Notes & Major Points

The Education of an Illustrator Steven Heller & Marshall Arisman

Part 2: Ebbing & Flowing, Chapter 51: The Author/Illustrator Steve Brodner

ISBN: 9781581150759

School of Visual Arts, et al. The Education of an Illustrator / Edited by Steven Heller and Marshall Arisman. Allworth Press, 2000.

The Education

• ~... ~' Illustrator

51

THE AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR By Steve Brodner

0 ne of the reasons I quit teaching illustration was that I began to question what illustration was, how its essentials could be made clear to students, and what on earth could I, or should I, be preparing them for. As I write

this, the field is changing rapidly. I'm not certain what it 's becoming or how much we will recognize of professional illustration when the dust settles. Cheap disks threaten to supplant large sections of the profession. The "market" seems glutted with artists of varying levels of skill, which is leading to a much looser interpreta­ tion of "quality." Art departments are showing great faith in their in-house person­ nel to replace illustration with Photoshopped collages. Fees for art works have not changed in a generation.

I see illustrators for whom the next big movement is a movement out of illustration. So, the question must be asked: For those remaining in illustration or those wanting to get in, what does it still hold for us?

I begin first with the premise that there is nothing inherent in illustration that is different from "art." I know that this old distinction is prevalent, but the graphic universe I know tells me it's an irrelevant dialectic engaged in, quite often, by those with a good deal at stake in maintaining a prescribed order. Winslow Homer, Andy Warhol, Toulouse-Lautrec, Marshall Arisman, Ben Shahn, Thomas Hart Benton, George Bellows, George Grosz, and Diego Rivera all argue persuasive­ ly against this idea. Therefore, if we, as they, are "real artists," making "real art," what is the distinction that makes us illustrators as well?

The distinction that I see is in content. What makes our job different and harder than other artistic pursuits is that we must do at least two things at once: solve formalistic graphic, spatial, and color problems of all kinds plus, tell a literal story. Storytelling is a cultivated craft, ancient and deeply important to a culture. The truly fine illustrators share the mantel of shaman along with poets, composer/troubadours, playwrights, and filmmakers. That "content" is shunned by gallery owners and critics is not important. Pleasing them need not keep anyone up at night when there are things one's art has to say. Answering that call can be the driving force in your life.

It is my observation that the highest calling in art is telling the important story. The greatest art of all for me is about that. Bach, Shakespeare, Goya, John Ford, Billie Holiday, Cartier-Bresson, and Michelangelo told, in their moment and

in their way, important stories. This is the guidepost for what future illustration must have-to take the content and direction of your illustration into your own hands. By starting with what you need to say and finding a plausible place to put it, worlds can open up for your work. This is no magical panacea. Indeed, great finan­ cial reward is not in the equation. It's just the simple notion that when your work focuses on something deeply felt and earnestly expressed, it will naturally convey its importance. In lieu of fame and fortune (which we in illustration are quite libera ted from expecting), let there be the opportunity to make art that contains the ideas, observations, and passionate points-of-view that artists see and feel in the world around them.

In my case it has led to journalism. I love to go places and cover stories in words and pictures. I regularly contact art directors with story ideas, some of which they buy. I've covered political conventions, primary campaigns, a music festival, a labor strike, a farm crisis, a climb of Mt. Fuji, and many other things. Very few of these assignments originate with the magazine itself. They result from my love of doing that work along with the courage, as an artist, to suggest a story. And why not? Photographers do it all the time. They' ll live in a place for a while and bring in pho­ tos an editor might want to build a story around. I know artists who will call a regional magazine art director with a project and say, "Hey, let 's do a spread on the birds of the Southeast." How about covering a boat show for a yachting magazine, dogs of New York, opening day at the ballpark? Almost anything about the tangible world is a potential subject for a magazine piece and can be covered by an illustra­ tor, usually, with greater impact.

The key word here is "passion," the powerful connection you feel for something true and compelling. "When truth is the goal," Ansel Adams said, "your work cannot help but partake of truth." If self-generated projects come from that place, they will, I believe, be compelling; and find a home in books, magazines, or on the Internet. Meanwhile, back at your portfolio, your work will assume a new center of gravity. Art directors, thinking of you as more than a walking wrist, may finally start calling with assignments, which are much closer to your hean.

