I just got a mail from my idol. A personal Email from him to me.
Well I downloaded pay-by-minute internet, feeling guilty about it I decide to check my emails only for me to find evidence of why it was so worth it...
...I had a mail from my idol Jon Wayshak. Not just some crappy automated one, a real email. Further more he remembered my questionairre from last years project I did on him. Hell...just for you guys
hi lula.
i'm sorry it took me a few weeks to get back to you. i'll have my friend kick me in the balls a couple of times for you. of course i remember doing yr questionaire. it was fun. i also remember the name DISTORTEDORCHID. it's kind of catchy and hard to forget. one of the most important things about selling yrself. there's nothing like making a name for yrself the hard way. it's a pain in the ass, but rewarding, i guess. i don't know, i'll let you know when i get there. btw, thank you for the compliments on my work. sometimes i'm down on my shit, so compliments are always appreciated.
i do not have a side job. i do art and illustration full time for the past 8 1/2 to 9 years. i started summer of 96. i worked in my bedroom of my apt for the first 4 years, then when my roomate moved out, i used his room as "the studio." i just moved to a new place 3 weeks ago, so i'm in limbo. at the moment, i'm using my parent's garage for the studio, cause they only live 15 mins away, and i've been totally book with an art show and contracts. so i haven't had time to stablish a new studio yet. goddamn that was long winded. the point is, make due with what you have for an art space.
the idea is to keep yr overhead low, cause art is not the best paying job. if you wanted to get paid,
you should keep with the graphic design. art and illustration is a lot more of a struggle. i've had some tough years of bitter struggle, but that's a story for another time. now the illustration industry, i feel, is harder to break into right
now cause it's kind of a dying industry.
when i started, i kind of got lucky. i was kind of brash, did an online classified add that something
like "help feed a starving cartoonist," and got a job doing cartoon characters for this cnet website. i had a few tiny jobs before that, but that was the first main one. some dudes gave me a chance, and it kind of snowballed fr there. i got lucky. i got some word of mouth and people recommended me. so i kept working. i also sent postcards and
mailers to magazine people. i used an online resource like altpick.com and got some gigs out of that.
first off, i suggest the postcards. make something really attractive. art directors only look at cards for like a second, so it had to grab them by the balls at first glance, or you aint gettin no calls. i had no one to help me start out, so i did things the hard way. i'd go to the book store and sit there all afternoon wiht a stack of magazines,
copying the addresses and art director's names. they also have these books in the art book section that has addresses, so i copied out of that as well. just send that shit to everybody....even if you don;t think they'll hire you. shit happens. example... dungeons and dragons, i approached them at a time when i was dead broke, so i mailed them even
though my style does not fit in with d&d. fortunately, there was a new art director, and she wanted to try some new styles with d&d, so i got hired. this was in 2001 or 02, i can't remember, but anyway, i'm still doing shit for them. so you never know. drop yr cards in magazines at the book store...people will think they're freebies that come with the
mag....put them on those free postcard racks....do anything to get yr work out there. that's the bottom line. you need people to see it to get gigs....so get it out to as many people as possible.
of course, i'm talkin about the way i do things here....if i remember correctly, yr in the UK? i have no idea how things work there. i was there 2 years ago. london was amazing. i hope to get back soon. anyway, i hope this helps...i'm afraid i may have confused you even more. hit me up if you ahve any more questions. i'll be happy to help out.
take care
wayshak
Excuse me while I hyperventilate. Not only am I going to try and flirt with him in my next mail I am also going to go to bed knowing I had a truely surreal moment when stoned. Stoned Lula+Mail from JON WAYSHAK (her idol)+listening to mp3 "Stand and Deliver-Adam and the Ants"=horrendously surreal.
Argh, I love Jon Wayshak too much <3<3<3♥♥♥
...I had a mail from my idol Jon Wayshak. Not just some crappy automated one, a real email. Further more he remembered my questionairre from last years project I did on him. Hell...just for you guys
hi lula.
i'm sorry it took me a few weeks to get back to you. i'll have my friend kick me in the balls a couple of times for you. of course i remember doing yr questionaire. it was fun. i also remember the name DISTORTEDORCHID. it's kind of catchy and hard to forget. one of the most important things about selling yrself. there's nothing like making a name for yrself the hard way. it's a pain in the ass, but rewarding, i guess. i don't know, i'll let you know when i get there. btw, thank you for the compliments on my work. sometimes i'm down on my shit, so compliments are always appreciated.
i do not have a side job. i do art and illustration full time for the past 8 1/2 to 9 years. i started summer of 96. i worked in my bedroom of my apt for the first 4 years, then when my roomate moved out, i used his room as "the studio." i just moved to a new place 3 weeks ago, so i'm in limbo. at the moment, i'm using my parent's garage for the studio, cause they only live 15 mins away, and i've been totally book with an art show and contracts. so i haven't had time to stablish a new studio yet. goddamn that was long winded. the point is, make due with what you have for an art space.
the idea is to keep yr overhead low, cause art is not the best paying job. if you wanted to get paid,
you should keep with the graphic design. art and illustration is a lot more of a struggle. i've had some tough years of bitter struggle, but that's a story for another time. now the illustration industry, i feel, is harder to break into right
now cause it's kind of a dying industry.
when i started, i kind of got lucky. i was kind of brash, did an online classified add that something
like "help feed a starving cartoonist," and got a job doing cartoon characters for this cnet website. i had a few tiny jobs before that, but that was the first main one. some dudes gave me a chance, and it kind of snowballed fr there. i got lucky. i got some word of mouth and people recommended me. so i kept working. i also sent postcards and
mailers to magazine people. i used an online resource like altpick.com and got some gigs out of that.
first off, i suggest the postcards. make something really attractive. art directors only look at cards for like a second, so it had to grab them by the balls at first glance, or you aint gettin no calls. i had no one to help me start out, so i did things the hard way. i'd go to the book store and sit there all afternoon wiht a stack of magazines,
copying the addresses and art director's names. they also have these books in the art book section that has addresses, so i copied out of that as well. just send that shit to everybody....even if you don;t think they'll hire you. shit happens. example... dungeons and dragons, i approached them at a time when i was dead broke, so i mailed them even
though my style does not fit in with d&d. fortunately, there was a new art director, and she wanted to try some new styles with d&d, so i got hired. this was in 2001 or 02, i can't remember, but anyway, i'm still doing shit for them. so you never know. drop yr cards in magazines at the book store...people will think they're freebies that come with the
mag....put them on those free postcard racks....do anything to get yr work out there. that's the bottom line. you need people to see it to get gigs....so get it out to as many people as possible.
of course, i'm talkin about the way i do things here....if i remember correctly, yr in the UK? i have no idea how things work there. i was there 2 years ago. london was amazing. i hope to get back soon. anyway, i hope this helps...i'm afraid i may have confused you even more. hit me up if you ahve any more questions. i'll be happy to help out.
take care
wayshak
Excuse me while I hyperventilate. Not only am I going to try and flirt with him in my next mail I am also going to go to bed knowing I had a truely surreal moment when stoned. Stoned Lula+Mail from JON WAYSHAK (her idol)+listening to mp3 "Stand and Deliver-Adam and the Ants"=horrendously surreal.
Argh, I love Jon Wayshak too much <3<3<3♥♥♥