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Rockhopper Penguin Totem

This ornery looking fellow is a Rockhopper Penguin, the latest Totem in the series and one of my more challenging paintings to date.  While I usually have a lot of fun with these, this one was a roller coaster of frustration.

The main reason I added this animal to the series at this point is because the Calgary Zoo had expressed interest.  With their recent addition of The Penguin Plunge habitat to their facility, penguins are a pretty big deal in Calgary this year.  While they have already taken a chance on my Wolf and Moose paintings, I’d like to have more of my Totems for sale at the zoo, so the decision to  paint a penguin right now was a commercial one.  I sent the finished image to my contact at the zoo this morning within a short time of finishing it, and it was well received.  They’ve already ordered a significant number of prints in a variety of sizes, so they should be available at their retail outlet soon.  Right outside The Penguin Plunge.

So why was this so frustrating?  Honestly, with the exception of the Ostrich Totem, I find birds incredibly difficult to paint.  Perhaps it’s because their body structure is so different from mammals, a beak instead of a mouth, usually only one eye visible instead of two, also that they’re very stiff looking…honestly I don’t know what it is.  It wasn’t the detail, because the feathers were a lot of work, but not difficult to paint, just time consuming.  When I’m working on a painting, I start at low-resolution, then as more and more detail gets painted in, I’ll bump up the resolution until it’s around 18″X24″ at 300ppi.  When it gets to this point, the painting is really close to being finished, it’s just a matter of painting in a lot of tiny details.  With this penguin, however, I was trying to fix structural issues at full size, something I would rarely do.  But I’d painted so much detail in a lot of places that didn’t need to be fixed, so I couldn’t go backwards without losing that.

My wife Shonna is not an artist, but she has this uncanny knack of looking at a painting I’m working on and instantly seeing what’s wrong with it.  It’s very annoying, but also very helpful.  When I ask her opinion, I brace myself for what I know is coming, because there is always something.   With this penguin, she saw more than a few problems.  The eye wasn’t in the right place, the yellow feathers didn’t look right, the beak was shaped wrong.  It was brutal.

All of these issues were addressed and repainted, adding at least another five or six hours to a piece I’d already been working on for many more than that.  The personality didn’t even seem to show up until the last few hours, which is very unusual.  So while there’s nothing more I could do to this painting to improve it, I had a hard time ‘feeling’ it while I was doing the work.  There were still times when I was really enjoying myself, but not as much as I normally do.  The Bighorn Sheep Totem was like this as well, and while I love that painting now, I didn’t immediately after I’d finished it.

So what did I learn?  Well, sometimes you just have to plow through and git ‘er done, even when you’re not feeling it.  The finished painting may feel a little different to me at the moment, but anyone buying it doesn’t know the frustrating back story (unless they read it here), so it now stands on its own merit.  It’ll either be popular or it won’t, and time will tell.  Also, I took most of the reference photos myself, and they were average.  For the pose and general features, however, they were good enough.  For the fine details,  I decided to go and buy some stock photos.  After reading their licensing agreement that permits this usage for work like mine, I’ll be doing that more often.  Some great closeup detail reference on stock photo sites, and reasonably priced, too.  This is going to make future paintings a little easier for me.

While I’ve been working on commissions the last little while, turns out this is the first Totem I’ve added to the series since the Cougar in January.  I’ve got a couple of other painting projects up next, but I’m hoping to have another Totem done before the end of the summer.  And no, it’s not a bird.

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How much is that doggie in the painting?

Every time I post a new commission piece, as I did last week, people ask me what I charge for custom work.  For some reason, there used to be this grey area among artists about whether or not to post your prices.  I’ve read some compelling opinions on both sides of the argument, but one thing I’ve learned lately is that eventually you have to pick a side and stick to it.  That, and everybody has an opinion.

When it comes to editorial cartoons, illustration work and commercial painting gigs, each one is negotiated individually, because every client, usage, and situation is different.  Commissions for the animal paintings, however, are pretty straightforward, as long as the client is looking for the same style of image that can be seen in my portfolio.  An animal portrait painting, whimsical Totem style or not, is a lot of work, but it’s straightforward and there are usually no surprises.   In the interest of pulling back the curtain, I thought I’d just post the standard commission information.  This will also enable me to link to this post in the future whenever the inquiries come in.  There are always little differences in each inquiry, but consider this the foundation on which all of my painting commissions are built.  These are the current prices and details.  While they’re unlikely to change in the very near future, prices will go up over time, and with demand.

