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Devious Dragons - Issue 54

*tyshadragon:icontyshadragon: reports, October 7
An art blog showcasing some of the wonderful dragons lurking in the deviantART archives.

September's Feature in Rus-Club

*Rus-Club:iconRus-Club: reports, October 7
Great works in different categories. You must see it!

For the Love of Cats

=sidneyeileen:iconsidneyeileen: reports, October 1
Be they painted, drawn, sculpted, woven, or baked, cat lovers love to make art of cats.

Interview with Northcumbria

^Helewidis:iconHelewidis: reports, September 29
*Northcumbria considers himself just an amateur, but if you take a look at his gallery and remember he is his own model you'll see there is a difference between North and any amateur who is just starting out there... Today's interview will be, I hope, helpful and will certainly give you an insight into his mind!

Devious Dragons - Issue 53

*tyshadragon:icontyshadragon: reports, September 29
An art blog showcasing some of the wonderful dragon artwork hiding in the deviantART archives.

Special Edition Food For Thought 7

=EzzyGezzy:iconEzzyGezzy: reports, September 26
Interview, Urgent Message, Things To Check out, Fav of the day

Interview with Farriderphotos

^Helewidis:iconHelewidis: reports, September 23
Today I’m delighted to present you a kind photographer, his name is David, but you may know him from his screen name: ~farriderphotos!!!

Interview with Johntisbury

^Helewidis:iconHelewidis: reports, September 22
This week I have the honor to present you an interview with *johntisbury, from England, who is already a much known deviant! I’m sure you’ll appreciate his words and wisdom as much as his pictures! They are so amazing!!! :excited:

Selling your Photos as Wallpaper

^allhopeislost:iconallhopeislost: reports, September 21
Wouldn’t it be great to shoot a picture that you love, have thousands of people pay to own a copy and know that they’re going to see it, appreciate it and enjoy it several times a day… before coming back to pick up another one?

That’s not likely to happen through gallery representation, and even regular stock buyers are unlikely to give an image a second thought once it’s served its purpose. Turn your photo into a desktop wallpaper however, and you can be sure that it’s going to be unmissable. Create the sort of payment plan that lets buyers build a collection of your artwork and you can be sure that your creations will continue to be appreciated, even as they’re covered in icons and windows.

Click the Link Above to Know More!

THIS 'VERSE UNKNOWN

^Katerina423:iconKaterina423: reports, September 21
Disease. War. Famine. Technology. Enter THE 'VERSE UNKNOWN.
Threadhoppers Press has a new RPG that is free to join and play.

Art Blogs & Mags News This Week

September's Feature in Rus-Club

*Rus-Club:iconRus-Club: reports, October 7
Great works in different categories. You must see it!

Devious Dragons - Issue 54

*tyshadragon:icontyshadragon: reports, October 7
An art blog showcasing some of the wonderful dragons lurking in the deviantART archives.

Window to the soul....

=sidneyeileen:iconsidneyeileen: reports, 54m 33s ago
Some say the eyes are the window into the soul. What do you see when you look into the eyes....?

goodby

~LEX08:iconLEX08: reports, October 5
im leaving...heres y.

Art Blogs & Mags


Illustrative Journal Vol 11

`yrindale:iconyrindale: reports, February 4
For those who don't remember me, know me, or care (of the three, the people who don't care are my favorite. Don't bother asking why, I have no idea) – my name is Chris Malidore, and I am an illustrator. I am not a fantastic illustrator.... and I'd like to think that I'm not a horrible illustrator. I am an average illustrator with experiences and the urge to guide some people who may not otherwise know or understand some of the inner workings of the illustration industry.

So anyway bear with me if parts of this end up a little scattered. My art journals are now being written while I'm at work in between files... hopefully it won't force me out of my train of thought too much. You need to understand that these are in no way going to be a permanent installation, I don't have enough material in my head to do that - however when I can, I'll do these limited runs of tips, tricks, and general advice. Hopefully even an interview or two occasionally will pop up as well.

Let's get started. We've talked portfolios before, so I won't quite go back to that yet, when I do, I'd like to talk about how to approach variety yet an overall flavor that ties things together. Right now I'd like to talk about the life style of an artist as requested by the fantastic *danee313 a few months back.

