Sunday, December 18, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
TRY SOMETHING NEW!
I'm trying to become proficient with Photoshop and illustrator. I'm old school and prefer a brush, but the computer is just another tool to use. Each method has it's advantages and disadvantages. To stay current everyone should at least understand the new tools if not be able to jump back and forth between mediums. You can have your favorites but the more you know then the more doors are open to your creative expressions. I've posted my normal style the kid on the "big wheel" and my playing in photoshop the "wise cat". The learning is a little slow but really fun.
GET INSPIRED, EXPLORE!!!
My work takes me to some very strange places and ideas. I've said it before and its worth repeating, the bigger your world the more creative. Search the web to get new ideas. Don't steal, but use them for inspiration. Think about your goals and interests and go beyond the normal search on google for info. A truly creative person is also a great researcher.
The web is a gold mine of random information to spark creativity. Explore!
One of the fun sites I like to visit is SuperPunch. All he does is find interesting items and post links. There is always something new to give you a spark. Give it a try.
http://superpunch.blogspot.com/
The web is a gold mine of random information to spark creativity. Explore!
One of the fun sites I like to visit is SuperPunch. All he does is find interesting items and post links. There is always something new to give you a spark. Give it a try.
http://superpunch.blogspot.com/
ONE DEADLINE TO THE NEXT
Comic-con is now past and Toy Fair is looming. We have the Dallas show in Oct. and then the New York Toy fair.
A great way to stay creative is to get involved. When you get involved you seem to accumulate deadlines. Nothing spur's activity and creativity like a deadline. It will keep you young.
A great way to stay creative is to get involved. When you get involved you seem to accumulate deadlines. Nothing spur's activity and creativity like a deadline. It will keep you young.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
COMIC-CON PORTFOLIO REVIEW
Comic-con is coming up and once again I am scheduled to review portfolios. It’s a strange ritual. I see the same type of people year after year. Some portfolios are good, some are far from it.
When your showing your portfolio you should really have some idea of what your trying to accomplish. Where your going with it. What is your dream? But realize that you may end up somewhere completely different and just as fun.
At comic-con most of the people want to do comics. No surprise. What is a surprise is how unprepared most everyone is. How little research most everyone has done. They all read comics but don’t actually think about them. Who makes them, how they are made and how they will fit into process.
What are you really trying to achieve and have you really looked at the big picture? Is it really your dream? I reviewed a portfolio of a young gentleman whose work was mostly pencil layouts for comics. He copied the standard characters but what stood out were his backgrounds and layouts. His characters were ok. He was more interested in designing worlds. We ended up talking about game design and movies instead of comics and what game companies he could apply too
Do you really want to write comics or do you want to write movies. Do you want to draw comics or storyboards for movies and animation? Do you want to design characters, animation, 3D or graphics. Do you want to do all of it? Open your options and don’t close doors before you even see them. There are very few real openings in the comic industry so you need to have some other options and realize that they may actually be better
When I look at portfolios I’m looking for someone who shows thought and originality behind their work. Your book should show me all that you can do. I don’ t want to see six variations of the same thing. Show me a rough and then the final peice. Where you started and where you ended up.
It never hurts to have more in your portfolio than you want to show. Have some life drawing in the back that you can show a client if they are really interested. You can even have more than one portfolio. I had four portfolios, an illustration book, a cartooning book, a graphics book and an amusement park design book.
Learn to present your work. Buy a real portfolio to show your work. If you want to be a professional, then present your self as a professional.
Ok, that's enough for now but I’ll have more on portfolios later
When your showing your portfolio you should really have some idea of what your trying to accomplish. Where your going with it. What is your dream? But realize that you may end up somewhere completely different and just as fun.
At comic-con most of the people want to do comics. No surprise. What is a surprise is how unprepared most everyone is. How little research most everyone has done. They all read comics but don’t actually think about them. Who makes them, how they are made and how they will fit into process.
