Category: Freelancing

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The blog has left the building.

A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised and appreciative that I was asked to write a guest blog entry for Scott Kelby’s blog today.  Scott is the President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, the founder of Kelby Training and the editor-in-chief of Photoshop User Magazine.  Scott is also a photographer so his blog is very much geared (pun intended) to that creative pursuit.  I’m sure more than a few of his regular photographer readers are initially wondering if my animal paintings are some sort of freaky new HDR technique, until they read the entry.

You’ll find a number of different takes on keeping a blog.  Some say it’s a waste of time, others swear by it.   In keeping with the theme of the entry on Scott’s blog, I decided awhile ago to just ignore what others say about blogs, and I enjoy writing in mine.  I’ve always liked writing, even in school.  Those that know me best know that I’ve even written a couple of novels, the last one over ten years ago,  although if I’m being honest, I chickened out when it came to really putting in an effort to get them published, but I enjoyed the process immensely.  I’ve been toying with the idea of dusting one of them off, re-editing it with the voice of a little more experience, and giving it another shot, just because I love the story so much.

I also find that I enjoy the ‘keeping a diary’ aspect of a blog.  At the end of each year, I write a summary of what I did and didn’t get done over the past 12 months, and I derive quiet satisfaction from going through my posts, especially since there are always little things I’d forgotten about.

From a marketing standpoint, a blog is supposed to be a good thing.  It gives you something new to post on social media, offers a little more insight into your work, and keeps you focused on your goals.   Personally, I like that it gives me a chance to write a lot more often than I would otherwise.  For those of you that stop by often or even just once in awhile to read it, “Thank you.”

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The best laid plans of mice and me.

At the beginning of 2011, there were a number of things I set out to do that didn’t get done, primarily because I was busy on projects I hadn’t anticipated.  Nothing monumental, by any means, just some projects I would have liked to have taken on that I never made the time for.  Every success manual you ever read says that you have to have goals and you should write them down, to make them real and remind you of your intentions, but it would seem that whenever I do that, it never turns out quite the way I want.  If I’d held firmly to many of my goals over the years, it would have been self-limiting, because it would have meant saying no to opportunities that drastically changed my career for the better.

I’m an obsessive planner and control freak even for things I know are uncontrollable (which is most things).   Just ask anybody who knows me, spontaneity is not one of my strong suits.  But it’s something I do want to change a little because the alternative takes a lot of effort and energy.  It’s really exhausting and not one of my finer qualities.  About a month ago, my wife and I were in Calgary to do some shopping on a Saturday, and out of the blue, I suggested driving home to Red Deer instead, (another hour each way) to shop there so we could hang out and have lunch with my folks.  Called them up, and they thought it was a great idea, so we headed north on a whim.  The fact that it shocked both my wife and my parents was a bit of a wake-up call for me, that something this minor had become completely out of character for me.  Planning, looking ahead, mapping things out and trying to see all of the variables is a great asset to have when working on projects and deadlines, but it’s an undesirable trait for living life.

I’ve been working my ass off for the past ten years trying to get my business and career to a point where there is enough forward momentum, so that every foot of ground gained, is not simply held because my fingernails are dug into the dirt far enough.  These days, I’m finally able to let go a little without sliding backward, which is giving me a chance to look around and figure out what to do next, without an overwhelming sense of panic.

So what have I got planned for 2012?  Well, there are a few things I know for sure.  First, I’ll be painting.  Animals, people, maybe an experiment or two, but always painting.  I am fortunate to be filled with a deep satisfaction that, right now, that’s the work I’m supposed to be doing and it gives me the most joy.  Editorial cartoons are another given.  Despite what I thought a few years ago, that part of my business is still going strong, and while following self-important, overpaid, blowhard politicians around with a shovel all year annoys the hell out of me on a regular basis, I do like drawing cartoons and the bills must be paid.  There will be at least one more DVD from PhotoshopCAFE coming in 2012, maybe even two.  I’ll definitely be selling my wares at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo in April, and depending on how that goes, I might book another trade show for the Fall as well.  And so that I am free to say ‘Yes’ to whatever right opportunities show up, I’ll be saying ‘No’ a lot to those I’m certain are the wrong ones.

Of course,  I’ll work long hours, will still plan a little too obsessively, and will continue to work hard all year.  After all, as the scorpion said to the frog, “it’s just my nature.”

When it comes to the rest of 2012, however,  I’m just going to take deep breaths, keep moving forward, and see what happens.

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The upside of 2011

Bighorn Sheep TotemAll things considered, 2011 was a great year.  While every year will have it’s challenges, I’ve been fortunate that I’m honestly able to see each year of the past decade as having continual forward momentum.  The work I’m doing is far beyond what I had hoped for when I first started in this profession and I’m very grateful for it.