The hardest thing for me as an illustrator has been how to manage between personal and work time. It sounds easier than it is, I assure you. If you freelance, you generally work from home, this means that wherever it is that your computer or paper is -is now your work environment.... and if you sleep in that same space, and eat in that same space, watch tv in that same space, whatever - you now have these worlds colliding. This is how I became a work a holic and have a hard time escaping the mindset now..... sure, it sounds nice to be completely dedicated to something, but it strains relationships, can affect your health greatly, and can even affect your mental attributes a bit.

Say you want to work at 10am, put in an 8 hour work day, and then stop. Cool. So, you wake up at 9:30 or so, eat some cereal, maybe watch some tv, and then get started, this is if you're working from home obviously - traffic shouldn't be bad ;). So, 8 hours on that has you working until what, 6pm? 6:30 if you take a half hour to eat? Well, idealistically that's not bad. Here's what begins to happen though, you start to eat your lunch while working, you don't get up and take that break, so that right there keeps your mind focused without that important breather. Soon 6pm approaches and you're not done. What do you do? Well if you're like a lot of artists, you keep going. My girlfriend probably has a billion horror stories of "why don't you stop?" and my answer is "I can't.... it's not done yet". So, around 8 at night, maybe you stop. This'll be with minimal breaks probably, no hardcore lunch, just snack food often enough, and so on. You go watch tv, maybe get some dinner, whatever people do in the evenings y'know? So that's like the first few days. Eventually though the hours shift with the work, it happens. We have fluctuating work guys and gals – it's the nature of the beast. A little over time isn't THAT bad, right? But you have no employer telling you when to go home, now do you? So you start working a bit later.

So now you're nocturnal, and you never see your significant other, you've probably eaten very poorly, and your sleep is now fractured. This begins to affect your health heavily. Artists as a general whole get sick very often because we don't have an active job. The immune system can decline if you get no exercise, and assuming you aren't eating like a saint you probably aren't getting any real proteins or vitamins. Now this isn't exactly a medical drama where you end up with cancer or something because you ate too many twinkies, but it is bad for you regardless - it drags you down, often in a depressive way. The body needs those nutrients and now doesn't want to do anything to conserve what little energy you gave it to work with.

So this is a problem. Does it happen to everyone? Hardly. But go pull one week of a tight deadline and tell me that you can't feel any of that lurking. Now imagine a full time schedule of tight deadlines as all of these clients realize that you're actually dependable. Dependability is great for work, but in the end if you can't say no occasionally (and it's hard to decline a gig, truly) you over work yourself and those health issues, lack of social activity, etc problems will inevitably pop up - and they're hard to get out of.

What's an artist to do? Try and create a routine, a schedule, and general good habits. Take some time to work out a little, whether it's just jogging a little, lifting weights, or whatever it is that gets your jollys. Try and turn off the TV while you work on art, so that your work world isn't tied in with your home world. Set your alarm to go off at the same time each day for lunch, save your image if it's on the comp - and then walk away for however long. Remind yourself that the picture WILL be there later, it can't get too far on its own. What I found to be important was to pay special attention to how long it takes me to do my work. I know that I can get a sketch to a client within an hour if I NEED to, and that about 6 hours of painting can get me a good looking image. From there I can give more time if I can, ask for input, or whatever I need.... but basically I do what I can to stay current on my time limitations. This means that you don't overwork yourself in times where you don't really know what's happening. By knowing what you're capable of, you'll know when you can take those breaks and when to say no to work - so that you can spend time with those loved ones.

On top of this, pay attention to your organization - knowing where your files are creates a very professional environment and further keeps you from seeing things as a home session. It's good to be organized regardless of where you are anyway, I know exactly where to find all of my contracts, and even have my client sketches separated from other sketches. Final PSD's are separated by clients, and years, and so on. Makes it easier to do prints, get people files that they need, and generally get to work as needed.

In closing, the more you focus on organization and separating yourself from work while not working, and separating yourself from the home life while working the easier a time you'll have balancing the two out and ultimately not over complicating things. Force yourself to get out occasionally, stop eating nothing but cup o noodles, and watch the time management :)

Next week we'll be covering “figures in motion”. Y'know, something actually artistic.

