Part Time Painter

Links roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 04:31:00 +0000

Design Sponge - biz ladies how to avoid burnout
Interesting article aimed at 'Creative Entrepreneurs' about avoiding burn out

Smashing Magazine - Common client difficulties or turning all clients into dream clients
Aimed at web designers, but the problems are the same for most commission work

ArtOrder - Marketing yourself (3 part series)
Some ideas on marketing - mainly for fantasy/ sci fi artists and some of the articles are geared towards conventions/ fairs (in person marketing)

Lifehack - 20 quick tips for better time management
Short, succinct tips for time management. You may have heard them before, but always good to reassess when things aren't working.

Thoughts on commissioning artwork - an artist's perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:39:00 +0000

I read a short snippet today on a game development blog, and the long and short of it was that they believed hiring 2D artists was difficult. I read this once. Then reread it. I read some of the comments. There were comments about freebie artists and people that worked for royalties, so I've got a feeling that this blog was by either amateurs or people with naive view points on the worth of an artist. Of course I could be completely wrong and they had just dealt with a few difficult artists. Shock, horror! Me suggesting artists can be fickle!? But it's true, we're human - some are better than others with dealing with the business sides of the art world. You get fantastic artists who work to deadline with contracts, email on time, are always professional ... and then you have others who are not so great, or even great 80% of the time.

I read this, and I thought to myself why would they be having such a difficult time? So from an artist's point of view, here's a few things I look for when considering a commission:

Simple courtesies such as addressing the email to me, the artist. If I get an email with just 'Hi' or 'to the artist', my first question is whether this person is trolling for quotes and is doing a copy and paste. I always like to give the benefit of the doubt - maybe they are intimidated, maybe they want to appear formal, I don't know... I just prefer requests to come with simple politeness :)
Tell me who you are. If you are doing work for an online site and it's up, tell me about it - give me a link - I will go and look
Be specific as to what you want. Have a clear list of the kind of work you want, what rights you are expecting, sizes, deadlines, styles and budget. Think of it like buying a house or a car. If you came up to me and said, "I want to buy a house, what's it going to cost?"... and that's all you said, I couldn't give you an accurate cost. I'd say something like "Prices start from X, and go up to Y. What's your budget or what do you have in mind?"

I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm trying to work out whether I can do you a deal, whether I can fit you in, whether I've got what you need. If you can't tell me what you want, there's probably going to be a lot of vague figures, or larger figures so the client doesn't try to use my quote for a one bedroom flat next to a railway line for an 8 bedroom mansion.
If you have a deadline - say it up front. Many artists have secondary jobs/ commitments. It's like putting a rush job on something that's already been scheduled. An artist may have to delay someone else's work, forgo something in their social life or work insane hours to get stuff done.
Consider the prices of things on the artist's website. Look at similar artists and their prices. If they say their going rate is X and you ask for a discount, expect the artist to ignore you or reply with a 'thanks, but no thanks'. Remember, for many artists, commissions are their bread and butter. If someone said to you 'I know you earn X an hour, but I expect you to work for me for free or %50 off' what would you say?
Size doesn't always matter. 50 artworks at 200 x 200 pixes is just as much effort, if not more than a single painting which is 1000 pixels by 800 pixels. Think of it like cupcakes. 50 cupcakes as compared to 1 cake - both take effort, both have different challenges. And painting individual pieces means you quite often have to work at 2-3 times the intended size.
Consider the artwork in the artist's gallery. If you want a Michael Whelan painting, and they draw like Picasso, chances are both the artist and the commissioner will walk away with something they don't like
Expect to sign a contract. Even for small pieces an artist will probably write something up which tells both parties what the expectations are.
Graphics are great ways to communicate. Talking in pictures often makes working out quotes that much easier. However that being said, understand that pictures have usage rights too and an artist won't be allowed to copy something exactly if the copyright belongs to someone else.

I'm sure there is more that I can add, but that looks like enough of a start. Anyone got other things to add?

Giving a critique to an artist

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 02:48:00 +0000

Sometimes you'll get requests for critiques, or even have someone give you one (whether you want it or not). So I thought I'd write a quick post on my thoughts about painting critiques (giving and receiving).

The first point of etiquette - don't offer a critique if the artist has specifically said 'no critiques'. It's the quickest way to get added to that artist's dislike list. There are many reasons why an artist may not want a critique: it may have been done as a commission and they were working to spec or within tight deadlines, it may have been an experiment/ speedpaint/ never intended as a refined, finished piece, or they may just be having a crappy day and don't want someone to point out all the flaws they already can see in their own piece. And yes, artists do critique their own pieces - they don't always need someone else telling them what they can clearly see!
Even when an artist has asked for a critique, don't take it to heart if the artist goes off their rocker at you (sadly I have seen all out flame wars start over critiques). If it's in a forum specifically designed for critiquing (complete with levels such as 'don't hold back' or 'be gentle') then it's easier to define what the artist is looking for. But when it's on a personal blog or in an open forum, maybe see if they do this kind of thing a lot and how they take feedback. Some people aren't really asking for a critique and will take it badly - even when you are kind.
When you give a critique, do it with the intention of helping them improve. Offer suggestions, ask questions as to why they painted something in a particular way, point out areas that need to be worked on. There's a term called the 'hamburger critique' - basically it's about always following a negative with a positive (the negative being the meat between the two pieces of bun).
Ask before doing a paintover or a redline - there can be some legal and ethical questions when someone else adds their 'hand' to a painting. And some artists just don't like redlines (personally, I think they are great as I think visually)
Watch the language. You can tell someone that you dislike an area of the painting, or something looks wrong without being mean. State the problem, keep emotional words out of it. 'The leg looks horrible' has a vastly different meaning to 'There's a problem with the character's leg - I think it may be because...".
Words can hurt. Try to avoid words like ugly, horrible, crap ... you get the picture. These are emotive words - the kind that if you were talking to the artist in person would have them in tears, or punching your lights out :) If you can't say it to them in person, then maybe you shouldn't say it online.
Just because you offer a critique, don't expect the artist to heed your advice. There may be reasons why they did something in a particular way or with a particular colour - and considering it's their painting, they have the right to ignore your advice. Even if they don't use it, they may think about your comments for a future painting - so your words are important even if they don't appear to be acted upon.
It's alright to ask about the concept, but just remember that it's an interpretation. The artist is not asking for example whether you think Morgan Le Fay was a goddess, fairy or chick with really cool clothes. The painting is their vision and just because it doesn't gel with your interpretation doesn't make it bad. However, you could ask about whether the colour scheme or costumes were influenced by a particular school of thought. Sometimes concept can influence colour choices, textures and symbols, and can help reinforce questionable areas of a painting.
Don't critique the subject matter - if you think that all angels should be painted with white wings, that's not a critique - that's a personal opinion. It doesn't help the artist. But if you think that white wings would better help reinforce that the angel is a pure being then that is a critique.
Be careful if you are comparing an artist to another artist. It can come across as you suggesting the artist is a copycat. Of course there are some cases where the artist has taken influence - but mostly they tend to mention it (either in comments about inspiration or favourite authors). And there are cases where both artists have unwittingly worked from the same stock image or just had very similar ideas.
Read the comments the artist has posted with the painting - and read the context of where it's posted. Telling the artist they need to work on the hands when they've stated in their own comments they need to work on the hands tells the artist you can't read!
Be familiar with painting terms - especially with digital art. Calling something a paintover when it's a painting is about the highest form of insult you can manage. Photo manipulation, paintover, 3D render and digital painting are all completely different techniques. It can be seen as a backhanded compliment if you think a painting looks like a photo, but more often than not it insinuates the artist has cheated in some method or used what could be seen as short cuts.
If there are lots of responses already, at least have a quick flick through to see whether what you've got to say has already been said. Sure, saying the same thing will reinforce the issue, but telling someone three times that their lighting is off just gets annoying after the first few times
It's also alright to disagree with comments by others. A critique is subjective.
And as mother always said, if you've got nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.

