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Mark Stock - Over 30 days ago
Hello Sherry, I've some time so I'm going to try and offer some suggestions for your daughter. You were originally asking for ideas to get your daughter into the work that I do. I have worked as an artist for over 20 years and done most things including portrait painting, animation, advertising and book illustration so the first thing I would say is trying different things is good, for many reasons. You may know that you want to be an artist but you don't always know what different areas of work might be available and that you might be better suited at illustration or have natural storytelling skills that might make you a better comic-book artist etc. You should be willing to try different things, especially early on in your career. For example, the animation industry might experience a boom one moment, only to suffer the next. It is essential to be able to adapt if you want to survive financially. Regardless of whichever route you might choose it is vital that you practice, fervently, religiously, especially drawing, every moment and every day. As well as draughtmanship it is important to learn color theory. You may be brilliant with a pencil and want to draw comic books but there will come a time when opportunties arise that require color skills and you want to be ready for ALL the opportunities that come your way. I don't need a formal art education although I'm sure it helps. A lot of really good artists are self-taught. I never had any formal training until I had been in the business for over 10 years and had already proven myself.
You can choose to work for yourself or seek employment with an art studio. I have done both and they both have pros and cons but the important thing to remember is that you don't need to follow a particular path. You can elect not to go to art school and decide to create your own market. You don't need to start off with a fixed idea. Be adaptable. Learn to be resorceful but above all cultivate a professional attitude.
So where do you begin to find work? There are more avenues to explore than I can possibly list here. In England we have The Artists and Writers Handbook, an anually published directory of publishers, art studios etc which I'm sure has a US counterpart. This, or a similar directory, is a good place to start with. Find all the publishers that produce illustrated books or magazines that you might be interested in illustrating for. Spend time at the newsagent or library and make a list of publications that include illustrations that you would like to do and then produce samples and build up your portfolio. When you have at least 6 really good pieces start mailing to art editors etc. Constantly work on your portfolio. Become interested in other artists. Try different styles. Experiment. Be at home with traditional media AND digital software.Get a blog up and running to showcase your art and attract a fanbase. Two of the people I used to work with at Warner Bros. have good blog pages ( check out Frank Espinosa's nuevomundi and Matt Cruickshank's crookieblog for an idea of what you can do although there are obviously many other artists who do the same thing ). Look into having your own website or find a site that allows you to show your work as in 'freelanced.com'. Be in love with your work. Make a lifestyle commitment. You were born to be an artist!!
There is so much I could say but it might be better to show me where your daughter is at and what she prefers to do.Then I can offer more specific advice. It would be good if you could put up her best work on freelanced and then I could comment. She would attract feedback from other people as well which is no bad thing.
If you have any questions then do ask, Sherry.
All the best,
MARK
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