I became nationally syndicated in September of 2001, sending cartoons out across Canada each week, and got very few bites.  For two years, I had no more than three newspapers, paying the bare minimum rate, and I will admit to almost giving up on it more than a few times.  With a full-time job to pay the bills, I had to get up at 5:00am each morning to get a cartoon out before I went to work.  When I came home, I had to sketch in the evening and work on the weekends in order to manage it all.  Finally I started making progress, got a few more papers, took advantage of other opportunities, and about six years ago, I was able to leave my job and play this game full-time.

Through it all was my ever supportive wife, Shonna, and I’m incredibly grateful that she never told me not to do any of this.  The only caveat given when I went full-time was that if I couldn’t pay my half of the mortgage and bills, I had to go back to work.  Canmore is an expensive place to live and we couldn’t do it on one income.  Fortunately, it never came to that, and each year has been better than the one before.  At the time, it was an incredible struggle, but in retrospect, I’m glad I had to go through it because it makes the present all that much sweeter.

If my 2001 self could see the work I’m doing now, he’d be pleasantly surprised, and I try to think about that when I’m having a bad day or feeling sorry for myself because of a heavy workload or when money is tight.  So far, I’ve not only gotten what I wanted, I’ve gotten much more.  Best of all, I discovered that I loved getting up at 5:00am to work, I still sketch in the evenings, and being self-employed means you often work weekends anyway, so I was already used to the routine.  Now, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Here’s a recap of my professional highlights of this past year, some of which I’d forgotten about until I went back through the blog entries month by month.

iPad Painting: Started playing around with this in January, and damn if it hasn’t been a lot of fun figuring it all out.  Ended up trying four different styli and half a dozen apps.  It would seem that I’ve finally settled on the Wacom Bamboo Stylus, the Nomad minibrush, and the procreate app.  The combination of those three gives me the best results, and while I don’t consider anything I paint on the iPad to be finished work, I would go so far as to call it advanced sketching, and I plan to keep doing it.

PhotoshopCAFE DVDs:  In March, I finished my first DVD, called Cartoon Illustration Techniques in Photoshop.  Easily one of the most difficult projects I’ve ever worked on.  Having only done a little bit of sound and video editing for a failed Flash animation project a few years back, it was a struggle.  But I finished it, it went into production, and is selling well.  I’ve heard from many who bought the DVD that have learned a lot from it and complimented me on my instruction, so I’m guessing I didn’t do so bad a job.

The second DVD, Animal Painting in Adobe Photoshop, was a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable as I wasn’t teaching raw Photoshop beginners.  It was more about the painting than the software and while it was a challenge, the difficulty I went through with the first DVD paid off while recording the second as there were few problems I hadn’t already solved.  Recording one DVD this year would have been enough of a milestone, but I never expected to record two, and to be very pleased with both of them.

Cartoon Ink: While my old website was ‘fine,’ it had become difficult to use and it was no longer the image I wanted to project.  While I had always done my own website in the past, this time I realized one of the most important business practices that so many have learned before me.  Hire professionals to do their job, so you can focus on doing yours.  With that in mind, I hired Erik Bernskiold of XLD Studios in Sweden to create a new website for me.  I knew Erik’s work and know him personally, so I was confident he would deliver much more than I could create myself.  With the help of Elizabeth Gast at Design by Firgs, another colleague and good friend who consulted on the site, and created an improved evolution of my logo, I was very pleased with the final logo and website and would highly recommend both of their work.  The time I saved was well worth the money spent and reduced stress.

Wacom: I began to form a relationship with the great folks at Wacom at Photoshop World in 2010 after I won the Guru Awards for two of my Totem paintings and I couldn’t be happier about it.  Having used their tablets since the late 90’s, you won’t find a bigger fan, so I’m very pleased to be working with them from time to time.

Over the course of the year, I’ve been featured in the Wacom eNews, have represented the company and demonstrated their products at one of Scott Kelby’s seminars in Calgary, and have been a featured guest on two of their one-hour Wacom webinars.  The people I’ve worked with at Wacom have been incredibly supportive and are absolute pros at what they do and I look forward to a continuing relationship with them.

The photo shown here is Joe Sliger demonstrating the new Wacom Inkling for me at Photoshop World this year.  He is also one of the moderators of the webinars.

Island Art Publishers: In July of this year, I began a licensing deal for some of my Totem paintings to be produced on art cards.  These are distributed throughout Western Canada and the northwestern U.S. and time will tell whether this arrangement bears any fruit.  An artist friend once told me that art cards are often your best advertising, because not only does the person buying it see your work, but so does the person receiving it.  You may not make much money early on, but it’s enough to get your work out there to a market that otherwise might not see it.  And the cards look really good.