9 Free Photoshop brush resources

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 08 May 2010 04:34:00 +0000

I was trawling for some specific brushes for photoshop. Here are 9 interesting sites

Free Photoshop brushes, textures and patterns
With over 5000 brush collections, 200+ patterns and nearly 200 textures, the collections are sourced from all over the web. Search by keyword, or look at the tag collections.

Brush King
Focusing on brushes, the collection includes over 7000 brush sets, with an easy to navigate set of categories. It also has a nice selection of general photoshop tutorials.

Quality Photoshop Brushes
While not all of these brushes are free in every single way, the collection focuses on quality rather than being a collection of everything. Features a user rating system, search and browse by tag functions, and if you go to the blog, you'll find some QBrush specially created brush sets.

In Obscuro - resources by Nela Dunato
Ok this is a collection of resources by one artist, but I really like her brushes. Her tutorials are nice and simple, focusing more to web design than art, but with brushes, textures and some lovely basic web templates, this is a site worth dropping by.

Get Brushes

GetBrushes.com is free Adobe Photoshop brushes directory, featuring handpicked collection of the best brushes for Photoshop on the net, all free to download and use.

Here you’ll find PS brushes for every style and taste, ranging from always popular decay & grunge brushes, over abstract and tech, to gothic, coffee spills, hair, or fractal inspired brushes for photoshop. Have a look around.. and, well, have fun (Blurb from the website)

PS Brushes
This site, while the site and content don't jump out and make you want to download the brush set because of all the glittery pages, I really like the interface that shows you the detail of the brush on screen. The brushes are sorted by category, and while there's only a small number of brushes online (500), this is a site that I hope increases in size and use.

Brusheezy
Featuring a large collection of brushes, patterns, textures, PSD files, actions, shapes, styles and gradients, this is a one stop location for all things photoshop.

I did find the site a little slow to use, but it may have been my internet connection at the time.

My Photoshop Brushes
A nice collection of brushes, patterns, custom shapes, styles and gradients. The tutorial on creating your own custom brush is nice and simple to follow.

Photoshop Free Brushes

More brushes, this contains some different collections I didn't see on the other sites. The only thing that would make this nicer was if the liceses were displayed with the brushes, rather than having to go to the brush maker's website for usage details.

Images are copyright their respective owners. I did grabs of the images in order to more easily define the sites. When using brushes/ resources from online, please read the licenses/ image usage policies.

Taming the RSS Feed (December EMG Zine)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:00:00 +0000

I love learning and I'm always eager to improve the way that I do things. This is probably a good thing considering my core field is technology! However like a lot of people I am often time poor. Some of it is through disorganisation and bad time management (hey, I never said I was perfect!), but other times there are just so many competing tasks that things fall off the wagon.

I’ve found that if I really want to do something, I have to build it into my daily routines – make it like brushing my teeth or making the bed. And if I make it something that doesn’t take much time at all, it’s easy to move around if necessary, but more importantly is easy to fit in. One such thing I’ve found increasingly useful has been spending 10-20 minutes each day flicking through my RSS feeds.

RSS feeds for me are a great way to gather information on a range of topics. I read blogs to be inspired, learn new techniques, find out about new resources and software products, and to keep up with trends (for me it’s software patterns, however it could be what type of art is selling, which companies are hiring artists, what art directors want to see in portfolios etc). Admittedly if I read every entry I'd never get any work done, so I've been trying to improve the way I access blogs and the content they contain.

One problem for me is finding a suitable time. 20 minutes may not seem like enough time to do much reading, but the key is to quickly pull out the good stuff, so you can spend more time reading useful articles. For me, it comes down to finding time where I’m not likely to be interrupted, or I’m not going to feel guilty about ignoring some other task. Before the official work day begins or over my lunch break are good times for me to catch up on work specific blogs. I also find that by doing this over my coffee break, or when I have food in my hand I’m not going to start typing madly and thus get distracted by something else.

I have about 50 feeds on average and use Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader/view ) to keep track of them. There are a range of RSS Readers out there, some are integrated into browsers, others allow you to read them on your phone – it doesn’t matter how you do it, I just find RSS readers easier to manage than a bunch of web sites I load individually. I cull the list on occasion as I try to keep this to the blogs I actually read, not ones that I bookmark as a reference for later on. If I’m constantly setting everything to ‘read’ without looking at content, I’d rather bookmark the blog and move it out of my main feed.

Each blog is tagged so that I can group them into relevant topics making it easier to identify blogs and enable focused reading. My topics are pretty basic ... things like 'art' or 'web design' or 'management' or 'debugging'. I try and limit the category to about 5 - 10 blogs - mainly because if I've got any more I'm probably not reading them all anyway. There are only so many blogs you can subscribe to about general web design anyway!

I load them with titles only, as it's quicker to load and I’m less likely to be distracted by the pretty pictures. There are some blogs I read every entry, however many I’d rather skim through the titles to get an idea if I’m interested in the content. I can expand it if it’s interesting. I find it far quicker to scan through 50 titles than to scroll through 50 articles complete with pictures.

Here’s my setup at the moment.

If I don’t have a huge amount of time, I often flick through my feeds and star articles to read later. The idea of the RSS feed is to quickly and effectively maintain an awareness of what’s going on. I don’t need to know all the details, but it’s far better for me to know a little bit about something so I can investigate it later, than to have no idea it even existed (particularly if it can save me time in the long run)!

