New Wall Art about Martinis

On Fridays, I like to display samples of my products. Here is a new piece of wall art for the Potpourri Catalog.



















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Different Image Formats – And When to Use Them

Article Worth Reading. Here is an excerpt. To read complete article go to original blog post at 1stwebdesign Blog. Different Image Formats – And When to Use Them

Are you familiar with the extensions after your images? There are so many image formats that it’s so easy to get confused! File extensions like .jpeg, .bmp, .gif, and more can be seen after an image’s file name. Most of us disregard it, thinking there is no significance regarding these image formats.

These are all different and incompatible, though. These image formats have their own pros and cons. They were created for specific, yet different, purposes. What’s the difference, and when is each format appropriate to use?

Let us tackle the five most common image formats for the web and computer graphics: JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF and PNG.

To read complete article go to original blog post at 1stwebdesign Blog.

Why Mailed Art Submissions Just Don't Work

Article Worth Reading. Here is an excerpt. To read complete article go to blog post.
-Kate


Why Mailed Art Submissions Just Don't Work
Lance Klass

Before the rise of the internet, if an artist wanted to submit artwork to a publisher, agent or manufacturer, the artist either had to do it personally in a face-to-face meeting or else send the art submission through the mail. Back then, artists were told that mailed submissions had to have a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) inside to make sure the recipient was able easily to return your submission. That lead artists to assume that they could expect to receive a response – positive or negative – to their mailed submission. The sad fact is that more often than not, they never heard anything at all.

Many large companies used to have lower-level employees on staff whose job it was to receive, open, cull through, and either pass along or file art submissions as they came in. And companies might receive literally hundreds of such art submissions each and every month. I receive an average of three a day, every single day of the year. Do the math, and that’s just over a thousand art submissions a year.

Once artists and business really took to the internet, the number of mailed submissions tended to drop off, yet they’re still a significant proportion of the total art submissions received by art licensing agencies, as well as companies that manufacture products for sale at retail. But mailed submissions really don’t work anymore, and I’ll tell you why.

1 – Manufacturers are devoting less time and fewer personnel to handling mailed submissions. Staff who once had the job of processing new art submissions have either been laid off or reassigned to other jobs, and time is at a premium. Responding to your submission, repackaging it, sealing it, and getting it through outgoing mail can be quite time-consuming. No wonder many companies consider them a nuisance.

2 – Partly as a result of this, it’s increasingly likely that even with a SASE enclosed in your mailed package, you’ll never receive your materials back and will probably get no response at all. Why? In this tight market, time equals money, and many companies don’t have the staff or the time to devote to processing mailed submissions. A quick look is the most you’re going to get, and if the artwork – not the presentation, however elaborate you make it, but the artwork itself – isn’t what the company is seeking, the package and it’s contents often go right in the trash.

....To read complete article go to blog post.

Do You Want to be a Children’s Book Illustrator?

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Great Post by Artsy shark. To read entire article, go to blog post at Artsy shark. Here's an excerpt:

• Break the manuscript into a storyboard layout, creating a thumbnail sketch of what happens on each page spread. The focus of this step is to make sure the story flows visually.


• Get the publisher’s approval of the preliminary work.

• Research and acquire photo reference to create final line drawings for each illustration.

• Develop character model sheets.

• Work on black and white value studies. This adds drama to the illustrations and carries the concepts throughout the story.

• Color versions are created for each page. Working with the publisher, they show the finished set and consult on any changes that will be needed.

• After any modifications are made, the final illustrations are produced.

• Scanning of the illustrations is done by digital image capture. A color press proof is made and final files are delivered to the publisher on disc or FTP.

• Cherish and Ben may design covers and packaging for the book as well, taking the project from concept to final product.

...continued. To read entire article, go to blog post at Artsy shark.