Art Gleanings: Big Brush Strokes
What I learned this week about illustrating a Puritan Picture book
Do I self-publish or go with a traditional publisher? Marketing, reach, and distribution are high perks of going with a publisher (assuming they want to publish your work). The cons include pricing, royalties, and overall control of the project.
Do I choose offset printing or digital printing? If choosing the self-publishing route, offset printing has the perks of nicer quality printing, but you have to order in bulk, the start up investment is high, and I’d likely have to run a kickstarter campaign. With digital printing, I can do print on demand, but the book quality won’t be as high.
Do I print overseas or in the US? Printing overseas has plenty of headaches, but it’s do-able. However, at a higher cost, you could remove those headaches by printing in the States with places like Print Ninja.
Do I get an agent? I’m learning that many publishers only accept proposals and manuscripts through agents. But since I’m not doing this full-time, it’s likely not worth it for me.
Do I start a kickstarter? When projects are over 90% completion, many creators launch a kickstarter campaign to help fund the production of a project. This might be the way to go.
I learned more about my book’s original intent. As some know by now, I’m working on a project to illustrate a picture book of an old Puritan’s work (whose identity I will reveal at a later time). I originally thought he wrote this book for children, and so I began thinking of this project as a series of illustrations for kids. However, upon further research, I learned that the “children” he was referring to in his work was a metaphor for the foolish. His book aims to challenge the fool.
The role of social media in marketing as an artist. John Hendrix had some terrific wisdom to share on this matter. He said there is a difference between active and passive marketing. Active marketing is all about one to one relationships with people and networking. While social media takes on a more passive approach. It is passive because you do not know who your work is being exposed to.
“Professionals aim to solve somebody’s else’s problem that isn’t their own. The hobbyist is solving their own.”
This teaching idea is $$$:
Tips on book cover design
Tips on Visual Storytelling
“Instead of making art that trades on someone else’s drawings, make an homage to things that you love...Make that Pokemon drawing, but make it in your universe. Make that thing that you have loved as a child or the story you’ve always read but show Art Directors or people in the audience how that thing looks instead of your head.”
“When you treat your sketchbook like a playground, it turns into a king of treasure.”
