Since my column this month falls on World Mental Health Day this year, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to address it. As you know if you’ve been reading my columns, I’ve been doing a lot of research into how mental health affects an artist’s ability to create — a topic I always knew was critical to our community, but didn’t quite know how critical until we opened up the Dear Art Director website. Easily…
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If you saw my column from last month, you’ll remember I started a quick poll on twitter that ended up expanded into a larger more in-depth survey, focused on not only how artists are making their money, but also a bit about what their goals are. I’m back, a month later, to report in on the data we collected. Now before we dive in, let’s remember a few caveats: 1 — This survey is…
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As you know from all my posts about Art Business and Art Careers and all my work with Drawn +...
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Some months I know exactly what I want to write for Muddy Colors. I’ve written notes down,...
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Here on Muddy Colors, we’ve talked about copyright a few times, but I wanted to bring it up...
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There is a myth that pervades the art world that I think is very harmful and would like to address...
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Hello everyone! This month I’m shooting down a myth many illustrators have about...
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The question of whether someone should go to art school or not is a smaller conversation in the bigger “Is Higher Education Worth the Cost” debate raging everywhere (especially in the US). Student debt can be crippling to someone starting out in any field, but it is often extra hard to bear as an artist because most artists will not come out of school able to pull in enough money to support themselves solely off…
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I want to bring up a complicated issue here that has been coming up very often lately in my conversation with artists, and which I deal with often in my role as a creative director in publishing: What is cultural appropriation, and how does it affect what artists make? As media becomes more and more diverse, the question comes up: who has the right to tell which stories? Can an author write a character that…
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Happy New Year everybody! January is a month of good intentions and fresh starts. And the best way...
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Look, I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news right at the start of the new year, but…you’re going to die. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but we are all going to die. We spend our lives avoiding thinking about it, but it’s the one true unavoidable event. And we don’t really prepare. Those of us who have children tend to be better about doing at least a…
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My column this month is smack between a ton of holidays, and regardless of your national and...
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Ladies and gentlemen, it’s crazy deadline time for our Focus sales meetings at Orbit, so my post tonight will be brief. However, since it is my post closest to Halloween, I will leave you a treat. (Like when I gifted you all with the Supernatural Art Director post. Or the Dune post.)Behold…FREELANCE WARSpic.twitter.com/LxsSGpdOdY — Freelance Wars (@FreelanceWars) January 22, 2018pic.twitter.com/Ma5BtkQQM8 — Freelance Wars (@FreelanceWars) February 5, 2018pic.twitter.com/s0lMtz4dKq — Freelance Wars (@FreelanceWars)…
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If you’re not a designer (and typography nerd) you might not have heard of the Type Directors Club. The TDC is based in NYC, but holds the most prestigious international typography competition every year. The TDC is a great organization and it holds seminars and talks all year, as well as bestow student scholarships. There’s a great archive of talks and videos on their youtube channel. Every year the TDC also holds a Book Nite,…
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I’ve been working at Orbit Books as their Creative Director for 10 years! Which means that...
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