Whether it’s the Totem or realistic style, the price is the same.  For 1 (one) animal, commissions start at $600.00 (CDN), which includes a 16″X20″ signed matted print, with free shipping anywhere in Canada or the Continental U.S.  There are additional costs for other printing options as there is a significant difference between an 8″X10″ paper print and an 18″X24″ framed canvas print, both in production and shipping fees.  The time to complete a commission will vary, depending on my workload, but usually it’s around 4-6 weeks from the time I receive the reference photos.  If you live in Canada, there is GST or HST added to that price, depending on the region.  You can blame the government for that.  I require a 50 percent non-refundable deposit on all commissions once an agreement has been reached, the remainder due upon completion.

One request I’m getting more and more of these days is for the full-resolution digital file.  While I used to be on the fence about this, as many artists and photographers are when it comes to their images,  I now give the digital file to every client.  I still retain the copyright, but these days, clients want to be able to post something like this on a website and social media and maybe print a few extra copies for themselves. As long as they aren’t trying to pass it off as their own work, or sell copies of the images, I feel that’s fair.  They paid for the work, just as if a company might have paid me for an ad illustration.  That way, if they want to put the painting of Fido on their Christmas card that year, they’re free to do so.

While no photos are ever part of the paintings, I can’t very well paint those little freckles you love so much on your cat’s nose if I don’t know what they look like, so I need good photos to work from  Some of my clients have been photographers.  As a result, many of the reference photos I’ve had to work with have been great.  Since not everybody can be a photographer, it’s often a challenge to find the right photos.  The better the photos I have, the better the painting will be.  In a perfect world, the photos should be sharp, good lighting, fairly close up of the face of the animal, a straight on or 3/4 pose, at eye level, and looking at the camera.  The more photos to choose from, the better.  Problems that occur with some animal photos is that their eyes are highly reflective, and a flash can completely wash out the detail.  If your dog or cat looks sad in all of the photos provided, it can be tough to make him or her look happy, without the risk of losing the likeness.

Let’s use fictitious Fido as an example.  Fido is a shaggy dog that is dirty and in desperate need of a haircut.  Can’t see his eyes, he’s looking elsewhere, it’s dusk, the photo was taken from far away, and the only copy available  is a 4″X6″ low resolution image on Facebook.  The client’s instructions are, “his hair is usually a lot shorter than that, he has big brown eyes.  When we go to our cottage in the woods, he always likes to put his paws up on the window and look out, so I’d like to see him like that.”

Based on this, I’m going to ask for more photos and negotiate that pose.  If this were all I had to go on, I would decline the opportunity, because the client wouldn’t be happy with the finished work, anyway.  Having done a number of these commissions of people and animals over the years, I can usually tell quite quickly if it’s going to work out or not.

Suppose, however, that the client has given me fantastic photos of Fido to work from, great lighting, sharp detail and is flexible on the pose, but then adds, “I’d like him to be wearing his collar with his name tag on it.  He also likes to sit with his favorite fifteen stuffed animals and toys.”

The collar would be no problem and would not affect the cost.  The same would apply to maybe sticking a bow-tie on Fido, or even a comical pair of glasses if that’s what the client wanted.  Some of that I can make up, and  I would consider that part of the foundation.  All of those toys, however, very specific toys, well, that’s going to definitely be an added cost, as would any other additional specific details that the client would like to include.  Any additional animals would also affect the cost.  While a few have asked, I decline the opportunity to paint a person and an animal in the same portrait.  My styles for both are very different, and they just don’t go together.

Painting these animals is a joy most of the time and I find that I like hearing the ‘back story’, too.  We sure do love our animals, and hearing folks talk about the personality of their furry, hairy, or feathered friend is something I enjoy very much.  I’ve no doubt that it helps me paint a better likeness and hopefully capture some of that personality in the painting.  One of my favorites was Chase, the happy German Shepherd with his titanium tooth.

Chase

I’ve been hired to paint a couple of memorial portraits of furry loved ones, too,  and the importance of that isn’t lost on me.  Titus the cat, who lived to the very ripe old age of 24, sitting in the scrap paper bin he apparently enjoyed so much at their printing business.  I’m told the painting now hangs above the bin.  Then there’s Gilly the Pomeranian who passed away last year.  The client told me his wife cried when they got the painting home, but they were tears for happy memories.  I guess I like the stories after the paintings are done, too.

I enjoy these commissions, and will continue to do them as long as folks keep asking me to.  If you’ve been thinking about a commission, or just have any questions that weren’t addressed here, please do drop me a line, either on Facebook or by email, and I’ll be happy to answer.

 

 

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How To Succeed with Social Media!

Hi, My name is Patrick LaMontagne.  I draw pictures and colour them.  But more importantly, I’m on social media.

Anybody who is self-employed these days, especially if you’re a freelance creative type, knows about the importance of social media.  How do you know?  Because everybody is telling you that you MUST be active on social media.  Not just on social media, no, you have to be on every conceivable platform of social media.

