Graphic Guru visit

My Graphic Guru for this year is graduate Rose Lloyd.
http://www.roselloyd.co.uk/index.html

This duck umbrella is my favourite piece of hers, it is framed in the college hall way. It is also one of a number on her business cards.

She seemed very eager to help and we have emailed each other a few times with website and blog addresses. The main thing i picked up from our short meeting was that when i start to get commissions i need to be organised and keep all research and sketches etc together in a file. I tend to throw things away in an attempt to tidy my mind and reduce stress, but this can lead to even more stress when that work is required again later. Rose keeps every job in a seperate plastic wallet with a print out of the final image on the front so she can find it easily next time.

Rose isn't with an agent at the moment but after speaking to the other graduates i think that's the road i want to take. Yes they take a percentage of what you earn, but they bring in work and they sort out all the scary things like copyright and invoices. Dealing with people in that way was my biggest worry, but now i feel comfortable to go on.

I also need to make a list of agencies and art directors and go through all of them asking for work. Another tip was not to just contact an art director or editor once and get turned down, but to send them new work every few months so your work stays fresh in their mind and they can see your range. My recent contact with a koi carp magazine resulted in no work but i won a bag of fish food and a free magazine, but the most important thing is that i made a contact. Both the art director and assistant editor were very nice and they have said i can send them work anytime as a reminder incase they ever get the budget for real art again, not just photos.

Before meeting with the gurus i was feeling a little down about my work and being an illustrator in general. I had come to the conclusion that it would be best for to work part time and illustrate part time, as i have a short attention span and don't think i could draw full time.This almost made me feel like a failure, like i was wimping out and not commiting to my degree choice. But it seemed not one of the graduates illustrated full time either, most of the time not through choice.This made me feel alot better about myself and now i'm not quite so anxious about finishing the course.