mermaid treasures

One of my dreams is to do book covers and internals for burgeoning chapter book readers and to help it take flight I’m going to show what I can do. Da Da DAaaaaaaa!

Firstly I’ve created myself a little dummy logo for some dummy book publishing, introducing Platypus Books!

This is going to be used in my dummy book covers as a place holder, so that publishers can see it all laid out before them and they’ll have no option but to commission me to work with them on their next series *fingers crossed*

Then I made up an author name, I have a few, pulling from family names and the like. I settled on L.M. Hoskin, a good robust name that is gender neutral and may be used in other formats for a couple of other projects I have bouncing around in my rather roomy noggin.

For the cover, I took an image which got really great feedback when I posted it on Instagram. I set about finessing it in Procreate so that it could be laid out correctly, making room for the title etc.

original

finessed

I’m also not a writer so I sourced some dummy text using the old faithful Lorem ipsum. This site, https://www.lipsum.com will give you any number of paragraphs for your own adventure if you’re interested. This place holder text allows me to show how a finished page might look with the text in place.

Again, using Procreate, I set about drawing some images to represent other aspects of the imagined story to show I can do consistent characters, provide motifs, some fancy border action and incidental characters.

page borders

motifs and cover border

sketch ideas

From these I finished up three images in a greyscale format.

Working in InDesign I fiddled about. I’m not a graphic designer, but have had cause to use the program before and was willing to have a bash at it.

I used two fonts: MVB Grenadine for the body text and Providence Sans Pro for the titles and page numbers.

Creating shapes I allowed the text to flow around the more organic edges of some, but not all, of the images. The result is below, and I think I’ve knocked it up into something really good (I also had a person give an opinion or two, and they liked it (once I made the changes they suggested)).

sample cover

sample chapter 1

sample page 5

sample page 10

sample page 20

sample page 25

So, if you are a publisher of early chapter books or middle-grade fiction, I’m contactable here.

If you’re not a publisher BUT you know someone WHO IS a publisher of early chapter books or middle-grade fiction, send them this page.

And, if you like what I’ve done, let me know on Instagram or Twitter, give us a follow or just send out some positive vibes.

I’d love to do some of these in real time, but until then, Platypus Books might just dummy up some more!

quote quoting unquote

Quoting work has become a thing. I don’t have an agent (which I’m open to if you’re keen...) so I’m learning from each one I do, especially what to do better. I am cautious and like to tick off the mostly small, but sometimes large, red flags that come through my inbox. 

When the query comes through my email the very first thing I do is research the business and person it comes from. This is usually a quick Google, an interrogation of the website for the business and maybe LinkedIn. 

I do this to ensure that I’m talking to a real person, doing a real thing, and to gauge the possible scope of the project they are doing.

Then I construct my reply and engage with the client.

Hopefully a good brief comes through, but if not I try to construct it in the quote I send through, reiterating the parameters and outlining what I can do for the budget.  

There are a couple of things I’ve worked out that I will share as a lonely freelancer who has almost no support and has to do their own admin. 

Up front, I don’t do kill fees. I know, CONTROVERSY!

I make the first payment 50% of the agreed fee and it is a non-refundable deposit, AND I don’t start until that is in my account. 

This tells me they are serious, it tells them I’m serious.

After construcing the quote I send it through to the client and this is often where the negotiation takes place and a revised quote may be required to accommodate things the client hadn’t considered until they were written down and in front of them.

In my quote I include:

A. Letterhead with my ABN and contact details 

B. Date

C. Quotation number: I use Q (for quote) then the date backwards - then they file consecutively

D. Contact: persons name, business name and billing details 

E. Scope: as described to me

F. Description: explicitly describe what is to be done, just line or full colour or limited colour or is there is an image on my portfolio that is the style they like?… also file types, resolution and colour profile

G. Timeline: how long each round is going to take, what that encompasses, can be more or less if warranted, I add a line to explain cover me because I can’t control how long they take to send feedback through. I also can’t control it if I get sick (eg. COVID) and have to be away from from the studio.

H. Delivery: What actual files they will receive

I. Usage: What they are actually buying. A license to use in a particular way for a particular time in a particular location. Could be in perpetuity around the world, could be for three years in Australia.

J. Terms:  I am not a bank and I don’t work for free. I ask to be paid 50% upfront to cover me from chasing kill fees or payment after work is begun. I only start after the deposit is paid. I am clear this is non-refundable. I ask to be paid in 7 Days, I have not resorted to charging late fees because all clients have been able to pay on those terms or have negotiated with me to extend the time before I begin. I put a time limit on the quote because pricing may change.

