Quality Takes Time

Quality takes time. Over time I have become a slower artist than I used to be, but I am also a better artist than I used to be. I've worked hard to grow my talents, and as they grow, I see things that I didn't see before. I pick up the things I missed, and with every new work, I learn more and grow more.

This is one reason why I started posting pics online as I work on them. Sometimes 4 hours of work creates very subtle differences, as I focus on one color or highlights. Inevitably my husband will ask me "is it done?", and I will answer "no". He will say "it looks done to me. It's done enough for what you are getting paid." But quality takes time and I don't want to sign my name to it if it's not quality. There have been deadlines I've powered through to get done in time, and it shows, in a bad way. If it's meant to be quick and sketchy like storyboards, that's different. It's meant to be quick and tell a story in small frames and it's an art unto itself. However Leonardo da Vinci took 10 years to finish the last supper. A masterpiece takes time. 

"You can have it fast, cheap, or good ... but you can't have all three at the same time."

I fear that our "I want it now" society of fast food and shows on demand has lost sight of what it takes to make something of quality, because to them, they just get what they ask for and never see the prep work that went into making it happen. Unless it's in their face, they don't think it's happening. They think because they don't see you working, that you aren't working. This seems to especially apply when you are self employed and your work days are very different from the norm. Even though they've never done anything like it themselves and have no concept of the amount of work it entails, if they don't see it happening, then it doesn't exist to them. In similar fashion this same mentality of "I want it and it appears", doesn't seem to grasp working toward goals. They see success and wealth and are jealous. Instead of thinking "how did they do that?", they think that the person is just lucky, because they don't see the sacrifice and tears that came before the success. It is fundamentally short sighted.

All this is to say that anything in life that is quality takes time to make it that way. Relationships don't just happen and are perfect, they require time and work. If that isn't there, you're going to end up with poor quality, even if it started out great. All these talents that you see in other people and admire, they rarely just happen. Often they are a byproduct of a lot of work, trying and failing, lots of frustrated sketches in the trash bin, and full sketch books dating back years. Other talented people take years of training, research, and work to break boards, pirouette, write a novel, put together an event, fix a car, perform in film, or make anything that can be considered quality. 

Too many people today want a short cut, and want it now. They don't want to hear that there is no short cut, only hard work. Look at George RR Martin who has been writing the Song of Ice and Fire series since the 90s. Now that it's become a hit show, people demand the next book NOW, to the point that the actor who plays John Snow spoke out against the harassment the writer is now receiving. Those first books that everyone loves now, have been around for years and were made with all the quality that makes us fans. And suddenly he is being pushed to write faster than he ever has before, while he's added show consultant to his job load, which can only extend the time to make another book. 

"George R.R. Martin is not your bitch!"

Yeah, it's work, but when it's your passion, most artisans and creative people are workaholics concerning that passion. There's really very little else they would rather do, and are rarely happy when prevented from pursuing it. So the extra work is welcome because it's what we love! Perhaps as kids writing fanfic, it doesn't seem like work or practice writing, but it is. Just because it's fun doesn't mean it's not work or practice. With every new work, there's an opportunity to learn and grow and try something new. Every failure is a learning experience and an opportunity to start new or change your approach. It's a chance to make something better and have something better, when so much is expendable in the "want it now" society. And it's that passion for creating that creates the things we love. It applies to life on many levels. That happy couple in their 60s is the byproduct of lots of work over lots of years. People build careers, skills, relationships, and talents one step at a time. No one starts at the top, not even "naturals". 

Ultimately, I think that old adage of "anything worth having is worth waiting for" is wrong. "Anything worth having is worth working for" ... and quality takes time!

Writers: How to Write an Art Order

So you've got a book, maybe even a series. You've mastered the art of creating fiction and telling a compelling story. Now you are searching for an artist to bring those words to life in a new media for illustration or cover art. However this is an art form in and of itself. It's not the same as writing fiction, so allow me to illuminate my fellow creatives on how to communicate with your artist effectively without frustrating them.

Common Mistakes Authors Make Writing Art Orders!

1. Sending the artist the story, book, or series and expecting them to mine it for images.

You've got books conveying all the information you think will be useful for character development and portrayal, so naturally you want the artist to read them to get the correct interpretation of your vision. This is one reason publishers tend to do this step, because they're good at it. They've got editors that all they do is read all day. Artists don't have time to read all day, because they need their eyes for other things such as art. As nice as it is to have an artist who is acquainted with the stories, it's just unrealistic to expect them to drop everything and read a novel.  This is a job, and throwing too much information at an artist to sift through for what they actually need bogs down the process and takes more time, time they could use to be making art. Time, that you will undoubtedly be wondering "what's taking so long?" This is why you write an Art Order, because that's what you are doing, ordering art. You've commissioned someone to do a job and they need clear, concise descriptions of what you want in order to provide what you want.

2. Assuming the Artist knows your character as well as you do.

I've worked with several wonderful writers that leave out key details in their descriptions. This results often in either having to take time to read the writer's mind or starting over when the author finds something wrong. I've had authors forget to tell me the character is undead or describe a creature but never tell me what it is in D&D terms. This isn't prose, it's a bullet list of descriptors. If you are describing a person and they remind you of Angelina Jolie or Nathan Fillion, those are huge clues to the type of face you want. Remember to include things like hair and eye color, body type, hair being curly, straight, or wavy, and other things to help the artist make this image more like a real person with as few setbacks as possible. It also helps to know tips to the character's personality such as stubborn, shy, strong, frail, and other such very visual cues. This is information that doesn't need to be a page long, but a paragraph or two. What do they do? Are they good or evil? All important information that can be reduced to short bursts of relevant information, without wading through superfluous words to get to it.

