was a challenge however, to try and fit all the animals in the picture. You know how art directors are, and worse yet, how a committee can be. Well it’s kinda busy but all the animals that they wanted, ARE in there and it worked. More or less.

Looking back I can see a lot of things that I could do a little better now. Oh well, always moving on. When ever Norman Rockwell was asked which was his BEST piece, he would say his next one.

 

Children’s Text Book Cover Illustrations for Innovatus

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Text Book Cover Art for Innovatus Children’s Text Books

 I painted 9 textbook covers in one year for Innovatus in acrylic.

innovatus cover
One year I painted 9 textbook covers for Innovatus in my dry-brush acrylic style or technique. I know what you’re thinking, what’s Innovatus? I know, I think it’s Latin for innovate, or maybe it means Innovate us! 1st person plural command form for Innovate.
It was a really fun project and I got to work with Karen Steinberg who I had worked with over 10 years ago when she was at Harcourt. I know what you’re thinking, where’s Harcourt? I think it’s by the second star to the right then direct till morning…

Some animals come with baggage

Where was I? Oh yeah. Working on these covers was interesting because I had coming up with “acceptable animals” to paint. Apparently not all animals are created equal in the politically correct world of educational publishing. Some animals come with baggage. In some countries for example, certain animals are sacred while others are “dirty” and there for not an appropriate fit for the classroom. You dirty dawg! It was a challenge finding usable animals without repeating. Ho the webs they weave. I just want to paint.

I also found it funny that in this cover the animals absolutely had to wear helmets for safety but were allowed to desecrate natural arches with their combustion engine desert machines – up to a $5,000 fine in a national park. Just sayin’.

Dueling Banjo Pigs, you’re invited to join the fun

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You’re Invited to Illustrate a Banjo Pig

The world’s best artist Wayne Andreason Paints “Banjo Pig”.

Water color, banjo playing pig ~wayne andreason

I painted this banjo playing pig awhile ago as it was all the rave. Mine is a simple little illustration that took about two hours. I drew the little pig with pencil, water colored and scribbled all over it with black ink once it was dry. it This is the one that I did and below I have added one that Will Terry did and another the world famous truck driver, James Freeman.

It all started with Guy Francis and Stacy Curtis 

My good friend Guy Francis is one of the most talented artists in the world. And he is a lot of fun. He and our friend Stacy Curtis, another talented artist in the world, started a little duel. They started illustrating the Dueling Banjo Pigs. It didn’t take long before a lot of the other talented artists in the world wanted to join in. And that is what happened, they joined in and now there is an an going blog that is dedicated to the Duel with over 700 illustrations of pigs and banjos. And since it is on going, I am inviting you, yeah you, to join in on all the fun. So get your pig, and your banjo,posted on the famous Dueling Banjo Pigs blog.

 

Join in With your illustration of a banjo pig

It started out with a duel between friends. Guy Francis challenged fellow illustrator, Stacy Curtis, to a  duel of banjo playing pigs. Now, other illustrators have joined the fun with banjo pigs of their own! We have more than 700 banjo pigs from countries all over the world!

Everyone is invited to join the duel!

banjo pig by will terryFeel free to join in the fun, just illustrate your pig, don’t forget the banjo, and E-mail it to Stacy or Guy and they;ll post it on the blog, along with a link to your site or blog.

 

See what others have done at the Dueling Banjo Pigs blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, I was a reluctant hold out to participate in Guy Francis and Stacy Curtis’s banjo pig deal. I mean cmon, what a rediculous idea right? Everyone knows pigs are better at playing guitar than banjo. If you haven’t already checked out their banjo pigs and all of the participating illustrators I say – why start now? ~Will Terry

 

Banjo Pig by one of our beginners 

0006 banjo james

SHOW AND TELL; Everybody Knows that Monsters aren’t Allowed in School

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I Always Wanted to Bring Something Like a Dinosaur for Show &Tell

Craig brought a severed head for show and tell.