Anyway - this is what it kind of looks like 

I have negotiated on the terms but in general people want to work with you because they like you work and want to see the project through with you and appreciate you are a sole trader, in any case, you have at least half of the money in hand before you have to start chasing up the rest.

Some large corporates want to buy out the copyright of a work. There is a lot of information about why you don’t sell your copyrights, see the AOI for some good information about this and in Australia you can register with Copyright Agency and they will manage the usage license you and your client agree to. 

You can get help to work out what you do at Choreus. Paying for good advice is worth it. I have used Choreus and the advice they provided gave me the confidence I needed to speak up for myself and provided me multipliers as to how to value my work depending on how they are going to be used. 

I take the approach, how would I feel if in 30 years I see something I did still making money for a past client. Whatever you to do, you have to be comfortable with the outcome, there are no backsies. 

To be blisteringly honest, I have sold copyrights to works. Generally I charge 250% of the illustration cost on top of the illustration cost, but if it is a large multinational I have a multiplier for that figure too, because if you sell the copyright to one part of a multinational how do you police them not using it in any other part of their conglomerate of parent, subsidiary and affiliate companies? It’s a balance and I find much of the time it is easier to sell the copyright than chase clients who have legal departments, but you do need to understand this prior to beginning a quote to make sure you cover yourself for future uses.

Have those multipliers and don’t be afraid to use them. 

So in summary:

> Make sure you have your business details on your quote 

> Cover yourself in the event the client isn’t clear on what they are asking for

> Be clear about what they are getting

> Get more information about copyright and licensing in Australia at CAL 

> Get more information about copyright and licensing in illustration at the AOI ($) 

> Get help with all sorts from pricing to project management at Choreus ($) 

Working with a publisher is a different thing altogether and I’ll put that in a separate post on another day. I’ve done a post about self-publishing here if you’re interested :)

Cheers & good luck, I know you can do it!

so far

Best laid plans went up in smoke early. Although what I learned was that it’s less exhausting if you go with the current than against it. Might not end up where you thought you’d be but better able to deal with what ever’s there because you’re happy and ready to go. 

January and most of February was swallowed by covid. Then a short holiday to Eden and home the long way through Canberra. Stayed with my sister-in-law and her husband , their construction is underway and making progress, I saw my niece and her beautiful family, fossicked in second hand stores and gift shops and played around in nature. Back in time to start the year in March.

With that, I’ve been quoting on some freelance work and about to start a book which the manuscript is on it’s way, but the best thing has been finally getting involved in a challenge on Twitter I’ve been stalking since, forever. #colour_collective  Has been going for a long while and run by an illustrator out of the UK, thus the spelling and one of the reasons I started following it. They post two colours (it used to be one, but now it’s two) and you have a week to create a picture with those colours. Some use it sparingly, others intensively, all look fab! These are some of mine:

Divas

Leaf season

Lily pond

Frog chorus

Fishies

Last blooms

I see such amazing diversity of work using #colour_collective and I try to like all of them (sorry if i missed anyones (eek!)). I often covet different illustration styles, marvelling at how these geniuses work, just amazing!

You can follow me @_essayer on Twitter and see all the other #colour_collective drawings they’re great!

Cheers!

future me

My love of drawing active older people is expanding.

They have such lovely jowly, wrinkly faces and expressive eyes. I just love them! I’m not sure I do them justice, but they have history which means they learned to make the most of the now.

Secretly I think I’m drawing the future.

Most of the older people I know are living the most amazing lives, getting together with friends, going out and having fun, to a show, to swimming, to the shops, to see the sights and in general - having fun and learning all the time. It should be celebrated. Most of the depictions I see don’t fully do this so it’s now my thing - older people doing all the things and having a ball doing it!

I love these people! Not always the same people, maybe I’ll make a narrative… They definitely deserve a story.

This does seem to keep cropping up, I’m not a writer, this type of blathering on has been the best I can do and I really just write what I’m thinking. Anyway, I’ll keep thinking and keep drawing and fingers crossed a narrative pops up. I’m confident it will. I think.

more drawing!

I really like how the drawings I do, tell a story, showing emotion and a sense place. I’ve really enjoyed developing consistency and simplifying my finish while not losing any of the information. Or at least, that’s what I’m aiming for.

