One of those black and white photographs really stuck out in my mind. It was an image of a private playing a record on a record player. What caught my eye was the way his body and arm created an elegant rhythm as he placed the needle on the record. It was a gesture he must have repeated a countless number of times during that period in his life. Yet it was a gesture that fully captured the joy of playing a record and the anticipation of the song to be played.
It reminded me of Edgar Degas' "The Tub" (pastel on paper). In his work, we see a woman sponging herself in a washtub. This would have been part of her daily ritual. She probably wouldn't have taken notice of the beautiful poses her body made as she completed the task. But Degas did, and preserved it for all to enjoy. (See http://www.abcgallery.com/D/degas/degas59.html )
When I saw my Dad's photograph, I knew I had to do the same as Degas. But as I recall the story, I take a moment now to ponder: what is that mysterious spark, that inner stirring that motivates us to create? How do we know when to find beauty in the ordinary, or is the ordinary always beautiful? What is it that speaks to us and asks to be captured through our creativity?
I have not found the words to intimately express answers to those questions. But I do have a rudimentary understanding of the process. For me it is a sense of expressing to the world (and to myself) what my natural or mind's eye has seen. I am interested in showing the mood and emotion of a subject, and portraying what made it a meaningful experience for me.
In order to decide what to create, the object of my creation must hold meaning for me. The moment my art slips from a meaningful experience to a meaningless one, I lose interest. Making a scratchboard from a photograph my Dad took meant a lot, but it was the composition that meant the most when I first saw it.
I also felt a connection to what the man in the photograph was doing: playing records. A wave of nostalgia swept over me as I remembered my childhood record collection, an eclectic mix of Disney movie soundtracks, Jackson 5, Martin Denny, Tchaikovsky and others I'd long forgotten. I became the man in the photograph, replaying a soundtrack of oldies but goodies from my past. So I decided to put that feeling on paper. You can see the results here: http://www.artmangreg.com/new_page_3.htm.
I suppose many of the reasons I decide to create are based on my feelings about a thing. Those feelings and emotions serve as a guideline for how the art will look. The deeper the feeling, the greater my impression of it will be expressed on the paper. I know I've made the connection I seek through my art when someone else "gets it." They don't have to "get" the same "it" I got, but their reaction lets me know they gained meaning from my work. That quest for meaning informs my creative decisions today.
This website can offer you just about every resource you may need to promote and sell your artwork. From mailing lists and business software to a line of art marketing books and online galleries for you to promote yourself, this is a soup to nuts smorgasbord of helpful info. You can also subscribe to their free newsletter on art marketing, get listed in their Living Artists directory, and check out their plentiful links page. Give yourself ample time to peruse the site.
ANOTHER COLORFUL LIFE
This month we will take a moment to chat with children's book illustrator Don Tate. Don's background includes illustration as well as graphic design in the areas of advertising, educational publishing, and visual journalism. His website www.DonTate.com is full of playful, colorful images as well as a biography and pictures of Don. Be sure to read about the journey of his project, "Sure As Sunrise," which details the A to Z of illustrating a children's book.
1. How did you become interested in art?
Art, or more specifically, using my hands creatively, has been who I am for as long as I can remember. I have a drawing which share with kids during school visits. It is a drawing that I created at the age of 3. It's of my mother holding my baby brother. It's pretty stick-figurish of course, but clearly shows a talent for drawing at an early age.
As a child I always had some project in the works. Drawing, building, weaving, braiding, painting, sewing, gluing, cutting or whatever. I think it may have troubled my dad. Boys aren't supposed to do those kind of things. But I couldn't play sports and I was not an academic. Drawing and creating is how I earned respect and boosted my self esteem.
My mother and grandmother supported my artistic endeavors by keeping me well stocked with pens, pencils, paper, fabrics, yarn or whatever I needed to create my latest masterpiece.
2. What is your favorite medium and how did you choose it?
I don't really have a favorite medium, I like variety. In the last few years, I have focused on acrylics because they dry quickly and my deadlines are tight. When painting, I prefer a wet-over-dry technique. Acrylics allow me to continually paint without stopping. I really like oil paint, too.
In addition to oil and acrylic, I enjoy using colored pencil, scratch board, airbrush, watercolor and inks.
3. What artist(s) (living and from art history) do you identify with most and why?
I don't have much art history in my background, so I am most familiar with and inspired by contemporary illustrators. The first artist that really got my attention was Jerry Pinkney. An African-American illustrator who was not only illustrating some of the books I was familiar with, but winning national awards and headlining some of the reading conferences I attended.