You need to have a Facebook page, and not just one, but a business page, too, and you have to be on Twitter.  Heaven forbid you’re not on Twitter.  Then there’s LinkedIN.  Doesn’t matter if you haven’t found a use for it, you still have to be on it.  And of course, the latest thing is Google+.  If you’re not on Google+ already, you might as well go get a job working for somebody else, because you’re probably too late.

Did I mention Pinterest?  That’s where you post a bunch of pictures of other people’s stuff to tell people what you’re interested in, but don’t post pictures of your own stuff because that’s not being genuine, it’s just trying to sell people stuff, and people aren’t stupid, so they’ll see right through that.  Posting pictures of your own stuff just tells people you’re interested in making money, and that just makes you a bad person.

See, it’s not enough to be on social media, but you have to know HOW to be on social media.  There’s etiquette you see, or as the kids say today, netiquette.  Get it?  Net, internet, moving on.

It’s important to be yourself, but don’t really be yourself, because sometimes you might be grumpy and complain about something, and if you complain about something, then people will think you’re a whiner and nobody wants to work with a whiner, so don’t really be yourself.  People want to work with positive people, so you always have to be positive.  Big smiles, happy all the time, fist bumps, high fives, and thumbs up.  You have to be Tony Robbins, 24/7, 365 days a year.  And you can do it, because YOU are a winner!

Most importantly, be supportive.  If you’re not supportive of your fellow creatives and people in general, then you’re just selfish and nobody will want to be around you, which means they won’t want to work with you.  The whole reason you have to do all of this stuff is so people know who you are, and that they like you, and you can have a successful business, but nobody wants to be sold anything, so you have to be clever.  Share links, advice, motivational quotes, funny pictures, don’t be critical, don’t bully anyone, play nice, don’t brag or talk too much about your life, work, or successes, and once in awhile, if you’re really careful, you can post a link asking people to buy your stuff.  But when you do, make sure you apologize for it.

But how much social media is too much, or worse yet, how much is not enough?  You have to learn how to do it right.  You have to read a lot of books, buy DVDs, watch videos, attend conferences, host hangouts, take classes, and watch webinars all about social media to learn how to use social media effectively.  Experts will tell you to only post at certain times of the day because that’s when most people are online, others will say you have to be monitoring it all day because you could miss the opportunity of a lifetime if you’re not watching at just the right moment.  But, all you need is 10 minutes a day, or is it 10 minutes every hour?  10 minutes every 10 minutes?  Are you writing this down?

Social media is also about being social.  You have to hang out, chat with people, give an LOL for today’s viral YouTube cat video, give sympathy for their troubles, kudos for their successes, and encouragement for anything and everything they are currently trying to accomplish.  Even if you don’t care, you have to pretend to care, because that’s what positive people do.  And YOU.  ARE.  POSITIVE!

It’s all about networking.  That’s so important and networking means getting to know people without trying to sell them stuff.  Well at least not now.  You can try selling them stuff later after you know them.  Of course, then they’ll want a discount.  Anyway, successful business people know how to network.  And even if you’re not successful, you have to convince people that you are, because that’s how you become successful.  Chicken, egg, you understand.

So get out there!  Share, Post, Link, Like, +1, Comment, Tweet, Retweet, Message, Direct Message, Watch, Read, Hangout, and LOL as much as you possibly can.  Your business, nay, your life depends on your being able to master social media.

At some point, you’re probably going to have to get out and actually do the work that you’re in business for in the first place, but that’s not really very important, because if social media has taught us anything,  having something to sell is not nearly as important as having people to sell it to.

Why are you still here?

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Sorry, what was the question?

Hardly a week goes by that I don’t get an email, Facebook message, or Direct Message on Twitter asking me a question about cartooning, painting, art in general, the business of it all, and other miscellaneous queries.  I find it amusing a lot of the time, not because I think the questions are funny, but because when I was starting out, I did the same thing to more experienced artists.  Fortunately, many were generous with their time and answered me, so I try to do the same.  True, there is the odd person who tries the, ‘got a second, tell me everything you know’ approach and for that, I usually refer them to my DVDs.  Most of the time, however, it’s just a ‘help, please’ request.

I’ve also been inspired by Tom Richmond’s ‘Sunday Mailbag,’ and enjoy reading his Question/Answer entries each week.  With that in mind, I posted this question on my Facebook page, “Occasionally I’ll get emails from people asking questions about everything from commissions to art tips. Figured it might be a good idea to do a Q&A blog entry. So, if you have any questions about anything, ask away. Keep in mind, I may not answer all of them.”

Mike Wilkerson, a talk show host and web/graphic designer at 2GuysTalking Podcast Network hit me with a bunch of them, so all of these are from him, since most of the questions were good ones.  The others didn’t really apply to me.  For example, he asked about my own kids’ artwork and my opinion on which cartoon is overrated in today’s papers.  My wife and I chose not to have children, and when it comes to the artwork of others, I tend to keep any negative opinions to myself.  Publicly, at least.