3. Constant Revisions

The side effect of not being able to give clear concise Art Orders means Constant Revisions, which is a waste of both of your time. It is a byproduct of the author not knowing what they want, indecisiveness, or unable to clearly express what they want. This is a good way for an artist to drop the job or not want to work with you again, when there are other clients who know what they want and can express it. Don't be surprised if you get charged for the revisions, because it basically means twice as much work and headache for the artist. If you don't know what you want and can't express it, wait until you can to hire an artist and do everyone a favor.

4. Expecting a Working Artist to be only working on your stuff.

Artists are jugglers and can often work on multiple projects at a time. I often switch paintings when I need to let one dry, or take on new jobs while working on others. Instead of poking the artist and distracting them from working, set a deadline with your artist within reasonable parameters of their schedule and let them work. Set a time for a preliminary sketch to be approved to allow for revisions, and then a time for the finished piece. THEN you can harass them, but you will find that you and the artist are far happier with the working relationship. Establishing realistic expectations is key.

Writing your Art Order: Information the Artist Needs to Proceed

To give you an idea of what needs to be given, I will provide an example in italics underneath.

1. Color or Black and White?
This is important because color is twice as much work
Color Oil Painting

2. Output Size
How big is this going to be printed? If it is going to be small, then it will require far less detail than a cover piece, and the artist can adjust their project appropriately.
Cover Artwork 16x20inches

3. Setting (if applicable)
Before the actors come on, you need to set the stage. Are we Pre-Industrial, Medieval Fantasy, or on a distant planet. Is it in the mountains, in an inn, or the ruins of an ancient castle. Where is the action taking place? The artist doesn't need a map of the whole world, just a snapshot of where things are taking place now. If you use a character's name, be sure to name them in the description of the character, so the artist knows who you are talking about.
Medieval Fantasy, low-magic world. Daenerys is in the desert at night surrounded by burning embers from a funeral pyre on which she did not burn. She is naked and covered in ash but otherwise unharmed.

4. How many characters are in the piece?
Is this a cast of thousands in a huge war piece or an intimate and private moment between the two main characters.
One woman and 3 baby dragons who just hatched.

5. Who are the characters and their relation to each other. Why are they there?
Again not needing a novel, this can be as simple as a phrase like "astranged lovers", or "soldiers working together", "ship-mates", "rivals".  What do they do? Is one a wizard and one a warrior? Is one a cop checking out a crime scene? Keep it short, clear, and concise.
Daenerys is "The Mother of Dragons" She is a dethroned princess who has hatched the dragons from eggs, producing the first dragons seen in a hundred years. The dragon hatchlings look to her as their mother and she is caring for them as one.

6. Describe each Character Individually
Again, be clear and concise, this is not a story, but a description more like a character sheet than a short story.

• Name
  Daenerys Targaryen
• Gender
  Female
• Race, Species, etc
  Magical Human with the "Blood of the Dragon"
• Profession, Class, Archetype
  Displaced Princess of a medieval-esque kingdom and leader of a tribe of rough horse people akin to the Mongols. She seeks to restore her viewed birthright to the throne.
• Height, Build, Body Type
  Young, Early to Mid Teens, Slim, Attractive, recently gave birth
• Abnormalities, what sets them apart
  Immune to Fire, Driven Leader, Beautiful, Magical
• Hair Color, length, style
  Long wavy to straight white hair, worn in braids leaving long tendrils in the back
• Eye Color, Eye shape
  Large blue eyes
• Face Shape - Oval, Heart, square, etc...
  Attractive heart shaped face
• Person or character you can compare them to physically
  Emelia Clark
• Personality - stubborn, shy, strong, frail, etc.
  Fierce, Driven, Loyal, Compassionate, Brave
• Clothing Description - What are they wearing? Is there a necklace that means something?
  Dragons and nothing else
• Emotional state of character in the picture - Shock, awe, romantic, sad, angry
  Daenerys kneels in the pyre of her first love and so there is sadness, but also wonder and strength at surviving the fire and proving herself to her people by hatching her dragons.
• Style
  I would like it to be done in the style of Larry Elmore

7. Theme - What's the message?

Are you trying to say anything with this piece? Is it portraying the theme of a story about redemption, vengence, etc.
It is a picture telling of things to come, Daenerys like a phoenix rising from the ashes to take her place as queen with the help of dragons, and the rebirth of magic into the world.

8. Remember that you get what you ask for! 
If you don't tell your artist that the main character's left side of his face was burned in a fire, then don't be surprised if he doesn't look like it.  Anything not falling under these suggested descriptors but important to the character should be shared from the beginning.
Picture should be from the side with strategically placed dragons to conceal breasts and naughty bits.

I hope that this blog has helped you understand a little better on how to communicate what you are looking for to your artist. It didn't not require every book George RR Martin wrote to convey this image, and yet still provided enough information to get the job done. If you hope to continue writing and working with artists, then I hope that this information will help you establish a solid working relationship with your artists.

Below is an excerpt of an Art Order from Margaret Weis Productions with the finished piece.

Dragonlance: Dragons of Krynn

Product Specs: 

Title: Dragons of Krynn

Line: Dragonlance

Release: July 2007

Format: 160 page, full color interior, hardcover book

Art Dimensions:

1/2 page vertical = 3.125” by 9.25”

1/2 page horizontal = 6.5” by 4.25”

1/4 page = 3.125” by 4.25”

Total Page Count: 16 pages of art

All illustrations are either 1/2 page vertical, 1/2 page horizontal, or 1/4 page pieces. 