Photoshop World: While it’s true that I didn’t learn much about technique or improving my work at this year’s Photoshop World in Las Vegas, I still think it was worth attending because of the networking opportunities.  Having recorded two DVDs for PhotoshopCAFE, it was great to finally meet the owner of the company in person, and see their operation on the Expo Floor.  I was able to meet a few more of the Wacom folks in person, and talk with other industry professionals I otherwise might not have had the opportunity to talk to.  Online interaction is fine, but it doesn’t compare with face-to-face conversations.  So while I won’t be going back as an attendee, I still think this year’s trip was well worth it.

knmadventuresAt the time, I was doing some illustration work for wildlife photographer and instructor, Moose Peterson as well, and being able to go over sketches with him in person was a real treat, as most of the time this would have all been done online.  The other benefit of the Photoshop World conference is that I get to meet with so many talented photographers, many of whom I consider close friends.  For somebody who relies on great photo reference for my painted work, their skills and talent are often one of my most valuable resources, not to mention their generosity with their work, and the support they offer for mine.

Paintings: Saved the best for last.  I am so very pleased with the progress I’ve made on my painted work this year.  The first half of the year, I was so busy with the DVDs and other work that I only painted one animal in my Totem series, the Great Horned Owl.  When I realized this in the latter half of the summer, I was ticked off.  The work I love to do most, I had placed in last priority.  In retrospect, however, I’m glad it happened because when I realized it, I vowed it would never happen again and it stoked the fire.  The end result is that from September to December, I’ve painted a number of new images and I feel they are my best work to date.

I had been becoming bored with painted caricatures of people in the past couple of years, but recently, I’ve realized that it wasn’t people I was bored with painting, just caricatures of them.  Beginning with a couple of iPad paintings, I’ve discovered how very much I enjoy painting portraits, and I’ve done a couple of pieces recently that I’ve really enjoyed.  Inspired by the work of Drew Struzan and others, I think I’ll be painting a lot more portraits of people, if nothing more than for the sheer enjoyment of it.  While style is always evolving, I think my paintings now have a definitive look that is mine, whether it’s people or animals, and it’s one I want to continue to develop and refine.

I’m now getting commissions to paint pet portraits and caricature this year, and it’s really enjoyable work.  The painting of Don Diego that I did for my DVD, the memorial to Titus the cat, and to being able to finally create a real painting for my folks of their dog, Bailey, it’s looking like this could be a big part of my work in the coming years.  Working on another commission at the moment, and having fun with it.

My real passion, however, is still the Animal Totems.  Nothing I’ve ever done in my career has filled me with as much joy as that I get from painting these whimsical caricatures of wildlife.  Not only are they fun to work on, but they sell well in the galleries which means others like them, too.  I’ve been fortunate that a number of wildlife photographers I know have been willing to sell me the license rights to use their photos as reference, or have enjoyed my work enough to want to trade me the use of their images for canvas prints of the painting when it’s done, both of which I’m more than willing to do.

Humpback Whale TotemEach of them is my favorite for different reasons, but the one I was most happy with this year was the Humpback Whale Totem.  I don’t know if it’s because I’ve wanted to paint it for so long or that it was such a challenge to paint an animal with no fur or hair, and the end result lived up to my expectations.  Either way, these paintings are the only work I’ve ever done that I still enjoy months and even a year after I’ve painted one.  That alone tells me this is the work I’m meant to do, at least for now.

As you can see, I’ve had a very good year, and I’m grateful for it.  For all of you that follow my work, your messages of support here on the blog, through social media, and email are all appreciated.  It’s a solitary existence, this freelance lifestyle, and it’s nice to know that others are getting enjoyment out of the work I do.  And if you’re struggling with your own creative endeavors, whether you’ve just begun or are just trying to keep going, I would urge you not to give up.  It may not seem like it in the moment, but I assure you, if it’s something you love to do, it’s worth the effort.

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The downside of 2011.

I decided to break up my ‘year end’ blog entry into three separate posts.  This is the first one, and the one I didn’t want to write.

Part of the job of a freelancer is to promote yourself like crazy.  Websites, blogs, social media sites, forums, it’s practically a part-time job just getting all of your work out there so it can be seen.  One of the other things you’re supposed to do is put on an optimistic, confident and successful face so that people will think you’ve got everything together.  You have to be your own PR guy, trying to make sure people see all of your latest work, without coming across as a narcissist, something I have no idea if I’m doing well or not.

You’re not supposed to talk about the bad things because you don’t want a reputation as a complainer.  Unfortunately, it can also make people think that nothing ever goes wrong.  I may get to do what I love for a living, but it’s far from perfect.  I’m an artist, so naturally that means I’m neurotic and more than a little obsessive-compulsive.  Working alone at home all the time, you live inside your head a lot, and that’s not always a nice place to be when things aren’t going right.

Social media is a necessary evil, but there are days I’d rather not deal with it.  I’ve come close to deleting my Facebook account more than once this year because being self-employed, you have to be on it a lot, even when you don’t want to be.

Being an editorial and political cartoonist, some days it feels like you wake up in the morning, have a shower, and then wade into mud and shit.  There are many days I hate drawing cartoons about politics and politicians, because you see the same patterns of waste and corruption being repeated year after year, regardless of which party is in power.  But it’s a job, like any other.  You do it, because that’s what pays the mortgage.

