How about a portrait of a person pet or family? A custom piece of meaningful artwork with aspects and colors you request?

We’re having a 2 week special on paintings, both digital and oil.

Starting at $50 (for an 8×10 canvas board with oil painting or digital painting)

All the way up to  $300 (for a 16 x 20 stretched canvas with oil painting or digital painting)

All orders placed by December 14th are guaranteed to be delivered before Christmas.

You can also feel free to look through our online shops for greeting cards & gifts.

This is no longer valid. Apparently I submitted my design on the wrong template file so it was rejected. Thank you to those who supported it. I’ll make it available for sale on my own soon but I won’t be resubmitting it to Woot.

Sometimes I try my hand at t-shirt designs.

If you’ve ever been a customer of Woot.com then please click to vote!
(unfortunately non-woot purchasers cannot vote)

Thanks for the support.

It would be a simple layout but it would be done in wordpress and you’d be shown how to self regulate the information on your own quite easily.

Just a thought.

I’m offering a limited number of sketches between now and November 1st. You can order these of anything you want (as long as it’s within PG-13 range)

Using the form below… you can choose between the following options:

Option 1 (45 Slots Available)
$5 Basic Sketch
(click to see sample of quality)

Option 2 (30 Slots Available)
$15 Developed Sketch
(click to see sample of quality)

Option 3 (15 Slots Available)
$45 Finished Sketch
(click to see sample of quality)

For these prices you don’t just get get a digital copy of anything you can think of but you also get a 4 inch by 6 inch postcard print of your art sent to your home.

On top of this you can get the following follow up services at the noted discounts.
1. – Developed the sketch into full color artwork for 50% off!
2. – Have your art printed for 60% off!
3. – Have your art used on apparel or on a product for 35% off item cost).

Get yours while supplies last. These could potentially make great gifts for the art lovers in your life.

Sketch Type

Basic Sketch $5.00 Developed Sketch $15.00 Finished Sketch $45.00

Your Contact Info

The Theme Of Your Sketch

Shaded Areas Illustration has spent the past two months working with 11 other artists and illustrators (more than a few are friends and peers from Zero@Illo) who were generous enough to share their time and talent for a good cause. Click here to purchase and support a good cause.
Click here to purchase.

Take a look at the artwork included in the calendar via the links below.

I work very closely with an organization called the Diva Day foundation.
I’m putting together a 2011 calendar to sell to raise money for them. They put on performances and operas to benefit domestic violence shelters.

I’m hoping I can find 11 or 12 illustrators who would be willing to donate their time to create an illustration for one of the months. The work is tax deductible for the value of the piece you provide.

If you’re at all interested please contact me at ShadedAreas@gmail.com for more information.

Deadline for participation inclusion is August 15th.
(Deadline for art delivery is September 15th)

There are no certain paths to take for better efficacy in presenting yourself to potential employers… but common pitfalls exist by the dozens. Since I’ve spent all week preparing my work for scrutiny while at Comic Con International next week I figured now is as good a time as any to share some pointers from some of my peers and some techniques I’ve absorbed built into 5 sections.

1. Deciding to get out the door
2. Doing your research
3. Picking your work
4. Packaging your work
5. The final once over

Step 1: Deciding to get out the door

Let’s open up with one of the most fundamental aspects courtesy of illustrator Sonia Metheny:

Publishers are more likely to pick up artists that actively try to promote themselves and their work. It let’s them know that they won’t have to do all the advertising themselves. Going to cons to try to network is a good way to show that trait.

I’ve seen some very talented artists just never get up the courage to get out the door and try to put in the time and energy to sell themselves. Really you can read and practice all you want on tactics and style and what not but if you’re not getting yourself out there and making yourself known, it might just not be enough.

Step 2: Doing your research

One of the biggest mistakes I see made is that a person will make one universal portfolio for all. Running around and spamming everyone with one package of your 10 best pieces isn’t the worst thing you can do… but unless you’re a natural genius… it won’t payoff as much as it should for the work and money put in.

Conventions and organized gatherings provide you with fantastic resources in their vendor and booth lists. Go through the list and mark off which companies you want to work for that will be present. Then go through and peruse each of those companies’ websites.

There are two reasons for this depth of investigation. One is to see what kind of work they’re using and see if what you have is up to par. The second is because often times companies will announce their presence at conventions and put information regarding what they’re looking for in submissions.

Noting these guidelines and style/work preferences are a more professional approach and will get a better reception than if you just did things your way and expected them to bend to it.