Art supplies for the part time painter (EMG Zine November)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:56:00 +0000

Don't have time to go to the art shop? What can you get from your every day supermarket/ grocery store, newsagency or shops that you regularly visit that you can use as tools? Many of you are probably already using these or have heard of the techniques described, but I thought I'd collect a 'shopping list' of supplies!

Of course you are not going to find artist quality paints, or sable paint brushes, but there are plenty of things that you can add to your artist toolbox that are cheap, available from general shops, and can extend out your toolset or allow you to experiment, particularly if you don't have time (or money) to visit the art shop.

Cotton tips/ cotton buds/ tissues/ cotton balls:
-    Great for smudging pencil work,
-    lift out wet paint,
-    applying small amounts of paint,
-    apply paint with crumpled tissues or cotton balls to create interesting textures,
-    crumple tissues and place over watercolour paper. Paint through the tissues with ink or watercolour paint to create interesting textures.

Baking paper:
-    Place a damp paper towel beneath some baking paper in a tray or a dish, and you have an instant wet palette for acrylic paints. This stops the paint from drying out.
-    use it as tracing paper or for working out alternate designs for a sketch
-    use it as a stencil or for blocking out designs when applying paint

Salt (table or rock salt):
-    Sprinkle salt into wet watercolour paint and allow to dry. Dust off the salt and this creates
-    Also try wet pieces of rock salt into wet paint

Gladwrap/ cling wrap/ plastic wrap:
-    Use it to cover up paint palettes and save paint
-    Use it to create interesting textures by pressing a crumpled pieces into wet paint
-    Cover a plate with gladwrap and use as a paint palette

Aluminium foil:
-    Place over a dinner plate and use as a paint palette
-    Use to sharpen old scissors by cutting through 5-7 sheets
-    Wrap a large piece of cardboard in foil and use as a light reflector when taking photographs of still life or portraits.
-    Use for mono-prints. Paint a design on the foil and then place a piece of paper over the foil. Gently rub on the back of the foil to transfer the design. Peel back the foil from the paper.

Dishwashing Liquid/ Shampoo:
-    Use to clean paint brushes as a cheap alternative to brush cleaning solutions.

Hairspray
-    Use as a fixative for charcoal, pastel or pencil sketches. Of course the proper art fixative is recommended for really important pieces as it’s archival and specifically made for this purpose.

Tea or coffee
-    Tea and coffee can be used to paint with. Or course you may just want to drink them, but the variety of teas (including fruit and herbal teas) can give you a wide colour palette. All you need to do is brew up your tea, the stronger the better, and then start painting like you would with watercolours. Experiment with layers, intensity of brewing
-    Stain paper to do ink sketches, pencil drawings or watercolour paintings on. Try different methods such as ironing tea soaked paper to dry it, allowing the tea to pool in places, dropping coffee granules onto damp paper

Rubbing Alcohol
-    Use it for texturing by sprinkling or dropping into wet paint (particularly effective with watercolours). It effectively displaces paint pigments and leaving a speckled result.
-    Use it to lift paint layers when using glazing techniques with acrylics
-    Can be used for blending coloured pencils (I've heard of it being used with Prismacolors primarily, but no reason you couldn't try with other brands). You could also try watercolour pencils.

Candles:
-    Use your basic emergency candles for wax resist when working with watercolour techniques

If you want to play around with natural paints there are a number of things in the kitchen you can try (browse around for recipes online).
-    Vegetable dyes
-    Milk paint
-    Potato paints
-    Egg tempera

You can also pick up basics such as pencils, pens, sketch blocks, kneadable erasers from office supply stores and news agencies.

Some interesting articles

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:07:00 +0000

At the moment I'm on a bit of hiatus from the art business, well at least commission work. But while I'm having a bit of down time, I'm refocusing on skilling up and getting together some portfolio pieces. That's not to say that I won't take on work that interests me and I have time for, and I won't be abandonning this blog as I continue to look for interesting articles, things to try and talk about my experiences in improving productivity, juggling things and improving my art.

How to clear you inbox when you're drowning
One of my favourite blogs, this article contains some great ideas on taming the inbox. A lot of the ideas aren't new, but it's always a good reminder.

"The beauty of an empty inbox is a thing to behold. It is calming, peaceful and wonderful.
An inbox that is overflowing with actions, urgent calls for responses, stuff to read … it’s chaos, it’s stressful, it’s overwhelming". (From the article)

How to design for your worst client - You
Not really a 'productivity' related article, but I found it a nice piece on designing your website. Maybe a few of the things mentioned may help you save time in the long run. While aimed at web designers, I think the content is relevant for anyone that relies on the internet as a business.

"In this article we’ll examine the barriers that hinder designing for yourself and reveal 10 rules to help you create the best design for yourself. Together we’ll squash that dark side in all of us." (From the article)

Perfectionism isn't bad in the long term
An interesting discussion on perfectionism and excellence, and how perfectionism can prevent you from getting stuff done.

"The best ideas come from unusual sources. And some of the best productivity ideas I’ve come across lately come from a now-dead, 2500 year-old Chinese philosopher. Lao-Tzu, founder of Taoism may not be remembered for lifehacking, but with a few modifications, some of his ideas will help you get things done." (From the blog)

How to learn to let go and love it
An article about learning to turn over work for your business to someone else.

" Are you a control freak? I think we all are at times, some more than others. Over the course of the last few years, as my business has slowly grown, I have learned that a big key to success is learning to let go and not freak the hell out about it. If you find yourself freaking out at the thought of letting someone else do work for your business without you looking over their shoulder, then this post is definitely for you." (From the article)

Image courtesy: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Time Boxing the part time painter

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:21:00 +0000

I find it hard splitting my focus sometimes. I get so many competing tasks, so many different groups of people wanting different things from me, that there are days that I feel I'm not doing any work effectively.

Time Boxing is a technique that has been around for a while, probably has different names, but is most often referred to in the software development sphere. I thought I'd talk about it as it's a very simple but effective technique that can be applied to anything that you need to manage - particularly when you're shifting your mindset significantly.

What is Time Boxing?

Time Boxing is about forcefully setting aside time to focus on a particular task or series of related tasks. For example in my day job in the software development world, I'm going to be setting aside an hour every morning to deal with business questions in my role as a subject matter expert. This means that for that hour I don't do anything else (unless there is nothing to do), and after that hour is up I go onto a different piece of work. If another request comes in outside of that time, I can ignore it until my time box comes up again (assuming that there’s not a priority deadline attached!)

But this technique is suitable for a range of tasks! It’s adaptable, it’s easy to start, and it costs nothing but the ability to focus.

Why should I time box?