So here are some of the questions, and thanks for asking them, Mike.

What do you think about the price of a Wacom 20+” Cintiq unit?

Anybody who follows my work knows that I’m a big fan of Wacom.  I even work for them once in awhile.  While it might seem like that would prohibit me from giving an honest opinion, it doesn’t.  My review of the Wacom Inkling wasn’t glowing and I usually try to be honest.  The price of the large Cintiq units comes up a lot online and it can be a heated discussion.  Personally, I want one and am working on budgeting for it.  I think it’s a fantastic product, and it’s the gold standard of digital drawing devices.  The Cintiq 24″HD is somewhere around $2600.00 and you get what you pay for.  So while I’d personally like it to be dirt cheap, I can’t fault them for their price.  A lot went into the development of the device and I’ve yet to read a bad review.

What has been your best method of keeping track of mileage to help claim at the end of the year (though I think you said you were in Canada, and I don’t know if that works differently etc)?

I used to be an accounting clerk and office admin, so I’m pretty good with admin software.  I keep an Excel spreadsheet of all of my mileage throughout the year, and include a summary of all of the expenses when I take my books to my accountant.  I don’t have to use my vehicle often, a perk of working at home, and I usually walk if I’m running errands around town.  But when I go to Calgary to pick up prints or supplies, Banff to drop off prints, and any other business trips, I claim the mileage.  It works out to a significant write-off at the end of the year.  To make sure I don’t forget to make note of the trip, I’ll record a voice note in my phone, and then enter a bunch of them all at the same time into the computer.  That’s also my method of remembering cartoon ideas.

When working, do you like listening to music, working with the TV on behind you, etc?

When I’m working on cartoons in the early morning (I get up at 5:00AM almost every day), I’ll be listening to the radio with the headphones or music on my computer.  About 9:00, I turn on the news on a little TV in my office and watch/listen to that while working.  Unless a big news story is breaking, I’ll turn it off after an hour, because it just ends up repeating.  Sometimes in the afternoon, I’ll flip on a channel that has sitcom reruns.  It’s nice background noise.

When I’m painting, I’m almost always listening to music in the headphones and I really enjoy that.  Lately, I’ve started listening to audio books more often.  Painting doesn’t require a lot of concentration, so it’s easy to do both.  Right now, I’m listening to 11/22/63 by Stephen King.

Standard or mechanical pencil when sketching?  Do you ever use traditional methods of inking, or has it all become sketch, scan, in-computerness at this point?  If you were on a deserted island, with forever-paper, and forever-one medium, which medium would you be using on the paper?  Do you find that having a special kind of “paper” allows more free-flow/beneficial sketching to go on? If so, what kind?

I combined these, because I can answer them all at once.  My usual method is sketching with a mechanical pencil and kneadable eraser in a sketchbook, and pencil sketching is my favorite traditional medium.  I use Robert Bateman, Cover Series sketchbooks, 8.5X11, 110 lb. Acid Free White Paper (100% Recycled), because it’s the texture, weight and size I like most and works best for how I draw.  I’ve been using them for years and have a couple of bankers boxes containing full sketchbooks.  I don’t like sketching on the computer, so I’ll sketch in the book, refine the sketch so I have a pretty decent drawing, then I scan it into the computer.  From there, it’s all done in Photoshop.  Digital ink, colour, and shading.

Are you inspired by animated (a bit different now that there’s so much CGI going on – Tarzan is what “trips my drawing trigger, still) feature films? If so, which ones give you the inkling to get a pencil and paper?

Disney’s ‘Tangled‘ made my jaw drop for the beauty of the artwork as did Dreamworks’ “How to Train Your Dragon.”  Movies and artwork like that, the really clean-line style of drawing and painting pushes all the right buttons for me creatively.

Of the creatures you’ve drawn to date, which is the one you most revere?

I love all of my animal paintings, especially the Totems.  I honestly feel that everything I’ve done and learned about drawing and painting has been leading up to this work, as if these paintings are my reward for putting in the years doing everything else.   I am at my happiest when painting animals in what has now become ‘my style’ and am grateful that I get to experience it.  There is a long history regarding these Totems, personal experience that I rarely share with anyone, but they’ve been hanging around for a very long time.  I just wasn’t good enough to paint them until a couple of years ago.

Grizzly Totem

It is very difficult to pick a favorite.  Each has their own significance for me.  The Grizzly Totem was my first, so that one means a lot to me.  The Wolf Totem got a lot of publicity and won a big award that opened a lot of doors for me.   The Humpback Whale Totem was significant because I had to stretch my skills to paint an animal that has no fur, it was underwater, and I have a special place in my heart for those wonderful creatures.  That wonderful dog, Don Diego, because he belongs to a generous good friend who is supportive of my work, and because I painted the entire image on my DVD.  That was frightening, recording a painting from start to finish, but the sense of accomplishment from doing so was immeasurable.