Step 3: Picking your work

Once you know who you want to impress and what they look for, go through your work and try to pick 30 samples of your absolute best work.

Now most people will tell you to aim for about 10 pieces as this is the appropriate amount of work to try to get some loving from your potential bosses without bogging them down. This is absolutely true. So why am I suggesting you go overkill? Well if you’d be patient I’ll tell you.

Take your marked companies and make lists of 8 to 12 of those 30 pieces that fit each company. You will use these target lists as guides. Instead of having one set portfolio for all, you will reorganize your port specifically to each stops needs and expectations. Make sense? Good.

And of course everyone stresses a focus on your best work being important to include… however Patrick McEvoy, illustrator extraordinaire, brings an easily forgotten counter point to light.

Your WORST portfolio piece is the BEST you can ever do, in the eyes of an AD.

This is vitally important thing to remember. Some people will try to slip in some  less impressive work by sandwiching it between their better pieces just to get to a 10 count. If you can’t find 10 pieces of suitable and quality work to include you should take one of two alternate paths.

1) Feel free to talk to them about their wants and expectations but wait until next year to try to present to that company. Spend that year putting some more effort into filling in the gaps with quality.

2) Bring the fewer quality items to them but approach them asking for a review of your work and advice on what to work on to better suit their needs instead of trying to sell yourself to them.

Step 4: Packaging your work

Clearly, because you’re going to be shuffling your work around for each engagement, you’re going to want to choose a portfolio made for that sort of use. I personally use a standard binder style portfolio at about 11×14 inches with the ability to add or remove sleeves at will so I can make sure I don’t have more slots than pieces.

As for organization all I can really say is that organization is important. Everyone has their own style and priority of what they want shown. Some people open with their most finished work and close with their most popular. Some in reverse. Some show their line art and work up in color complexity. The important thing is that you do want to have a logic to it. If they notice a pattern it shows you’re thoughtful about such concepts. Thoughtful is always a good thing to imply.

Also you want to choose your presentation with the reviewer in mind. Nothing too bulky. Nothing too un-sturdy. Something easily flipped through even if standing. Loose pages are a no-no.

Patrick McEvoy chimes in again with something even I would still not have thought of if he hadn’t mentioned it:

Put all your pictures facing the same way so the AD doesn’t have to rotate your portfolio while leafing through.

This never crossed my mind before but it makes an insane amount of sense. The less attention their brain has to put into balance and movement the more they can focus on your work.

If you think you get through the build and all this is accounted for… you’re in a good position.

Step 5: The final once over

If you’ve gone over each step in it’s completion you’re probably pretty tired of looking at the finished product. So go take a break. Get a coffee. Watch a cartoon. Grab a meal out.

When you get back you still won’t be psyched about more port work but it’s important to know you’re not yet finished. Take the book and prep it as if for a potential employer. Then hand it to someone. Anyone. Then just watch. See how they hold it and flip through it all. Watch how it handles. Then when they hand it back, take it apart and put it back together as if for another client. How long does it take to shuffle the pages? Were your notes easily understood in as to what was coming out and what was going in? Are your pieces clearly marked so you can reorganize them based on your notes without confusion?

If all the answers are satisfactory then there is a final test. Pack it up however you’re going to be carrying it and just go out and run some errands with it in tow. Go buy some groceries or do some laundry or something time and task consuming while lugging it around. Try to take it out and put it back in the bag a few times while in the middle of doing something else. If it doesn’t annoy you to carry, if it doesn’t get in the way of the tasks without taking it off and if it’s easy to access your port without looking clumsy… then you’re ready to go show off.

Now all you have to do is learn how to break the ice. But I’ll touch on that another time.

Thank you again to Sonia Metheny and Patrick McEvoy for chiming in on this.

If you’ll be at SDCC and want to touch base, don’t be shy. Otherwise, I’ll catch you on the next flip.

-Griffin

How cool is that? Here’s my entry. Feedback is always loved. Thanks to my friend Erica for giving me some ideas to start from.

You can vote for my entry here. I’d love the support.

Also, if you’re in the Boston area come check them out this Wednesday.
“School’s Out”
Middlesex Lounge May 12th
Door’s at 9:00pm. Show starts at 10pm.
(21+ $5 cover)

Now for prints.

Four different pin ups now available of the Rogue Burlesque cast available at the links below.
Prints : $60.00 – 12 x 18
Original : $250.00 – 24 x 36