It helps you to meet deadlines. Really it’s just a forcing mechanism. You’ve got a short deadline to work to, and an alarm that reminds you ‘hey, you’ve spent half an hour on this, move onto the next task!'
It kicks your butt into gear when you're at the 'OMG I am never going to get all this work done!' mode and can't actually start. It's that old adage - how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
Chunking the work forces you to re-examine your work in a different light. For example, doing a painting across two sessions means that you might pick up that anatomical glitch before you email it to the client. Walking away from a piece can be a good thing.
I use a form of it during my commission process so that I can deliver updates or pieces to the client along the way rather than one big piece which could have been adjusted during the process. My time chunks are sometimes a day rather than an hour, but I say ‘by lunchtime I will have worked out the thumbnail sketches’ or ‘I will have completed the face before dinner’.
It helps you to focus on a particular task. This is really important for me at work where it's such a mental shift between analysis, design work, project management and actual coding. Artistically it might help you focus on your accounting, or making products, or planning out a painting. Sometimes if you are still finding yourself procrastinating or your brain wandering, you may need to reduce the time you spend on something, but do it more often. I’ve even started doing it for when I’m writing my columns (so I don’t get distracted!)
It helps identify what's important which enables you to prioritise. If you have a limited time in which to work, you might realise you have to work on the values of a painting first, or you need to get through your commission queue emails by lunch.
It curbs perfectionism. It is amazing how much time you can spend on something and not realise it. I set a timer for half an hour when I’m forcing myself to get through a task – mainly because I know my mind will wander off if I set if for too long. I’m also setting a timer on things I know that I procrastinate on, or spend too much time ‘tweaking’. The timer alarm is kind of like a wake-up call that says ‘hey, do you really need to spend more time on this? Or do you need to do something else?’
Time boxing can force an action. For example, when I work on a bug in code I might say “I’ll time box 30 mins to investigate and fix this bug. If I can’t figure out what’s wrong, or estimate how long it’s going to take to fix, I need to ask for help’. For a painter it might be that you say “I want to spend an hour on a problem area on a painting and if at the end I’m still struggling, I might post it to a critique forum for some feedback’.

Where could I use time boxing as a part time painter?

Use it for

training/ learning a new skill (half an hour each day on practicing with a new tool, or reading your RSS feed/ a tutorial site/ tutorial book/ looking at other artist’s work)
stay on top of your emails/ paperwork/ accounting/ business related tasks
commission work
doing personal work
marketing/ networking
product making

How do I start?

Grab a timer. Set it on your computer, use an egg timer, or use the alarm on your phone, whatever! Just make sure it has something that is going to cause you to stop! I use a timer gadget on my iGoogle page, or set up reminders in my Outlook Calendar.Book it into your calendar so people don't hassle you for meetings if it is really important to get done by a set time. You might be really good and just be able to look at the clock (this doesn't work for me, I get too engrossed in what I'm doing, or if the task is boring I keep on looking at the clock)

Set your timer, and then until that timer goes off, or you complete the task, that one task you’ve set your mind to do, do it!

When the timer goes off, move onto the next task.

Assess whether you need to change you time box length and adjust accordingly.

What do I need to know about time boxing to be effective?

Work out what you can time box. Not all tasks are worth time boxing. If something is only going to take 15 minutes and is a one off task then don't bother. If it’s a task that you can’t effectively break down or know that once you start, you won’t be able to stop (such as working wet into wet), time boxing may not help.

Have a plan. Don’t get bogged down in all the small tasks and forget that there is an end goal – like being able to master a particular tool, or meeting a deadline with a quality painting. All those defined tasks need to feed into a bigger long term goal.

Know what’s important. Prioritise & be strict. Once your time-box is up, that's it. If it’s going to take another hour, work out when that hour is going to be if there is a deadline attached. It might be that you have time now (particularly if you are in a good painting zone, or you are on a roll with your product making), and can afford to delay starting other tasks.

Finally, if it doesn’t work for you after you’ve given it a chance, change what you doing. Everyone is different, and what works for one person, may cause distress and a productivity dive for someone else!

Remaining arty when you don't have time (EMG Zine September)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:28:00 +0000

Time is a precious commodity when you are a busy person. The more crazy you life, the less time you seem to have. And even when you get time, sometimes the last thing you feel like doing is painting, paperwork or marketing. There will be times when you have to choose, have to cut back, have to be realistic about how much you can do.

For the past few months my day job has been incredibly draining. I have a full time job, and while there are a number of hours during the week 'free', after a really intense day I come home with a head feeling like Swiss cheese, and the desire to crash out in front of the TV with junk food and ignore everyone and everything for ... well until the next day begins again.

When you're at this point, how do you retain your passion for art? How do you keep motivated? What kinds of things can you do that won’t take all day, won’t hurt your brain too much, and are still mildly artistic?

Spend 20 mins trawling through online galleries. Bookmark a few pages for looking at later and change the wallpaper on your computer. Browse a stock photography gallery and write down some ideas for sketches that you can pick up later. These might be words, colours you want to try painting, names of mythic characters or stories to investigate, book titles that have interesting covers. Tack up a few photos or pictures that inspire you around your working area.

Read a book and allow the words to create pictures in your mind. Any book will allow you to escape. Get lost in the words. Think about the scenes, the colours, the textures and how you might paint them later.

Spend half an hour doing handicrafts (if you're that way inclined). I do hand sewing or knitting - something that I can do without thinking. It's using my hands, which leaves my brain free to veg out. You might like to cook, do woodwork, make jewellery, garden

Colour in some pre-existing line-work. Remember those colouring in books you had as a child? A great way to keep up the painting skills when you are too tired to develop a fully fledged painting is to start with a drawing already done. Play with colours, new brushes, different styles and techniques. If you are stuck for ideas on colours, do colour samples from a favourite photograph or painting. Of course you aren’t going to be able to sell the art or display it (unless the original artist has provided the image for use and display), but you might really be surprised at what you can do. Alternatively, if you’ve got some old sketches lying around, scan them into your computer or photocopy them as a starting point for a painting.

Repaint an old painting. Take a concept that you alternatively loved or hated the outcome of and repaint the picture. Maybe you could try it in a different medium or different style. Inverse the colour scheme. If it was a black and white piece, add colour. You drew the piece in a realistic style? Re-draw it in cartoon style. Take the characters and change their costumes, skin colour or hairstyles. Spacemen become knights in shining armour, mermaids become mermen, pretty fairies become evil monsters.

Dress up and take some silly self-portraits to later inspire paintings. Even if you don’t like the way you look, grab a blanket and drape it over yourself as though you were a cowled wizard. Take photos of objects around your house, take macro shots, take photos of strange shadows on the wall – they don’t have to be perfect photos, the idea is to get you looking and thinking about painting.