When I was in third grade my best friend’s name was Craig Day. We were in Mrs. Nichols class and I had a crush on her and Craig and I were the teacher’s pets.

A little girl with a big monster for show and tellOne day, Craig came over to my house and my dad and uncles were in the back yard butchering the deer they had killed during “the deer hunt”. (it used to be a pretty big to do in Utah, back in the day) They cut the feet off about a foot up the leg and they also cut off the heads of these beautiful but dead creatures. My uncle Val had bagged a doe, which was legal that year, and when he discarded the head, my friend Craig asked him if he could have it. My uncle said “sure” so Craig took it home. Craig’s mother had died, and he was the youngest of a lot of kids so I don’t think his dad even knew he brought the severed head home.

monster for show and tell sketchThe following day in school, we had show and tell and Craig went up to the front of the class with a shoe box. When it got to his turn for show and tell, he opened the box and tilted it up so we could all see, and sure enough, there in the box, was a severed deer head. The eyes were all dark brown and starting to wrinkle for they were drying out and there was dried blood in the box and on a lot of the fur. Mrs. Nichols handled it so nonchalant and nobody even seemed freaked out by it. It wasn’t until years later that I even realized that it was a crazy thing to do.

About 3 years ago, Will Terry was doing a cute book project and the theme was Show and Tell at School, so he came up with this illustration.  I love how he chose to use something so uncommon like a monster, or a deer head. I brought a snake once. I was in fourth grade and we were having show and tell and I happened to have a snake in my pocket that day. I was actually not going to tell anyone but show and tell happened to be that day and I couldn’t resist showing off my long little friend. Mrs. Covey, my teacher, was a lot more freaked out by that than Mrs. Nichols was with the deer head. Makes you want to illustrate children’s books doesn’t it.

Will Terry’s Children’s Picture Book, Hungry Fox and the Midnight Pies

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Hungry Fox and the Midnight Pies,

by Jeff Dinardo & Will Terry

As I write this it is TBT Throw Back Thursday so..

Hungry FoxI did a book project awhile back, (it is TBT in my world or so I saw on Facebook) I worked on it with a wonderfully talented author and designer, Jeff Dinardo and it was a blast! It’s really fun to work with a great designer because the end product is so much more successful. Check out Jeff’s work – I’m sure you’ll be impressed! This is a cute story about a fox by the name of Fox, who smells Owl’s pies cooling on the stereotypical windowsill, as the sweet aroma wafts its way through the cool night air. Ignoring his limited climbing skills Fox begins up the tree to find a midnight snack. I won’t spoil the ending but everyone ends up having a good time.I really enjoyed dreaming up, designing and illustrating Owl’s tree house and painting the various scenes! Fun Stuff! Here’s a smiley face for you from all of us at folio academy  :)

an Artist’s 6 Steps to Illustrate a Concept

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How would you Illustrate, Early?

If you were given a “carte blanche” assignment to illustrate the word, EARLY, what would you come up with. They say that if you give a thousand people the same task, they would come up with a thousand different ways to do that task. I would say that the same thing goes for ARTISTS. If you give a thousand artists the same assignment, (i.e. word or phrase to illustrate) you would get a thousand different ideas and portrayals.

Most illustrators use a step by step process

early birds Now that I have posted this pic of bi

Submitting and sizing your art for children’s book publishing

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Know about SCBWI. Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

If you are new to publishing Female artist at drawing boardand you want to get into it. And you don’t know much about it but you are willing to learn… “So you want to be a children’s author or book illustrator?” You really should look into SCBWI, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

http://www.scbwi.org/ It is the largest organization for children’s book writers and illustrators. It is a great connection for authors
and illustrators. If you are looking to do your own self publishing, they aren’t that helpful and they are just starting to get involved with e-publishing, but for the most part, SCBWI is the place to be if you are getting started or if you are already started in traditional publishing for picture book writers and illustrators. They have chapters in every major area in the US and they are abroad as well.

