I received this question from an aspiring children’s book illustrator…

Question : I was wondering if you could post some information about finding a mentor. It would be great to have someone to contact when a question comes to mind or when you need support and motivation.

Answer :  I don’t really know of any one place to get in contact with artists who mentor, but I think you’ve already done the best thing I could suggest…  email other artists and ask them questions about their experiences! Since college I’ve continued to “meet” other artists online by commenting on their blogs and keeping in touch with those who I’ve hit it off with. Of course not everyone has the time to reply, but it doesn’t hurt to drop an email to artists you admire and see who writes back! If you’re interested in just simple critique of your work, you can always post your images up on forums (such as the How Design Forum.)

I received an email from another aspiring children’s book illustrator with a bunch of great questions…

Question : How do you find publishers?
Answer : I look at the back of books that I like and note the name of the publishers, often there is a website listed there so I’ll go visit it to see what their submission guidelines are. But my “secret” resource is an online publisher catalogue I blogged about here.

Question : Do you use a contract or a non-disclosure agrrement (so they won’t use your work without pay you…I have heard horror stories from other artists…)
Answer : Yes, I always use a contract, I actually just recently wrote a post about children’s book contracts here.

Question : Do get get some pay up front?
Answer : Yes, as a rule of thumb I  ask for 50% up front when working with authors. Publishers normally have a set amount they pay in advance on your work.

Question : Usually low long it takes for all your part of the work to be done?
Answer : Before becoming a full-time mum it used to take me about 3 months from first contact to artwork / artfiles delivered to the publisher. You could easily add on another month or two if you’ve done the graphic design and are working directly with the printer. But now that I am illustrating part-time it takes me 3-6 months to complete illustrations for a children’s book.

Question : How long it takes to get the book published?
Answer : The books I’ve worked on seem to take at least a year from first contact with the publisher to when I receive the printed books in my hand. But that’s not counting the time BEFORE I am involved when the author and publisher are working together editing the manuscript, not to mention the author’s initial pen to paper with their ideas!

Question :  How long does it take to get “finally” paid?
Answer : When the work is done! In the final invoice I note at the bottom that payment is due 30 days from the date on the invoice… but it’s good to keep in mind that when working with publishers / major companies that 90 days is normal.

Question :  Do you use Photoshop?
Answer : I use Photoshop for touching up my illustrations (I’m an old-school illustrator so like to do the majority of the work by hand, and just use PS for stitching together scans and adjusting the colour for the printer.) But it’s a wonderful tool, there are many talented digital artists (like Jason MacKay!) who do things with Photoshop I can only dream about!

Question : It would be great if you had an e-book with all the details (how-tos) and sell them…to people like us.. I would love to see step-by step samples of work - drawing, color and photoshop in your e-book.
Answer : That’s a lovely idea, kind of you to think I’ve enough tips to share! At the moment I’m enjoying sharing my experiences (free!) through my blog, I keep the Tips for Illustrators page updated with a list of all my new tips :

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions, eh:)

A signed contract between the Publisher/Author and Illustrator is the very first thing that should be in place before delving into illustrating a children’s book. When you work with a Publisher, they will provide their own contract and terms tailored for your project. But when working with self-published Authors, it is even more important to have a contract. Most first time Authors aren’t familiar with working with Illustrators, and a contract both educates the Author and protects both parties from things going pear shaped.

I’ve been fine tuning my contract (or Illustration Commission Agreement) ever since my first book, and it is still a work in progress, always being adjusted to match the project I’m working on. Feel free to download a copy of my contract (by clicking on the image) and use it as a launching pad for your own contract. The main details I include are :

• • Name and Contact Details of both the Author and Illustrator
• • Title of the work
• • The number of illustrations to be commissioned
• • 1) Commission and Grant of Rights : this section describes that the Illustrator is selling the rights to USE the artwork to the Author… they are not selling the original artwork specifically, and it goes on to state that original artwork belongs to the illustrator.
• • 2) Sale & Purchase of Artwork : States clearly how much money the illustrator will be paid as well as exactly what the illustrator is selling to the Author. It is good to be specific about what currency you are to be paid in, especially when working with international clients.
• • 3) Royalties : establishes how much the Illustrator is to be paid in royalties for various types of sale of the book.
• • 4) Project schedule & delivery : including dates here both helps the author know when to expect the art and give you space during that time, and also gives you a deadline to be accountable to.
• • 5) Illustrator’s Copies : establishes how many free copies of the printed book you will be provided, typically between 10-20.
• • 6) Copyright : states very clearly that the copyright of the illustrations still belongs to the illustrator.
• • 7) Credit : How you as the illustrator wish to be credited in the book
• • 8) Promotion : says the Author can use your illustrations to promote their book free of charge.
• • 9) Failure to Deliver and 10) Cancellation : in the unfortunate event that the book is cancelled or you are unable to finish, these sections set out how much you will be compensated for the work you have completed, as well as what the author can expect from you if you do not deliver what you’ve agreed upon.
• • 11-16) Legal Stuff : covers a lot of legal jargon that is also important. Some of the points it covers are establishing that you are the sole creator of the artwork, stating you will not create competitive works, the Author has control over when/if they publish their book and details on assigning the agreement to another person.
• • Signatures of both the Author and Illustrator

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I’ve been receiving emails from my publishers with updates on the Google Book Settlement, and I’m not embarrassed to say that the whole thing had me feeling a bit overwhelmed by the detail and muddled as to whether it was a bad thing for me as an illustrator that Google was scanning books and making them available in digital format. I did a Google search (ironic) and found “The Google Book Search Case for Dummies*” by David Weir, which I found was an easy to understand (and funny) overview. So I’m left with feeling like there is middle ground to be had here… on the one hand I want the publishers, authors & illustrators to be compensated for their work, and on the other I think it’s wonderful to make books available to anyone around the world who mightn’t have access to them otherwise. Whether you opt-out or opt-into the settlement, you’ve got till March 2011 to get informed and decide.