Looking back on the blog entry earlier this year that talked about my big plans for 2011 made me laugh out loud.  Apparently, I was determined to learn to sculpt, to get familiar with Adobe Illustrator (again) and to learn a lot more 3D in Photoshop.  I have all of the materials, software, books and resources to work on all three of those, and yet, I never made them a priority.  Put those in the FAIL column.

In that same entry, however, I vowed to paint every chance I got, to work less and play more, and to be less cynical, each of which is still a work in progress.  My wife and I did manage to go on a small vacation to Vancouver Island in June and it was wonderful, one of our best to date, so I count that as a victory on the ‘play more’ side of things, but I didn’t camp at all this year, and that’s something I regret.  Camping is something I love to do, and I didn’t make time for it even once, nobody’s fault but my own.  I didn’t really work less, in fact, I worked very hard all year, but I did manage to say ‘No’ more often when it came to work I didn’t want to do.

As for being less cynical, let’s just say I’m making progress.  I’ve seen some of the best sides of people this year, and I want to focus more on that, but I’m still too judgmental for my own good about people’s seemingly endless need to keep digging deeper holes for themselves while blaming it on somebody else, hence the reason I’m such a Scrooge this time of year.  I’m not a violent person by any means, but I do have my angry and depressed periods on a regular basis, and I take many things way too personally.  But I’m able to let it go a lot easier these days, and I’ll attribute that to getting older and not wanting to waste my time on things I can’t change.  Nobody’s perfect, especially me, and life’s too short.  So I’m still going to work on being less cynical, but I’m going to try to refrain from beating myself up about it.

One of the absolute worst days of my year was the deadline for finishing my first DVD from PhotoshopCAFE.  I had been dealing with almost constant back pain in early Spring for about 2 months, despite regular yoga, stretching, exercise and massage.  Sitting for longer than 20 minutes was excruciating.  Recording the DVD was an incredibly stressful exercise, and it seemed that everything I did while editing it went wrong.  Knowing I was about to turn 40 had sunk me into a deep depression, as my midlife crisis was peaking.  Worst of all, our cat Maya was in failing health and nothing could be done to help her.  So on the night of March 18th, I was up the entire night without any sleep at all in my office, editing the DVD for the next day’s deadline, watching our very sick and disoriented cat in the office with me,  knowing we were putting her to sleep the next day, and my back in excruciating pain.  I alternated between editing a section, getting up to stretch, trying to comfort Maya, and wiping away a lot of tears.  This went on the entire night, and even though I finished the DVD very early the next morning, I really didn’t give a damn, because that afternoon, we had to go put our cat down.  Needless to say, I didn’t celebrate my 40th birthday a week later.

And still, I consider 2011 a great year.  Stuff happens in everybody’s life, and given what some friends have dealt with this year, mine was relatively easy.  Incidentally, I’ve discovered that my recurring back pain was entirely stress related and I thankfully have had very few recurrences.

Freelancing is a tough gig, no doubt about it, and some people can’t handle it, because if you’re not always working, you’re thinking about work, even when you’re on vacation.  Balance is an illusion, at least as far as I’m concerned.  I know enough people in this ‘job’, that it’s a pretty universal trait.  But everybody has it tough, no matter what they do for a living.

So if you follow artists like me, you’ll read a lot of inspiring messages that tell you that you can do whatever you want if you work hard enough, and I firmly believe that’s true, but never believe it’ll be easy.  This is the hardest job I’ve ever had.  You rarely get time off, 12-14 hour days are the norm, you don’t get vacation pay, stat holidays or benefits, and your income is directly related to how hard you work and scramble.  So as much as it’s mostly good, sometimes even great, there’s a lot of crap, too, and you just have to live and work through it, and keep moving forward.  And still, I wouldn’t want to do anything else than what I’m doing now, even knowing I’ll probably have to live through bad and worse days ahead, too.

So there’s a little dose of reality.  As much as I’ll post that everything is great, and often it is, there’s a lot I don’t talk about, because at the end of the day, this is a business, and that would just be bad PR.

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The Perfect Bait

This morning, I finished listening to Bobby Chiu’s new book, The Perfect Bait.  It far exceeded my expectations.

While I have met Bobby before at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo a few years back, and have taken a couple of courses from instructors at his Schoolism.com site, I don’t actually know him.  But I do know his fantastic work, and have followed his career.  Bobby is a successful artist, and while I know his work is ever evolving and he is nowhere near where he intends to be, his example is one that many artists can learn from.   One of his recent more famous projects is that he worked as a creature designer on Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland.’   Here’s a look at his creature design work on his CGSociety portfolio.

