I put this in the wrong place I think in Comments and Suggestions ! ack

I put this in a reply to someone in the monster challenge. Then I thought I'd post it here and put it up for addition. I know some of you really want to watermark your stuff and that's fine but remember to keep it small if at all during an interview. (NOT TALKING ABOUT ONLINE JUST IN YOUR BOOK). I'm listing it here. You don't have to agree with it. It's just what I was told during a big interview at a video game company for a "scrub artist"...people who clean up dirty sketches....so here it is...feel free to add to it...I'm sure many can benefit from WISE input.

"Hey Jack...and HEY Mitchell....I want this to be known to everyone here on this site. I CARLY MASON am very very very serious about the intellectual property of everyone's art...and I dO mean EVERYONE's art....yeah? I will NEVER violate in spirit or in act the ownership or rights to any property of any artist. I've had several art pieces stolen thru/out the years and I very much understand all hestiation from EVERYONE on this site. "

The Plain truth of the matter is though...your art is never really safe. Just isn't. I had a meeting once with an artist that used to draw for Hanna Barabara and Disney. They held an art director job at this video company I interviewed with to be a scrub artist (people who do clean up of other artist's work for animation) didn't get the job..howEVER....I saw STACkS..and I DO MEAN Stacks of portfolios' (books as we call them ) on his desk...and we talked about copyright stuff...he said and I quote...I'll never forget this "Carly...IF you want art directors to take a look at your portfolio...I'll help you develop it"..(mine was rather weak at the time) ...he gave me ten things you DO and you DON'T do in your portfolio/ book. I'll see if I can list them all here. But the BIGGEST thing was...well the TWO biggest things were these top two:

Do's and Don'ts for a good book

1) DO make your book as quick and easy to read as possible (art directors have about 15 to 20 seconds to look at samples and books they get

2) DON'T watermark your pics. just sends the wrong message...trust me on this

3) DO put your BEST stuff First AND LAST

4) NO SPELLING errors

5) DO have a good range of variety

6) DON'T lie on your resume..pad it or and this DOES happen...DON'T ever borrow someone eles's "book" even if they offer it to you for the interview. I have a good story about this if anyone feels like asking me later.

7) DO include sketches, thumbs, roughs, and comps...not JUST final comps

8) DON'T have a messy book...this includes keeping the number samples down to a nice minimum...remember they don't have a lot of time to preview it..they literraly can have hundreds of books / samples sitting on their desks. (I saw him toss like oh...fifty book in the trash just cause they were too big...didn't even bother opening them.

9) DO be UNIQUE....it's not enough to be a "good" artist...but be creative and unique in your work...grab the art director's attention. Say "LOOK AT ME...I STAND OUT"

10) DON'T be all serious with your work...put some fun and humor in there if you can.

 

I'm sure other people can add to this list. This is just what he told me. And this guy had/ has been in the business for over thirty years. Again...my fellow artists...go ahead and by all means put your watermark down in the bottom...but make it small and neat. You don't have to beat people over the head with your name. I see artists on here doing it...and that's fine for them...god bless them....just telling you what he told me and showed me. And no I didn't get the job but he took an hour out of his day to talk to me...that he didn't have to do :)

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Thank you to the Staff of IFX for this site, may the hair on the little hobbit toes never grow too high.

9) DO be UNIQUE....it's not enough to be a "good" artist...but be creative and unique in your work...grab the art director's attention. Say "LOOK AT ME...I STAND OUT"

10) DON'T be all serious with your work...put some fun and humor in there if you can.

 *prints out and makes into a fancy plaque with gold lettering*

 Even though I am purely someone who's at the learning stages right now and is working up I have to say this is something that I have noticed most what is wrong with a lot of artists, even in games, way too many are obsessed with 'realism' in their work, sod realism! As long as it is detailed and believable you can draw jumbled up letters and make them look like art! You aren't going to please everyone so you may as well please yourself when you draw!

 

Welcome and Hi Senra. Hmm...yes..yes you are right. Photorealism is but one way to show off your skill. It is important however. But not the end all to be all in a book. Really and truly....you need to custom make your book to your interviewer just as you would to with you CV. For instance, you wouldn't show borderline nudity and extreme violence of work in your book when applying as a "children's illustrator" . Not necessarily. You just need to be very wise about what you include. That's why it's very important if you're going to be going into the illustration field to have a vast variety of "tools" to choose from to show off your skill. Your style may be the same...but try not to get "pigeon holed" as it were in how you present your art. I'm glad I could help you however....and Good luck ! out there....it's a jungle.

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Thank you to the Staff of IFX for this site, may the hair on the little hobbit toes never grow too high.

Of course photorealism is important but if thats all you can do then it doesn't show what kind of an imagination you have, someone who can come up with a spaceship drawn in such fine detail they even have the little cockpit shown in the window and tiny barely seeable scratches on the paint etc. or a great magical flying dragon with all the scales and such is something I find far more brilliant and creative than just copying off something in real life :p

Sorry just thinking aloud, I'm having one of my random haven't slept the whole night moments... COFFEEEEEE!! 

Hi Senra.....have your coffee yet ?

Right...so...the KEY word here is Variety. yup yup

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Thank you to the Staff of IFX for this site, may the hair on the little hobbit toes never grow too high.

I think the whole photorealism thing is important for artists who do the finishing. Most of the time if it doesn't look believable they won't accept it (this is mainly in regard to films where visual believability is vital). This is just my best guess but referenced objects combined with other referenced objects create believable new objects....However I agree that some of the most beautiful artwork are the unbounded ones....still its been a long time since I saw a decent dragon in a film (dragonheart)

 

Go drink coffee...;)

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I am the product of my own imagination

My new website is now up and running! lg.giftcolony.com

wow! believe it! i was in another thread and Ban'js link turns out to be a portal that just dropped me here.

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"Sleep... those little slices of death, oh how i loathe them!"

Carly that list is worth its weight in gold, some really good common sense advice. It so obvious yet so easy to overlook. Im sure that armed with this knowledge your chance of walking into a job is made all the more easier.

By book , what exaclly do we mean? a sketch pad? some pages nicely stapled together? or a professional printed showcase? 

Hearing about those piles and piles of books, you gonna have to fight to stand out so i would love to send a book in with printed helium balloons attached with the words "look in here" emblazoned on . ( this also takes into account your point numbered 10 )

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"Sleep... those little slices of death, oh how i loathe them!"

not bad not bad.

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"Live life like a fantasy. Reality is only in your mind!" - Fabledgoat

Hey Gurch...by "Book" I mean Portfolio....I grew up in America, that's how we'd call a portfolio there...people here in Oz generally don't know what I'm talking about when I say that word...and I've moved to Australia to marry my wife. So yeah...I just thought it would be good to talk about the business side of things. You'd know more about it though then I would I'm sure...since you get more commissions then I do...but then again I don't try all that hard as of yet. What about you...what are you thoughts on making a good hardcopy portfolio...I'd sincerely like to know. But thank you for your props and encouragment....encouragment is good for me...it's one of my hehe "Languages of Love by Gary Chapman" interesting read if you ever get the chance Gurch.

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Thank you to the Staff of IFX for this site, may the hair on the little hobbit toes never grow too high.

Hi guys I know this is a pretty late reply but I just wanted to say thanks for the good advice and especially from Carly801, it's always nice to know what experience has to say :)

bah, it's never too late for a little learning Kyda.

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"Live life like a fantasy. Reality is only in your mind!" - Fabledgoat