There are over 20,000 members, (I believe) and you should be a part of it for your own good. Just Google it for your area and start being a part of it and getting in touch with the group in your area and start attending their conferences and learning from them. That is the organization that you want to be a part of.

When it comes picture book illustrations, SIZE  MATTERS!

000 Stylus 05

What size or format should you create your art for submitting it to publishers.
If you are a writer illustrator or if you are just an illustrator and you want to submit some of your stuff to publishers to be considered, you may be asking yourself what size and shape should you make your artwork. I would say, follow standard guidelines. Your basic 8.5” x 11” format is fine. When you are hired or commissioned to do a book, the publisher will usually decide what proportion the book should be. Very few are square or odd shaped.

Don’t write and illustrate the whole book!

A lot of writer artists want to finish the whole book and submit that.
The publisher doesn’t care to receive the whole finished book, and that would be a waste of time and effort anyway. It doesn’t make any sense to fret over getting the whole thing right and perfected. They don’t want it all done, they would rather see a good “book dummy”. They have professional art directors and editors and people that know the science of making or helping that book succeed. So when they choose your book, they will want to set the parameters and THEN have you do what you do best, illustrate.
Many would say that there is a right way and a wrong way, but there are rarely any hard fast perfect, right way, rules. For example if you go to a SCBWI conference you may hear one editor say, “I prefer a mock up book in the mail” or “I like to get a PDF so I don’t have to worry about losing it or whatever, it’s quicker”, and others who like other stuff, etc”.

Put your best foot forward, Presentation matters.

Cow poke 7So you should make a book, DUMMY! I don’t mean to call you a dummy, I mean a “book dummy”. I may have said that there aren’t any right or wrong ways to submit your picture book but really there are a LOT of WRONG ways… For example, a sloppy demo would be a wrong way, presentation does matter. Let it show that you care, that you are creative. A nice, clean, clear presentation would be a RIGHT way. I personally like to use a PDF, It is fast, easy, clean, neat, accurate and inexpensive. If it gets lost in the (e)mail, send it again, it’s free and easy.
So send a book dummy with your sketches, and a few “finished” pieces. That way, they know what you are doing. They understand the idea and they can see from the one or two finished pieces convey your ability to paint and bring those sketches to a finished illustration.
Put your best foot foreword. You should spend some time on this mockup or book dummy, this is your sales pitch and it is a competitive world out there. You need to be willing to spend some time on that dummy so that it gets their attention and holds on to it.

Self Publishers should get the facts first.

For self publishers… Talk to the printer that you will be hiring, ask a few questions.
Paper costs money and it comes in certain sizes and when they print, there are better ways to lay it out to maximize your paper per book ratio. That is why there are tipically 32 pages long, it’s because they print it on the BIG paper, fold it, bind it and cut it. Multiples of four. So work with the printer to determine the best size and shape and number of pages so you can maximize your pages per dollar.

There is no Perfect answer to the size and lay out for apps and e-books question.

What about sizing for my apps and e-book? That is a GOOD question, the sad truth is, there is NO magic answer for that question. There are so many different sizes AND proportions for each different devise. So there will be extra space or you can stretch your image. All of these are bad solutions. So on one device the image will fit flush or a full bleed.

One universal solution could be to make your artwork big enough to crop for every other device BUT that will cost you a ton. That would be a programming night mare. You got kindle and nook, devised to be held vertically, not horizontal, not quite right for a picture book.

My advice would be to make it for the i-Pad.

The i-Pad is the nicest looking device and the most popular for digital picture books and apps. (at present) So it may be advantageous to just create for the i-Pad.

One more last plug for SCBWI.

You really should consider becoming a part of the SCBWI.