In working towards getting better and building on what I talked about in an earlier post, Portfolio Development, what I’ve found out about myself is that I really, really, REALLY, like drawing old people. Their faces can have such sense of fun and although they have bigger ears, their face structure is quite similar to a child.

To play with this idea I’ve started drawing these oldies in the same situations as the kids and I think they've worked out amazingly well.

Love swings (2021)

Still love swings (2021)

I have a couple more and I’ll put them in my portfolio so you can go to my Work page and see them in amongst all my other pictures. I’ll also be putting them on Instagram.

Continuing to get better and challenging myself is ongoing so keep an eye out for more!

Cheers,

the shop is open!

Hey-de-ho!

After a couple of requests I have made some greeting cards using some of the pandemic drawing I’d done throughout 2020 and into 2021. The inside of all the cards are blank so you can write something special of your own.

So I’ve re-opened my online shop and added them, check it out here essayer.com.au/shop

I’ve had them printed professionally, but only in a small run, to test the waters. Essentially the early bird will catch the worm here. But I’m happy to print more especially if you want to make a large or, dare I say, a wholesale order or would like to distribute them or… well the possibilities are endless, email shop@essayer.com.au and I’m sure we can work something out.

So, check out the cards, I’ve also got a few tea towels left and some copies of the book I did with Wild Dog Books, Earth Matters : loving our planet. Which you can opt to purchase, if you so wish.

There’s also a link to my Redbubble page there to order t-shirts, just in cases :)

Cheers!

x marks the spot

A little while ago, I was commissioned for one of the best projects. As you all know I’m a bit skeptical of committing to self-published work. Not as a value judgement of the work to be illustrated, it’s that the role of author, editor, book designer, art director, marketer, distributor and seller are usually one person - then me. And the weight of the responsibility and the financial implications are enormous. I’ve written about it here.

So when I was approached by this client I was a bit hmmm?!?!

The request was simple. A surprise gift for their partner who had written a picture book, didn’t want the whole book, but a mock front cover. How could I refuse. It was such a truly thoughtful gift. 

...and a dream client to boot. Every interaction was professional, payment and conditions were met, and the result was so good. 

The brief was to take the title, develop the character with some more form and surround it with images of the things related. The style they wanted was similar to my little birdies and they’d let me have at it.

So I sent through some pencil roughs. 

 Then some colour schemes.

Then finessed for the finished result.

The smaller people in the household liked it so much fan art was made! (I can tick that off the bucket list 😊)

Such a great and fun project, done with no-fuss in a professional and timely way. Perfect!

So if you’re a publisher, this is a cute concept and I’d love to illustrate the whole book. I can put you in touch with the author, contact me 😉 and we can get this done!

Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram and sign up to my mailing list for not-really-regular but rather ad-hoc missives.

Cheers,

Earth Matters: How to make a book, from catastrophic fires and through a pandemic

Part 2: Pandemic ahoy!

Winning a portfolio review from Donna was a step out of my comfort zone. But I needed a poke and I didn’t know what I might actually get out of it. Hopefully, some direction, what to watch out for or where my strengths and weaknesses were.

When Donna arranged for me to meet Maryann from Wild Dog Books, I was a bit overwhelmed. Finally, the negative self-talk was shut down and there was silence. What a buzz. Is that what confident people get every day?!?

Maryann loved the infographic work I’d been doing, and liked my style. So I was asked if would I be interested in illustrating Carole Wilkinsons book for primary aged children about climate change? Would I be able to do it on a short timeframe, as it’s going to be taken to Bologna in May? Yes and YES! - try and stop me!

But low, what is that on the horizon? ...Ruby Princess.

I heard nothing more about the book. Problems with the printers. Bologna cancelled. Small beans really, people were dying.

But after the first shutdown in Melbourne, we were able to get started. Donna will be the book designer and hold my hand through the process. YAY!

I began by reading the text and talking through each page with Donna from the layouts she had sent through.

With a lightbox and each page, I sketched and placed what went where. Larger full-page infographics were given special treatment. Some, I had to do sums on!

The infographic work I’d done in the past was faceless - that is each of the little characters I drew had no facial features. I thought about changing this, but came to the conclusion - it wasn’t a narrative and I didn’t want to comment or provide any editorial on what any reader might interpret from the text. Just the facts.

Each of these were then photographed with the iPad and sent as a PDF for Donna to check and send feedback.

While waiting I looked at colour palettes, one of my favourite things to hunt around for. I like muted tones with a retro feel but I did need a dark - but not black - and I wanted it not to be gendered. Setting myself a palette keeps everything consistent and cohesive throughout the book.