As a child and even as a young professional, I had been warned that art was not a field for blacks. "You'll never get a job," and "you're wasting your time and money with art," is what people would tell me. These warnings came from family, college instructors and even two of my early employers. I grew up in Des Moines Iowa, and I think all this was sadly true for the commercial art market in Des Moines, pre 80s. I tried not to buy into that way of thinking, I was determined to succeed regardless, but I did carry those warnings around in my head for years. So when I discovered the work of Jerry Pinkney, an African American artist of my parents generation, who had been illustrating for years and who was successful, that clinched it for me.
4. Describe a moment in your life that significantly impacted your art (for example: life events changed your subject matter, plein air class, birth of child, etc.).
I found myself creating sketches for an educational book, an anthology of African Myths. I approached it as I did everything for black subject matter, realistic style. I decided the night before I was to present my sketches that I wanted to do something different. I wanted to have some fun. So I stayed up all night resketching and using a fun whimsical and stylized look. My editors loved it, and I have pretty much been using a stylized realism every since.
One other thing that significantly impacted my career, and I can't leave this out, is the computer. When I graduated high school, I told everyone I wanted to get into computer graphics. In 1982 a career in computer graphics sounded kinda exotic. I had no idea, at that time, how much the computer would soon dominate the field of commercial art, regardless of my desires. When I was first presented with using a computer, I resisted big-time. But that's because I started training on a unix-style pc or something like that. I'd have to type in a full page of coding just to turn the thing on. And early graphics and illustration programs created artwork that looked too Pac-Manish, all bitmapped and hard-edged. But then a few years later I was introduced to a Mac and it's been me and my Mac every since. Although I illustrate books with paint, probably 90 percent of my other illustration work is done on the computer using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Painter and various 3D programs. And even my painted work often starts on a computer, or is somehow aided or enhanced by the computer.
5. What is the most challenging part of the creative process? The most rewarding part?
The most challenging part is probably once the sketches have been approved and its time to render the final illustration. I'm ready to start laying down underpaintings and to make color choices, but my mind goes to thinking about all the other great illustrators. How's my book going to look alongside a Pinkney book, or a James Ransome book? These guys are fantastic, what am I trying to do? I think about what things the reviewers might write about my work. Some reviewers can be very mean and interpret my artwork in ways I never would have imagined. I also worry about what my editors and what the author will think of the art. I eventually throw all the negative thinking out. I look over my past artwork and I remember how much talent my creator has blessed me with, I say a little prayer and jump right into it.
Also, because I have no real formal training in painting techniques, I'm sort of winging each new project. I find myself sort of stumbling through my first few illustrations in a book until I hit that proverbial wall. It just sort of happens after that.
The most rewarding part of illustrating children's books, for me, is when that fresh off the press copy arrives on my front doorstep, and I can see the final fruits of my labor(and know a check is on the way). The other equally rewarding aspect is when I speak to the children. Their response to my artwork is truly rewarding. There tends to be an extra sparkle and pride in the eyes of the African American children, so it feels great to be up there sort of representin' for them.
6. Describe ways that you were able to stay determined and focused in spite of rejection.
Bad always comes with good and rejection is a part of being an artist. Everybody is not going to desire your work. Art is subjective. In the past when I have found myself up to my neck in rejection, I usually change my game plan and plant some new seeds.
I like to prove the nay-sayers wrong.
7. What are some ways that being a "self-taught" artist have affected your career?
I labeled myself as self-taught on one of my book jackets, I hope I didn't give kids the impression that I have had no education or training. Actually, I attended a vocational-technical high school where my core training was commercial art. I attended a 2-year community college and received a degree in commercial and advertising art. But I've had no formal training in illustration, thus the label "self-taught."
I haven't allowed the lack of formal illustration training to affect my career too much. I've had to learn by trial and error, asking a lot of questions and feeling my way around. It's taken a little longer to get where I want to be, but I've learned a lot and I have a great sense of accomplishment, having done it, anyway.
8. What things should an artist do to prepare their portfolio for review by a publisher?
A. Present your work professionally. I once referred an illustrator friend of mine to a publisher I had been working with. Although the art director, also a friend of mine, liked the persons work, he later told me the samples he received were dirty, dinged-up with extraneous pieces of tape and body hairs. That's not cool.
B. Be sure that your work demonstrates your ability to consistently carry a character through a story. Peter Mouse on page 5 would need to look like the same Peter Mouse on page 32.
C. Include just the right amount of samples. Its better to include just a few very strong pieces, than 50 samples of mediocrity.