More SCBWI people are published than non SCBWI goers. If you were to poll 1000 people who attend SCBWI conference attenders who submit to publishers, and 1000 who don’t attend SCBWI, but submit, I believe you would discover that a lot more of the SCBWI goers are being chosen and published than the non SCBWI folk.
I feel like the artist’s rep is a dying bread. Because of the internet, and the immediacy and quick ability to look through your portfolio and see your style, the publisher and the artist, just doesn’t need the artist’s rep any more.
The Righter on the other hand, can still benefit by having an Agent, (the rep for the writer). The publisher can’t just glance through your work and get the jest of it where they can with your artwork.

 

Good luck and enjoy life. Relax, draw, paint, Life is good.

 

I Can’t Write, BUT You Get to Illustrate my Book

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Hey I just met you this is crazy here’s my manuscript, illustrate it for me. 

Have you ever been in this situation as an Artist?

How often do people offer you the opportunity to do the artwork for their children’s book? It seems that as soon as people know you’re an artist, they want you to illustrate their book. They haven’t got a clue how it works in the real world of illustration, or that maybe you don’t want to spend a few hundred hours designing, drawing, and illustrating a story that it took them 2 hours to write. And it’s their first book, and probably not finished and will need you to fix the story.

It’s always awkward. It would be flattering if these people knew your work, but most don’t. They usually just know your an artist and they they know, (or think) that they are a children’s book writer.

Any way, we put this together awhile back using Xtranormal.com. I would recommend it for you to go have some fun with it but I can’t find it out there any more. I wonder if xtranormal is gone. Oh well, you can waste a LOT of time on there.

 

The Secret Life of a Professional Artist and Freelance Illustrator

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The Secret Life of a Freelance Illustrator; Professional Artist

People know nothing about freelance illustration 

a treasure chest full of treasure It’s amazing how many people know nothing about freelance illustration. I think most people assume you have to be crazy to be a freelancer – they’re probably right. Interestingly enough back when I had my highest earning years back in the late 90’s my wife would get comments from women at the park like: “Has your husband found a job yet?” or “It must be hard being married to an artist”. My wife would say, “you have no idea!” I think she enjoyed messing with them. People with good intent would drop little clues like, “I hear they’re hiring over at Home Depot”.

Being a Professional Artist or Illustrator was easier back then. 

Back then being a freelancer was a much easier feat than it is today. I’ve talked at length about the current state of freelance illustration in lectures and one on one. Today the freelance markets are fractured and constantly evolving. I know illustrators who are now bankers, or working at Home Depot. I know editors who are teaching school among other jobs, like at Home Depot. I know editors who are trying to become artists and illustrators. I know illustrators who are now graphic designers or trying to become editors, or work at Home Depot. I even know art directors who have been laid off and re-hired by the same companies to freelance graphic design. I know art directors and editors who have lost their jobs to down sizing and are still looking for their next job. At Home Depot. (the t is silent)

The World has Changed a lot for artists and Illustrators.

The world has probably changed more in the past 10 years than ever before, not counting war or ice ages and crazy stuff like that. I probably sounds naive and over-reaching but can you imagine any other technology that has changed the world in such a short time as the internet? Remember the last time your internet went down and you sat in fetal position sucking your thumb waiting for the horror to end? We can’t do anything without it!

Be happy, Say “no” to bad freelance jobs, and drugs of course.   

But I digress. Let me divulge some of my secret activities! Sometimes I don’t get dressed until the afternoon. I’ve skyped without pants (as far as you know) – maybe with you! – but I promise, not with your daughter. I go shopping on weekdays (sometimes at Home Depot) while the world is at work. I work longer and harder than most people with a regular job. I can’t remember the last time I put in fewer than 70 hours in one week, sometimes more than 90 – BUT – they were the funnest (most fun, but hey! I’m an artist trying to be a writer) hours I could imagine putting in. Most days I wake up pinching myself (dream metaphor) that I get to do this. It wasn’t always like this however. It took me about 15 years to learn that my life is so much better off when I don’t spend more than I make and I say “no” to bad freelance jobs. What are bad freelance jobs? The kind that make it hard to sleap and have you cringing when you wake up. I can’t tell you what they are because your bad jobs will be different than mine. And hopefully fewer.