To help, I needed to see it in a picture so picked a page and did three different colour versions. We all liked the same one *phew*

Shutdown 2 became imminent.

I packed up my lightbox, some paper and pencils, my iPad and set up at home to do it all in Procreate.

We watched Dan’s presser every day.

As each page was approved I worked up a set of colour roughs.

I set the page size in Procreate and photographed the rough. Laying the image on the artboard on the iPad. Making it 50% transparency and drew the finals over, just like tracing on the lightbox but straight into the drawing program using an Apple Pencil.

We watched Dan’s presser every day.

While waiting for approval, I made a few images to post as a small way of channelling some lightness past peoples eyes as they doomscrolled.

There were a lot more, which you can’t find on my instagram, as well as some colouring sheets which you can get here

As the colour roughs were approved, I finessed and tidied the images.

Phone meetings with Donna were like a little bit of light, someone different to talk to, something new to focus on. They were long rambling chats and I needed it.

Text was edited, layouts changed, more roughs were drawn.

We watched Dan’s presser every day.

My fancy printer was at the studio and with the shutdown, we were discouraged from going, and can I just say - it was a bit scary in and around the city with only a few people, one coffee shop and police roaming around.

I trusted the technology and I trusted Donna, and I was right to. It worked. Donna did an amazing job and we all deserve a nice cup of tea and chocolate biscuit or something cold and sparkling to celebrate.

Oh, and by-the-by, I picked up my single advance copy right before Shutdown 3.

And it looks great :)

Earth Matters: How to make a book, from catastrophic fires and through a pandemic

Part 1: Catastrophic fires can’t stop my self promotion

The story of how I got to illustrate this book is just as amazing as getting it done. Really, it is.

It all began with the 2019/2020 new year. We’d decided as a family to go and camp at the block my sister-in-law and her husband own. Spending a couple of days seeing in the new year, singing songs around the campfire, swimming in the cool clear waters of the Sapphire Coast, doing the Merimbula Shuffle (where you and all the other tourists wander up and down the main street of Merimbula), just like last year!

But it had already begun.

By the time we got there, the rest of the camp was on high alert. Not a lot of action in town, people staying put. Weary and worried, we were welcomed nervously. With the smoke already in the air, we settled in the best we could.

The next day we went to the beach, while there, a cavalcade of caravans and campers started setting up in an area not to be used for that purpose. Word spread. They’d been evacuated from Mallacoota.

The following morning, we went and did the Merimbula Shuffle, that is, we walked up and down the main street of Merimbula looking in the shops and eating all the foods.

We went back to the camp packed everything up leaving only what we actually needed to put our hands on, just in case. We had dinner at Eden’s Fishermans Club, deciding not to head too far away from the camp - but trying to get out of the smoke.

With the red glow showing over the mountain at the back of the block, we had a nervous night at the camp. Ash was everywhere when we woke up. Camp Leader decided we needed to move closer to town, out of the bush land. They had a friend with an empty house not far from town and we would all stay there. We made sure the cars had full tanks. The smoke was very thick by now, and everything was orange. The road to Melbourne was closed. The road to Canberra was closed.

NYE was stressful - to say the least.

New year’s day dawned and we woke to the news that the road to Canberra was open. We didn’t hesitate. We got the last of our belongings packed and we headed out in a convoy.

Camp Leader decided to stay.

So we went home the long way. Nose to tail until Cooma. We were on the road for 14 hours, with a short stop in Canberra. We were safe. A bit smokey, very tired and with raspy voices.

We continued to watch the emergency apps, hoping then camp and Camp Leader was keeping safe.

Alerts and stories were being shared all over Twitter: what can we do, who can we, help, where can we help. Celeste Barber had raised so much money but it was set up for a narrow band of recipients, so different parts of the community started to step up. #AuthorsForFireys  was born. Led by Emily Gale, it created a way for established Authors and Illustrators on Twitter to provide services like manuscript reads or portfolio reviews or query letter finessing or signed copies of works etc... Ran as an auction it raised over $500,000 (AUD).

I spied a little tweet.

I put in a bid and da da dahhhhh... I won a portfolio review!

It was from that quick look at my website that Donna saw something for a friend in the industry, and from there the rest is in the previous post. 

So out of the catastrophic fires came a book illustrator. Hopefully, that’s the last time that happens and the next one comes from a quiet search through portfolio sites. No more fires, thanks.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Pandemic Ahoy! 

