I'm starting a new series of posts to act as some remedial for anyone starting out in the illustration industry, including myself, basically involving clearing up hopes and fears for anyone who wants to work in illustration. First hope I'm going to cover is book publishing, I know some illustrators who would want nothing more than a book with their own hard work in so here’s a list of some self-publishing
platforms for those who want to go the indie route of book making:
This
sort of publishing is usually high risk, high reward in terms of business,
anything indie is never safe; however it does get the job done.Usually going indie can be a last attempt for
those who can’t seem to get their work printed by the other publishers or those
who prefer not to be restricted by any middle men and are/or targeting a niche.
Remember that publishing is only the beginning of the battle, distribution and
advertising need to be looked at if you want to make business. In the meantime
I recommend reading ‘Indie Publishing’ by Ellen Lupton which teaches you how to
design and produce your own book.
I'm going through my Jackie Chan, Snake in Eagle Shadow style training regime during the summer, which involves a lot of paper and pencils so to sharpen my practice. To help I've been studying Betty Edwards and found this instructional video. Doing her exercises is what I consider a confidence booster, her philosophy is all about trying to get the mind in a mode that works for the artist. It's all about not drawing symbols and icons with the left side of your brain and instead maintaining a focus on gestural marks and having a pre-visualising mentality.
The most interesting thing I learned from her thus far is that if you close one eye you will see the world in a two dimensional way, makes sense since you need two eyes to watch 3D films at the cinema. I'll remember that if I'm doing close up live studies. Another thing is that it is easy for our mind to process symbols, Edwards makes it clear that we should focus our mind on shapes more in order to draw life like imagery.
As I've got use to working long hours drawing at a desk I've learnt to appreciate having some background noise so I don't get bored and have decided to get a hunger for radio shows and podcasts. One of them is from film maker Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman podcast.
Recent podcasts have involved interviews with comic book industry leads such as Bruce Timm, Jim Lee, Greg Capullo and even the legendary Stan Lee. If anyone out there knows of any podcasts and shows relating towards aspirational and creative minds please let me know, Kevin Smith's show is really good but it leaves me wanting more considering it's uploaded weekly.
I found another blog which provides tips and hints on good character design from Aaron Diaz. Character design is something that can permeate a wide majority of entertainment media and a good character can act as a mascot or personification of particular ideas. Personally I need to read this because not all my ideas of character come complete, I'll have an idea for clothing or just a face but through this article I have learnt the importance of using cohesion in visual design and its use to build up on raw ideas.
I've finished the patterns for what I presume is a book cover, it's a very graphic design type sort of thing that takes imagery from stockport architecture (a whole theme of memory of and around stockport has been the main motif throughout the module), I like think that architecture plays a big part in our memories and I'm sure french writer Victor Hugo shared that sentiment too. Below is a drawing I had to do with my favourite pattern of the two
This project which was a supplement to the animation I did for Age UK ended up taking too much of my time and being a very uncomfortable task and I think that's due to the whole graphic design mentality of its creation.
This year one of the forum's that I attended was a response to the public forum headed by http://www.theaoi.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100&Itemid=1 Amelia Johnstone with guest speakers Jonathon Rosen, Graham Rawle, Bill Bragg, Matthew Richardson, Anna Bhushan, Andrew Foster and David Kerr. Jumping off from a transcript of what they said, my classmates, Tash Greenhalgh and Bert Gatens chaired the one I attended.Tash's opinion is that commision work is best for those starting out, young and want to make a name for themselves, However they should also find the time to work on their personal stuff.
I agree and I do think commision based work gives you experience which is needed for those who start out but the way I like to see it is that personal work that is self-initiated is a lot like street performances and commision is more like a venue, a musician could get picked up by a producer in both circumstances and that's how they measure their success. Experience is experience and a gig is a gig, doesn't mean they are not hard working, there are those who mix music in their basement too and use the internet as a platform in this day of age.
I believe a balance is needed and I pay very much close attention to how many artist and film makers work. In the end it also comes down to chance, too much of commsion work would bore me and so would too much self-initiated but sometimes we have to adapt to what chance is given to us in that moment of time and it could be dependant on the economy or your brand. Adaptability is key and it is important to change our method if we are not successful.
As expected of me I get to look back on this past year as an illustrator and pick 3 things that have been important and worth remembering to me in terms of my career prospects and my wellbeing as a creative individual.
1.) "Illustration as an adjunct"
A conversation with my lecturer Gary Spicer at Stockport College has enlightened towards something that I find easy to forget. And that is it's easy for me to think of the image as a superior form of expression when in reality it is just one sense, illustration should be made not to rival the other senses such as taste and sound. When you look at a movie poster or at album artwork it shouldn't have to be a translation of the other senses that the object already expresses, the Illustration should enrich the experience when there is one already there, in other words it becomes an adjunctive part of the object that the end-user ultimately experiences.
2.) "Art is the ultimate goal" - Young Ha Kim
You can learn a lot from children as they build their sand castles not caring how the sea is going to wash it away. Kim describes within his TED talk that work needs a purpose for it isn't something you can enjoy, hence it being work, not play. It's easy to forget how fun art can be when you want to get payed for it and be professional. To a child art is the goal, they get to make something and that is their reward. Half way through a project when things seem not so fun I'll remember how lucky it is to be rewarded just for what I'm doing, the goal of art is just to make it, getting payed for it, that's the bonus.
3.) "Respect the arts and protect your career" - Steven Silver
Going completely against the last one and making sure no one misinterprets the last advice, I have chosen to paraphrase the title of two youtube videos from Steven Silver, Although being creative can be fun it is something that does take our time and as an adult we do need a goal to our actions and we do have bills to pay. Silver uses the allegory of mowing a lawn. A brilliant way to describe what creative professionals do because being creative is just as relaxing as mowing someone's lawn but no one in their right mind would expect someone to cut their grass without paying them for their time. Time is money after all and Steven Silver gives me confidence towards pursuing illustration as a career.
This
sort of publishing is usually high risk, high reward in terms of business,
anything indie is never safe; however it does get the job done. Usually going indie can be a last attempt for
those who can’t seem to get their work printed by the other publishers or those
who prefer not to be restricted by any middle men and are/or targeting a niche.
Remember that publishing is only the beginning of the battle, distribution and
advertising need to be looked at if you want to make business. In the meantime
I recommend reading ‘Indie Publishing’ by Ellen Lupton which teaches you how to
design and produce your own book. 
