tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153455437639412986.post3746908754558582871..comments2023-08-27T04:34:18.381-07:00Comments on Illustration Fixation: Speed, Storytelling and CharacterChris Beatricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02801244582928889372noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153455437639412986.post-56367348454323278342012-02-23T13:28:44.372-08:002012-02-23T13:28:44.372-08:00Hey Kevin, yes to both points. This piece is one o...Hey Kevin, yes to both points. This piece is one of just a handful where the deadline was the limiting time factor. Usually I impose my own time limits in order to ensure a certain level of profit margin, and keep myself available for other work. I may have four or six weeks to do a picture that I give myself three days to complete. And yes, I do write full briefs for my own personal work as well. Like you said, it keeps me focused, but also there are a lot of points that are easier to put in writing than directly in picture form... themes I want to explore, similar stories I may want to read, etc.Chris Beatricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02801244582928889372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153455437639412986.post-12835569816242564992012-02-23T12:43:03.477-08:002012-02-23T12:43:03.477-08:00Thanks Chris. I can relate to the inherent time li...Thanks Chris. I can relate to the inherent time limit you mentioned there. Although I'm not a commercial illustrator like yourself, I do find that my enjoyment of a painting quickly starts to wane if it drags on too long ('too long' for me is usually anything over a week). I'll often put it aside and come back to it later when it feels fresh again. But the trouble with that is I can end up with a growing pile of unfinished artwork, which can start to have an oddly corrosive effect on my morale.<br /><br />Commissioned work is different of course, and I like having to work within the timeframe I've agreed with the customer since it keeps me focused. But for personal projects, portfolio pieces, gallery work etc I have to try and self-impose a deadline, which isn't necessarily easy to stick to.<br /><br />Out of curiosity, do you ever set yourself a time limit for something that doesn't otherwise have one?<br /><br />And if you don't mind another question...(sorry!!!) have you ever set yourself a brief when you were working on non-commissioned work? I wonder if doing that might help me stay more focused on the illustration pieces I'm trying to do for practice.<br /><br />Cheers, Kevinweepaintedmenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16860260738585267050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153455437639412986.post-12679208788690070732012-02-22T14:10:22.088-08:002012-02-22T14:10:22.088-08:00Thanks Kevin, and yeah, personally I find that the...Thanks Kevin, and yeah, personally I find that the more constraints I have often the more powerful the work is! One of the things I struggle with when making pictures is I can be indecisive (and working digitally can encourage this), so if presented with a completely blank slate I may waffle around a bit. I actually love having a very focused "mission," including a tight time frame. It keeps my inner waffler quiet. "Shut up, we don't have time for that!" Sometimes ANY decision is better than NO decision. Also I find with picture making there is sort of an inherent time limit for me, after which the picture kind of closes itself off for me. It's sort of like burnout, I guess. So short deadlines can be a good thing.<br />I call attention to the "shippable" thing because with commissioned work you have to hit a (vaguely) objective standard, and until you get there the dynamic is very different. It's more like survival mode. After you get there it's, "now let's see what we can do with this thing." It's sort of like, once you've seen to your basic survival needs, then you can think about a hobby and some recreation. At least that's how I work.<br /><br />Lastly, to give you some sense of timing (friends tell me these details are informative...), I would never take a week or two to do a piece like this, in any case. Keep in mind the image is small (about 3"x3", which is only about 900x900 pixels; I rendered it larger than that, though). Normally I would never spend more than three days on something like this. Probably two at the most, but if it were for a label or something it'd be a lot more. Usage has a lot to do with it - with magazines (like this) these things are seen once. With packaging they're around for a very long time.Chris Beatricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02801244582928889372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2153455437639412986.post-81806629093307068892012-02-22T13:58:21.430-08:002012-02-22T13:58:21.430-08:00Great post, Chris. Fascinating to see how this ill...Great post, Chris. Fascinating to see how this illustration came into being. I remember admiring it on your website recently and certainly never imagined something of such quality could have been painted so quickly. Do you find the pressures of a tight deadline can sometimes be a good thing in this respect? Or to put it another way, if you'd had a week or two to do it, would it have taken you a week or two, but possibly with the same result? I was impressed that even when you had taken the image to the 'shippable' state as you call it, you didn't just settle for that. Those last subtle changes really gave the picture a nice polish. And the necessary shirt change was a blessing in my opinion - I think the blue colouring adds more interest to the picture as a whole. Fantastic work!weepaintedmenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16860260738585267050noreply@blogger.com