Look through some paintings you admire and do quick thumbnails of the composition or some aspect of the painting that draws you in. Artists used to take studies of master pieces. Do the same. Copy the face, sketch up the costume design, take the architecture and add to it. Write down why you like the painting. Is it the colours? Does the composition make your eyes flow around the page, is the pose strong. Again this isn’t something you are likely to display online or sell, but it may kick start a painting or an idea for a painting.

Sketch whenever you can. On the train or bus if you have a long commute, in your lunch break, when you are waiting for a meeting to start, during the ads on TV, while waiting for your dinner to cook.

Subscribe to a magazine or blog that is focused on art that you want to learn, enjoy or are interested in. You don’t have to read religiously. I only get to scan through my RSS feeds maybe once a week. I don’t read every article, but sometimes one or two articles will catch my attention and make me want to try something different.

Meditation and the part time painter (EMG Zine)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:23:00 +0000

I’m the first to admit being a stress bunny. Some days I thrive on it, other days it near wrecks me. In my everyday life there came a point where I needed to sit back and start learning how to relax. One of the relaxation tools I learnt was meditation. I’m not great at it, I get distracted easily, and I don’t do it anywhere near as regularly as I should. However I did find that a nice side effect of relaxation and meditation was the improvement to my creativity.

Now this is nothing new. Meditation has been linked to the arts and spirituality for centuries. Sumi-e is a way of meditating through calligraphy/ brush painting, the Mandala is a geometric pattern (often circular) used as a focus for meditation, even the architecture of temples and churches enhances the ability to relax and attain a higher sense of tranquillity and peace. Many artists talk about ‘being in the zone’ when they get so engrossed in a painting that everything flows and they lose track of time.
Meditation can be as simple as:

Listening to a CD of yoga, tai-chi, or meditational music. Any type of music that helps you relax, brings down your heart rate, and contains no jarring lyrics or noise is good (normally I find music without words is best for pure meditation, but I like some New Age music with lyrics for relaxing and getting me into a painting mood. That being said, I don’t paint to meditational music very often – only when I’m trying to chill out or go for a particular mood in my painting).

Learning breathing techniques. There many techniques available, I use some simple ones such as ‘The Relaxing Breath’ (sometimes called the 4-7-8) a lot. It takes only a few minutes and has been called a natural tranquilizer – which is great in stressful situations. Other techniques include things like Autogenic training (where you focus on a particular part of your body, relaxing each bit as you go).

Doing guided meditations. This is where you either listen to someone describe a meditation. They may tell you how to breathe, may describe a place you’re visiting or describe how you should be feeling. This is my personal favourite kind of meditation because it’s a visual experience. It’s like travelling without leaving your house.

Focusing on an object such as a flame, crystal, religious icon or Mandala as you breath. You may have music or silence. I have a set of beads I wear. When I get stressed (and need to get my emotions under control) I use them as a focusing tool, rubbing my finger over the surface and focusing on the feel of the stone, or just counting them as I slow my breathing down.

Tai chi and yoga also utilise breathing and movement to achieve the same relaxation and peace.

It could even be sitting on a beach or your garden by yourself.

Meditation is about being in that particular moment and remaining focused and calm.
So what are some of the benefits of meditation in regards to art and creativity?

It can help focus the mind before you start painting. If you’ve got home from work, are wound up about some incident with the fax machine, it’s a way to relax, calm you down, get rid of some of the negative energy you’re carrying around. This all sounds very ‘Zen’, but it’s very simple – if you are thinking about what happened at work, you aren’t thinking about your artwork.

It can kick start the muse. Meditation is a great source of inspiration. Put on some soft dreamy music, lie back, let your mind take you to far away beaches, jungle paradises, marble halls with huge sweeping arches and columns running down one side. Guided meditations are often great for this as they may have sound effects such as running water, waves crashing, bird calls, thunder, all atmospheric elements to take you to another place.

It has health benefits. It improves your focus, can help your posture (depending on the type you do), can help your general well being and ability to cope with stress. Different kinds of meditation will do different things for you

It reduces your stress and helps you cope with life better. If you are relaxed and coping, that spilt paint on your carefully detailed painting becomes an opportunity for a warrior to suddenly get a new costume!

Some people may say that the art of painting is like meditation. You know when everything just flows and you’re ‘in the zone’. But if you’re having trouble getting into the ‘zone’, need to unwind, or just want a way to unblock your creative energies, meditation or any of the associated meditative practices may help.

* Please note that this is not a guide to meditation. It’s simply a summary of some of the types of mediation I’ve tried and how it has helped me as an artist.

Links Shout out - Pattern Tap

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:21:00 +0000

"Pattern Tap is here to satisfy and encourage the inspiration needs of my interface design peers and peeps. We aspire to be the one stop pattern shop for your next inspiration need." (from the website)

Split by functionality, this is like a scrap book of design elements. Navigation, backgrounds, buttons, lists, icons, headers, tables etc, there are about 45 categories to browse through. Great for when you are trawling for inpiration, trends, or just really awesome designs to ooh and ahhh over!

http://patterntap.com/

Links Shout out - Phoenix online graphics editor

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:04:00 +0000

Anyway, always the hoarder of cool links, there has been an increase in the number of online image editors available and this is one of them. It can be integrated to some online image galleries like Flickr, Facebook and Picasa, plus there are a stack of tutorials. It has a number of advanced features like layers and cloning tools. Of course it's no Photoshop, but if you're on the road and don't have access to anything but the internet, this kind of tool could be invaluable.

Phoenix online graphics editor

As always, make sure you read the terms and conditions on the site.

Links Shout out - The Beautiful Necessity

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:24:00 +0000

I like pretty sites. I like sites that have variety around their focus. The Beautiful Necessity is a site that looks at The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and features links to everything from sales of the original paintings, products and artwork inspired by the movement, costume design, films and tv, artists and a whole series of articles that may inspire, or just move you to drool :)

http://thebeautifulnecessity.blogspot.com/

How to prioritise competing tasks

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:38:00 +0000

In a previous column, I briefly mentioned working smarter, not harder. One of the things that I find difficult to manage at times is what to do first. You get so many things on your plate, you only have so many hours in the day, yet you are expected to complete everything NOW! When you have conflicting commitments and you can’t really drop them, how do you work out what to do first, and what to push to the bottom of the list?

First and foremost, have some way of keeping track of everything you have to do. There’s nothing worse than finding an email you forgot to answer... a year or two later. I’m guilty of that, in fact I know I’ve got a couple of way overdue tasks on my list! This is my way of working things out.

