Hi everyone. Been a while since I been here.
I'm one of those stories of an artist that thought it was 'animation' or 'nothing' when it came to a career for someone who studied animation in college or school.
Well, after a few years of searching, I found out that being an artist opens many, many other doors outside of animation.
You don't have to be an 'animator' once you've graduated.
Want to know the story of someone who has struggled really hard for 5 or 6 years since graduation?
My blog is a long read, but may be encouraging to younger artists who might not be 100% sure on where they're going with animation or what they'd like to do with their artistic skills. There is always hope, even if your career path doesn't head down the 'animation' one..
Any by the way, this is no advertisement, nothing like that- I've been a member here for years, but post rarely. I decided to check in and share some of my experiences this year.
Read my blog..
http://thepenman.blogspot.com/
Thanks Rawb!
My favorite Dan Clowes comic book story is called Caricature, and is a kind of bleak satire about a caricaturist. I don't know if I'd recommend it for inspiration, but it's a good collection.
In terms of cartoon-inspired art, the lowbrow guys are a constant source of inspiration. The book Weirdo Deluxe is a good (relatively cheap) compilation. My favorite is Glenn Barr, who used to do some backgrounds and/or gross-out paintings for Ren & Stimpy. His stuff has a loose, energetic kind of feel that I love.
I've recently started getting polite rejection e-mails from studios instead of just not getting any response at all, so I take that as progress. It can be a smug, cynical industry, but I love what I'm doing too much to stop. And there's some good stuff being done, so I'll keep trying.
We must all hoist our BANG! flags proudly!
thanks for sharing...
I haven't read your blog yet, but your original post is good inspirational stuff. Some people feel trapped or failed if they don't "follow through" with their original career goals. Many options exist once the "one road" philosophy melts away. Hopefully your story will bring comfort, and direction, to those that discovered that their "dream" turned into a nightmare.
Dude what a story!
You have made me decide that this summer, my job won't be flippin' burgers or stackin beer crates for 'the man', I'm gonna be a caricaturist/portraiterist! Last year I sat in a call center all season, caricaturing all the other people working there. Seems like the obvious choice, how could I not realise it before?
Seriously inspiring stuff, I will give it a dry run at easter break, just sit down on the boardwalk for a day, doing drawings for free, see how many customers I get, see if the public likes my stuff. It is quite similar to yours in terms of the mix with portraiture.
Then I can work out some kind of pricing, I'm thinking £2 a drawing (dirt cheap, I would thing at LEAST £5-10 is the going rate over here), even if I only manage 4 an hour (likely be much more) that's still £8 an hour! Better than most other jobs I'll be able to get! Also if I don't feel like 'going to work' one day...I FRIGGIN' WON'T!
Plus I get to sit outside in the sun all day!
Plus I get to just offensively draw people all day!
Plus I get to wear a hawaiian shirt without feeling like a fraud!
Plus I get to be literally livin' the dream! WOOOOOOO!
Stick that up your butt and smoke it!
Wow. So you really quit animation forever and for good? Sounds a little extreme...
Don't sell yourself short, ask for at least 3-4£ a drawing. The public at large doesn't know talent from a hole in the ground.
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)
Hmm you reckon so? I guess it is a confidence thing to start with. Once I know people are into my stuff and willing to accept my crude offensive scribblings as actually being worth anything, then I would feel better about makin' em pay for it hehe.
Cheers
lol, no. I haven't quit 'animation' forever, because every peice of art that I do has an 'animation' influence. It's 'cartoony'. Even in realistic portrait drawings that I do, they tend to be a bit 'cartoony'.
I grew up watching 80s cartoons (He-Man, She-Ra, Transformers, GI-Joe, etc) and love animation. It's the time I consider where I truly began to love art and unconsciously decided that's the direction I'd take, one way or the other (and it seems it turned out to be 'the other'!!!)
If you asked me even 2 years ago if I'd be drawing live portraits/caricatures in malls/festivals/markets I'd laugh at ya, lol. Me? Draw infront of 20 people at once? Try and draw a portrait oif someone sitting infront of me, while everyone watches??? Hell no!! No way. I'm not that brave. Everyone watching my every move? No way.
But-- I got over that fear, and did it once and now, it's become what I do. You get used to it. You find that the general public isn't picky. So long as the drawing looks 'something' like the subject, they're happy. Especially for 20 or 30 bucks, they don't mind. Even if you do 10 drawings a day (which is nothing- you will get that kind of business almost every day), then you've just made yourself 300 bucks in cash--trust me. They are satisfied so long as you've captured somewhat of a likeness. It is a huge market and the demand is really there. People love having their portrait/caricature drawn. It's everywhere.
The thing is, every drawing I do, has an animation influence- it looks 'cartoony' , as it should. I can get a whole lot better, too, so that's what I hope practice will bring. I see some work from guys who have worked the DisneyLands and the amusements parks, and I realize that I have so much farther to go-- I have to get a lot, lot better. These guys down south are so darn talented, I'm happy I'm up here in Canada where the competition is alomst zero.
I fully credit my days in animation school for this. It gave me the mentality that somehow, somewhere, sometime, I'd have to follow a career in art. Didn't have to be in television animation, but it had to be in 'art'. I had to make my own path. And my work reflects animation. I love it.
