Why I’m (Sniff!) Deleting My Pinterest Inspiration Boards

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Well, that didn’t last long.

Yesterday I gleefully announced that I was jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon and had begun pinning all kinds of amazing artwork onto my shiny new inspiration boards. I was also making a few connections with other pinners and enjoying the giddy goodness of seeing so much amazing artwork being shared.

Then I read this blog post by Kristen Kowalski: “Why I Tearfully Deleted My Pinterest Inspiration Boards”.

Kowalski is both a professional photographer and a practicing lawyer (I’m guessing there aren’t too many people out there who can put that on their resume), so it seems she would be doubly-qualified to write about issues related to copyright and the sharing of another artist’s work. I don’t have the time to get into it here (you’ll have to read the article yourself) but after hearing her out I had to grudgingly agree that Kowalski raises some very valid concerns. I hate to admit it but she’s right, on several counts. And frankly as an experienced illustrator I should have known better.

So I’ve made the gut-wrenching decision of (*deep sigh*) deleting all the inspiration boards I had so much fun building and sharing.

I’ll still keep my Pinterest page open, though how much I’ll actually use it remains to be seen. As a commercial illustrator I’m in a bit of a pickle. On the one hand, Pinterest’s rules state I shouldn’t really pin anything unless I made the image myself. On the other hand, their rules also discourage using a Pinterest page for marketing or self-promotion purposes. So that really limits its usefulness for me. (EDIT: I’ve decided to pin a few personal projects on a board called “Sketchbook”, which seems like a good compromise.)

By the way, I have no problem with you pinning and re-pinning my artwork from my website, as long as it’s not one of the few images on my site to which a client owns the copyright (which should be clearly marked). Soon I hope to have a “Pin This” type of button next to my blog posts to help make that easier.

In the mean time, if anyone ever finds an easy way to share other people’s artwork while still respecting their copyright please let me know.

Business Resources For Self-Employed Creatives

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Recently I’ve started an email correspondence with a creative director who was laid off from a large agency. She’s looking for some freelance work to keep the bills paid and is thinking about possibly launching out on her own full-time. With the economy continuing to flounder stories like hers are becoming more and more common. I sat down to type up a list of resources for her and decided it would make a pretty good blog post.Read More

I Hired A Business Coach For My Illustration Studio

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One of the things they don’t teach you in art school is just how many business skills are required to run a successful illustration studio. Talent is not enough. You also need to get a firm grasp on some basic business principles. With no formal business training I’ve had to learn an awful lot of things the hard way, picking up as many tricks as I can “on the street”. I’ve also read more than a few business books and every year I attend the Creative Freelancer Conference.

Those things have all helped, but recently I’ve found myself in need for something more. My business has plateaued, even stagnated a little. I’ve been landing some big clients, which is great, but I’ve found myself asking “Now what?” Conventional wisdom is that to charge higher rates you should specialize—pick one industry to focus on (i.e. toy design, animation, etc.) But which one? And what about the future — do I still want to be working alone doing illustration twenty years from now? Is that even possible, or will younger, less expensive up-and-comers edge me out? Should I look at ways to grow and maybe even take on employees? How would I go about that? Is it possible to run a creative business and still have time to be creative? On top of it all, my studio was in desperate need of a re-brand (new website, logo, etc.) so it was a good time to really step back and examine things.

With all these questions swirling in my mind, I decided to take things up a notch and hire a business coach.Read More

See You At The Expo!

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Tonight I’m flying to California for the CTN Animation Expo. Can’t wait! Before I leave I wanted to post a few items of interest:

1. Update on my freelancing presentation.

I’ll be giving a talk at the Expo on Saturday, November 19, 4:30pm, called “Be Your Own Boss: Freelancing Tips and Tricks”. In an earlier blog post I said the talk would be 30 minutes. It will actually be an hour and fifteen minutes. Tickets to my talk are sold out but I’m told that when my presentation is over I can move everyone over to another room in the building (not sure which one yet) for an ongoing Q&A. If you weren’t able to get a seat at my talk you can still catch the Q&A. Just wait around outside the Exec Boardoom at around 5:45pm so you can join us as we file out.

2. Check out Stephen Silver’s new “Posebook” app.

Speaking of the CTN Expo, the amazing character designer Stephen Silver will have a booth there again this year. He’s got a new project that I think is pretty neat: He’s creating a new series of iPhone/iPad app for artists called Posebook. It’s a collection of professional costumed models in over 2,000 full-body poses (no nudes), hands, and close-up facial expressions for sketching. There’s also 6 instructional videos included as well as 25 sketches from some top character designers in the biz. That’s a lot of goodies for $9.99.

The first volume, “Males”, has just been released on iTunes. The second volume, “Females”, is coming soon. I recently downloaded the app and can’t wait to give it a try. Once the dust settles around here I plan to post a review along with a sketch or two. But from what I can tell so far it’s a great product.

 

3. I’m being interviewed on “On The Box”.

Several years ago I illustrated a cartoon Gospel tract for the ministry of Living Waters which has consistently been one of their best sellers – over 5 million copies have been printed in English and it has been translated into 20 languages. Last year, with the help of some talented animators I produced an animated version of the tract which to date has had over 300,000 hits on YouTube.

While I’m in California Living Waters has graciously invited me  to do a short video interview on their webcast, “On The Box”. It will air live on Thursday, November 17 (11:30am Pacific) and then be uploaded to their YouTube channel for future viewing.

Gotta go pack my bags. I’ll be back in the studio on Monday, November 21.

Updated PDF Portfolios Available For Download

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I’ve gone through the PDF versions of all my portfolios, weeded out some old work and put in some fresh. I’ve also updated the “About me” page. You can download them at my website or with these links:

Character Design Portfolio 2011
Toy Design Portfolio 2011
Illustration Portfolio 2011
Comp Art Portfolio 2011

Enjoy!

My Freelancing Presentation is Sold Out, You Can Still Catch The Q&A

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I’ve been informed that seating for my presentation on freelancing at the 2011 CTN Animation Expo (Saturday Nov. 19, 4:30pm in the Exec Ballroom) is sold out. I’m pretty sure there are still tickets available for the Expo as a whole, and most of the terrific speakers and panel discussions are still free to all attendees. But mine was one of a few that had limited, pay-per-seat seating and all those seats are now filled.

 

If you didn’t get a seat you don’t have to despair completely. I only have a half hour an hour and fifteen minutes to speak and I’m going to be trying to cram an awful lot of material into that time. If people have questions or want to talk more about freelancing I’m told that I’ll be able to move everyone into a separate “Q&A room” after the presentation to keep the discussion going. I’m not sure where that will be exactly but if you hang around the Exec Ballroom at a few minutes before 5pm about 5:45pm you can join us as we file out and move on to the Q&A location.