Paid work should always come first! If you are a professional, you need to treat your paying customers like gold. They are your bread and butter. Being slow is ok, as long as you keep communications open and tell them you’re going to be slow. But never take money and renege on your contract or sale. It’s going to be hell on your reputation, and nothing travels faster than bad news!
If you have two tasks of equal importance and one’s been in your in-tray longer, that’s the one that probably deserves your attention first. However, if it’s hanging around for ages – like months - maybe you should reconsider doing that task at all.
The job that pays more bills is the one with the highest priority. Being an artist is important to me, but my day job pays all the niggly things like my mortgage and for food– so I’m not going to screw up that because I was up all hours painting! (Says the girl up til midnight painting on a ‘school night’ *ahem*).
If a task seems too hard or you know that you are never going to get to it, you are entitled to boot it out the door. Don’t keep it on the list, there is seriously no point.
If a task looks like it’s going to suck the life out of you and take forever, see if you can break it down into smaller tasks. An hour of sketching is a little more manageable than having to draw 50 line art pieces.
Stuff you’ve bartered for should be treated the same as paid work. No one hates another artist who receives a trade and reneges on their promise. It’s just not cool. Don’t do it.
Do fun tasks after you’ve done the ‘work’ stuff. Use it as a proverbial carrot (or in my case chocolate). If you do all the fun stuff first, you’re only left with boring, tedious things that will seem to take forever and ever and ever and.... so try and organise your tasks using this theory.
Do 5 minute jobs NOW! Don’t procrastinate. Knock them over and get them out of the way.
Be able to live with your decisions. Recognise that in order to do things well, you have to focus on one thing at a time!

And above all, learn to live with the fact that there are only so many hours in the day, only so much work one poor little trooper can do before they keel over, and that you are not in fact a superhero that can do 12 things at the one time. It just isn’t possible! As much as we would like it to be!

If you are interested in tools to help organise yourself a bit better, here’s a previous post I made on creating and using todo lists
http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/03/organisation-1-todo-lists-and-part-time.html

Link shout-out - I Draw Girls

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Links shout-out! A great collection of digital tutorials/ walk throughs that don't just focus on drawing women (despite the name). Even though this is mostly centred around fantasy & games art, there's plenty for any digital painter. There are zombies, ninjas, mecha, life drawing sessions, studies of old masters, free brushes, backgrounds and architecture. Worth losing yourself for a couple of hours. Check it out!

http://idrawgirls.blogspot.com/

5 online photo editors

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:57:00 +0000

Digital editing doesn't require expensive software. You don't even need to be home to access you desktop editor. Simply hook into the Internet and have a look at the 5 best online image editors (according to Lifehacker readers)

http://lifehacker.com/5307419/five-best-online-image-editors

What should you do when you need to take a break (EMG Zine May)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:13:00 +0000

Working two careers can be exhausting. Sometimes you just need to step away from one to keep your sanity. It might be that your day job has taken over your life and you barely have time to cook dinner, let alone paint. It could be that you are a full time artist, and you find yourself doing more business and marketing tasks than painting and you need time to create new products. There could be family commitments, illness or injury.

Whatever the reason, how should you go about the process of cutting back on some of your commitments?

I've had to do this several times as my work peaks and recedes. Some months can be very cruisy, while others I have maybe an hour to myself all day. I still keep on working both jobs, however the balance is definitely skewed towards the day job at the moment!

So where to start?
1. Identify the 'dead wood' you can trim from your life
2. Ease back on commitments you can't get rid of, or don't want to drop i.e.simplify your life!
3. Work smarter

What should you look at getting rid of first?

Things you hate. You know the tasks I'm talking about. They are the ones that you drag your heels on, avoid answering emails to, put in the 'too hard' basket. They suck the creativity right out of you. They bore you. They feel like work. If you're doing work like this, and have very little time to call your own, you will burn out.
Things that don't make any money or you are doing for free. If you can't do the job, someone else can. And if it's free, unless you are doing it for your own reasons it is unimportant. If it was truly important, they'd be paying you!
Things that are not cost or time effective. If you spend 10 hours making something, then sell it for a few dollars, then you are selling yourself short ... especially if your time is limited. Your time is a valuable commodity!

How to ease back on commitments and not disappear entirely

Maintain an online presence somehow. Whether you use a blog, twitter, facebook, or mailing list, make sure you don't disappear of the face of the earth for 6 months at a time
Finish the things that you've started or reschedule them. It's bad business to turn around on a client and say 'that painting I'm halfway through, well can't do it' if you really can still finish it. Reputation is still king when it comes to business.
Prepare people for the change or give them alternate contact points. If you're closing down your shops, try and give people warning, or at least tell them you can still ship products, and give them a contact point.
Try and ease back on things, one thing at a time rather than all in one hit. Sometimes this is unavoidable, but if things are gradually getting more and more hectic, you can try and start cutting back one thing at a time

How to work smarter?

This is for another column, but essentially it comes down to:

Know thyself. Know your limitations, habits and strengths and work to them
Learn to say 'NO' and to prioritise your tasks
Value your time and energy
Try not to over commit!

Shoutout - Smashing Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:57:00 +0000

Another shout-out to a great illustration and inspiration resource: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/. This site showcases talent, design tutorials, ideas for being a more efficient designer/ artist/ illustrator and a host of free resources. Beware, you may get sucked in for hours!

Jack of All Trades (EMG Zine April)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:36:00 +0000

There's an old saying about being a jack of all trades and a master of none. While this saying is often about someone who never perfects anything, but rather can do lots of things adequately, from an artistic point of view there are many reasons why you may want to be a little more adaptable and flexible when it comes to subject matter and style.

So which is best? Being a specialist with a particular artistic bent, or being a generalist who can do lots of things, but doesn't specialise in any one thing? Here are some thoughts on the matter:

"I never ever get bored with painting pink fairies with monarch butterfly wings".

Being a specialist can be boring. If you have to paint the same thing, the same colour scheme, the same style ALL THE TIME, life can get a bit dull. Of course, if you are passionate about your speciality then it can be a never-ending exploration of something you adore. Kind of like chocolate or trashy romances. Some people could live their lives never eating another kind of sweet, or read anything else and that's ok.

"Hey, aren't you that girl who paints the weird dancing turnips?"

Is that really how you want people to remember you? And is that really what you want to get commissions for, for the rest of your life? As a specialist you can be pigeonholed. You can be defined by a particular moment in time -- much the same way an actor gets typecast. If you love dancing vegetables, then great, you won't have a problem, but if you don't, it can be very hard to escape from people's expectations.

"Who are you again?"

If you don't specialise, you can get lost in the crowd. Imagine yourself a bird of paradise amongst a bunch of pigeons -- You want and need to be noticed. Being memorable (for good reasons) is a way to build a fan base and get sales/ work.

If you have many different skills and subjects that you can paint (competently), you open yourself to a greater variety of projects.

"Why don't you ask her? She's the queen of painting purple unicorns!”