-CMalidore

Devious Comments

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~fearn:iconfearn: Feb 4, 2008, 10:16:42 PM
I love the "I can get a sketch to a client within and hour if I NEED to" part.

It's so true. I think that if there isn't a one hour dead line for a sketch, give it just a smidgen before the deadline, otherwise if they call you again, they'll expect it within an hour!

Great article. Lots of stuff to look forward to within the next year.... Urh.. lol

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`yrindale:iconyrindale: Feb 4, 2008, 10:33:28 PM
One of my clients asked me for a two day turn around time on a picture once, it was a pure last minute contract - I got him the sketch as fast as possible, I emailed it out within 40 minutes of receiving the work order. He was shocked.

Now he knows that I can do that and expects it all the time lol. It's good to have the ability, and it sure helps hit those goals if you can get the approval down fast - but they remember stuff like that.... they remember it far better than we do lol

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-cmalidore
~fearn:iconfearn: Feb 4, 2008, 11:40:42 PM
Yeah, exactly. :P lol It's good to get it early, but not super early.

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Download my art for your phone @
[link]
*nathie:iconnathie: Feb 5, 2008, 5:12:00 AM
yeah... you´re right. i´m a half-freelancer. i have three days during the week for illustrations for a comp game and 4 days for a half-assed job in an ad agency. i have planned my week almost to the minute. before i start to work i do every day an hour body-workout, and while i draw i have only my music playing, no TV or such stuff. i close the door and refuse to get out of my office, but I have always a huge water bottle and fruits or veggies beside my drawing desk. i work every day from 6 to 6, but after that i put my pencil away and i spend some quality time with my partner. social life? well, that is for others. :) i can entertain myself very good without having others around or join some silly parties. my partner is often pissed because of that but he respects my work and the money i earn. i will have to step back for the sake of my health... but i can´t stop drawing. (hell i even sketch on the loo.)
>.<

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burp! .... sorry.
~Allvis:iconAllvis: Feb 5, 2008, 5:53:53 AM
I felt so . . . what's the word for it? Targeted maybe? Yeah, targeted. I felt so targeted reading this. Many of the things you write here apply to me. I spend allmost all of my time working on art, often do all nighters working on art, forsaking friends and family just to work on art and don't really go outside unless I really have to. But my reason for working so much on art is mixed. I do it because I love it (I consider art my second love in life even though it's more a hate/love thing sometimes), because I desperately feel that I have to improve and get better at it and because I'm working on something and don't stop because it's "not done yet". I know I shouldn't be over working myself as it often turn into an addiction, often causes "black moods" and depression and that it's not healthy for me. But I can't stop. I don't know how many times my girlfriend has had to put up with my "black moods" and how many times she has told me to maybe take more breaks when I work on art and do something else, but I find that hard to do. Sometimes I do go away from the computer for a while but then I mostly end up sitting in my bed and sketch in my sketchbook. So yeah, it's a nasty addiction. But anyway, over to the point. I'm glad you wrote this. I think if many artists/illustrators read this they might actually pick up some tips. I feel I've learned alot! So thank you Yrindale for writing this.
`GH-MoNGo:iconGH-MoNGo: Feb 5, 2008, 8:28:04 AM
Yet another well-written article. :)

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`yrindale:iconyrindale: Feb 5, 2008, 8:54:34 AM
Y'know the saying "the grind" when talking about work? Well it really applies to this stuff - the only way to really do it effectively (that I've found at least) is schedule you're life like crazy.... which is really really difficult sometimes.

Best of luck with it all! Don't forget to take some time for yourself sometime :)

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-cmalidore
`yrindale:iconyrindale: Feb 5, 2008, 8:56:48 AM
It's easier to say and read than to do unfortunately, I have a hard time even abiding by these tips and I wrote the damn thing hehe.

But lets face it - some of you out there will have better luck with your scheduling than myself :)

Keep up the good work, don't forget to take some time for yourself though, you may find you draw better for it. Stress doesn't make us the best artists out there.

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-cmalidore
`yrindale:iconyrindale: Feb 5, 2008, 8:57:04 AM
Thanks MoNGo, I'm glad you like it :)

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-cmalidore