What if you sent a client your rates after they requested them, but you haven’t heard back yet?
Do you follow up?
I thought this was a good question for a post from @lilmissmachete aka Marcela Vargas via Twitter. I thought more people might like to know what to do in this situation, so I posted my truncated response.
Welcome back!
It’s been quite a while! I’ve decided to resurrect this blog back from the depths of the internet.
A lot has happened since my last post. I quit my day job, in it’s stead I have started freelancing full time and I’m in a bit of a shuffle between multiple continents. Currently I’m in the US, but I may very well end up in Norway, the UK or even Australia later in the year- who knows!
I feel that in becoming a freelancer full time, I’ve learned a lot since 2008 and I feel this information would be great to share with everyone.
Hopefully you will continue to follow this blog and I hope to meet many new friends, colleagues and hey, maybe even a couple of clients! 
What steps have you taken this year to follow your dream career in the arts?
This week I had the pleasure of babysitting a friend’s pet ferret. If you are unfamiliar with ferrets, they are a small carnivorous mammal, related to and about the size of a weasel. They are known for being absolutely crazy! I have been thinking lately about getting more into the art industry and I realised there were quite a lot of things I could learn from this little ferret!
In this article, I will review Sketchbook Pro. It is surprising to me how few people know about it, but love it once they learn more about it!
If you are reading this, chances are you are an artist wanting to be in the creative field or you already are. This article is catered to those who are not yet in their dream job. The first thing to think about is what you want to do in the industry. Do you want to run your own studio, make characters for video games, or even produce backgrounds for movie sets? These are all different jobs that have different requirements and need to be researched before choosing the right one for you.
Originally from Norway, Henning now lives in Greece and is helping to develop the MMORPG Darkfall. In this interview, I ask Henning some questions aspiring artists may wonder about. You can view more of his artwork at HenningLudvigsen.com. Enjoy!
Q. I think a big reason people stop drawing as kids is out of fear of failure and their art not being accepted. Have you ever felt this way and if so, how did you overcome this feeling?
A. I never had this fear, and everyone around me was always very supportive concerning my interest in drawing and painting. I’ve always been the artsy person in my group of friends, and I decided from my early years that I wanted to work with illustration when I grew up. The transition towards art school and the art and design industry simply happened on its own. In some cultures, art isn’t considered a “serious” profession, which I think it very sad as you do see this all around you, all day, every day.
I think that it’s a good thing having the personal skills of always jumping into any tasks with both legs, even if there are tasks you’ve never handled before. I personally think I have this skill, and I don’t really listen to people who find my work unserious.
Hillary, also known as Hibbary on deviantArt, illustrates here how to go about the process of dying paper in a detailed tutorial. This technique is a great way to achieve a textured look to your paintings. Not many tutorials on the subject are so succinct and illustrative. There is plenty of room for creativity here.
It’s “Too Hard”
We’ve all been inspired by other artists. It’s part of the definition of being an artist – observing others. And who better to observe than someone who enjoys the same hobby/ career/ profession as you? However, doubt can get in the way of inspiration. While at first you may be extremely happy looking at someone’s work and you can just feel that spark of creative energy flow within yourself, trying to emulate someone else can prove to be frustrating. Perhaps their skill level is above yours and you aspire to be like them, but in the course of trying, you discover how much unlike them that you are. It’s very frustrating. You might even claim, “it’s too hard”. But hard is a relative term. What comes naturally or easily to one person might be an uphill struggle for some one else. But you know what? The person that struggled will find it a lot more satisfying when they get the results they want than the person who didn’t have to try.
You sat down. Have your stylus in hand or your nice crisp sheet of paper and pencil. That nagging little thought enters your head, “I can’t draw perspective very well, I think I’ll give it a shot.” You sketch out a figure. You look at it, then think, “This sucks.” A few pencil strokes into it and your potential masterpiece is ruined. In the points I have outlined here, I hope to show how attitude plays a very important role in the outcome of the final drawing.
June lives in Norway and considers herself to be a beginner artist. In this series of questions, I asked what her motivations, inspirations and thought processes when doing her artwork.
Q. When did you start drawing?
A. Can’t remember when, but as long as I can remember I have always drawn.
Q. Was there any one inspiration that got you into drawing (a particular artist, cartoon, ect) and why do you think that source had such a powerful impact on why you want to draw?
A. Inspiration that got me to draw was of course as [the same as] most people think – Cartoons – Lion King. Later my best friend, who has an awesome talent in drawing, made me feel like I would like to do more with my drawing.