The Lonely Artist; Freelance Illustrating has it’s downsides

I’ve wished I could stand around the water cooler and catch up on the latest chatter. I used to get really lonely painting all day (and got hooked on General Hospital for about a year back in 1993). I’ve called other illustrators randomly from the old directories just to strike up a conversation. I worked on Christmas day once because the client had to have it two days after or they were going to go with someone else. (to be read out loud with a whiny voice) I happened to get paid $13,000 for that job, it was for Sprint, and it only took me about a week to complete. I could do it now digitally in a few days and enjoy Christmas with my family and saved some of that money. And I once earned $20,000 for a phone call (remind me to go into detail on this one on another blog post). Best phone call ever! 2nd best woulda been when when the doctor told me I didn’t have worms. LOL.

‘Underindulgence’: the Key to Happiness?

I’ve learned to spend less than I make. This is probably one of the most important skills you can learn. Stress is a killer…no really…STRESS WILL KILL YOU. I’ve had about 3 really stressful times. And I wake up pinching myself wondering if I died all those times.

1) Back when I was stupid I got down to about $800 in my account for the entire month and I didn’t have any assignments! I was so nervous I made a few calls to art directors I had worked for in the past. A few of them gave me work and then of course I got a deluge of assignments the week after.

2) Back when I was really really stupid – we were spending more than we were making because we were making lots of money. It was right after a year where I turned down over $70,000 worth of freelance work because my plate was already too full in 1998.Yep – we spent all the money in our account and couldn’t get paid from any of my outstanding accounts for about 3 weeks. (Please don’t think I’m seeking any sympathy – in fact you should leave a comment with your best synonym for dumb ass)…Luckily I had been saving quarters, nickels, and dimes in a jar. I’m not kidding, I got that puppy off the shelf and counted out $90. Later that day I had my car filled up and groceries in the fridge. I Kept checking the mailbox but each day there were NO checks. We stopped driving unless it was absolutely necessary. Did I mention that our two credit cards were maxed? The following week when the fridge was empty I went for the back up plan – the penny jar! SHOOWEE – $20 later and I was back with groceries again – amazing how far you can stretch your last $20 bucks. Remind me to give you an in expensive recipe for black eyed peas. Eventually we got paid – crazy thing was that I was owed about $28,000 in outstanding checks but this is the lesson: Don’t spend it until it’s in your account and even then – DON”T SPEND IT!

3) Back when I was Ultra Mega Stupid – we got in over our heads again. (notice a pattern here? some of us have to learn the same lessons over and over) I had about a year when we were going through a really really dry spell for freelance – this was also a transitionary time – it’s a long story – but basically I had to learn all over again how important it is to save money. We survived! We downsized. We learned what we needed to have to be happy and what we could live without.

It’s not how much you make that matters, it’s how much you keep

The good news is that in the past 5 years I’ve had more money than I did when I was earning much much more. We wasted so much money back then. Now I keep enough money in the bank to pay all of our bills for about 9 months. This is enough time to really make drastic changes if things aren’t working out. Don’t tell my fam, they will find something or things we just cant live without and make me spend it all.

So there you go – the secret life of a freelancer isn’t so secret anymore – Ups and downs yes, but it’s the best JOB I’ve NEVER had.

I painted the image above a few months back for National Geographic Learning. It was one of about 8 paintings I completed for an educational project they had for ESL students. I was given the assignment from Cynthia Currie – an art director I hadn’t heard from in about a decade. It was really neat to get a job from her again – I hope she reads my blog so she can see how exciting it was – hint hint! :)

PS- Here’s that inexpensive recipe for Black Eyed Peas:
1 bag Black eyed peas
Water
Salt
Empty peas into a pot, dig bag out of trash and follow cooking instructions on the package.