References are as follows:

DLCS Dragonlance Campaign Setting

AoM Age of Mortals

WotL War of the Lance

BoK Bestiary of Krynn

BoKR Bestiary of Krynn, Revised

ToHS Towers of High Sorcery

WotL War of the Lance

HOoS Holy Orders of the Stars

LotT Legends of the Twins

KOoA Knightly Orders of Ansalon

RoA Races of Ansalon

All equipment references (armor, weapons, etc.) refer to Chapter 7 of the Player’s Handbook.

The following is the art order:

Illo #15: Amphi Dragon

Size: 1/4 page Location in book: Book 1, chapter 4

Two amphi dragons fighting underwater with one defending a ship wreck that it claims as its own.  Description: This aquatic dragon resembles a giant, sea-green toad covered in scales and yellow warts. It has no visible neck, and its wide thick-lipped head looks like a cross between a frog’s and a dragon’s. Small vestigial wings grow from its back, and bony ridges protrude above its eyes and down its spine. Its long, clawed feet are powerful and webbed, aiding it in underwater movement.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Building depth on unfinished artwork.

One of the things that I often see in students is a lack of depth. Their drawings are rather flat and lacking that 3 Dimensional quality that comes from the push and pull of highlights and shadows. Without those extreme lights and darks all the mid tones wash out and the image becomes rather flat.

I remember being the same way when I was younger and getting the same admonition from my college Art teacher. Making those dark marks feels so permanent, and not making them is basically a lack of confidence and commitment. I was afraid of the dark.  I was afraid it would mess everything up if I went there. Afraid that it would ruin everything.

There are so many parallels that can be drawn between art and life, such as seeing things as they really are instead of how you think they should be. This is an excellent parallel to psychology. Many people are afraid to look deep within, and face their darker qualities or accept that it's there at all. That fear of the dark can create many personality disorders. It's one of the cores of Borderline Personality Disorder as well as a core component of Narcissism, where it's always the other person's fault and the narcissist will go to great lengths to defy and deny reality to convince themselves and others of this. Both will attack someone who may point out the darkness that they are so keen to deny rather than introspect and consider their own faults. The reason they attack is because it feels like an attack on the reality they constructed, much like references to trying to unchain someone from Plato's cave.

In artwork, establishing that darkness is important, but it has to be counterbalanced with light in order to truly be developed and not just a dark muddy mess. One does this with highlights, establishing the lightest lights.  After that, all else falls in the spectrum of mid tones of varying shades of light and dark, and truly gives the image its depth. Even without a wide range of mid tones, like drawing on toned paper with a white and black color pencil, it still has more depth than those afraid of leaving a mark.

One of the things about highlights in art, the whitest white will always be your light source, even if there is something else "white" in the picture, like a shirt. In fact when looked at more closely it is actually a light grey, blue, or yellow as opposed to white. When compared with the rest of the picture's colors it changes the way that it is perceived.

So it is also with the psyche, there's something in everyone that illuminates them and stands out. That is their inner light in contrast to their darkness, that sets the stage and spectrum for all else. It might be the divine within them or simply love, but it shapes and highlights the whole personality of the individual.

One needs to have a good grasp of both, a realistic perception of dark and light to put the rest into perspective. If not, someone afraid of the dark might start interpreting even light grays as black, unable to see the difference, or light grays as white instead of what they really are. This is also a symptom of narcissism which is extreme idealization and devaluation, along with other unrealistic perceptions of seeing someone as all bad or all good, unable to see the reality of a person or situation in its full spectrum.

If there's anything an artist can teach, it's that you can't create something new until you perceive what is really there. Only then can you alter it to improve it. To be able to draw realistically, you must first be able to see realistically. In order to cope with anything in life you have to be able to see it how it really is, instead of assuming. This comes with experience and observation, practice and perception, and self awareness. These are not only necessities in art, but in life.

Archer vs Escher

"Life of an Artist" 1999

Over the years, I've used Zazzle to provide products with my artwork on them that I normally could not afford to do. In the past couple years, my best selling image became T-Shirts featuring my image "Life of an Artist"(right) depicting a hand drawing a snake that is biting the hand that draws it.  The description for the image was as follows ...

"This piece was inspired by M.C. Escher and depicts the conflict within an artist to create, which is an integral part of an artists life, but at the same time, the road of an artist is a difficult one. The snake represents the bite of all the obstacles that prevent an artist from being able to support oneself with their art, keeping an artist the cliché of a starving artist. To give up art for money would be death to the soul, yet without money the artists cannot create. The catch 22 of being an artist, doomed to continue creating and continue starving."

This becomes rather ironic as earlier this week, Zazzle took down two of my best sellers, this one and "Fairy Fuzzy", which is a picture of my cat, Prince, with fairy wings, done in 2005 when he was still a young kitty and not the buddha bellied buddy that he is today.

"Fairy Fuzzy" 2005

Considering I have had multiple stalkers and harassers, that was my first inclination, to think that it was one of them when I received this message from Zazzle.

"Design contains an image or text that may infringe on intellectual property rights. We have been contacted by the intellectual property right holder and we will be removing your product from Zazzle’s Marketplace due to infringement claims."

Considering that both images are original creations of my own, I was perplexed. No one else held any copyright to these images, and I thought that it had to be one of harassers, because earlier that day I got more exposure than I have received in a long time. Jamie and Adam Posts on Facebook, shared my image that I did of them Steampunked. They are well aware of this image, because in 2010 I won the Superfan Sweepstakes that paid my way to Comic Con San Diego where I got to meet them in person. I steampunked the build team as well, and Grant shared that image. When I met them all in person, I gave them the originals, and later asked if they minded me making prints, to which I got an instant confirmation of yes from Grant and Kari. Also Jenna Busch bought my Athena necklace (which she loves) at Comic Con, and mentioned it in  her show the same day.