Cheers,

…and Camp Leader and camp were all ok too.

Earth Matters

I know, right?!?

In January, during the fires, a million years ago, Donna Rawlins French put up her hand as part of the #AuthorsforFireys fundraiser on Twitter. I put in a bid for a portfolio review. Donna was very positive and forwarded my work to a publisher with the following comment to me:

I have also sent your folio on to a publishing chum. I hope that's okay. She and I work together and I KNOW she'll love your work

So after being contacted in January, Maryann Ballantyne and Wild Dog Books took me on to illustrate Earth Matters authored by Carole Wilkinson. 

After a few pandemic induced false starts and much back and forth and Donna as book designer, it’s done!

Out in April it is a non-fiction book for upper primary schoolers about climate change providing them actionable tools to help them feel safer.

All of the equipment and studio and  ‘stuff’ I have acquired over the years to work as an illustrator came to naught as all of the images were done on Procreate on an iPad on my dining table. And now I’ve got an advance copy!

The colours are fantastic, Donna has done superb work.

The trust I placed in her was amply rewarded, her knowledge and skill in book design is huge and cannot be overstated, and I think the trust in me was rewarded too ❤️

It certainly was a journey in what was a truly amazing year, in the full meaning of the word.

The opportunity to do this book through the long lockdown in Victoria was an absolute life saver for me and my mental health.

We all, myself, Donna, Maryann and Carole will look back on this as a major achievement with everything that was ongoing on in 2020.

It’ll be available in selected bookshops in April but you can order it at your local to make sure you get one 😉 I’m sure you’ll love it too!

Cheers and chin-chin!

Pandemic shutdown continues... :(

It’s been an interesting time here in Melbourne. Shutdown 2: electric boogaloo might just be done with next week (fingers crossed) but we are not counting any chickens and I don’t think it’ll be opening up without restrictions.

Still, I’ve been practicing more with Procreate and am about to update to the latest version so a new learning curve begins - nothing but excitement about the changes… Before I do that though, I have been working on a book and until I know they’re happy with what has been delivered so far I don’t want mess around with the software. This is in case there is any loss of data. Over cautious, probably, and I have backed up all the drawings, I just might let the it settle for a bit.

So aside from the book I’ve been giving flowers to anyone. Well, via Instagram, and they’re drawings…

I’ve also had a bit of success with the animation features. They are easy tools and great to make simple gifs. I can see a lot more of this happening.

I’ve also been up to my old tricks with statues, which you can see on instagram, and you can it check out here: https://www.instagram.com/_essayer/

Cheers!

Updating

I’ve spent a bit of time updating my website. I’ve simplified the layout, making it flatter (less hierarchical) so all the images are upfront and in your face. I’ve put up a page of freebies, beginning with some colouring in pages to print at home. I’ll be adding to this as time marches on.

You may have noticed that I’ve changed the blog from Blog to Blathering. I’ve never liked the work Blog, and blathering on is mostly what I do. I’m not a writer, by any stretch of the imagination. I’m a drawer. Unfortunately Google and other search engines, don’t read pictures, only words. So I’ve pulled on long dormant skills in grammar and tip-tappy-typing. The upshot of this, of course, is that there is a lot more blathering.

Another benefit of overhauling the website is that I’ve updated my Illustrators Australia portfolio site. So you can check it out, HERE or just click on the image below!

I’m limited as to the number of images I can put on the IA site so it was a struggle to decide what goes up what comes down etc, but I can fiddle with it and refine it all adding newer work as I get it done.

It’s been a good to go over it all and weed out what is not relevant any more and show case what I want to do, as opposed to showing what I can do. Because there’s no point advertising what you don’t what to do, is there?

Toodle-pip,

Colouring in!

The walks taken as exercise while at home isolating with my family produced a sketchbook (previous post). All fantastical landscapes, some including waterfalls.

After a suggestion from my resident art director to turn them into colouring pages and subsequent gentle nudges from them, I’ve been beavering away doing just that.

There has been nobody in the studio to distract me. The whole building has been very quiet. It’s even been hard to get a coffee – in Melbourne!. As a result I’ve been very focused and diligent. I promise.

It’s been a challenge to translate the small A5 rough sketch, with the pencil lead smeared and blurry lines. It was a long process to clean them up, fix any composition errors and generally make them able to be used for colouring.

I began with a scan, make them into PDF format then print them as A3, trace them off (again and again), correct errors (again and again) and set my visual language so they’re consistent.