Being a master in a particular field immediately makes you an expert whose advice is sought. This can be good and bad -- depends on if you are happy to answer questions, or even defend your position as an expert. There are a number of digital artists that are expert painters that essentially have to provide work in progress shots to 'prove' their method.

"I have no brand!"

Having many skills and doing many themes can make it difficult to 'brand' yourself. How do you want yourself to be known if you don't have something that stands out as representing 'you the artist'? As a specialist, your speciality is your 'brand'.

"How dare you paint a space monkey? You're supposed to paint mermaids!"

If you are a specialist, you can have violent reactions from fans when you don't paint what they expect. You'd be amazed at comments from so called fans when you change your style or your media. It doesn't matter what the reasons are, if you have a fan base for a particular reason, you do something different and you are bound to tick someone off!
Sometimes specialisation only has a small fan base. You may be brilliant at what you do, but if there are only three people in the world who love your stuff, unless they are willing to be your patrons, you may need to broaden your artistic field.

So what is the best approach? Generalist or specialist? Well, it really comes down to a few things.

You have to paint what you love or connect with. Whether it's a style, colour or subject. Things that have meaning to you, or you enjoy painting, generally come out better than something you loathe and struggle to paint.

Know thyself. If you love to paint the same kinds of paintings, go for it. If you get bored with the same paintbrush between one painting and the next, you might be happier doing a bit of illustration, a bit of design work, and selling products as well.

Skills regardless of specialisation are important. Without skills, you lose credibility.Finally, people grow and change. You might specialise in one thing for ten years, and then abruptly change and do something different. And that’s ok too!

Do I Really Paint Like That? The Artistic Post-mortem (EMG Zine March)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Even if your time is limited, there is one part of any project which is critical to help you improve. Whether you spend five minutes or a week, doing an artistic 'post-mortem' on completed works is a good habit to get into.

So what do I mean by this? Well, at my day job, we have what's called a 'post implementation review' -- it's where a bunch of people get together and dissect how the project went. Sometimes it's full of people patting each other on the back; other times it's full of people pointing fingers and burning effigies.

An artistic 'post mortem', for me, is where you apply the same principles to a completed piece of work and reflect on what went right, what went wrong, and more importantly, where the opportunities for improvement are. We don't always need a bunch of critics to tell us what is good or bad. One of the most important things an artist can learn is how to be critical of your own work. To help you become more reflective about your own work, try asking yourself some of these questions the next time you finish a painting:

What one thing would I do again?

This can be something as simple as using a particular color, waiting for a wash to dry, or using a particular stock photographer. Sometimes the smallest thing that works can lead to a brilliant new style or technique.

What is one thing I'd never do the same way?

Everyone makes mistakes. Some are small, some are huge. Even if something is successful, you might decide for example that you never ever, and I mean never, choose to paint a picture with more than five roses in it.

What one thing did I do in the piece that I could improve on for the next one?

Be critical. If you took a shortcut like placed someone's hand behind their back, or relied too heavily on one photo reference, aim to paint at least a few fingers or sketch a hand. Don't get stuck and never improve. Everyone can improve.

If I could do the piece in a different medium, what would it be and why?

Sometimes when you finish a piece, although it was a success, you feel that it may have turned out differently if you'd made a different choice in media. Would a pencil sketch be better as a digital painting, should you have used oils instead of watercolours, or would a photo have been more effective?

If I had twice as long to do this piece, how could I have improved it?

Time is always a factor. When you are doing this part time, sometimes you have a limited window in which to complete work. Even if you paint full time, you might have several project on the go at once. When you are finished, work out what you rushed through, what you slaved over, and see where you skimped.

What part did I take the longest on, and could I have been quicker?

You can get bogged down in the details. That 8 hours you spent painting fur -- will it actually be noticed when the piece is printed out as a greeting card? Practice speed painting to improve your abilities to render image quicker and more effectively.

The key to asking questions about your own work is to work out what you need to do to improve. It's not about beating yourself down, comparing yourself against others, or giving yourself a complex. It's about learning to take off the rose coloured glasses and see your work as it is. If you can't see you own strengths and weaknesses, you can't necessarily take criticism, and you certainly can't improve or grow.

Link shoutout - Artemisia

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:44:00 +0000

In lieu of proper posts, I'm going to start doing some shoutouts to great resources on anything remotely related to art, illustration, productivity, business and what not.

Today's shout out goes to Artemisia -a blog that covers fantasy art from the female perspective. Apart from the fact the artists in question are all very talented (if you don't know Melissa Findley or Louisa Gallie's artwork, check them out!), their posts are interesting and intelligent - without coming off as bra-burning feminists. They list stock resources, give their opinions on cover art, and feature female arts in the fantasy art field. It's only new, but hopefully they keep pumping out the articles (in between the artworks!)

Stop Giving Yourself A Guilt Trip! (EMG Zine February)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:23:00 +0000

Thou shalt paint whenever one is not:

a) At the day job

b) Making the house liveable by cleaning, cooking, ironing or fumigating

c) Laid off sick with 2 broken arms or completely incapacitated

The consequences of ignoring these commandments shall be eternal guilt...

Um... When did I agree to this?

Most artists have gotten themselves in the situation where they feel they *should* be painting if they have free time. (I'm not talking about blowing off your responsibilities, I'm talking about feeling under pressure to create stuff just because you are an artist and you have spare time.)

You try and be a superhero, putting unrealistic and often unhealthy expectations on yourself. And if you don't meet these expectations you get miserable. Or if you're like me, you start to feel a big, fat case of the guilts. After the guilts start, martyrdom sets in and you paint because you *should*, not because it's fun or rewarding, but because you've made these silly rules that you can't have any semblance of a life.

I'm guilty of it. In fact, I worked myself into the ground trying to have two careers, and somewhere along the way forgot to have fun. I got so caught up in having to paint because I was an artist and it's what I should be doing, that all painting felt like 'work.' Commission work, personal work, portfolio work -- it felt like I was churning through it, but the heart wasn't in it in the way it should be. Oh don't get me wrong, I gave 150% on each piece; it was more the way I felt inside as I painted. It got into a nasty cycle of working, coming home, doing necessary chores, painting because I had free time (not because I had a drive to paint), and all the while thinking I’d rather be doing something else. And heaven forbid I did something else; I'd be thinking about the fact I should be painting when I wasn't. While I had guilted myself into painting and was producing stuff, I wasn't enjoying the process.

It's kind of like being allowed dessert. You really want a chocolate sundae covered in gooey hot chocolate fudge sauce. And then being sensible or being bullied into getting the fruit salad. While the fruit salad is healthier and tastes great, what you really wanted was the ice-cream. The whole time you're having your pineapple you're thinking about the ice-cream. In the end, you got dessert, you're down a couple of dollars, you've eaten something you really didn't feel like, and you haven't really got rid of the craving for the sundae.So what can you do when you start feeling guilty about NOT painting?