What are you really trying to achieve and have you really looked at the big picture? Is it really your dream? I reviewed a portfolio of a young gentleman whose work was mostly pencil layouts for comics. He copied the standard characters but what stood out were his backgrounds and layouts. His characters were ok. He was more interested in designing worlds. We ended up talking about game design and movies instead of comics and what game companies he could apply too
Do you really want to write comics or do you want to write movies. Do you want to draw comics or storyboards for movies and animation? Do you want to design characters, animation, 3D or graphics. Do you want to do all of it? Open your options and don’t close doors before you even see them. There are very few real openings in the comic industry so you need to have some other options and realize that they may actually be better
When I look at portfolios I’m looking for someone who shows thought and originality behind their work. Your book should show me all that you can do. I don’ t want to see six variations of the same thing. Show me a rough and then the final peice. Where you started and where you ended up.
It never hurts to have more in your portfolio than you want to show. Have some life drawing in the back that you can show a client if they are really interested. You can even have more than one portfolio. I had four portfolios, an illustration book, a cartooning book, a graphics book and an amusement park design book.
Learn to present your work. Buy a real portfolio to show your work. If you want to be a professional, then present your self as a professional.
Ok, that's enough for now but I’ll have more on portfolios later
A PROPER PORTFOLIO
All right, lets get back to portfolios. This is what you are using to represent you to prospective clients or employers.
Your portfolio should always be professional and clean. Purchase a standard portfolio or if you are inclined you can make your own. It should contain only your best work. It should start off strong and should end strong. I always like to see a section in the back of a portfolio with life drawing or concept roughs.
What you put in the body of your portfolio is up to you. But do not put in unfinished work. If you like a piece enough to present it then you can finish it. I like to see the work presented in a format. Meaning a consistent border or layout. I would recommend that you have titles and explanations if necessary on each piece. There will be times when you can not present your work in person and the work will have to speak for itself. Have your name and number easily found and consistent in the layout.
Always have a leave behind for clients. They may not have work for you at the moment but maybe later. A handout will keep you in there thought process.
Also as a tip I recommend that you always ask for a recommendation of an associate to show your portfolio to. Even if the showing didn’t go as well as you would like it to they may know someone who could use your work.
I have been speaking of the old school physical portfolios. Now days a professional also has an online portfolio too. But again the same rules apply. Create a format. Keep it clean and easy to use. A mistake of online portfolios is that they do not create a print page. A single sample page that can be printed with a couple of samples and your contact info to go into hard files.
Remember that your portfolio will never be finished and you can always change your portfolio. So get to it!
Your portfolio should always be professional and clean. Purchase a standard portfolio or if you are inclined you can make your own. It should contain only your best work. It should start off strong and should end strong. I always like to see a section in the back of a portfolio with life drawing or concept roughs.
What you put in the body of your portfolio is up to you. But do not put in unfinished work. If you like a piece enough to present it then you can finish it. I like to see the work presented in a format. Meaning a consistent border or layout. I would recommend that you have titles and explanations if necessary on each piece. There will be times when you can not present your work in person and the work will have to speak for itself. Have your name and number easily found and consistent in the layout.
Always have a leave behind for clients. They may not have work for you at the moment but maybe later. A handout will keep you in there thought process.
Also as a tip I recommend that you always ask for a recommendation of an associate to show your portfolio to. Even if the showing didn’t go as well as you would like it to they may know someone who could use your work.
I have been speaking of the old school physical portfolios. Now days a professional also has an online portfolio too. But again the same rules apply. Create a format. Keep it clean and easy to use. A mistake of online portfolios is that they do not create a print page. A single sample page that can be printed with a couple of samples and your contact info to go into hard files.
Remember that your portfolio will never be finished and you can always change your portfolio. So get to it!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
OBSERVATIONS FROM TOY FAIR
It's been a while since I've posted, I've been busy. Always good to keep going. We've had the Dallas Toy fair and I just got back from the New York Toy Fair.
New York is always an amazing eye opening trip. It's exhausting but always fun. Of course we got caught in the snow storms and ate to much at the wonderful restaurants. We stayed up to late and spent to much money. You know, a normal trip to New York.