I could go on and say something about each one of the Totems and commissions I’ve done and picking a favorite is impossible.  My usual answer is that my favorite painting is the one I’ve just finished, because it often represents my best work to date.  So today, my favorite is Mocha, the horse commission I completed this week.  Next week, it’ll likely be the Penguin Totem.

Thanks again for the questions, Mike.  For anybody else that has any, please feel free to ask, preferably on my Facebook page, so I can do another entry like this, or so the answer can be shared with somebody who might be wondering the same thing.

Cheers,

Patrick

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Mocha

MochaFinished working with this little lady yesterday morning, a commissioned painting for a happy client.  When this commission came about, I was a little apprehensive as I had never painted a horse before.  Not that I’d ever painted a Moose, Grizzly, Raven…(you get the idea)…before I’d done those, either, but horses just seem to have their own challenges.  Such beautiful animals, I was most worried that I wouldn’t be able to realize what I saw in my head.

The photos I had to choose from were great, as the client is a talented photographer.  Won’t say her name quite yet as this was commissioned for a gift, and while I have permission to post it, I don’t want to leave easily searchable clues.  I’ll link to her work in another post later.  I’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of talented photographers on commission work and I never get tired of it.  Nothing like working with clean crisp detailed photo reference.

One of the big challenges with this painting was the horse’s mane, especially the section that falls down between the ears.  I had to create a whole new brush just for that, something I really enjoy doing.  It’s almost like artistic engineering, creating new brushes to get a specific look.  A lot of trial and error.  I had to modify an existing brush to get the short little hairs on her face to look the way I wanted them to as well.

I know I say this on every piece, but I really had a lot of fun with this painting.  Her personality showed up early and I found myself smiling a lot while working on it.  Couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

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Prints and Painting Demos

This is the half page ad that will appear in this week’s Rocky Mountain Outlook, for the launch of the four new Totem paintings.

On Friday, I picked up a very large print order in Calgary, a mix of matted paper prints and canvas prints.  While the majority of these were the four newly released Totem paintings, there were also a number of replacement prints for ones that have sold, and prints for online orders that I’ll be packing and shipping today.

For the matted prints, they come assembled and in a plastic sleeve.  All I have to do is insert a bio sheet into each one, sign it and seal the packaging.  For one or two, it doesn’t take much time.  For ninety-five, however, it took a couple of hours, and thankfully, no issues with the paint pen.  Paint pens are finicky.  I’ve tried a number of them and just when you think everything is going well, they can spontaneously spurt a couple of drops of paint on a print, essentially ruining it.  On a matted print, it’s a disappointment.  On a canvas print, you end up holding back tears.  I test the pen on a scrap piece of paper before I sign each print and make sure there is no excess paint built up around the nib.  You only have to lose one canvas (and I have) to never make that mistake again.  And even with the utmost care, it can still happen.

I’ll be signing the limited edition canvas prints today.  In addition to that, I have to print up numbered certificates of authenticity for each one, and enter each on a ledger.  When you’re offering limited edition prints, it’s very important not to double up the numbers.  People are expecting that the number they buy is the only one with that designation, and it’s up to the artist to ensure that nobody ever buys the same print number.

The new prints look incredible, and I’m very pleased.  All of the proofing that I did last month with my printer was well worth it.  While I know that I can always improve on my work, I love these paintings.  It’s been over two years since I painted the first one, the Grizzly Totem, and it’s still one of my favorites, and not just because it’s one of my best sellers.

With a number of critters waiting in the wings, there will be more paintings coming this year, all of which I’m excited to get started on.  The current Totem-in-progress, a Rockhopper Penguin, is well past the halfway point, and I’ll be working on that this Saturday at Two Wolves.

Painting demos are kind of fun.  Not only do I get to educate people about digital painting (“no, I am not manipulating photos”), but I enjoy the company of the people who work at Two Wolves, and just talking to the customers and answering their questions while I paint.

I don’t get out much.  It’s a nice change.

 

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New Totems for Spring!

It is my great pleasure to announce that the May long weekend will see the launch of four new Totem paintings!  These have all been painted in the past year, and it will be the first time these four prints have been offered for sale at Two Wolves Trading Company in Canmore and About Canada in Banff.  The new Totem prints are the Cougar, Magpie, Great Horned Owl and Bighorn Sheep.  As of Friday, May 18th, they will be available in two sizes of matted print and in 12″X16″ limited edition giclée canvas prints.  The larger size of 18″X24″ will currently be available by special order at both locations, and framing is available.

