Thursday, November 19, 2009
Testing, Testing...
2011 Copyright PixelBoy Studio, Inc.
Promotional
Awhile back, Lee and I decided to push ourselves into the realm of animation. Lee is currently developing a process to quickly rig character faces for our illustrations. This would give our characters even more personality and eventually prepare us for animation. Here's an early glimpse of a boy's face that we'll be bringing to life--eventually, displaying his humorous facial expressions on our homepage.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Creative Biz Note #15
Deductions: Being Smart with Your Money
Paperwork is just part of the illustration process. Estimates, invoices, contracts and finally...taxes. All my moaning and groaning hasn't made it go away!
If you're serious about saving money and running a tight ship, then you will always be looking for deductions. But who wants to think about taxes all year round!? Eventually, it will become an effortless habit--believe it or not. The categories to deduct are: home office sq. footage, meals while doing business, travel for business (conventions), advertising, supplies, office equipment, hardware/software, utilities (phone), insurance, postage, subscriptions, books, attorneys, accountants, and services/other freelancers. If you have to replace a lightbulb in your office--you can deduct it! Anything that goes into your office is fair game. As an artist, you can deduct anything that furthers you as an artist for your business. Anything that relates to your art business. Our business is about visual stimulation...that falls into many categories. If the deduction is unclear, then be sure to write the reason/purpose of the deduction on your receipt.
Paperwork is just part of the illustration process. Estimates, invoices, contracts and finally...taxes. All my moaning and groaning hasn't made it go away!
If you're serious about saving money and running a tight ship, then you will always be looking for deductions. But who wants to think about taxes all year round!? Eventually, it will become an effortless habit--believe it or not. The categories to deduct are: home office sq. footage, meals while doing business, travel for business (conventions), advertising, supplies, office equipment, hardware/software, utilities (phone), insurance, postage, subscriptions, books, attorneys, accountants, and services/other freelancers. If you have to replace a lightbulb in your office--you can deduct it! Anything that goes into your office is fair game. As an artist, you can deduct anything that furthers you as an artist for your business. Anything that relates to your art business. Our business is about visual stimulation...that falls into many categories. If the deduction is unclear, then be sure to write the reason/purpose of the deduction on your receipt.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Creative Biz Note #14
A "Non-Digital" Portfolio
Next week I'll talk about deductions...I need more time on that post. But I thought I'd toss out the topic of the artist's "book".
Where can someone buy a decent book? Try these two sites--- http://store.pzdirect.com/scbi.html http://www.case-envy.com/ I bought a book with screw posts--not a 3-ring binder type. The 3-ring is annoying and art directors hate it--but 3-ring does lay flat. But a screwpost book allows the two pages of a spread to stay flush (without a big gap). Buy extra pages (of course). I bought 8.5 x 11" pages--easy for printout inserting and a smaller size helps not cover the art director's entire desk!!
Next week I'll talk about deductions...I need more time on that post. But I thought I'd toss out the topic of the artist's "book".
Where can someone buy a decent book? Try these two sites--- http://store.pzdirect.com/scbi.html http://www.case-envy.com/ I bought a book with screw posts--not a 3-ring binder type. The 3-ring is annoying and art directors hate it--but 3-ring does lay flat. But a screwpost book allows the two pages of a spread to stay flush (without a big gap). Buy extra pages (of course). I bought 8.5 x 11" pages--easy for printout inserting and a smaller size helps not cover the art director's entire desk!!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sketch Pad 04
2011 Copyright PixelBoy Studio, Inc.
Houghton Mifflin
(Click to Enlarge Image)
Project: HMH Educational Science Book
A few of the sketches for an educational book. In the middle, the splashing frog displays 3 stages...how I place the sketch on the top layer and MULTIPLY it at 50% over the art--working underneath. I work under the sketch for the base vector work sometimes turning the sketch layer on and off to see my results. Once I'm happy with the quick base work, I usually move the sketch to the side (keeping it out of the way) but using it for reference.
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