Et voilà

You can head over to the new freebies page for a high resolution download to print them out on your printer and have at them! I’d love to see the results of your colouring so if you post them on Instagram or Twitter make sure you tag me, @_essayer so I get a notification.

I’ll be working on a few more in the coming months, sign up to the mailing list, follow me on twitter or instagram and I’ll let you know when they’re available.

Cheers,

Pandemic wanderings

Like almost everybody I stayed at home from 23rd March at home until after the Easter break. I’d brought some supplies back home with the view to improving some skills, getting back to basics and exploring some mediums I hadn’t had a chance to get into in a meaningful way for a very long time.

Needless to say, it didn’t quite work out that way.

Not only was I at home, so was everyone else. Where we live is quite a spacious apartment, in theory. Four adults certainly make it feel a bit constrained and I’ve always found it hard to do much with an audience. The thing I’ve learnt about myself is that I’m a loner. Consequently not much experimenting and learning went on.

So instead I took the opportunity to explore the parks nearby. On my own or with a companion from our house I wandered around The Alexandra & The Queen Victoria Gardens and The Kings Domain.

There are sculptures, fountains, a fernery and The Pioneer Women‘s Garden, ducks and bush turkeys. And some the best landscaped public toilets.

Taking my time to see the same gardens repeatedly gave me the opportunity to see things I’d missed, to be amazed and fascinated by the way things grew together and apart, to see the repetition of the planting, how it all coalesced into such a glorious and enjoyable space.

The lush leafy foliage, got ticking over in my brain and so I sat and doodled in a sketchbook with no expectations or rules. It was lovely to play with perspective, interpret what I’d seen, stylise the lush leafiness and image landscapes.

The results were a fantasy, but drew on the experience of the walks and waterfalls seen and explored.

These simple doodled sketchbook drawings have given life to a new project. Now back in the studio I’m creating something new, from something I created from walks I did, enjoying the creativity of the gardeners.

Keep safe and cheers to you all,

Perspective

In trying to improve and get better at all aspects of drawing I’ve been looking at creating whole story like images that push perspective.

The first was Rocket Kid. This was fun and came together relatively quickly and wouldn’t have been was it is without the help of my studio buddy, Rebecca Stewart - check out her amazing portfolio. Her experience in animation and life drawing really pushed me to put together a great dynamic composition.

The second was under the sea. This started out as fun colour but it was confused and lacked clarity so paring it back, pushing the perspective and using light to it’s fullest extent made it work. The text is there for balance as it was envisaged as part of a middle grade fiction book.

The third was a garden scene, and this was so very difficult. From doing this one, there are no shortcuts, if it’s not right, it’s not right so make it right, trying to find work arounds will take longer than doing it correctly in the first place.

There will be more to come, I have a lot to learn about colour, perspective, bodies and how they move and above all else telling stories with pictures.

Cheers!

me me me me me

I’ve been working hard getting portfolios ready for various submissions. Some to do with illustration and others for art, along with the normal day-to-day etc. It’s been both and interesting and worthwhile process, distilling what I want to do as opposed what I can do and allowed me the time to really find my strengths and hopefully the work I get from this will better reflect this.

About me
hand draw, digitally finished, 2019

In not only showing how I draw and what I want to draw I’ve also managed to distill my own self into a kind of self portrait. The cardigans, are very important. As is the coffee.

Cheers!

PS: If you’d like an infographic portrait of yourself or maybe as a gift for a friend, let me know!

Breathe

Breathe, digital with hand drawn elements, 2019

Don’t go breaking my heart

People regularly ask for me to work for the pleasure of working them, which in itself is lovely. They like my work and want the work I do for their project, but I really have to draw (literally) the line somewhere and paying the rent is important.

This seems to be a universal problem for illustrators and I’ve noticed this happens for all people with any skill that any other individual lacks. We all want our friend who’s studied law to look over a contract, our mate whose a plumber to fix the hot water service and the kid who’s really good at the computer to show us how make a website.

It’s different though for a friend, it’s different for a project that everyone is into on an equal footing. Being asked work for nothing while other parties make profit or at least their costs back, is a bit of a smack in the face.

Anyway, IA have got on board The AOI’s #notahobby campaign, because we all need to make a living from the skills we have worked hard to learn and get good at. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help out a charity and it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help out a friend, but put as succinctly as I can…

Your passion project, digital image with hand drawn elements, 2019

You read a bit more about this on a previous post about self-publishing.

Kisses,

Gorn git!