about a year and a half ago, a friend asked me if i was interested in doing some illustration work. she had been talking to a design firm about illustrating an annual report they were producing and, though she wanted to do it, the timing wasn’t right for her and she had to bow out.(she is an amazing artist)
she recommended me to them, and despite our vastly different styles, the firm said heck yeah, we like your stuff (which was just personal work that i was posting on flickr, by the way).
so, i ended up illustrating this annual report for a non-profit that helps families with young children. one of their clients had a great story about how the agency helped turn her life around and the agency thought it’d be cool to include that story in the annual report.
i had never done any real illustration work until then, though i was pretty sure i wanted to.
and guess what? i discovered, during the course of the job, that i *loved* the process of working with a client to create pictures to illustrate their story.
from the initial conversation to the rough sketches to the collage illustrations to corrections to the finished project, i learned a ton & loved every minute of it.
there was even a surprise extra: they wanted portraits in my collage style of the agency directors. i don’t usually do portraits of real people, but i was intrigued and gave it a go. it was a blast.
i loved having someone else’s story and images to work with - it stretched my brain & my creativity in ways i had not experienced before. even sending the bill was cool.
later that summer, i did illustration work for something else entirely. art180 is a very cool org here in Richmond, Va - their mission is to create and provide art-related programs to young people living in challenging circumstances, encouraging personal and community change through self-expression.
every year, they put out a calendar as a fundraiser. the calendar is illustrated by a local artist and features quotes from the kids who take classes at art 180. i got to illustrate the 2012 calendar! what the kids say about how art affects them is pretty amazing and inspiring and it was an honor to be able to put images with their words.
i had a bit more creative freedom with the art 180 job. the director, a designer and i had a meeting to talk about the general concept and ideas we had. i made a sample and sent it in and we went with it. i decided to do colorful illustrations of kids doing creative stuff that embodied the words quoted.
in the fall of this year, they also released a set of notecards using the same images and quotes. i love the way the cards came out - the printing is awesome and vibrant, and the images are tightly cropped.
fun!
what a thrill it is to see my work on printed matter! i heart the whole illustration process and hope to have many many more opportunities to do it in the future.
i’m proud of myself for this work. i know that some folks might not like the idea of a client asking you to change something, or not love the way you executed something, but to me, that’s part of the fun. it’s a collaboration and a conversation.
one of my goals this year is to pursue more illustration work, and learn more about illustration, in general. so far, i’ve gotten lilla roger’s book I Just Like To Make Things. i highly recommend it. love her writing style and how she just breaks it down for you, in terms of what markets are out there and steps you should take to get your portfolio in order. if you are interested in art licensing at all, get this book. for real.
no giveaway today, but come back tomorrow for a wrap-up and one last chance to win something. it’s going to be good!
