I recently got an email from Rachelle where she asked:
“What is your opinion on completing professional illustrations on the iPad? I’m dying to be more mobile and efficient with my digital illustrations and would love a new method. I’m currently using a Cintiq which I love and will continue to use, but I need something more mobile for smaller projects. What are your thoughts?”
This is kinda a shameless plug, but also a very good tip for all you freelancers and working artists out there.
I signed up for Dropbox a couple years ago, and it is one of the BEST investments I have ever made. If you are unfamiliar with it, Dropbox is an online storage and syncing service. You set up a folder on your computer, and everything you save to it gets automatically synced to the site. If you have it installed on multiple computers, the files will also sync to each device.
I cannot emphasize enough how useful this has been for my illustration business. I didn’t really understand it at first, but I signed up because I heard good things about it. It wasn’t long before I had upgraded to a pro 50 GB account. Just recently I upgraded again to the max 100 GB because I was using it soo much.
I use my Dropbox folder to sync all my current projects, and archive my most precious artwork. As soon as I save a file on my main computer, it gets uploaded online and to my secondary computer. If I want to take a break from my desk and work on an illustration on my modbook, I don’t have to think about it – the most current version is already ready and waiting. I don’t have to worry about moving files, finding a thumb drive, or keeping recent versions synced across both my computers. It’s just there, everywhere. I also have the app for my iPhone and iPad, which is handy for quickly viewing files or emailing them to a client.
Dropbox is also integrated into a lot of third-party apps and services. Lots of iPad apps, for example, use it as a file management system. It is my favorite way to move my iPad sketches to my computer.
And on top of it all, Dropbox is a great backup system. Dropbox keeps files safe online, and also saves several versions of each file. Dropbox has saved my behind on numerous occasions where I have accidentally saved over the wrong file or deleted something I shouldn’t have. For that alone, it has been worth it’s weight in gold for me.
I apologize if this sounds like a huge sales pitch, but there is genuine love behind every word.
Dropbox recently announced that they are giving away more free space for referrals, and I am not ashamed to admit that it is partially the reason I was driven to write this post. I have been eating my Dropbox space like a maniac – I want free space!
If you decide to give Dropbox a try and want to help me out too, please click here to sign up. If you use this link, both you AND I get some free space (1 GB for me, 500 MB for you). A 2 GB account is free. If you decide to get a pro account, I can personally attest that it is worth every penny.
Apple released a new piece of software called iBooks Author. It is for making digital, interactive books for the iPad and is available as a free download. I recently gave it a test run, and was pleased with the results. Here’s my overall impressions and thoughts, and a free download of my first ever iBooks book!
I recently bought myself a brand new Wacom Cintiq 24HD tablet. Here are all my first impressions, opinions, reviews, photos, and video of my new toy. And if you don't have time to read it, here's a summary: This thing is SWEET!
I’m finally going to answer, in depth, one of the most common questions I’ve gotten over the past few years – how did I build my website?
Most artists ask me this because they want to know a) how I built my portfolio gallery or b) how I integrated my blog into my website. I will attempt to answer both of those questions.
I am extremely lucky to do what I do every day.
That being said, becoming an illustrator is not a big game of chance. I’m a firm believer that success as a working artist is just a splash of luck, a little bit of talent, and a lot of hard work and persistence.
“Making it” is a matter of PRACTICE and TIME. Lots of people say that the odds are slim you can make a living as an artist, but that’s only because most people are lacking one of those two elements. Do both, and your odds go up greatly. Granted, some people might have to practice harder, and others may need more time, but I believe most people can do it if they have enough drive.
Artists go through different stages. How you succeed depends on how you move from one stage to the next.
It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that my life as an illustrator is changing. More than ever before, I am being bombarded with things calling for my attention, whether it be a growing freelance workload, more ambitious personal projects, miscellaneous websites, and life outside of my job. On top of it all, social networking is more confusing, spread out, and demanding as ever. I am, quite frankly, wearing thin.
So I have come to the decision to scale back. I am going to put my emphasis into what I think matters most for my needs and goals and get back to basics.
My plan:
My social networking philosophy so far has been to TRY EVERYTHING. This has been a great strategy for me over the past several years and I don’t regret it. I’ve learned so much about promotion, technology, and the internet and I’ve gotten to know a whole lot of interesting and talented people.
But this strategy isn’t going to work for me anymore. I’m no longer a newbie looking for ways to get out there. And also, social networking is growing fast. It’s no longer possible to do everything and keep up. The farther I spread between them, the thinner my presence becomes in each.
I am going to continue to use Twitter as my main social outlet. I’ll also keep my Facebook page (which is really just an extension of my Twitter feed). I’m dumping everything else, or vastly decreasing my dependence on them. These include Tumblr, deviantArt, Ustream, Flickr, and Google+. Some I’ll get rid of completely; others I’ll keep for only posting occasionally or to follow other artists.
I’ve let blogging take a backseat while I’ve been trying out this newfangled social network thing. It’s time to bring it back! Twitter is great for small snippets of info, but after so long it starts to drain you instead of help you. On the other hand, maintaining a blog is something that really helps me keep my creative momentum going. I create more, learn more, and teach better while I am blogging because it forces me to come up with meaningful content rather than shooting out random bits of info and links.
So prepare for the triumphant return of my blog! I will try to post more artwork, process, tutorials, videos, advice, and other random thoughts. Subscribe to stay up to date on all my latest posts.
Schedules and strategies for other various projects are also going to go through an overhaul. My weekly webcomic, for example, will suffer temporarily. It is definitely not going away by any means, but I am going to try to be smarter about it. This means I will not put it back on its regular schedule until I have the next volume completed.
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I am sharing all these thoughts to give you an idea of what goes on in the mind of this illustrator. I am always making plans, mistakes, and even more plans. This job is a constant balance of artistry, business, promotion, creation, and timing. Even those of us who have been at it for a few years still struggle daily.
What strategies have you used to manage your web presence? What’s worked? What hasn’t? How is it evolving as the internet landscape changes?