While the four new prints will be available at Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore, only two (the Magpie and Great Horned Owl) will be available in Banff for the time being.  The previously released prints are still being offered at both locations.

To coincide with the launch, I’ll be at Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore on Saturday, May 19th for a live painting demo from 12:00 to 4:00, available for any questions about the process or the paintings themselves.  I can paint and chat at the same time, so please, don’t be shy!  So, if you’re in the Canmore area over the Victoria Day long weekend, stop in to see me at Two Wolves, located opposite Safeway, right next to Starbucks.

Cheers!

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And the award goes to…

Over the past week, I’ve received some pats on the back from a few people I’ve run into, in addition to emails from readers and editors congratulating me on my second place for editorial cartooning for the Canadian Community Newspaper Association awards announced recently.  This is not about my syndicated work, just the local cartoons that are published each week in the Rocky Mountain Outlook, here at home.

While I simply said, “Thank You,” and went about my business, I’m going to be politically incorrect and honest about how I feel about it.   Second place is not winning.

I’m sure an Olympic athlete who has won a silver or a bronze medal would disagree with me, and while they’re entitled to their perspective, I don’t share it.  In our current short-sighted cultural climate where every child gets a participation ribbon, competition is discouraged in case our fragile selves be scarred in some horrible last place finish in a potato sack race.  When did the topic of winning and losing become so taboo?  People don’t celebrate the team that almost won the Stanley Cup or the politician who almost won the election.  With the exception of CEOs who get bonuses just for waking up, the corporate world doesn’t reward or function on ‘self-esteem before profit,’ despite what we’re teaching in our schools.

Only one team or individual can win in any competition.  Everybody else loses and is invited to try harder next time.

Even though I enter very few competitions, I do like it when I reach the finals.  Two of my paintings have qualified for Ballistic Publishing’s Exposé 10 book due out in June.  As a digital painter, this is a very prestigious book to be in and I’m thrilled that my work is being considered.  It’s also great for business, because of who sees it.  I want this, but being a finalist doesn’t mean a damn thing if the book comes out and my work isn’t in it.  Aside from the fact that I’ll be encouraged to submit again next year, qualifying or a nomination just means graduating to a higher level of consideration.

In the grand scheme of things, awards are good for two things.  One, they’re validation of a sort that you’ve achieved a level of recognition placing you at the top of your profession, if only for that moment, in the eyes of whomever was judging for that year.  A panel of people come to a collective opinion that your effort was the best of the bunch for that moment in time, and still only compared against the other people who entered.  The other value in an award is that it’s a great marketing tool.  As far as the CCNA awards go, it is in the Rocky Mountain Outlook’s best interest to publicize the 2nd and 3rd place finishes awarded to the staff because it establishes a reputation for being a newspaper of achievers.  That sells advertising and that’s how a newspaper makes money and stays in business.  While I chose the cartoon to be entered in the CCNA awards, I wouldn’t have bothered if the Rocky Mountain Outlook didn’t want me to.

The first awards that I considered significant enough to celebrate were the Guru Awards at Photoshop World in 2010, where one of my paintings won the Illustration Category and another won Best In Show.  Regular readers already know about this, I won’t bore you with more details, aside from saying it meant a lot to me only because I consider my Totem paintings to be my best work.

Let’s be honest, though, it was two years ago.  The moment has most definitely passed and if I were still posting weekly updates and screen shots of those paintings with the express purpose of  bragging about the awards as if they were yesterday, it would be time to consider some serious therapy.  That being said, I’ll put the words ‘award winning artist’ in every promotional bio I write from here on out.  From a marketing perspective, I’d be stupid not to.

There’s a line I love from the movie ‘Superman Returns,’ where Daily Planet editor Perry White says, “Lois, Pulitzer Prizes are like Academy Awards, nobody remembers what you got one for, just that you got one. ”

That’s how I choose to think of the Guru Awards today.  Winning the awards put me in contact with some influential people, resulted in some lucrative commissions, and opened some big doors, but it’s now my job to keep them open.  I realized last year that I don’t need to win another Guru Award.  While I was nominated in 2011,  I didn’t win, and nobody cared.  Seriously, nobody really cared that I didn’t repeat the win, including me.  Doors didn’t close, and people didn’t suddenly stop returning my calls or emails.

As long as my business keeps moving forward, I keep making decent money at it, and I enjoy the work, then I’m happy.  Of course, an award once in awhile will certainly put a shine on the day.  I haven’t yet met an artist that doesn’t enjoy an ego boost.  But I’m not unrealistic when it comes to their importance.   If I win an award, I’ll very likely tell you about it, because that’s what you do when you’re in the business of self-promotion.

Second or third place, however, you’ll most likely hear about from somebody else.

