Since I'm still swamped with freelance work and no time to write, here's another re-post from the early days of my blog, way back in 2005 when only three people were reading it. (Readership has since doubled): Chris Browne (pictured) of "Hagar the Horrible" fame has posted some advice on how to break into cartooning. Should make an interesting read...
Communication Arts is a quality art magazine for creatives. It's an expensive magazine printed on thick glossy paper, but it has a lot of good content. Several issues are themed around "annuals" (Design Annual, Illustration Annual, Photography Annual, etc.) which means that a big chunk of those issues contains the latest and greatest work being done in that media (at least, as judged by the editors). Lots of good content in the articles too.
HOW Magazine is a leading publication in the art and graphics community. If you don't subscribe, you should. There are a ton of great articles on both the creative and business aspects of being a commercial artist.
Recently HOW started offering a series of online "webinars". (A webinar is a seminar broadcast over the web.) These webinars are designed to help creative types improve their business skills so they can land more jobs and grow more successful.
Since then I've met and married my lovely wife (Jennie) and had a baby girl (Anna). I now live in the incredible shrinking house. Bedroom #2 became Anna's room, so I had to toss out some of my junk and move the rest into my studio, which was a tight fit. Then Jennie started a part-time job working from home, so I bought her a desk and wedged it into the studio as well. The house is feeling awfully tight. The upside is that it has forced us to live "lean and mean" and get rid of a lot of junk we didn't really need.
The studio is L-shaped, which makes it difficult to stand back and get a good picture. These pics were all taken with my iPhone (which has no flash) so they aren't real crisp, but they should do:
It's always fascinating for me to see the studios of other artists. It can give a lot of insight into how they work. Recently I found online studio "tours" (with photos) of some artists whose work I admire. Fun reading. So grab your ticket stubs, buckle yourself in, and no flash photography please: Scott Kurtz Creator of the online comic strip PVP. Funnypages...
I'm a huge collector of reference books. Among the dozens and dozens of books in my studio, there are a select few that I would highly recommend for any professional illustrator/character designer/animator to own. If you make your living drawing, this stuff can inspire you, boost your skills, maybe help advance your career or even increase your income. As part...