So the moment that I got noticed for my art, I also got attacked.  When I called Zazzle about it, I waited on the phone for 30 minutes to be told they couldn't do anything, and I should email them, which I had already done without response. When I finally got the reply, it was a vague form letter that showed that they never even considered the images in question.

"Unfortunately, it appears that your product did not meet Zazzle’s Acceptable Content Guidelines. Specifically, your product contained content which infringes upon the intellectual property rights of the M.C. Escher Foundation and The M.C. Escher Company.

Zazzle has been contacted by representatives from the M.C. Escher Foundation and The M.C. Escher Company, B.V., www.mcescher.com, and at their request, to remove products which infringe upon their rights from the Zazzle Marketplace.

In this instance, the product contained search tags or descriptions that references M.C. Escher."

That's right ... my original work was removed because of the SEARCH TAGS.

In a way, I was relieved that it was not one of my stalkers, but at the same time, it seemed that Zazzle was not used to people questioning things. While Zazzle's terms of service gives them the right to decide in these situations, even if they didn't even take a moment to realize that the tag on the second image was because of AUTOFILL! 

Zazzle only requested that I resubmit without those tags, which ate up a day of work that I needed for other projects that I was not able to work on, because of this issue, not to mention losing sales which I have a couple a day of that shirt, for the days that it was down. Not to mention that I had suddenly gotten for more promotion than I've had in a long time, ultimately cutting out several potential sales.

There are SEVERAL things wrong with the Escher Foundation doing this. 

1. The Ninth Circuit court, and the Supreme court have continually held that using Trademarks as a description is fair use. And specifically ruled that meta-tags are fair use.

2. M.C. Escher died in 1972. His heirs sold any rights to The M.C. Escher foundation long ago, so this is a business profiting on this with no association with Escher's actual bloodline.

3. This is the kicker. The M.C. Escher Foundation is based in the Netherlands. Their trademark was cancelled in the United States years ago, and his artwork actually falls under Public Domain.

4. You cannot copyright a STYLE! If you could, no one could even do stick figures. Apparently the Escher Foundation has also gone after other artists who have done original artwork with an oscillating pattern. While Escher made it popular, he did not invent it.

5. The artwork itself is completely original to me, and they have no right to impede my business for a search tag which in no way infringes on their Intellectual Property.

6. M.C. Escher is not Voldemort or "The-Artist-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named". Mentioning being inspired by Escher in a description is not an infringement. It is not illegal to be inspired by someone.

The Irony of the whole situation is that the image that started this was about how hard it is to make it as an artist, a sentiment that Escher himself would probably have appreciated. There are always people wanting to ride on the coat tails of others and profit off a talent they do not possess. These leaches have a habit of killing the golden goose when they get greedy, and make no mistake, this is exactly what has happened here. 

We are taking legal action in this case, and I hope that in the interest of artists everywhere, that we can raise the awareness that search tags are fair use and a common marketing practice. They are not an infringement, and to harass starving artists in such situations is nothing more than bullying smaller artists trying to make it.

The Flesh Mask

Dresden versus a Vampire - Skindeep
 Poster available 

In the Dresden series, the vampires often wear what is known as a flesh mask, while underneath they are horrible creatures made of nightmares and black goo.  Meanwhile the flesh mask is this beautiful exterior that is only skin deep.  However it's very powerful and influential on their prospective prey.

There are lots of people with flesh masks and while there may not be a literal oozing monster beneath their skin, there are many who are monsters inside.  Often these monsters are only looking skin deep themselves, focused on fleshly matters, largely unaware that there is much beneath the flesh mask as they often don't want to look beneath it in themselves.

As an artist, many people ASSUME that I'm a glutton for the flesh mask, and that what I find beautiful must be what I'm attracted to, but this is often projection of their own thinking.
What attracts me has little to do with the physical. In fact I've learned to avoid men who are classically handsome, because it tends to come with a lot of entitlement and narcissism, more so than in women who are constantly berated even when they are beautiful.  (But I still have a weakness for Dean in Supernatural - only human) Personally, I love brains... and not in a zombie eating them sort of way. My erogenous zone is my mind and emotions.  Pics of hot guys are boring, and leave me thinking... asshole... asshole... asshole... (Didn't like Dean or Aragorn at first glance - it was their manner that sold me) When I look at someone beautiful I think "I want to paint that", while those focused on flesh think "I want to have sex with that." It's disconcerting when people project that onto me, when it's not what's going on in my head at all. Likewise I can love someone and not have sex with them. I love my dog... I don't LOVE my dog. To me sexual attraction comes with emotional attachment.

Artists by nature attract people who are in love with their own flesh mask and want to be painted as they see themselves.  Photographs don't always cut it for them, because they often have things about themselves that they want to be better.  So the artist is left with the dubious task of reading their mind.  You draw someone as they are and the person complains it's ugly because they have freckles. Then you paint them without freckles or their lazy eye, and then they claim it doesn't look like them.  It's one of the many reasons why portraits are a pain in the ass. It is often the most in demand, but that check comes smothered in stress and picky narcissism much of the time. Not universally but enough to make you hesitate before taking the commission.

On the flip-side, I have known some beautiful people who were beautiful to the core, but could not see their own beauty.  When I look at them, I see not just their exterior but a beautiful heart.  I WANT to paint them, so they can see through my eyes how beautiful they are to me.  This is often why I have a select few models and I prefer to have ones that I like as a person.  Somewhat unintentionally how I feel about the person I'm drawing tends to come out in the final piece whether I want it to or not.  There are some lovely photos I've taken of people and never painted because they were just not good people, which became evident later. Some emotions get translated into lines on a subconscious level, and it just shows.  This is one of the reasons that illustration work often comes across as lacking, unless it's something I really enjoy like the Pantheon Card Game.  There's a big difference in projects that you are passionate about and those you are not.

