March 7, 2021 - I started my official “commercial art” training at the age of 13. I’m talking ink wash black and white illustrations of a coffee pot for the Sears catalog. If most of that sounds meaningless to you—you’re lucky. Was it soul crushing? Not really—because I hadn’t yet developed an artistic soul to be crushed! Anyway, for me, making art has almost always meant making art for someone else. I think there are generally three entities we might make art for (and they are not mutually exclusive): ourselves, an audience and a client. With commercial illustration we are generally going for all three. We need to be making the picture for ourselves, or it will suck. It will be lifeless. We need to make it for the client or they will be dissatisfied and, no food, no…