It should come as no surprise why I’m a fan, and not just because he’s a fellow Canadian.  But it’s not just his work that’s impressive, it’s his philosophy on the business of art.  One of the benefits of buying the book is that you get access to the audio version as well.  So while I haven’t yet received the book, I have listened to the entire thing already while working yesterday and this morning.  Many art books end up being simply motivational ‘you can do it!’ publications, but Bobby talks about real world examples of how specific things worked out for him and why others didn’t, and how failure is as much a recipe for success as any award or accolade.  And best of all, he puts more stock in hard work than talent, something I’ve believed in for years, as I’ve seen artists far more talented than I, fall into obscurity because they simply didn’t apply themselves.

The benefits to me personally were two-fold.  First, there was a fair bit of confirmation in the book that I’m doing a lot of things right.  Had I read the book five years ago, that would not have been the case, but I’ve made plenty of mistakes, learned from them, made course corrections and carried on.  The second benefit was being made aware of a number of things I’m fully capable of doing to better my career but either had not thought of them, or I didn’t think they were important enough to bother with.  I stand corrected and feel better equipped to continue my forward momentum.

Most importantly, Bobby emphasizes the importance of passion in your work.  I’ve heard many times over the years that the work an artist should be doing is the work they would still do even if nobody paid them.  I am incredibly fortunate that with my animal paintings over the past couple of years, I have discovered that work, and am grateful for it.  I was already passionate about painting, but this book stoked that furnace even more.  In a perfect world, everybody would realize their passion and find it within themselves to pursue it.

So if art is your passion, no matter what kind of art that is, I would like to help ONE of you take a step forward.  On Friday afternoon, I will draw a name on my business Facebook page, and then I’ll buy that person a copy of Bobby’s book.  All you have to do is leave a comment on the post that links to this blog entry.

If you would like to buy Bobby’s book, visit the webpage, www.ThePerfectBait.com and get yourself a copy.  You’ll be glad you did.

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Photo Reference

It’s quite common for me to say that if I take a good photograph, it’s by accident.  The main reason is that taking a good shot doesn’t come naturally to me, and I haven’t the interest in putting in the time required to become better at it.  That’s the key to becoming good at something, devoting yourself to it completely when everyone else around you gives up.  Many people will tell me that they ‘can’t even draw a stick  man,’ which of course is an exaggeration because everybody can draw a stick man, but I get what they’re saying.  The truth is that if a person really does want to become a better artist, they have to be willing to do what it takes to get there.  So it’s not about being willing to draw one stick man, it’s about being willing to draw thousands of them in pursuit of the perfect stick man.

It’s obvious that I’m never going to be a really good at taking photos.  Sure, I’d like to take better snapshots, and over the past few years hanging out with a lot of photographers, I am doing that, but I have no illusion that I’ll ever have any real skill.  My heart just isn’t in it, and truth be told, learning the technical aspects of cameras, lights and equipment  just seems like studying for a math final to me, and I hated math.

Thankfully, I’ve already found my passion elsewhere, but there is still a lot I can learn from photographers.

I love looking at beautiful images and the artistry that photographers put into their work is not lost on me.  Some of my best friends and many of my favorite artists are photographers.  I don’t need to understand how Andrew Zuckerman does what he does to know that I love his images.  Same applies to the work of  Jill Greenberg, Joe McNally, and Moose Peterson.   I know that if you click on any of these links right now, I’ve probably lost you, and I can’t fault you for that.

As a painter, I have learned a lot from photographers.  Images are images, and often, many of the things that contribute to making a great photograph will apply to illustration and painting.  Composition, lighting, texture, atmosphere, and the things done in post processing, all of these important elements directly translate to the work I do.

With that in mind, I’ll often buy books written by photographers, especially if they’re more about how to take a good photograph, rather than how to use the equipment.  Additionally, I’ll buy books about the business of photography as it is very much like the business of illustration and painting.  We show our work in galleries, we work on commission for clients, we deal with the same copyright, licensing issues and agreements.  The talent and skills required may be different, but the disciplines are similar.

What I often learn most from these books is how much more I’ve yet to learn, and I expect that will always be the case.  What I find most fascinating is that the philosophy and dedication required to be a successful photographer is the same as any other creative and artistic profession.  There’s a lot to learn from other creative professionals, especially if they’re working in an entirely different field, because it forces you to consider another perspective.  A musician will have something to teach an actor, an actor will have something to teach a photographer, and a photographer will have something to teach a painter.

I’m currently reading two books on photography right now, and am enjoying them very much.  I’ve had the pleasure of taking a couple of classes from Scott Bourne at Photoshop World, and recently did some caricature work for Moose Peterson, so I was eager to get their books.  Not only is there valuable insight and information in both of them, but as expected,  some beautiful images, too.

Now you can go back and click on those links. 🙂

 

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Titus

This painting was finished in mid-August, but I couldn’t post it until today.  The client had it done to give to her sister for her birthday this past weekend.  I had a lot of time to work on this, as it was ordered early in the year, so it was a long deadline, which is a rare but welcome thing.  It was printed and stretched on canvas at a size of 12″X16″.