There are so many preconceptions about being a fantasy artist.  Many believe you must be schizophrenic (not living in reality as opposed to multiple personalities which is another disorder.).  However that is more inclined to abstract artists than realists like myself.  There is a series of paintings by an artist named Luis Wain of cats. The more he fell into schizophrenia, the less that cat looked like a recognizable feline form.

Even when I paint or draw something that is fantastical, I still try to make it logically work.  It has to look like something that could exist with reasonable muscular and skeletal structure extrapolated from things that do exist already in nature.  You cannot have supernatural without an element of natural. It takes nature and then adds to it. I believe that it was Tom Clancy who said, "The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense." The same goes with artwork, and that is not created by a mind devoid of reason, but hard wired with it.  This was a frustrating quality to those who have tried to manipulate my mind and failed.

One of the projections of people in the flesh masks is that artists are promiscuous, drug users, and alcoholics.  While this may be true for some, it's a generalization. At conventions I tend to drink far more than I do at home, and I've seen that in other artists as well.  But since this is where people see us, they think this is an everyday thing, when in actuality it's more like a couple times a year. As for promiscuous, again that's a generalization.  Not that it isn't true of some, but personally I can count the number of people I've been with on one hand, while the people attributing this to me might need to pull out more digits, maybe some toes, and an abacus... to each their own.  As for drugs, although I advocate the legalization of pot, I have never actually done it.  My stance is based on things like the failure of prohibition, and that it only strengthens organized crime and it's not the government's right to protect people from themselves. I'd rather the government protect me from rapists and murders, than Shaggy and Scoobie Doo watching movies with a joint and cookies.  One is a threat to society. One is a personal choice, and I am proof that sometimes people can and will choose not to partake if it's important to them. I've been around it and said no... imagine that. God forbid we take personal responsibility... yeah, artists can do that too!  It's almost like we're real people!

Another misconception of those intent on flesh masks is a projection of temperamental responses. In general any expression of emotions is considered this, and instantly attached to an extreme even if it is completely within the parameters of normal emotional expression.  I am expressive, and I am emotional, because I am human.  The only real variable is the social expectations and social views being pressed on you constantly. How would you feel if you were constantly told that the labor you did was not worth paying for? Many artists would love to make minimum wage, but try to get paid and people balk or try to get it cheap from college kids. There's only so long that you can be taken advantage of that you don't start to stand up for yourself, and the moment that you do, you become the bad guy, difficult, or what-not. Often temperamental is a great way to justify marginalizing artists, and to not take them or their very valid concerns seriously.  Somehow because what we do seems enjoyable (even if it's hair-pulling stressful at times), it does not qualify to the population at large as genuine work, even though it's a specialized skill-set that the majority of the population cannot do. These workers wanting $15 an hour minimum wage ... what if they were told they should do it for free for the "exposure".  That would be absurd... but I've done jobs that when added up equated to $2 an hour, and people still didn't want to pay, because it took 2 weeks concentrated effort to do what they wanted me to do.  However if I said anything... labeled temperamental.  But with that income who can afford a lawyer to protect their interests?

One of the other drawbacks of being an artist is that it does require a certain amount of perception and emotional connection which is often a quality of empaths.  Empaths both attract and are the biggest threat to sociopaths. That core of what makes you able to create through understanding of nature and human nature, often also makes you a target for those adept at manipulating it.  Sensitivity which also seems to be a by-product or a driving force toward being an artist, for many artists, only worsens the potential for attracting users and obsessives. Not a quality for all artists, but even in those less sensitive, it still tends to attract a number of people wanting to ride on coat tails, and leech off success or potential success.

"Life of an Artist" ©1999 Lindsay Archer

At the end of the day, people try to dress artists in some social preconceived flesh mask, while often not bothering to get to know the person.  This can make artists fit the quintessential "misunderstood" perception, simply because many people aren't willing to try to understand. Meanwhile many artists are cognitive of masks and not fond of them.  Their expressions are often trying to remove those masks that much of the population adore, to see what's underneath, whether monster or beauty.  The flesh mask is all that is carnal: sex, physique, race, etc... it's all the superficial things that influence so much of us even subconsciously.  Meanwhile the core often goes overlooked.  That overweight man may not be a hunk, but he might be your soul mate, if you bothered to look beyond the flesh mask.  There are so many people who long to be good and are sucked into inherently bad situations because of flesh masks.  Those masks are the core of personality cults.  It all becomes about flesh: what you eat, how you dress, and other things that have little to do with the health of the soul.  So long as other people are making the call on what is good, people will contradict their own consciences to destructive means.  It takes something more than skin deep, but so many aren't willing to go there.  Even the people that I've known as self proclaimed "deep" people were skating the surface of carnal concerns. Often they were concerned about presenting a good flesh mask so that other people would think that they were good, while inside they were monsters.

I can't say that I've perfected it, but it's something I have observed and am reaching for in myself, meanwhile having other skins projected onto me in various patterns, instead of what's really there. Such is the life of an artist, trying to communicate that which we see and observe by shining our light, in a room full of people who hate the dark, while attracting moths, and hoping all the while that others are illuminated or will be as well. It's the only way to not have shadows, to shine.  It can't be hidden under a flesh mask. This makes you exposed or makes others want to cover it up, but it doesn't make it wrong. It's not an easy path or a popular one.

Does It Get Easier?

This is something I posted a while back, but felt the need to repost.

