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In January 2018, my wife suggested that I create a podcast. It sounded like a good idea, but I didn’t know a single thing about podcasts (other than listening to them).
Here are the top 10 lessons I learned after producing, recording, editing, and publishing 85 podcast episodes for The Illustration Department Podcast.
To read the rest of this post, subscribe to The Illustration Department’s “Notes on Illustration” on Substack.
Read moreWhat should I put in my portfolio? How many pieces should I include? Do I show one style? Do I show several styles? Building, or curating, an illustration portfolio, can feel like a daunting task. It’s hard enough assessing the value and approach to one’s art—without worrying about the opinions of others.
However, there’s no getting around the fact that if you want to be an illustrator, you must have an illustration portfolio. So, let’s talk about that portfolio.
To read the rest of this post, subscribe to The Illustration Department’s “Notes on Illustration” on Substack.
Read moreIn my years as art director, I threw away 90% of the postcards I receive.
That statement may come across as odd. Professors, agents, editors, and other art directors & illustrators say it’s imperative to send postcards. You may have taken that advice. You may have spent good money on hundreds of cards. And now, a former art director of one of the largest collections of imprints says he threw almost all of them away.
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Read moreThere are two pieces of advice every illustrator has heard, but should never heed: “Do what you love, and the money will follow” and “Only accept projects if you connect with the text”.
They’re both cut from the same cloth: let your emotions inform your decisions. For some illustrators, this is possible to do while still maintaining a successful career. Good on them for putting in the time and effort to be in that position. But for the other 99% of us, it isn’t always the case—especially when we’re starting out. It’s to that illustrator that I’m (mostly) directing this post.
To read the rest of this post, subscribe to The Illustration Department’s “Notes on Illustration” on Substack.
Read moreFinding “my style” is one of the most commonly discussed topics among illustrators. Entire semesters, conference seminars, online classes, podcasts, social media discourse, and articles are devoted to helping illustrators find their style.
And yet, of all the words in the lexicon of the art world, “style” is the one I hate the most.
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Read moreEvery illustrator is different. And yet—regardless of experience, education, or talent—there are common mistakes all illustrators make. Some of them are harmless. Some aren’t.
After spending more than twenty years hiring and teaching illustrators, here are the top 10 most common mistakes I’ve seen illustrators make.
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Read moreAre there five words in the children’s book world more capable of sparking a debate than “Do I need an agent”?
The answer is simple: Maybe. Maybe not.
Kidding aside, let’s go through the steps of submitting your work to agents, from researching agencies to signing on the dotted line—while having a bit of a heart-to-heart along the way. I also included answers from five well-known agents on questions I often hear from illustrators.
By the end, you may finally have the answer to, “Do I need an agent?”
To read the rest of this post, subscribe to The Illustration Department’s “Notes on Illustration” on Substack.
Read moreAnimators* can make great children’s book illustrators.
Historically speaking, the proof is in Gustaf Tenggren, J.P. Miller, Aurelius Battaglia, Mary Blair, Bill Peet, Retta Scott, Cliff Roberts, Jon Klassen, and countless others.
In 2016, I asked Cale Atkinson, Brett Bean, Liz Climo, Chris Houghton, Claire Keane, Tina Kugler, Sarah Marino, Ovi Nedelcu, Pete Oswald, and Kenard Pak to speak to their experiences in “crossing over” to children’s books. Here’s what they had to say:
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Read moreWhen I was a kid, my parents would get me to eat by saying in their southern Italian dialect, “The more you stare, the more there is.”
I stared at my mother’s (amazing) food, elbows on the table, my head held in my hands. Were they right? There’s so much food already. How can I eat all of this?! I think I just saw my bowl fill up with even more pasta! There’s no way I’ll be able to get through all of it.
It was a nightly routine of “finish your plate” or face the disappointment of an Italian mother. This is a family in which an aunt broke down in tears because I was “skinny”; and an uncle gave my sister bananas—for years—so she could gain weight. It’s not that I didn’t like my mother’s cooking. Quite the opposite. The problem was that there was too much of it, and I couldn’t see the finish line over the mountain of gnocchi. Faced with an insurmountable task, I would default to inertia.
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Read moreI’m a Baltimore Orioles fan. I’ll skip the blurry anecdotes and poetic waxing of what the O’s have meant to me. Suffice it to say my devotion runs deep. How deep? I still loved them after what happened in the spring of 1989 (look it up).
As a fan of baseball, I can’t help but notice the parallels and lessons that directly apply to something else I love: illustration. With outfield assists from fellow baseball fans Sarah Bunting, Tad Carpenter, John Hendrix, Kenard Pak, Elias Stein, Matt Tavares, and John Tomac, we discuss the lessons artists can learn from our national pastime. So pull up your socks and chew on some gum—we’re talking baseball and illustration!
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Read moreIn the post-Internet age, the traditional model of learning a discipline in the creative arts—i.e., completing a four-year program at a brick-and-mortar college or university—is being questioned.
With rising tuition costs, more people are asking, “Are art schools worth it?” Criticisms leveled against art schools are many. And even though I agree with some of them, I will always advocate for art schools. Here’s why:
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