52

Marketing Illustration Steven Heller & Marshall Arisman

Chapter 1: What to Do If You Want to Make Art, But Need to Make a Living

Chapter 6: Marketing the New Illustration

ISBN: 9781581156577

Heller, Steven, and Marshall Arisman. Marketing Illustration: New Venues, New Styles, New Methods. Allworth Press, 2008.

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Steven Heller ... Marshall Arisman

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Chapter One

What to Do lfYou Want to Make Art, But Need to Make A Living

Throughout the twentieth century, the obvious solution to this particular quandary

was to compromise by becoming an illustrator (or a designer). It is an accepted myth

(even in most art schools) that real artists do not make money, but through accepting

illustration into one's life comes the potential to earn a reasonable living while

continuing to make art (or a reasonable substitute for art). Well, that paradigm has

changed over the past dozen years. Art increasingly intersects with commerce, and

artists have found that their muse-driven concepts can, under the right circumstances,

be transformed into marketable products.

Likewise, illustrators have found that certain styles and conceptual trends are

currently accepted as art in the hollowed halls of galleries, museums, and art fairs

(like Art Basel). As sacrosanct distinctions are routinely challenged and with the

boundaries between fine and applied arts becoming increasingly fungible, making a

living (or at least somehow profiting) from art is not as difficult as it once was.

Of course, not all fine artists have the entrepreneurial gene, and not all illustrators

are perfectly suited to perform in the art world, but for those who can make the

respective leaps on either side of the divide, a potentially vital and welcoming market

I

MARKETING ILLUSTRATION

awaits. For the artist, it is a way to reach more of an audience with an alternative

kind of"multiple"; for the illustrator, it is a way to branch out from the conventional

problem/solution model into more self-initiated projects. But this is not an either/

or scenario. Illustrators are not required to become fine artists in order to expand

their earning capabilities. In fact, the definitions of illustrator and of illustration are

changing in such a way that editorial and advertising are no longer the only options.

Illustrators are now able to show their work in art venues, just as more traditional

artists are welcome in commercial venues.

The reason for this change is that, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first ·

centuries, art has expanded to fill the many containers built with new technologies,

economies, and moralities. Art is not restricted to canvas, clay, or paper and is

as much a response to external media and mediums as it is to internal emotions.

Moreover, the creative act is not determined by the ratio of suffering or angst to

ultimate result, it is defined by the impulse to create something that has not existed

before or build on something that has.

The consequence of this impulse is that artists and illustrators are currently

creating "stuff." Not only are the boundaries between fine and applied arts more

or less lowered, but form, content, and accessibility are more democratic. In this

way, the entrepreneurial spirit is ignited, and graphically, greater options are now

available. Below are some of the ways illustrative image-making has become more

entrepreneurial.

Toys With the explosion in vinyl toy marketing and manufacture with companies

like K.idrobot and Giant Robot, illustrators have a new venue for their more

absurdist, three-dimensional concepts. What began a decade ago with a few artists

transforming action hero toys into mutations has grown into a highly profitable

collectible industry.

Games To say video games are a mammoth industry is not an exaggeration. Billions are

spent annually on both development and sales, and illustrators are increasingly

employed in rendering and development. While it is not always easy to create

characters from scratch, the video game field welcomes as much creative thinking

as it can absorb.

2

WHAT To Do IF You T,½zNTTO MAKE ART, BuT NEED TO MAKE A LrvING

Animation The most significant change in field of illustration can be summed up with the

word motion. While illustrators have worked in the animation field since the first

animated cartoons in the early twentieth century, digital technology allows anyone

with software skills to be a desktop animator. Motion has become as common to

illustrators as cross-hatching, and animation is now second nature.

Novelties Illustrators have long toyed with the idea of creating knick-knacks, and some have

produced delightful novelties that end up being sold in design-centric boutiques.

They range from silly to profound, and they can be pure designs or concept- or character-driven.

Candies This may not be the most prodigious of the entrepreneurial ventures, but specialty

companies like Blue Qin Pittsfield, Massachusetts, produce various confections

packaged with silly but cleverly illustrated covers and labels . Some artists have used

their packaging skills to create custom lines of candy, as well.