When I was young, I thought that if I worked hard and paid my dues, that eventually things would get easier/better. But the thing is, that work is just rewarded with more work. You may learn how to handle some things better, which can make things somewhat easier, but it seems that life becomes more challenging than less, even as you hone your skills, build your portfolio, the work load increases as you learn to do more and develop your talent. It takes longer to get your skills to the next level, and if you don't practice, you only end up sliding backwards. Aging is an additional drain on energy. Kids make things wonderful and complicated. It seems with every age there are some things gained and some things lost, as opposed to say an RPG where you ever increase levels and skills. Life is a give and take, and pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, isn't something found but built.

I took a lot of jobs for next to nothing in my youth, thinking that eventually better paying work would come. But in the end, I find that people just migrate to those they can exploit, and by giving your time and work away, you negate the good paying, career building work, not the opposite. Instead the byproduct is a social expectation to receive your work for free, to go to college students who don't know any better, or some softy that hasn't learned the value of their time yet.

When someone sees a price tag attached to a finished painting in the thousands or an illustration in the hundreds, they don't see the cost of materials or the fact that the artist is probably only making about $10 an hour off that painting IF it sells. Yes, that job may cost $800, but it also probably took 80 hours of my time to create it, and that doesn't count the booth fees, etsy fees, or other platforms to try and present it where people can purchase it.

People who would fight tooth and nail that workers be paid more for minimum wage will scoff at paying an artist for their time. Fundamentally this is a mentality that exploits artists on the grounds that it is a passion, but disregarding that it is also work. That's why it's called ARTWORK.

The problem is not only in the consumers but also the artists themselves. It's HARD to ask for money, because you know how they are going to react or you want to make someone happy. But ultimately by doing jobs for cheap, you could be using that time for something that pays, or at least doing something that you love that could pay off later in prints. 10 years down the road you will feel used and sad that you are scraping by, by not asking enough for your time. People expect you to give them a break or something for free, because you can just do it, or you can make another, and being an artist, I personally do it because I want to make other people happy with it. But I have had to learn to value my time, because so many people want to waste it. It's taken 10 years, and I still feel like a heel, but if I don't hold my ground, then I have no one to blame but myself.

My time is worth money and I have a skill that while not exactly rare, is very specialized, and I deserve more than minimum wage for my work. It may seem like a lot of money, but it was also a lot of work. If you wish to be paid for your time to do whatever you do, don't expect someone else, even if they are an artist, to not expect the same. You get what you pay for!

Becoming a Stereotypical Artist

Many people have assumptions about artists.  There's plenty of stereotypes out there, and like many stereotypes, it's society that pushes a group to fit the stereotype. Artists are seen as temperamental or the "starving artist", and there's a reason for that.  There are few professions, most of them creative in nature, that are treated with such irreverence for the artist's time and work. This is expressed by often being encouraged to get a "real job" or people just downright not wanting to pay for work.  Because it's something that you enjoy and an expression of self, many do not give it any value, which can make the artist themselves feel devalued.

Because this is an emotional topic, I'm going to get crude about it.  People act like you just ejaculate art onto the page in some sort of orgasmic mastrabatory session that takes as little thought as jacking off.  You enjoy it, so it should be free.  So if that is so, why do you pay prostitutes and porn stars for doing something "enjoyable". That's one of the bigger money making industries, so how does that work? The fact of the matter is that art is work, and it's specialized work.  Not everyone can do it.  People realize that art sells books, and turns print into something that people want to buy, but often are unable or more likely unwilling to extend future funds to the artist.  This is most infuriating when a writer does it, saying that they are doing all the work.  Why is one creative field seen as work and another not?

Doctors, lawyers, and social workers are not expected to get another job so they can "follow their passion", yet it's commonplace for artists to do so.  You would never ask a plumber to fix your plumbing "for the exposure" so he can get more plumbing work, but that is the way people treat artists.  Also artists in illustration are often paid for the job, not by the hour, so you could theoretically finish a project and be making 25 cents an hour, because there is no hourly minimum wage for artists.

This is why artists are broke... Run up credit cards to make it to a show, where you can sell your art.  Use money made from show to pay off credit cards, which may or may not be above the cost of going. Then realize you need to restock for next show, now having no money from paying off credit cards...  use credit card... repeat and cuss.

Do art for minimal money to get name out there, and then wait for people to actually pay promised money after art is done... and wait... and wait... start asking to be paid for work, because you run up credit cards just to eat because you didn't get paid.  Be made villain for asking to be paid. They turn to college kids for cheaper more ignorant artists.  College kids go through same process ... repeat.

Begin doing what you want to do now that you are a better artist.  People love it, but most people don't want to pay for it or can't afford it, so you do something else you have no interest in... and don't get paid... and prints don't sell.  Be told that illustration and realism is not art, while others devalue what you do because it's not a normal job. Watch artists with less talent sell crap because they are young and charismatic, while more talented artists starve because they are spending their time on perfecting their art. Grind teeth to bloody stumps... repeat.

Get a commission and the promise of actually getting paid, then they turn out to be the most micromanaging perfectionist on the planet.  They bring in other people and suddenly your art is being done by committee.  By the end, you've done 10 paintings and none were ever good enough. You've wasted so much time that when you do get paid, it doesn't cover the time wasted that you could have been using to do something that you enjoy that might actually sell. Meanwhile you've got an image that only the client could love, and you could not make and sell prints of to recoup cost.

Then you add that people who see money coming in at shows and think you have money because you work for yourself. Cue leeches. Cue debt.  Get rid of leeches, and be made villain.  Get labeled as temperamental artist.

Painting in public, something that takes concentration and works with an entirely different side of the brain than talking; however, people cannot help coming up to you and talking.  You may think that most of it is compliments, and no doubt they exist but more often than not you get some mother telling their 10 year old, "you could do that" or "you can barely see the numbers" or "what's that going to be?" or "You could do better than that"to someone else.  Seriously, next time, I'm bringing a pencil box and challenging the next person to a duel.  It's just plain rude.