Titus is an interesting story.  He passed away last year at the very ripe old age of 24, which is VERY senior for a cat.  Apparently he lived a great life, was a home and shop cat for their printing company and very lovable.  Having lost one of our own cats earlier this year, I’m recently acquainted with the pain of that loss, and was actually going through it while working on this one.  This gift was a very special one and I worked long hours on it.  The client was very happy with the final result and told me that her sister was as well, so that makes me happy.

Some challenges on this one.  While I had a LOT of reference photos to choose from, they were all low-res in an online photo album.  Basically no detail shots to work with at all.  The client couldn’t very well ask her sister for better photos without giving away that a gift of some sort might be in the works.  So I just had to work with what I had.  On my DVD for painting, I talk about different tricks to make less-than-great photos usable for reference and I had to use them all.  I found myself looking at my own cat for some of the more detailed fur and features, even though her colouring is completely different.  It worked, though.

I gave her the option of my usual caricature style or the more portrait style that I did of Don Diego for my DVD.  I was a bit relieved that she chose the former, because even though Titus still doesn’t look really happy in this painting, it’s a lot better than any of the photos depicted.  Dogs seems to smile naturally, just because of the shape of their mouth and muzzle.  Cats, not so much.  They just don’t often look pleased, but that’s part of their attitude that cat people love so much.  Good thing they purr and can make their eyes seem three times bigger when they want something.

Titus apparently liked to sit in the ‘paper cage’, a really large recycling bin for a mix of scrap and shredded paper and the client thought he should be in that setting.  I thought it was a great idea, because it made it even more of a personal image.  Painting the paper was tough, because I still wanted detail so that it didn’t look muddy, but not so much that it took away from the cat, because he is obviously the most important part of the painting.  This is the reason I left out any text on the paper.

I enjoy painting commissions.  Unfortunately, because of the work involved, not everybody can afford to give such a gift.  I’m very aware of this when I create a painting, and try to put my best effort into each one of them.  This was no exception and I consider it one of my best pieces.

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Milestones

The past two months have been ones of reflection for me because it turns out that this is the 10th anniversary of two big events in my life.  First, my wife and I moved to Canmore from Banff in August of 2001 and we bought our first home.  And second, on September 20, 2001, The Rocky Mountain Outlook newspaper was born.  Were it not for that publication and Carol Picard, the editor and part owner, I wonder what I’d be doing today.

In 1997, I answered an ad in the Banff Crag and Canyon for an editorial cartoonist.  Figured it would be a fun weekly diversion, and for a few years, it was.  In 2001, I found out that a new upstart paper called The Rocky Mountain Outlook was in the works.  Cathy Ellis, a Crag and Canyon reporter told me quietly that she had been asked to join them and suggested they’d probably need a cartoonist.  Turns out that at that exact moment, I was having a heated disagreement with the publisher of ‘The Crag,’ so I was eager to jump ship.  After getting the gig at the Outlook, Carol asked me why I wasn’t syndicated.  Thinking I knew more than she did (which I did NOT), I said that it was pretty difficult to get signed on with a syndicate.  She waved that off and told me to do it myself, and then told me how.  The following month, I was a self-syndicated editorial cartoonist, even though I didn’t have any other newspapers yet.

Carol’s gotten a little tired of how often I’ve said ‘Thank You’ to her over the past decade.

The Outlook has been very good to me, and I’m proud to say that one of my cartoons has been in every issue since September 20, 2001.    The Outlook was started by Carol Picard, Bob Schott, and Larry Marshall and their blood, sweat and tears permeate the foundations.  Sadly, Bob and Larry passed away within months of each other in 2008, a devastating blow to everyone at the Outlook, and especially to Carol as they were all very close.  She retired from the Outlook in 2008.  Despite their absence, it is still very much the same paper, with the same staff, largely because Carol insisted upon it as a condition of the initial sale to Black Press.  It is now owned by Great West Publishing but still feels very much like the independent it once was.

The Outlook’s 10th Anniversary issue was published yesterday, along with a full colour magazine insert that reflected on the early life of this ‘little paper that could.’   The Outlook has eclipsed her competitors, who said it would fail in the first six months, and it is now the newspaper of record in the Bow Valley, while The Banff Crag and Canyon and The Canmore Leader struggle for relevance.  For you locals, read Carol’s article, “From Humble Beginnings…” in the magazine insert and you’ll realize just how much they went through to create the paper the entire valley reads every Thursday.

The magazine turned out really well.  When they were planning it, I was asked to do a large cartoon two page spread for the centerpiece, a timeline of major events over the last year.  While it looks like the whole thing is my creation, it was very much a collaborative effort.  From a number of people choosing which events to chronicle to the Outlook design team who put it all together, and most importantly to Natalie Talbot who took my cartoon scenery painting and collection of little cartoons I drew for the events, and turned it into the finished work you see here.  She did a fantastic job and in my opinion, her signature should be on it as well.

