Tag: illustration

Romantic Patterns

Cartoon of a boy and dad with flowers. Boy says, “Last night, you two argued. Today, you come home with flowers. I detect a pattern.”

Handy tip, guys. Flowers do the trick. And if you ever think it’s better to be right than have peace, you’ll want to dig a trench because it will be a long, cold war.

I drew this for Illustration Friday. This week’s word is “Pattern.”

Tags illustration, Illustration Friday

cartoon children cartoons gag cartoon Illustration Friday relationship cartoons School Cartoons single panel cartoon

Cartoon: Infinite ways

Cartoon of two boys walking. One says, “Today at school, I discovered there are an infinite number of ways to annoy a girl.”

Yes, there are an infinite number of ways to annoy people, I’m going to try and find the infinite number of ways to be a blessing today.

This also works for Illustration Friday. This week’s word is “infinite.”

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Tags children cartoons, illustration, Illustration Friday, student, webtoon

gag cartoon illustration illustration business Illustrators single panel cartoon

Picture Book Maker: Helllp! Perspective!

Post author By Kevin Spear
Post date September 10, 2009

Nathan Clement is a first-class illustrator with tons of talent and an all-around good guy.

His latest post shows how he got some help with a tricky perspective problem. In the process, he revealed a great site from another artist, Julie Duell. Both sites are rich in illustration and art information.

Here’s Nathan’s site: Picture Book Maker: Helllp! Perspective!

Tags illustration

illustration

Freelance Work in a Crazy Economy

Post author By Kevin Spear
Post date March 4, 2009

Spear_3479 Cartoon
Originally uploaded by speartoons

Still looking for that million dollar contract? Aren’t we all. If only there was a design and illustration clause to the Federal stimulus package.

The other day a friend at the gym was looking at disgust at his mp3 player. He said, “There’s nothing but bad news. I’m going to stop listening to anything related to business.”

It can be tough out there to get work. But don’t panic. A designer can still find work out there. Here are some things you can do to keep the freelance fires burning.

Keep a positive attitude. I know. Easier said than done, right? But I’ve seen it work time and again. I’ve seen designer who have had the same lousy amount of business. The one with a positive attitude recovers much more quickly than the one who is convince his world is coming to an end. We always find what we’re looking for, whether we realize we’re chasing it or not.
Call up old clients. It’s okay to see what they’re up to. If you had a good experience with them before, it just may take some reconnecting to remind them you are still out there. Email them, call them, take them out for lunch. You never know. You may be surprised and they’ll reward you with a new project and pay for your lunch too. (But be sure you are prepared to pay for it. Don’t be a weasel, after all!)
Keep working even if you have no work. Momentum is everything in this business. If you don’t get your favorite kind of work for a month, you can’t afford to go rusty. Keep doing what you love. Build up your portfolio. Work on that plumb design or illustration project you’ve never had time for. Eventually the pay will come again.

We’re all in this together. Keep looking up!