D. Be sure to include a cover letter addressed to a specific person, and be sure that person still works with a particular publisher. Before sending your letter out, have it proofread by a word person. I recently found a cover letter that I wrote probably 15 years ago for a job I was trying to get. I wrote and proofed the letter myself. It's no wonder I never heard back from them.
E. Although you'll probably want your portfolio returned, be sure to include something for the editor or art director to keep on file. Color copies, or printed postcards are great. You'll probably not want to include original art unless you are lucky enough to have a face to face sitdown or unless you are doing some sort of day drop-off. When mailing samples you want returned, Include a self-addressed stamped envelope.
F. Do your homework. Research the publisher you are approaching. Request a catalog to see the types of books they publish. If they publish stories about frogs, then sending a portfolio full of your finest illustrated elephants is a waste of time.
9. Have you ever considered placing your work in a gallery? Why or why not?
I haven't given it much thought. My artwork and training has always been very commercial oriented. I'm used to creating artwork with a predetermined purpose. I think my commercial illustration looks odd out of its element, like on a gallery wall. I might be wrong, but when I think of gallery art I think of fine art one might hang on the walls of their family room.
10. What's next on the horizon for you as an artist?
Writing! I'd like to expand and do stories about pigs, plants, cars, dinosaurs, Martians, or a blonde-haired character. I've now realized that in order to break out of the hole I've found myself in, I'm going to have to write some of these other stories that I'd like to illustrate, then offer myself as a writer/illustrator package. I have a few stories started and will work with my literary agent at polishing them. One day I will wear the title of author and illustrator.
11. What advice do you have for others who need encouragement to pursue art as their life's goal?
If art is one of your life goals, do art because you love doing it. Not out of any need to win awards, make a statement or to gain notoriety. Putting that extra pressure on yourself takes the fun out of your creativity. Have faith in the talent that you have been given by your creator. Draw upon that source of infinite creativity.
The first thing people will say is that you can't make a career out of art. They'll tell you that an art degree isn't marketable and you won't make any money. Its true that as an artist you probably won't get rich. But if you have an artistic talent and you are determined, you can make a good living in the arts.
12. Is there anyone you wish to thank publicly?
I always thank God on my books credits page. And I always thank my mother for her praise of me as a child (and as an adult for that matter). That is what boosted my confidence in my abilities as an artist and made it so much easier for me to succeed. There was no question that I could succeed because mom said I was good! I thank my wife because it takes time to illustrate books, after my full-time job. That's time I'm not spending with her and my family. So her patience and willingness to let me pursue my dreams is a gift.
Contact Information: Don Tate, 2224 Desco Drive, Austin, Texas 78748
512-282-0909, tate2@aol.com , www.dontate.com
This article may not be reproduced without the following credit: copyright 2004 Gregory Huff. From the free monthly e-zine, "Artman Greg's Scratch Pad." To subscribe to AGSP, send an e-mail to ArtmanGreg@aol.com .
Creative Quote:
"Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worth while, and it will do you a world of good." ~ Cennino Cennini
Who was Cennino Cennini? http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/C/Cennini.html
Artist's Network:
Did you know about ~
Artists Helping Artists Call to Arts! Expo & Conference
Musicians, fine artists, writers, actors, poets, songwriters, arts leaders and visionaries come together in the spirit of creative adventure and discovery at the Call to Arts! Expo & Conference at Pasadena Conference Center on Saturday, February 28, 2004. Artists & arts leaders: share your vision. Be part of a common adventure. Gain more exposure and learn how to promote and market your art, your activities, your organization! More than 60 arts, music, and entertainment organizations on the exhibit floor. This portion of the show which also includes the expo, the Juried Art Show, and the Variety Showcase is FREE to artists, musicians, poets, actors, writers, arts educators, songwriters, teachers, arts organization leaders, art students and art lovers who register BEFORE JANUARY 31. This free registration includes access to the entire expo, the juried show and the variety showcase, but does NOT include entry to the panels or workshops. To register send your name, e-mail address, city, and art field via e-mail to CallToArts@cs.com. You will receive a return e-mail confirming your registration with specific instructions. For more information visit http://www.calltoarts.artistshelpingartists.org/home.htm .
Who knew?
Please contact me at artmanGreg@aol.com with your: questions, comments, suggestions, websites, interest in being interviewed in an upcoming e-zine, helpful resources, or encouraging words. I'd love to hear from you!!
The views and opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Gregory Huff. Guest writers are not paid for their contribution to this e-zine. Articles are for information purposes only. Gregory F. Huff does not receive payment from nor endorses suggested websites and resources. They are simply websites and resources he thinks may interest or help you. Gregory is not responsible for any of the content of the websites or resources he suggests.
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