A few of the staff bugged me last night because I didn’t want to have a chronicling of my cartoons from the early days included in the magazine.  I can admit that my reasoning was purely motivated by ego.  I don’t like looking at my earlier work because I didn’t draw very well.  In retrospect, I probably should have allowed it, because showing the work I did then beside the work I do now only proves what I always say to students and fledgling artists.  If you practice and put the time in, you can’t help but get better.  Talent will only take you so far.  You only improve through hard work.

So here is the first cartoon I ever did for the Rocky Mountain Outlook on September 20, 2001, beside the one I did for the 10th anniversary issue this week, September 22, 2011.

There was a great party last night at The Cellar Door in Canmore, which then spilled over to the Iron Goat, attended by supporters, advertisers, as well as current and former staff.  A lot of laughs as we talked our way through the years.

The last ten years have been some of the best of my life, and I’m grateful for all of the opportunities that have been presented to me.  The person I was then would be pleased with where I am today, and through all of it, there was a weekly cartoon for the Outlook.

So Happy 10th Anniversary to the Rocky Mountain Outlook and I’m proud to have been a small part of her beginnings.  And because it can’t be said enough…Thanks, Carol.

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Sometimes it’s personal.

Just returned from a quick trip to Red Deer (only a 2.5 hour drive) to see my folks and deliver a painting of their dog, Bailey.  I’ve been wanting to paint this for two years and finally forced myself to make the time.  Since I don’t think I could have done as good a job of it then as I’m able to do now, I’m glad I waited.  This was for my Mom’s birthday in July, but just like most mothers, she forgave me that it was late.  Thanks, Mom!

Both her and my Dad loved it, and it’s hanging in a prominent place where they can show it off and brag about their kid that draws and colours pictures for a living.  Funny, how it’s OK  now, but it wasn’t when I was drawing during high school chemistry.  Sounds pretty hypocritical to me.

A heart-stopping moment when I revealed the painting, though.  I set it down on the ottoman to take it out of the plastic, and Bailey proceeded to jump on it, sliding and scratching with her claws, right in the middle of the canvas.  Fortunately, the plastic protected it and there was no damage.  But for a moment, I thought I was going to have to reprint it.  Still can’t decide if that was her way of critiquing my work or not.  Maybe it’s because she just had a haircut and the painting doesn’t reflect that.  Everybody’s a critic.

When you’re a freelance artist, you end up with a unique ability to create gifts that most people can’t.  The downside is that you’ll often get friends and family asking you to paint or draw something for them that you really don’t have time to do.  You have to develop a thick skin when it comes to these requests.  In a perfect world, I’d be happy spending my days creating paintings for loved ones, but then I’d be homeless.

The same thing applies to giving discounts.  There is a big difference between your Aunt Edna who owns a pet food store giving you bags of dog food at cost, and your Uncle Joe who is a mechanic working on your car for free.  Edna doesn’t lose money on the deal, whereas Joe does, because what he is selling is his skill and his time.   The same thing goes for being a freelancer.  When you’re not working, you’re losing money.

So while there are favors that I will do when I can, it’s taken me a number of years to develop the most important skill of all, and that’s the ability to say No.  That doesn’t mean you never do the freebie jobs for people, it just means that you are very selective about them.  When the Bow Valley SPCA calls for artwork, I try to do whatever I can, because I believe in the work they’re doing.  If I can offer a discount to friends or family on commissioned work, I will try to do so as well, but not often.

Freelance is a tough gig, and you need to be ready for those that don’t understand that.  I’ve been called selfish more than a few times because I didn’t put a ‘friend’s’ free cartoon ahead of a paying gig.  Most of the time, the request is for something they feel will be ‘a quick job’ but will actually take me three of four hours.  And of course, they needed it yesterday.  If you don’t value your own work, nobody else will, either.

So when I do make the time to paint something personal, especially if it’s for a gift, it means a lot to me because it’s a rare thing.  This painting of Bailey is one of my favorite pieces, and I thoroughly enjoyed working on it, because she is a wonderful dog with a great personality and she makes my parents really happy.

It was a real joy to see my folks stealing looks at it all evening on Tuesday, telling me how much they loved it.  More than anything, I hope it reminds them on a daily basis that I wouldn’t be doing what I love for a living if it wasn’t for all they’ve done for me.

As for the dog, she didn’t give it a second glance.

 

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Thoughts on Photoshop World

Spent last week in sunny Las Vegas at Photoshop World.  Thankfully, Las Vegas is also air conditioned, as this resident of the Great White North is not a fan of excessive heat.  Nothing more Canadian than whining about the weather, eh?

While the conference was at the Mandalay Bay conference center, I did actually venture out this year a few times.  Even managed to get to the other end of the Strip on the second day to try out indoor skydiving.  I would do that again in a heartbeat, as it really was a lot of fun.

While I was honored to be a finalist in the Guru Awards illustration category again this year, I didn’t bring home an award.  Hey, can’t win them all, and even if I had been fortunate to win again, it wouldn’t have been able to live up to last year’s experience which really did open a lot of doors for me.  Keeping them open, however, is now up to me.