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Risk and Reward

Bighorn Sheep Totem

Fortune favours the bold or err on the side of caution?  Will fast and furious win the race, or is it better to be slow and steady?  These are the constant internal arguments of self-employment.

Freelancing for a living is a risky proposition in the first place.  There is an inherent illusion of security with working for somebody else and a continuity that most people thrive on.  The paycheck twice a month, two or three weeks of vacation every year, and if you’re lucky, a benefits and pension plan to make some of life’s expenses a little easier.   Despite what many aspiring entrepreneurs think, especially creative ones,  just being good at something is not reason enough to quit your job and go into business for yourself.  As much as people complain about their jobs, having somebody else make the decisions is a safety net that most people rely on.

A short time ago, I decided against getting a booth at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, which starts today.  The justification for doing so was two-fold.  First, the cost was pretty significant for the inventory I would have to buy and bring with me, and second, I really haven’t done enough research in order to know what I’d need in my booth so that I didn’t come off looking like an amateur.  My wife and I, along with a good friend of ours will be heading to the event today and tomorrow to check it out, both for enjoyment and to gather information.  I’m still not convinced it’s the right venue for my Totem paintings, so I need to get a better look at some of the other merchandise being sold.

This event is going to be huge this year.  Somehow they managed to get the entire principle cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation to attend, the first time they’ve done so as a group in 25 years.  With those and many other big name guests, they’re expecting 50,000 people this year.  While I’ve never been one who goes after celebrity photos or autographs, I still expect to be standing in a few lineups this weekend, for everything from entering the event each day to using the bathroom.  That’s a LOT of people at an event like that.

Cougar Totem

The questions that have popped up in the last couple of months more than once are, “Did I make the right decision by not getting a booth this year?  Am I missing out on a big money making opportunity or was I smart not to overextend myself?”

These are the types of decisions freelancers are constantly faced with, and the choices made can make or break a business.  On one hand, I could have doubled my workload over the last month, and spent close to four thousand dollars getting and stocking a booth, sold out everything I brought and made a tidy profit.  On the other, I could have come home with a ton of inventory that would sit in the basement, selling over a much longer amount of time in the galleries.  Meanwhile, the debt incurred buying too much inventory all at once would be shrinking my profit margin on each painting until it was paid off.

This week, I placed an order for the largest number of prints to date from my supplier in Calgary.  For a Spring launch of four new paintings, (the ones you see throughout this post) into the galleries in Canmore and Banff, I needed to buy new canvas prints and matted paper prints in various sizes.  The cost was fairly significant, 70 prints in total, and it is inventory that may or may not sell quickly.  We’re approaching the busiest season in this area, however, so this is a risk well worth taking.  My work is already selling in the Bow Valley, and the style of work is proving popular with tourists and visitors.  Past evidence shows that there is a market for my paintings in this area.  While the money spent on this inventory isn’t necessarily a ‘sure thing’, it’s an investment that shows more promise than a brand new venue with a much different demographic.

Magpie Totem

The money spent on the local inventory was still a bit of a financial hardship, but it’s also funds I can recoup relatively quickly, and it doesn’t cripple my other plans and obligations in the long term.  With a couple of new computers to buy in the next few months, my budget will have to stretch, but it won’t snap.  Had I added in the more significant expense of the Calgary Expo on top of that, and sales didn’t materialize, the bills would still get paid, but it would be a very stressful year and other plans would be sacrificed.

But then again, if I’d had great sales, it could have made the rest of the year a little easier and broadened my customer base, too.  There’s just no way of knowing.

You occasionally hear of those entrepreneurs who risk everything and the wheels come up all 7’s on their gamble.  Director, writer and actor Kevin Smith financed the movie ‘Clerks’ completely on several maxed out credit cards, and it paid off very well for him.  He now says that wouldn’t work in today’s movie industry, so it was very much a matter of his timing, too.  But for every one of those, there are thousands of people who lose it all.  Some research shows that 8 or 9 out of 10 businesses fail in the first two years, and half of those remaining businesses fail in the first five.  Those individual stories don’t make the news because nobody wants to hear them.  We want to be inspired that just having a dream will guarantee success.

Great Horned Owl Totem

The harsh reality is that motivational  quotes won’t carry you through the dark times when you’re wondering if your mortgage is going to get paid or if the noise outside one night is the repo man coming for your car.  Each person has to make their own decisions about how much they’re willing to risk, despite the frequent unsolicited advice from friends and acquaintances who think nothing of saying, “you should just go for it.”

Those folks are usually working a 9 to 5 job with weekends off, by the way.