NY is a shock to the system, an overload to the senses and a kick start to creativity. If you can't feel alive and creative in NY I really don't know what to tell you.
So anyway I have some observations from Toy Fair. In between meetings and toy pitches I walked the Javits floor to see what's new and what's coming. I think that because of the economy most of the toy companies are running scared. They didn't invest in new product design and all went with the tried and true product. Buyers were there and spending but no one had anything really new and amazing to offer. A lot of the same thing repackaged and re-themed.
Because of that the companies where looking for something new which made it very easy for my company to sell. They jumped at new creative ideas. A bad economy creates lots of openings for someone with new ideas and vision. You have to realistic and create something that they can actually use or do. But the opportunities are there.
Another observation was the number of new start up companies that were offering what they took to be the best and greatest new concept. Yes I'm pushing you to be creative and to put yourself out there. But be smart! I saw far to many people out there who obviously have put their life savings on the line for their idea. A sign of the economy. What is sad is that so many of these ideas were bad. Some were horribly bad, some had just not been thought out and some were so old that they could never make a dime at them.
If your going to put your savings on the line folks, do some research first and always keep going. Don't ever just stop at one idea. A simple patent search would save some of these people to find out what had been done before and why it failed. Also if your idea has been done before and patents have expired that means that you have no rights and anyone can turn around and do the same toy. So if the buyer from a large company walked thru and looked at your design. He can return to his company and start manufacturing the same design, beat you to market and you can't do anything about it.
Life is long and even if that one idea does go you had better have a second act. Companies are not looking for a single toy. They are looking for a line of toys. They may like your design but dealing with buying one toy from you may be more trouble than its worth after all the shipping, stocking and the blow back from the larger companies.
This doesn't mean by any means that you shouldn't be doing this. It means "BE SMART". Do your homework and don't put all your eggs in one basket. Plan ahead.
New York is always an amazing eye opening trip. It's exhausting but always fun. Of course we got caught in the snow storms and ate to much at the wonderful restaurants. We stayed up to late and spent to much money. You know, a normal trip to New York.
NY is a shock to the system, an overload to the senses and a kick start to creativity. If you can't feel alive and creative in NY I really don't know what to tell you.
So anyway I have some observations from Toy Fair. In between meetings and toy pitches I walked the Javits floor to see what's new and what's coming. I think that because of the economy most of the toy companies are running scared. They didn't invest in new product design and all went with the tried and true product. Buyers were there and spending but no one had anything really new and amazing to offer. A lot of the same thing repackaged and re-themed.
Because of that the companies where looking for something new which made it very easy for my company to sell. They jumped at new creative ideas. A bad economy creates lots of openings for someone with new ideas and vision. You have to realistic and create something that they can actually use or do. But the opportunities are there.
Another observation was the number of new start up companies that were offering what they took to be the best and greatest new concept. Yes I'm pushing you to be creative and to put yourself out there. But be smart! I saw far to many people out there who obviously have put their life savings on the line for their idea. A sign of the economy. What is sad is that so many of these ideas were bad. Some were horribly bad, some had just not been thought out and some were so old that they could never make a dime at them.
If your going to put your savings on the line folks, do some research first and always keep going. Don't ever just stop at one idea. A simple patent search would save some of these people to find out what had been done before and why it failed. Also if your idea has been done before and patents have expired that means that you have no rights and anyone can turn around and do the same toy. So if the buyer from a large company walked thru and looked at your design. He can return to his company and start manufacturing the same design, beat you to market and you can't do anything about it.
Life is long and even if that one idea does go you had better have a second act. Companies are not looking for a single toy. They are looking for a line of toys. They may like your design but dealing with buying one toy from you may be more trouble than its worth after all the shipping, stocking and the blow back from the larger companies.
This doesn't mean by any means that you shouldn't be doing this. It means "BE SMART". Do your homework and don't put all your eggs in one basket. Plan ahead.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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