Photoshop World is a mixture of education, networking (yeah, that word annoys me, too), and socializing.  This year, I managed two of the three fairly well, so I’ll touch on each.

The social aspect of this conference is always a good time.  Throughout the year, I regularly communicate with other creatives through email and social media, attend some of the same online webinars and events, and share information on the NAPP forums.  This is the one time of year I get to see many of them in person, some of whom I consider good friends.  There is a lot to be said for hanging out with other creatives.  You find out that many of the problems and challenges you face on a day to day basis as a freelancer are shared by people of similar professions.  And often, they’ve come up with solutions and workarounds you might not have considered.

Getting out of the office is always a good idea, too.  So many of us are workaholics most of the year, which is likely why there are so many parties, dinners, and social events at this thing.  It’s the only time most of us allow ourselves the luxury.  We shared some great meals, a few drinks and a lot of laughs.

Networking was a big focus for me this year, and while I did accomplish a lot in that regard, I really didn’t need five days to do it.  I could have packed in all of the people I wanted to talk business with over the course of an afternoon.  I’ve been working with PhotoshopCAFE on the DVD’s for almost a year now, but had never met the owner, Colin Smith, in person.  So it was good to have some face to face conversation, discuss how things were going with the current titles and throw around some ideas for future ones.

I enjoyed meeting the folks from Wacom in person, as I would like to build on my relationship with the people who design and promote what is easily my favorite line of products.  Was able to try out the new Inkling as well, but more on that later in the week.

There was a client meeting that went very well.  I presented sketches, the client was pleased, and I was able to get a better sense of direction and toss around some ideas.  I’ve always preferred to do that in person, and unfortunately, I rarely get to do that as most of my client communication is online or on the phone.

I had a few great ‘hall talks’ as I call them.  Easy to figure out, a hall talk is running into somebody in a corridor somewhere and before you know it, you’re having a great conversation.  Most of these talks have revealed valuable information, but more often the real benefit is getting to know somebody a little better and building on a professional relationship.  It has been my experience that this sort of thing often yields future opportunities, most often ones you likely never see coming.

Finally, there’s the education aspect of Photoshop World.  This year, I’m sorry to say, this part fell flat for me.  Talk to a photographer this week, and I’d expect many to have glowing reviews about the experience, because this really was a photographer’s conference this year, and I’m not the only one to feel that way.

I thrive on learning how to be a better artist.  I’m hungry for it, because I know that there’s always room for improvement, so I actively seek out people I can learn from.  There just didn’t seem to be any of that for me this year.

While it’s true that I’ve learned a lot from Bert Monroy‘s classes over the years, I’ve firmly established my current style and it’s very different from his.  So while I’ll always be a big admirer of his skill and talent, and I continue to enjoy his work, I don’t learn a lot from him these days that will further my own illustration and painting.  Faye Sirkis is a photo painter, or at least that’s what she’s teaching at Photoshop World, and regular readers will know that I have no interest in painting over photographs.  Finally, there’s Corey Barker who is very skilled and talented when it comes to Illustrator and Photoshop, and he’s doing some really great groundbreaking stuff with 3D, but again, it’s on a completely divergent course than the one I’ve charted.

So it can be argued that perhaps I’m looking for something too specific to expect it to be offered at a conference that can’t possibly please everybody.  It could also be argued that to offer advanced digital painting and illustration classes would alienate too many people who are trying to learn the basics.  Both are good arguments, and I can accept them.  That being said, I did talk to a number of other designers and illustrators that felt excluded this year, and some of them either won’t be back, or are on the fence about it.

This is a tough economy for any business, and if Photoshop World’s curriculum has been skewed more toward photography because that’s what the majority wants, I can accept that as well.  An event like that needs to attract vendors, sponsors and attendees, and in a perfect world, everybody would be happy.  But we all know that we don’t live in that world.

It’s unlikely that I’ll return to Photoshop World next year, although I still believe the event is very worthwhile if you’re a photographer.  The instructors are some of the nicest, passionate and knowledgeable people you’d ever want to learn from, and it’s an environment that promotes positive growth.  As a courtesy, and because I have little tolerance for the ‘online drive-by,’ I expressed these thoughts to the good folks at NAPP in an email earlier this week, before posting them here.  It should be noted that I’m being specific to Photoshop World here, not NAPP.  I value my membership in that organization a great deal and will continue to do so.

As a freelancer, you really do need to be constantly training, not only skills and techniques, but in business.  Setting aside money for that training is often a difficult task, and it means excluding events that aren’t going to propel you forward.  While Photoshop World has done that for me in recent years, especially last year, it doesn’t appear that it will continue to do so.   There are at least three conferences I’m considering next year, and while all of them would likely be a good time socially, I’ll attend the one that will make the most sense financially, the one that will move my business and career forward.

Unfortunately, as much as I’ll miss the experience, it’s unlikely to be Photoshop World.