For my own part, I seem to be taking enough risks that my business does better every year.  As I’m now in my seventh year of full-time self-employment, and have beaten the start-up odds, I’m obviously doing something right.  I sleep at night, the bills get paid, and I move ahead.  Still, there are times when I wonder about the really big gambles, the ones that could pay off huge, if only I had the temerity to step up and put it all on the line.  There is a massive grey area in between the unknown blackness of total risk and the bright white light of safety.

The best and worst part of it is that with every decision you make, you’ll just never know if you missed the boat or dodged a bullet, and you have to make peace with that.

 

 

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Cartooning on Election Day

Today is the day after the Alberta provincial election.  To set the stage, there were four parties, the right-wing Progressive Conservatives who’ve been in power for 41 years, the Wildrose Party, a very new party even more right-wing than the PC Party,  the Liberal Party and the Alberta New Democrat Party.  The last two didn’t really stand a chance of winning, and all of the polls were indicating the the Wildrose Party could not only win, but might get a majority.

Alberta’s election was making headlines nationwide, because this province has huge deposits of natural resources which makes it a very wealthy province in that department.  Many in Canada were watching this one closely.  For example, a cartoon I did about Danielle Smith, the leader of the Wildrose Party, a couple of weeks ago was published in a number of my Ontario papers.  I didn’t expect that.

Again, ALL of the pollsters were predicting that the Wildrose Party was going to take the election in a big way.

Without getting into the reasons why, the results last night had the PC Party win their 12th consecutive majority, taking 61 seats.  The Wildrose Party got 17, making them the Official Opposition, the Liberals and the NDP each got 4 seats.  It wasn’t even close and nobody saw it coming.  There is an article in the Vancouver Sun this morning (obviously gone to press before the results were in)  by Andrew Coyne that reads, “Unless something astonishing happens, the Wildrose Party will form the next government of Alberta.”

As a syndicated cartoonist, my job yesterday was to put out cartoons that would cover almost any reasonable outcome.  Many of my papers publish weekly, and a number of them publish today.  They needed to have a cartoon to put onto the editorial page at the last possible moment, right before going to press.  No time to draw something once the results were in at 9:00 last night, so I had to anticipate different outcomes, knowing that most of these cartoons would end up in the trash.  Considering this led to a 12 hour day at my desk plus a couple of hours on Saturday when I was taking a weekend off at the cabin, I worked for very little money yesterday.

It’s part and parcel of the profession, however, and while none of the cartoons addressed the sweeping majority, there were still a couple that would have been ‘good enough’ to do the job, even though I don’t consider them really ‘good.’  Let’s take a look at what I sent out yesterday.

This cartoon has absolutely nothing to do with the election.  Even though Canada was watching this one, many of my weeklies in other provinces were wanting a cartoon on something else.  I knew this without their having to tell me, so this went out first to cover them.

There was some talk that there could be a minority government, and if that happened, there had to be a cartoon for it, because the others were all talking about who won. This cartoon went out second.

A lot of people were doing a lot of talking over the past month, and everybody sounded like they were sure of the outcome.  Happens in every election.  The day after, however, stories change and everybody boasts that they knew it all along.  That’s about as predictable as politicians breaking election promises.  This cartoon was pretty easy to swap out.  Change the name and…

…this is one of the cartoons that works.  Premier Alison Redford is the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and won her seat, so any of my papers could have put this one in and it would have been appropriate.  Not a great cartoon, granted, but if I’m being honest, I was more concerned with it being right than great.

If the Wildrose Party had won, I would have liked to have seen the above cartoon printed in a number of papers.  I kind of like it.  Seemed an appropriate theme for our western province, especially if a Wildrose win upset 41 years of rule by the previous ‘brand.’  Unfortunately, this took me a couple of hours to paint and nitpick, and the results rendered it completely useless.  That being said, I didn’t want to see the Wildrose Party win, so I’m fine.

This is the last cartoon I sent, just after 5:0o yesterday evening.  Danielle Smith, the leader of the Wildrose Party had promised (there’s that word again) to give every Albertan a cheque for $300 from the Alberta Energy Dividend Fund once the province was boasting a surplus again.  It was dubbed ‘Dani Dollars’ by the press and ended up being a significant part of the campaign, one met with mixed reviews.  This cartoon works for today as well, although I’m not sure how many papers will actually use it.

As an Alberta citizen and voter, I was relieved with last night’s results.  As an editorial cartoonist, I know I didn’t hit any home runs with the usable cartoons. More like base hits.  But my papers were covered, so I did my job.  I’ll still do a couple of post election toons this week, but none will be wasted as we now know the results.

It was an interesting election and I don’t say that often.  Most importantly, voters were involved and I’ll be anxious to hear what the official turnout numbers were, because it’s expected to be significantly better than the dismal 40% from 4 years ago.  That being said, I’m glad it’s over, as my illustration contracts and painting commissions have had to simmer on the back-burners this past month.  I’m happy to get back to those this week.