As awesome as animation is, don't restrict yourself to it. Pay attention to 'all' your options out there as an artist. There are just so many!! Being an artist is a gift, because there are so many different roads you can follow with it.
Sounds like you've found your niche for right now. Don't think it will be forever, it might, but leave yourself open to other opportunities.
I personally would hate to work for a studio just doing tweens or clean up. For me the charm of animation is creating my own worlds and stories. I'd hate to be on the deadlines mentioned around here or have to churn out frames just to meet a production schedule.
I think you found a solution to your particular place in the world right now.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
(bump)
I'm happy to share my thoughts.
As a wrap, last summer was a really good one drawing portraits/caricatures. (I don't want to call my stuff 'caricatures' because they're a mix between a caricature and a portrait-- nothing too exaggerated but a good likeness.) I'm far from the greatest, as there are plenty of "real" caricaturists out there, but what I'm doing seems to please the crowd, so I just keep doing what I do!
2007 was the first year I tried it and was enough experience, I think, to let me know that a living can definitely be made from this-- and more.
I've been offered some work for corporate companies now, doing caricatures for their parties and such-- and this is just a result from the marketing and 'getting out there' that I did last summer. I don't even know how they found me. Companies pay well- up to (and over) $100 an hour for your services. Makes it so worth it for a few hours, and if you're lucky enough to be hired for the day, then you might have to work only once in two weeks :) Or, if you're lucky enough to land a few all-day gigs per week, then you're driving a Lexus to your spots!! (kidding lol)
I would really, really recommend anyone who is good at caricatures to give it a try on the side and see how you like it--you'd be very surprised at the business it generates in just one day. You could make a week's pay in one day if the weather's nice and the crowd is plentiful. Give it a shot. I can say from my experiences (if I haven't already mentioned) that the general public is quite forgiving of your work-- so long as there is a little bit of resemblance, they're happy with the picture. I'd say I've had about a 95% 'success' rate, if not higher-- meaning that customers have been happy. I've also had a few where I knew they didn't like it-- but they still pay, and you just gotta move onto the next one-- after all, you're just human. You won't nail every drawing. Thick skin wil develop in this regard, trust me!!! You can also let the customer go-- don't pay for the drawing if they don't like it- but they don't keep it. It's a good way out for them.
It's a bit nerve-wracking at first, having the stress of trying to get the drawing accurate while 10 or so people watch you like a hawk. But you learn to block that out and concentrate on your drawing.
Compare a $20 drawing done in 10 minutes, one-after-the-other, in the sunshine with music playing, as opposed to working in a studio for $20 per hour all day long. You're your own boss, you have your own materials, you arrive when you want and leave when you want. It's great! You just gotta find the spots to do it (there are tons of places in any city). Tourist spots are hot (parks, boardwalks, etc)--It's a lot of fun too, and the positive reactions from your 'customers' are so adrenalin-pumping-- you can't wait for the next customer to take the seat infront of you. The cash money is also a plus- paid every day. You're handling your own money.
Nonetheless, if there has been anyone with a massive struggle to find their identity as an artist and to believe in their own skills, it's me. I've done so, so many odd, low-paying gigs over the years that it would be enough to make anyone quit. I've made 50 bucks off of drawings that took me days to do. But then, I've made 200 bucks off of drawings that took a night. It's crazy-- pricing art for private commissions is so difficult.
Live caricature drawing is so fast, and without contracts or stipulations or deadlines or revisions or waiting on payment-- it's free-sketching all day long and the crowd pays you all day long if they like what you're doing. A thousand bucks a day is most definitely acheivable if in the right place, are willing to work from sun-up to sun-down and you're up to speed.
Worth a shot for sure.
Thanksfor reading!
Well, considering I've done a bit of dabbling into this kind of thing myself. I just returned from the army and have found out alot of things I would've never known if not for the experience. My friend went to a local school for animation and cinematography (excuse me if I suck at spelling) in hopes of making movies. After a few hundred rejections and signing that dreaded dotted line, he took up all his free time in game design and now has a deal to work for some game designing studio (wish I could remember the exact one).
I guess it means that you aren't always the master of your own destiny. A tribute to life and having it not go your way but, working out for the best.
Oh, and I'll be reading your blog
Yeah, that's true. Some people are better suited for some art forms more than others. I think I have really found my niche in animation, because of my combined love for drawing, storytelling, and acting.
Although, if something goes wrong, with my relentless practicing at drawing, hopefully I'll be able to do something else with it if animation doesn't turn out.
--Z
Thanks for sharing. That was definitely insightful reading.
Glad to hear you've found your happy place. Good luck for the future.
.::Blog::.
Thanks for reading guys.
It's encouraging to post your experiences and have other people read them. I just think that my particular route was a bit different than others when it came to animation, and I'm happy I realized that there was more to life as an artist-- that there are so many other things you can do with your artistic skill. For a few years there, I was barking up the wrong tree so to speak, and it took some time to see other options. My lifestyle requires a bit more freedom and a career in animation is one that I just plain wouldn't be able to handle. I know that it requires 100% dedication and I envy all artists here that are doing it for a living. Congrats.
I'll keep blogging after every show/fair/market that I do from here on, and thanks again for taking the time to read.