There has been so much that has happened since I last made a post on this blog. I finished my MFA and started a new teaching position. I have spent the past 2 years improving my portfolio to work in the children’s book market and even started writing stories for children. I decided it was time to return to the blogosphere, add new art lessons, and share my art and how I’ve improved as an artist. I appreciate the support I’ve gotten from the art teacher community.
On this episode I’m going to discuss some of the online school options for illustration. I did my own illustration boot camp last summer by taking classes on these online schools. I felt like I didn’t have time during classes to brush up on the areas I was weak in. Here are the links below for the 3 online schools I tried.
This review is based on my personal experience. Everyone is different and some people don’t need a formal art education to be successful. As an art teacher, I’ve seen some really skilled high school students if given the right direction an online program might be a great option for them. These online programs are a great place to start.
Today I have Yiyi Chen an illustration student and enjoyed the tips she shared with her use of color and concept. Her finished pieces are digital but use traditional techniques for the textures.
This season I have many more illustrators since I’ve been focusing on children’s books. It is exciting to have Jamie Zollars on the podcast. Here is a bit about Jamie. JAIME ZOLLARS began making art at a young age, but her illustration career didn’t take off until second grade, when she started drawing unicorns on friends’ Trapper Keepers for shiny nickels. She went on to draw local library brochures and elaborate student council campaign ephemera, quickly sealing her fate.
To make it official, Jaime spent seven years in college, earning a BA in photography from UMBC in 1999, and a BFA in Illustration from the Art Center College of Design in 2003.While waiting for her first illustration jobs, Jaime worked as an extra on movie sets, tried out for every game show imaginable, and went for runs on the beach, because this is what people do in Los Angeles. Five game show appearances and a first (and last) marathon later – she was making art full-time.Jaime has illustrated children’s books, magazines, newspapers, and ad campaigns. Her clients include United Airlines, Random House, The American Red Cross, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, Little, Brown, Clarion Books, Quarry Books and the L.A. Weekly.
She has also created artwork for galleries including Copro Nason, Gallery Nucleus, and Giant Robot.Jaime’s art has been recognized by a bunch of great publications and societies, including Taschen’s Illustration Now, American Illustration, Communication Arts, The Society of Illustrators, 3×3, Spectrum, Curvy Australia, Design Taxi, XFuns Taipei, DPI Taiwan, BBC’s Culture Shock, Small Magazine, Creative Quarterly, the SI-LA, and the SCBWI.You can see her work at http://www.jaimezollars.com/ or on IG Jamie Zollars Art
I was watching a video of Deborah Lee and her story about how she became an illustrator. She started with a compromise with her parents to study design at Carnegie Mellon. She talks about how she got an internship at Linkedin. I then heard her story about how she met another illustrator Alice Lee in the Bay area. She later became an illustration assistant to Alice Lee.
Those types of relationships can go a long way. I’ve found that I’ve learned so much from talking with other artists and creatives. These learning experiences I feel like they are a great opportunity to not only learn but creative an archive to share with my students in the future. That’s why I have the podcast I’ve been working on for the past 3 years. It’s gone by fast.
It’s hard to imagine where things can take you, and that it’s great hearing from Deborah Lee about her journey to becoming an illustrator. Here is her talk with Procreate. Which eventually she got commissioned to do work for Procreate.
Every creative’s path is different and she talks about how she talked with other creatives to get help. Networking and having an honest passion to learn and pursue your dreams is amazing.
I think becoming a freelance illustrator is about being persistent and trying to keep at it. You have to be mentally tough enough to realize there is a lot of competition, but during the process you are working on improving your work.
She learned a lot from her mistakes and kept working at it and improving her craft. She would redo illustrations and trying to enter competitions. She looked at her work objectively and tried to make her work standout.
Lee explains how style and voice in illustration are different from each other. I could go on and on about the great content in this video. She talks about her graphic novel that ties into her feelings about not fitting in as Korean or American. The dysphoria that it created in her life. I can identify with her feelings on this. Inspiring and motivating.
I decided to give it a go and start a newsletter for my Illustration and Design. If you would like to sign up. Some of the illustrators I’ve been following on Youtube say they send out a newsletter 2x a year. I decided on mailchimp since it seems to be the most popular and they offer a free plan for the first 2000 subscribers of your newsletter.
As I learn more about how to market and get my illustration career up and going again I’ll be sharing it on my blog. Things have changed quite a bit since I was last a freelance illustrator. Here’s keeping up with the times.
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I’ve abandoned my blogger blog to start this new blog. I had been using Blogger for over a decade, but realized it hasn’t kept up with the times. It’s gotten kinda clunky and it doesn’t offer as many features that WordPress does for blogging. I decided to move it here. This blog will be about my graduate studies in illustration, freelancing, teaching, surface design, children’s books, and life in general as an artist.
I always loved drawing and creating images with stories. This led to me studying Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I’m an illustrator and art educator. I try to instill in my students that visual arts takes effort, and it’s a big part of our culture and communication process. One of the highlights of being an art teacher has been watching my students pursue their own art careers.
I’ve worked as a graphic designer and staff illustrator. I’ve been able to see my illustrations and designs in magazines, newspapers, package designs, and picture books. My illustrations have been included in group exhibits with the Society of Illustrators LA, and the Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators (Georgia). I reside in Savannah, Georgia with my husband, son, and four guinea pigs. Thank you for taking the time to visit my site.
If you want to read more about my career visit About Me on my website.
Nancy Miller Illustration 