Books This is not an unconventional alternative, but increasingly, illustrators are turning

to writing, illustrating, producing, and packaging books- and 'zines-that have independent life in the marketplace.

Graphic Novels They are technically books, but graphic novels and artist books have a distinct

genre of expression. Various specialty publishers, like Drawn and Quarterly and

Fantagraphics, offer prodigious outputs of historical and original material, which increases the market for interesting new work.

Wallpaper When it comes to products created by illustrators, the quirkier, the better; and few

things are more unusual than wallpapers . While there is not an immense market for

it, artists have, in recent years, become involved in wallpaper production, as well as

designing wrapping paper and textiles.

3

MARKETING ILLUSTRATION

Fashions Speaking of textiles, designers have contributed their fair share to this field. Dut

artists are increasingly developing all manner of clothing, from hats to shoes, and

these days, hoodies.

T-shirts A decade or so ago, when illustrators had an entrepreneurial inkling, their first

thought was, Let's create a T-shirt line. The artful (and often just plain goofy) T-shirt

industry has grown exponentially. It is also a good jumping-off point for other street

fashion concepts.

A word to the wise: Illustration is a stepping stone, not an end in itself Working

with images opens doors to the above-and doubtless many other-unheralded jobs

and genres. The key is to think entrepreneurially and to spread your talent as far as it

will go.

MARKETING ILLUSTRATION

Diversify. The editorial market is not dead, but it is only one of many ways of making

and selling mass images.

The Unbearable Burden of Marketing Yourself: A Personal Bistory

The motor that drives the art machine is fueled by energy. Energy is a by product

of believing that you have something to say. The fuel for marketing is the desire for

money. Desire, in itself, produces craving and depletes energy.

If you desire success you will covet the concept of marketing to fulfill your

desires. If you desire communication with yourself and others, that energy base may

be the best marketing tool you have.

If all this sounds confusing, it is. Now in my late sixties, after forty years of making

pictures that appear on the printed page and gallery wall, I am still confused by Andy

Warhol's comment that "The best art of all is the business of art." I am less confused by

Mark Rothko's comment, "There is no such thing as a good painting about nothing."

The part of me that paints is not the part of me that markets the painting. Like

many artists, I would like to leave the marketing to someone more qualified than

myself, but I can't. I wish I could-I have tried. Over the years, I have had a few

illustration reps and many gallery owners whose jobs, I thought, were to market

me better than I marketed myself The end result was being forced to acknowledge

that I know myself better than they do. Marketing something I believe in is my

responsibility. I have tried to make peace with the two parts of me that are in conflict.

For example, I set aside specific days to make phone calls, to e-mail, etc. These are the

days I don't try and make pictures. This is not a perfect solution, but the tug-of-war

between the state of creativity and the state of marketing is less draining.

Looking back is the only way that I can perceive a pattern. If you ask what my

next project will be, I will answer, I don't know. If you ask what I have learned about

marketing myself over the years, I will answer, I am still learning.

I was educated as a graphic designer (Pratt Institute, 1956-1960). My first job

was at General Motors Tech Center. After three months of employment, I realized

that I didn't like working with people-I didn't like solving problems that were not

my own. The only time I was happy and full of energy was when I was alone, drawing

and painting.

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MARKETING THE NEW ILLUSTRATION

My first portfolio was done on 30x40-inch Masoniite boards and weighed

sixty pounds. A marketing expert would have talked me out of it. Many art directors

stopped me on Madison Avenue and asked what was in the portfolio-on-wheels.

The card I gave out was an original painting of a man playing a paintbrush with

a violin bow. A marketing expert would have sent me to a printer. The card sat,

framed, on many art directors' desks. The card included my name, address, and phone

number, but the phone, unfortunately, was located at my friend's house a half-block

away from my apartment in Brooklyn. The art director who called me for my first

illustration job was put on hold for the ten minutes it took my friend to run down

the block and get me. The art director, thinking I had listed the candy store on the

corner, told me to never get my own phone.

"Meaning," Carl Jung said, "has curative power. What is meaningful to you is the

basis of all things, perhaps everything."

My advice is simply to accept the responsibility of marketing yourself. If you are

marketing for yourself, it will provide you with the energy to do it all.

A kung-fu master told me this about replenishing energy: hug trees . My advice:

make more art.

- Marshall Arisman

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