Hello, allow me to dust off the blog a bit.

There are some great interviews with Jillian Tamaki on her blog and website (under FAQ) recently, my favourite one consists of questions given to her by her students (the lucky dogs). There's also some great imput from John Hendrix.

Excerpt:

If I have many different styles, how should I promote them?

This is a question I hear often. I suppose it’s because my own portfolio contains a variety of “styles”. I should say that putting together a portfolio is more of an art than a science. My thought is, however, that your portfolio should be more consistent when you are a starting illustrator. But consistency can be more nuanced than “all 12 portfolio pieces should be identical”… consistency across a body of work can be more about a consistent tone, flavour, or conceptual style. Not just aesthetics. But back to the question: I think you should tailor your promotional materials, sending images that are most appropriate for the potential client. But at the same time being open-minded about what is and isn’t appropriate. For example, the NYT Op-Ed runs dioramas, children’s book-style art, photo-illustration, etc. Not just black and white, metaphor-heavy line-art. You can only gauge your portfolio’s effectiveness after probably 6 months of earnest promotion.

Resources: Vector Tutorials

Hi guys,

Here are some neato vector tutorials:

Figure Shading: when less is more, by Russel Tate. Ever wonder how people use gradients to shade vector illustrations? Because I totally have. A nice explanation by Russel Tate try to ignore the fact it's associated with istock.

From sketch to vector illustration by William Beachy is about Beach's process from sketch to vector illustration. What I think is most useful here is how he uses traditional comic inking "rules" to draw digitally.

Quick Tip: How to Cell Shade and add Texture to a Vector Comic Character is just like the man says.

Resources: free figure reference

Hi guys,

Here's a really, really amazing resource: CharacterDesign.com has free, high quality figure reference (obviously NSFW).

Here is a sample of their new zombie vs. schoolgirls set:

Resources: Kathryn Adams Top Promo FAQs

Promo refresher, Q and A from illustrator and super-teacher Kathryn Adams at over at Nook's blog: Kathryn Adams Top Promo FAQs

Resources: Nook Collective

I recently went to a lecture at Nook Collective at 156 Augusta. The lecture was by a really great illustrator and all-around-guy named Leif Peng who runs the blog Today's Inspiration.

The Nook is a really neat group studio that is also holds workshops on mysterious things like Final Cut Pro and self promotion (by Kathryn Addams!). Some workshops are free, some are modestly priced, all are worth checking out! Find their schedule at their website Nook Collective

Here's a sketch for your concritteration (I'm hilarious!), I'm getting stuck on dem legs. I think they're nice legs, but to me they're feeling a little lifeless. Suggestions, reference material, gifts of monetary value, all welcome:

Resources: (free?) 3D figure reference software

Read about it at Laser Biscuit. Download here. So check it out and let us know what you think!

Also, the public library has figure reference books that come with CDs - you can transfer these CD images to your hardrive. Search keywords "figure reference" and get the books transferred to your local branch. I'm just sayin'.