Slap yourself in the back of the head and stop thinking that way! Nobody likes a martyr and no one but yourself is putting expectations on you. If a company wants you to do 50 paintings in a week, they're only doing it because you allowed yourself to be put into that situation. Be realistic about what you can do and recognise your limitations. Also recognise that you are entitled to a life!

Relax! The painting will still be there tomorrow, a week from now, even six months later. It's like riding a bike. The skills may get rusty, but they don't disappear.
You don't have to spend all your free time on one thing. You are allowed to have more than one artistic pursuit or hobby (actually, this should be expanded to be 'you are allowed to have a life!'). I have several (hobbies, not lives :) ) -- I play music, I do medieval recreation, I dance, I play computer games… It may help to balance you out or inspire you in different ways. It also helps to reenergise you when you are having an artist block.

Don't think about what you think you should be doing when you are doing something else enjoyable. Again it's like the chocolate sundae. Your free time is just that -- free! Free to do what you want, not free to only do painting and nothing else or you shall be struck down by some omnipotent being. A little bit of guilt helps you get through the things you have to.

You don't need it in your free time. So go forth, paint because you want to, not because you feel guilty about NOT painting.

The Lazy Artist (EMG Zine January)

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:14:00 +0000

Originally posted : EMG Zine January Issue

I know that purchasing more hours in the day is not really achievable, nor is getting rid of the day job, but to coin a phrase my boss uses all the time -- we want to work smarter, not harder! This is where learning to be a 'lazy' person can help you get more stuff done (like painting!), and in less time. Here are some ideas to help you become a 'lazy artist' and increase your time for painting!

Automate stuff

Anything that you can set up in five minutes, and that takes less than a click to cancel is great. You can:

set up direct billing for website hosting/ domain names/ art site subscriptions
subscribe to rss feeds through your mail client (rather than visiting the site daily)
Set up automatic filters/ rules on your email inbox. Rather than having 6000 emails in your inbox, it's a lot easier to deal with 5 emails you HAVE to answer then and there
Automate your computer gadgets including

backup procedures (my external harddrive has an automatic feature, but there are loads of free tools out there. Check out http://free-backup.info/ for loads of information)
virus scans
defragging the hard drive

As I have my computer on a lot, I try to schedule the tasks for when I'm not likely to be working so that these processes don't interrupt my flow. Create a digital Personal Assistant with free online tools Why remember stuff when you can set up a reminder? The less you have to remember, the more free space in your brain for other important things. Well that's the theory anyway! Set up reminders for:

paying bills (if you haven't automated them)
doing daily chores (like remembering to hang out the load of washing you put on 2 hours ago!)
deadlines for commissions, competitions, submission dates
interrupting procrastination such as catching up on forums, random internet searches, playing solitaire *ahem*
Eat/ sleep/ have a real lifeThere are loads of on (line tools to help you manage your time such as:
Remindr -- http://remindr.info/
Hassle me -- http://www.hassleme.co.uk/
Remember the Milk - http://rememberthemilk.com/

With some of these sites, they can even send reminders to your PDA, Blackberry, Mobile Phone or other electronic devices.

Why reinvent the wheel - Alternatives to a website

If you don't have time to develop your own website, or are finding it difficult to get around to updating your html & FTP'ing it to a server, then maybe you could use an online gallery for updates with a link from your main page or profile to the gallery. Some Online galleries you might like to look at are:

DeviantArt -- http://www.deviantart.com/
Elfwood -- http://www.elfwood.com/
Epilogue -- http://www.epilogue.net/
GFXArt -- http://www.gfxart.com/
Artwanted -- http://www.artwanted.com/
Fantastic Portfolios -- http://www.fantasticportfolios.com/

Another alternative to online galleries is to redirect your website to a blog. Some blogs are capable of hosting content such as images and videos. The benefit of using a blog is that they are quick to update, many have very simple interfaces, are very customizable and are free. Of course they aren't websites, and so don't have things like storefronts, but you can link to places where you can sell.

For an overview of some of the blogging software available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblog_software

And if you are really pressed for time, try microblogging where you are limited to about 150 words. It's quick and easy and many of the microblogs have widgets for syndicating content. Examples of these include Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/), though many places such as Facebook and MySpace have similar tools known as Status Updates.

Let someone else sell your stuff

Another way to save on time is to stop doing the manufacturing of prints yourself and get someone else to do this. You may like to explore services such as Zazzle, Cafe Press & Deviant Art Prints, or consider licensing your images for manufacturing. The main downside to this is that you have no control over quality, and your profits may be fairly slim. But it does mean all that time you spend making things could be spent on painting. Being a 'lazy artist' is not about taking shortcuts, it's about prioritizing and working out what you want to spend your precious time on. And the more time you have to paint, the better!

ninja mountain podcasts

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:36:00 +0000

In case you haven't heard, some talented illustrators have been getting together and chatting about the sci-fi/ fantasy illustration industry in a series of entertaining and informative podcasts. So far there are only 3, but they are well worth the listen.

This is the blurb from their site http://ninjamountain.blogspot.com/:
Episode1:
This episode features Jeremy, Jon and Patrick as they discuss their first freelance jobs, how to get started as a freelancer (and how not to), art school, Applebee's, space boobs, and anything else that comes to mind. Get ready for an hour of art talk!

Episode 2:
This week, Andy Hepworth joins Jon, Jer, and Patrick, as the ninjas discuss portfolios, getting work, convention networking, and even a bit of art talk as they debate the merits of ArtRage, the digital painting program.

Episode 3:
It's the usual group of guys (Andy, Jeremy, Jon and Patrick), tackling the big subject of what they broadly call "client relations": working out contracts, getting paid, "exposure deals" and other scary stuff. They also discuss the best method of figuring just how much you should get paid for a job.

Feeds are available through iTunes as well

EMG Zine posts

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Cadet) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:16:00 +0000

I'm expanding my blog to EMG Zine which is run by the multi-tasking artist/ writer/ entrepreneur Ellen Million. This has been in the works for a while so it's exciting to finally be apart of Ellen's team. I'll still be writing here, but my extended articles will be posted at EMG Zine first, then posted here at the end of the month.

http://emg-zine.com/item.php?id=486 - is a post on Being lazy and getting stuff done (if you can't wait for me to post it here). I'm under the monthly column 'Part Time Painter'.

As a side note, while I work through my website redesign, I thought I'd post a link to a website which is something many people wouldn't consider. http://www.vischeck.com/ checks your website or images for usability for people who are Colourblind. I use it mainly for checking that text can still be read more than what the images will look like.