Become sickly and unable to work, but can't afford health care, and suddenly all your patrons drop out because they are afraid you can't finish the job. Meanwhile people are waiting to bank on your work after you are dead, selling and trading art at much higher rates than when the artist was alive and actually could have used the money.  Now it goes to gallery owners and collectors, like some valued medieval finger bone of a saint for good luck.  Still I suppose that's better than no one wanting your art after you're gone.

I realize that some of these are just me, but I bet that most artists can relate to at least 50% of this.  It's a very rewarding career in so many respects, but often lacking in respect.  I've had people complain that I was just selling a piece of paper, to which I responded, then you will have no problem giving me those pieces of paper you call cash.  At the end of the day, value and power is where you assign it. It's a belief, and it's a common belief that art has little value.  To those who do value art, and are patrons of the arts, you are beyond value to us, even if you don't buy our art.  The sheer appreciation is of great value to us.  All artists can do is hope that there are more people out there who can learn to appreciate the hard work of another individual, even if it's not the same type of work that they do.  And maybe... just maybe give us a little bit of basic human respect... and then repeat it.

If any of this touched home, you might enjoy this 19 ways to make an illustrator grind their teeth to bloody stumps.

Marble Renaissance

When Pearl art store went out of business in Atlanta, I snagged the last marble I could get my hands on while there. After working with soap stone I felt a little more confident to tackle the classic carving stone that I had been wanting to undertake since I can remember.

My plan when I purchased the stone was to sculpt an angel to put on the grave of a very dear friend who passed. I miss statuary in graveyards, and one of his favorite works of mine was "Tears for the Lost".

Placing a table outside the booth where I would only subject myself to breathing in marble dust all day, I took hammer, chisel, and rasps to the stone. The hammer and chisel were new to me, though I had used a rasp on the soap stone. It felt natural though, and after two days of working from open to close on the stone at Renfest, the angel took shape, rendering these results.

Although it was time consuming work, the absence of color made it much easier to stop and talk to people coming by. I could not have done that while painting. However, now that I have gotten it home and am no longer limited to Renaissance means... I'm probably going to take a dremel tool to it!

Some observations about working in marble if you are considering it yourself. It's MUCH softer than I had first thought. With the exception of hitting a vein, it did not break off as easily as working with plaster. It was not quite like working with soap stone, but it was much easier than I anticipated. So if you are afraid of working with marble, don't be. There's a reason that artists preferred it!

New Year Oils in Progress

Two glorious days this week, I got to immerse myself in oil paints. As usual it always seems like I get more paint on me than the canvas. Two more pairs of jeans have been officially baptized into the world of art. Here are the in progress images of what I've been working on for your viewing pleasure...

One of the things that I do and why I have SO many unfinished paintings, is I rotate through paintings, working a layer on each one and then switching to the next and the next. This allows me to keep working while one is drying. It also prevents me from getting my hand in the paint and messing it up from dragging it across other wet areas, or getting bored and pushing it which usually ends up in a lower quality image.

The first painting is a portrait done from LockStock's Mucha reference pack. Lockstock is one of the amazingly generous stock photographers on Deviant Art who posts pictures for artists to use in their work. Learn more on her DA site at http://lockstock.deviantart.com/.

The next one, was a painting that I had been working on of Morgan le Fey. I was focusing on the sky at the time. Eventually the ground will be snow covered, and possibly the signs of battle will be evident around her.

Just in case you are curious, my daughter was not named after this particular Morgan, but she did inspire to keep going with this piece.

The next was a canvas that had been previously painted on, but as I was not happy with the original image, I took it and recycled it into this image.

It is inspired by my horse, Destiny, who died around this time last year. Although there is a little reference used on this image, it's probably a lot more free form, driven by the emotion of missing an animal that was closer to me than most people. Most of my adult life, she had shared with me. The figures are facing away from each other signifying the passing, but also, I used to hug her neck and lean on it. It always seemed like she hugged back by lowering her head, so in that respect it's just another expression of my love for her and how much I miss her...

This next image is a portrait of my dear friend Stacy, and is an experiment in texture. Using gesso and oils to create a tactile experience to the image, I wanted to express the rich nature of the image that I was going from.

First I did a layer with gesso canvas primer, blotting it on with a paper towel. Next a layer of oils was painted over the gesso and blotted to have the gesso show through. As this is an experiment, I'm not entirely sure how it's going to turn out. I'll be sure to post more pictures so you can see the results.

More pictures of the beautiful Stacy are available for other artists to use at my stock site http://linzstock.deviantart.com as well as many other images of other wonderful models available for use.

The last two are different ends of the spectrum of finished. The knight is nearing completion while the one on the right has just begun. The knight is painted from model Thomas Willeford who also posed as Thor for me. The woman on the right will be the norse goddess Freya. She still needs her feathered cloak.

Often I start off most oils in this fashion. It starts with a pencil drawing then rendered in black and white with black gesso paint / acrylic and then painted over with the more opaque oils. It helps the under layer to shine through as a guide.

2010

This new year, I spent ringing in while drawing. So I hope that is a good sign for 2010. No mystery that I've been frustrated by the lack of creative time since becoming a mother, but I'm hoping that soon once I kick the Christmas crud out of my system, I'll be burning the midnight oil on some more creative endeavors.

The easiest medium to clean up, pick up, and put down if need be, has been colored pencils. Although it lacks that velvet touch that I so love with oils, or the texture of watercolors, I'll just have to make due.