“*That would include me.” –David Weir

As another year fast approaches its end, looking back I realize how busy a year 2009 has been! I kept my paintbrush and pencil busy with completing just under 100 illustrations… wowsers, that’s a new illustration every three days! The illustrations include three children’s books (Celebrate! by Rubicon Publishing, Riley’s Lost Tooth by Diane Cantrell, and Spotty & Eddie Visit Percé by Lisa M. Chalifoux), a collection of green themed illustrations for ImageZoo, and several more little illustrations for my illustrated diary of Hera’s outfits. Looking forward to 2010!

Erica over at Outright.com sent me a great bookkeeping checklist… perfect timing, as I was just updating my business budget with the last invoices and receipts for the year. The tips were very helpful, with the pointed reminder that “if you don’t record it, in the eyes of your bookkeeping, it doesn’t exist!” This checklist has specifics which will be helpful to US illustrators, but with my business based in Canada it’s still a good general reminder of items to not forget.

This week I discovered one of my good acrylic paintbrushes was as hard as a rock… I obviously didn’t clean it properly the last time I used it! Hoping to recover the brush I did a little online search for ways to soften up the bristles. I was pleased to discover that the solution was in my kitchen cupboard… white vinegar.

Here’s the method I used* :

• • Place the brush’s bristles down into a glass or jar.
• • Fill with white vinegar just to the metal ferrule.
• • Let sit for a few hours. At this point the bristles will have softened up considerably.
• • Pour some white vinegar into a shallow pan on the stove, and place the brush’s bristles into the vinegar until are submerged.
• • Gently heat the white vinegar (not to boiling!) until paint is loosened from the bristles.
• • Rinse the brush in water, then use gentle hand soap to suds up the bristles to remove any vinegar.
• • Rinse well. Condition bristles with a brush cleaner optional.
• • Make a mental note to wash the brush more carefully next time it’s used!

*Inspired by eHow.com (How to Soften Paint Brushes and How to Clean Paint Brushes That Have Hardened)

Am about halfway through digitally colouring my pencil illustrations for Spotty & Eddie’s latest adventure by Lisa M. Chalifoux… wanted to share a couple before and afters of my illustrations (clicking on them will bring up a larger image). The colouring has been going very quickly thanks to my new Wacom tablet… I bought my first one this summer and taught myself how to use it, so this is the first big project I’ve used it on. And I LOVE it. Also, here is a snapshot of how the layout is turning out in the InDesign file… I find it helps dropping in the colour illustrations into the layout as I go so that I can make sure the colours balance nicely.

I just sent this email off to a fellow greeting card artist who had a few questions… thought I’d share!

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Q: Is it acceptable to just work digitally or does the original have to be done in traditional paints (or what have you) and then scanned?

A: You can illustrate with whatever medium you want, digital or traditional, whatever is your style! (See FAQ: What Medium Should I Use?)
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Q: I read your bit about resolution size for cards.  8.5 x 11′ with an inch at least of bleed over… but what about for other illustrations? Will this be specified by the client?  Also scans should be done at 300dpi correct?

A: Yes, sizes will often be specified by the client. The letterhead size recommendation illustrations is only for ease of scanning, don’t feel limited by it if you’d prefer to work to different sizes. And 300dpi is high resolution, perfect for scanning illustrations. Often I scan at 300dpi and 125% just so that I have a little flexibility with the final size. (See also FAQ : What Size Should I Illustrate Greeting Cards?)
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Q: I’m wondering how lucrative or not  the greeting card industry is? It must also be very competitive like the rest of the business.  Is it very difficult to land a gig and is that done using an agent as well?

A: Greeting card work is seasonal, so there are certainly dry periods. The industry is a bit slow at the moment. Landing gigs isn’t difficult when it’s in a busy season, simply getting your work in front of the art director’s eyes by sending samples is the best way to make contacts… no need for an agent to do this for you.

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Q: Guess it’s not necessary to watermark?

A: It’s always a safe idea to watermark any illustrations that you send via email or post online as it helps to protect from theft.

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Finding eco-art supplies has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, and had a chance a couple weeks back to really do some research and order some environmentally friendly alternatives to some of the art supplies I use regularly. Being a full-time Mom I’m also keen on green art supplies for children… and happily there is more demand for eco-kids art supplies than for professional grade, so I was able to easily find a selection of crayons, paints, markers, pencils & papers to try. I’ll be posting reviews here on my blog of both professional grade and children’s eco-art supplies, and compiling them all on my new list of Green Art Supplies. Am so excited to give these a go, especially my new Canadian 100% Recycled Eco-Jot sketchbook.

If you know of any great environmentally friendly art supplies, or have tried any yourself that you like please let me know!

P.S. To reduce the carbon footprint of ordering these art supplies online, I ordered all my new supplies (save one item!) from the same online shop. Making one order from one location, rather than ordering individual items from multiple locations, is an easy way to care for the environment as it saves on the extra resources (fuel, packaging, purchase orders) used to ship multiple items.