Side B
After 3 days without coffee, I feel like I need a nap before the end of each of studio sessions.
Has there been any benefit from not drinking coffee?
Not that I can tell. I guess drinking coffee is a good habit.
Art Therapy
I spent 30 Minutes with an illustration mentor today. We worked out a number of issues that I was having challenges with. It was like Art Therapy. Here’s what we talked about.
Q: I have 2 styles, should I develop both?
A: I tend to try to keep sifting, I ask myself what can I get rid off. Melinda Beck has a number of different styles, she names them clearly on her website. Do you want to do that? What do you love?
Q: As I get more work, a lot of what I do cannot be shown on my socials. Putting work on social is how I got the work, so it does not feel smart to neglect that. Do you have any thoughts on that?
A: I’m in a similar position.
You could post some of the sketches you do. Your clients don’t know your sketches are for them.
You could set aside 30 minutes to an hour a day to feed the feed. Block it out as your creative time.
You could do a little quote or typography.
Q: Do you send a deck if it’s just a single image?
A: I never send work without a deck. An art director jumped on a thread on twitter and said he prefers a loose image so he can browse it on his phone. I don’t send a deck for him, I send it for me. I want my work to be reviewed with the proper attention. I want to serve my food on a plate. When they approve it or if they ask, then I send a single image. I might need to clean it up and flatten some layers.
"My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, greed, love, fear, environment, habit, and the worst of these tyrants is habit. Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits.” - Og Mandino
Thanks for sharing this, Adam. I'd like to understand more how do you work with an art mentor? Is it someone you know personally, and you guys decided to work together, or do you scour the internet to look for such a person? Thanks!
I think you can do several styles very well. I loved your black and white comic style - especially when you hand draw the type. It seems unfair to not be able to have several, like an author may have pen names.