In this case, while rearranging the studio I found lots of things that grew legs over the years. The stack of unfinished art is still intimidating, but the oils will have to wait. I found this watercolor from 2003 that was yet unfinished, and decided to give it an upgrade with color pencils. Obviously it is far from finished, but hopefully I'll be able to put something out soon, and won't feel so frustrated by the lack of new art.

Among the great finds was the long lost sketch book with my Ik pics. I'm excited to be able to be able to finish those off. If you liked Snuzzles and Drat, then you will be pleased with these. They exude all manner of cuteness.

I am on a mission to finish all my old pieces before starting anything new, which is driving me nuts as I have one oil painting wanting to virtually explode out of me, but it will have to wait. Maybe it will just encourage me to work faster.

The other thing I found was a stack of discontinued prints, that I am matting for sale at the GA Renfest. The show schedule is a little up in the air, but I don't have to pass jury for Dragon Con after winning an award, and I am pretty well locked into GA Renfest from here till Doomsday.

Sculpting Experiment Continued

Saturday was my Sister in Law's birthday and Sunday was my Mother's. Needless to say, I didn't finish the sculpture in time, but Sunday I did get another 2 hours work done on it, and my mother revealed that it was for my SIL, who then became enthusiastic and my brother insisted that "I had found my medium" and "should do more of these". I have to say in the realm of not dealing with color it is kinda easier, although time consuming. Something about it is therapeutic though. It's very relaxing to sculpt, and Buddy Bear was such a good model on Sunday.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures. Although I did bring my camera... I forgot the memory card. So there are also no pics of Morgan dressed as a butterfly on Halloween, albeit she was not very happy about it. I'm sure Halloween will be more fun for her next year :)

Well, I'm not done with the sculpture project yet and I have one more soapstone block, and alabaster block, and 2 pieces of marble left to sculpt. So far from finished! Also I have a big block of ... I think sandstone?

In the meantime, I have gotten an early Christmas of a Wacom board and am getting used to it. It's still making me want to get my fingers in the paint, but I'm quickly getting addicted to not having to a CLEAN medium. Now I just need some sort of tablet that I can paint on like a wacom board but some iPhone function so I can use my fingers to smudge the paint. Too bad I don't have millions of dollars to produce an art tablet.

Stone Sculpting Experiment

With my mother and husband watching my baby on a quiet Saturday afternoon, I had a chance to pull out the before mentioned sculpting kit that I had purchased at Pearl in Atlanta. It came with two rasps, sand paper, polishing oil, and three stones. Two of the stones were soap stone and the third was alabaster. The alabaster I decided to save for a project after I got things down with the soap stone. In addition, there are two pieces of marble that I bought, waiting to be carved (in memory of two dear friends) when my skills improve. Marble is freaking expensive, so I don't want to mess that up.

Four hours this Saturday, I spent sculpting a piece of green soap stone. This was my first time working in stone although I have carved other materials in the past. In college, I carved plaster for a class and discovered afterwards that I should have been wearing a breathing mask and should not have been doing it in a small dorm room space. That did not turn out so well, so I was sure to secure my mask and took a spot on the porch in the sun outside my parents house.

At first, I was going to attempt to carve from a photograph. The subject was my brother and sister-in-law's dog, Buddy Bear. He is an Australian Shepherd, very handsome animal (first picture at the top), and beloved of his owners. Thus why I was attempting to sculpt him for my sister-in-law's birthday on Halloween. Obviously I'm not worried about her reading my blog ;)

The photos weren't cutting it though, and when my sibling and sibling-in-law decided to venture forth to acquire food, my father helped me borrow Buddy Bear until they returned. Unless you know my family, that probably sounds a little more insidious than it actually was...

Most of the afternoon, was nice and warm, but my model got less and less enthusiastic, even after being treated to a piece of cheese. There's only so much a dog can take, I suppose, and it was taking an awful long time to shape, with fine soft sparkly dust, wafting about on the porch. Ultimately I had to give up on the project until I could find another stretch of time and a babysitter.

Sculpting took a very long time with carving, much longer than sculpting with clay, but it was certainly easier to work with than carving plaster or wood. I did not have to worry as much about pieces chipped off while I worked under and around crevices.

After oiling the stone a bit to see what it would look like when done, I felt like it looked more like a bear than a dog. Some people might even call it done at this stage, but what's the point of doing something if you aren't going to do it right? So hopefully in the near future, I'll have a chance to play with it again. I do have several other pieces of stone in need of work.

Also, today, I finally got my Wacom tablet! I have not played much with it yet, but might actually have some time this evening if Morgan doesn't stress her daddy out too much. Oh! Looks like email too! I might have to catch up on my word count quota!

Tomorrow

Since it's the weekend, I'm hoping to have a little baby-less time to attack that sculpting project that I mentioned before. My mother and sister-in-law's birthdays are both fast approaching, so they are going to be the inspirations for my first two stone sculpting projects. Both are tremendously difficult to shop for and thus tremendously difficult to figure out what to carve for them as well. More later!

Carved in Stone

This past weekend, a fellow artist friend and I went shopping in Atlanta where we ended up at Pearl Art Store. I had seen this kit before and passed it by only for it to be out of stock the next time I came looking for this set. When I saw it again, I had to grab it.

I have sculpted before with clay and Sculpey, and even carved wood and plaster, but this is a brand new medium, one that I'm itching to try out. It comes with a mask though, so I'm thinking that this may not be baby safe, which will make this endeavor a bit more problematic.

Being a first time, this could result in epic failure, but hopefully not as bad as the trying to do body paint at 2 am at Dragon Con.

In addition to the starter kit, which I thought would be a great place to ... well ... start I also have two chunks of marble, so we shall see how it goes, and I will post the results success or fail.