Cliff's Art Stuff.....

Hey, cats. This is a question for the artists on the board...

How exactly does one get started working on commissioned art for people? I figure now that I have a buttload of time on my hands since I'm no longer working for Hellmart, I should do something productive with my time and really flex my art muscles.

What's the best way to start? Just post a thread with examples of work and a big "Starving Artist For Hire" sign?

--Cliff

You can post samples here and detail your rates. You should also look into starting an account on Diviant Art to show of your stuff.

Let's see some stuff

Well, I'm redoing this, as Firefox decided to reboot itself mere seconds before I clicked the button to post this, soooooo.... *sigh*

Please forgive the crudeness of some of these, as they're on lined notebook paper. Around my place, notebook paper is the most abundant and readily available, so whenever I go to draw, that's generally what I use.

But, I hope you cats like what you see.

====================

Samples:

"TARDIS Taxi Chase"

Medium: Ink on Walmart register tape

"Femme Fatale"

Medium: Ink on Walmart register tape

"Self Sketch"

Medium: ink on Walmart register tape

"Green Lantern Concept Art"


Medium: Pencil on Sketchbook paper

"Green Lantern Sequential Art Test" (four pages)
Adapted from Geoff Johns' GL #1 script found online here




Medium: Pencil on Sketchbook paper

"Tank Girl" (November 2008)

Medium: pencil on notebook paper

"GOD DAMMIT!!!"
Panel from an aborted comic strip

Medium: ink on sketchbook paper, scanned in and colored in Photoshop

"I Love My Job!"
Panel from an aborted comic strip

Medium: ink on sketchbook paper, scanned in and colored in Photoshop

"Femme Fatale (Colored)"

Medium: ink on Walmart register tape, scanned in and colored in Photoshop

"The Spud"

Medium: pure digital image, sketched and colored in Photoshop with tablet and stylus

"Troy's Place"
Header for Troy Benjamin's Still Playing with Toys Message Board

Medium: Pencil and ink on sketchbook paper
Colored by Rob Smith (http://www.myspace.com/therobisher)

"Troy's Place II"
Concept Art for Troy Benjamin's Still Playing with Toys Message Board

Medium: pure digital image, sketched and colored in Photoshop with tablet and stylus


Most Recent Work

"Team Ramrod Vs The League Of Insidiousness I" (July 2009)
Concept Art for one of the many WUMB's "Survival of the Fittest" forum bouts (back when the WUMB was the most happenin place on the net)

Medium: pencil on sketchbook paper

"Jingle Bells, Holy Fuck, MAKE IT STOP!!!" (November 9, 2009)
Drawn while working at Walmart, with Christmas music blasting over the speakers

Medium: ink on notebook paper

"Anna, High Commander" (November 18, 2009)

Medium: ink on notebook paper

"Ghostbusters: Aviation Division" (November 23, 2009)
Random Concept Art, drawn on break at Walmart

Medium: pencil on notebook paper

"Lounging" (January 1, 2010)
Based on Lucy Lawless' character in the upcoming "Spartacus" miniseries

Medium: pencil on notebook paper

"Evolution of The Doctor" (June 2009 through January 2010)
An artistic look back at Doctor Who's previous incarnations

Medium: pencil on sketchbook paper
From left to right:
Top Row: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee
Middle: Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker
Bottom: Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston

"Tribute To Ten" (January 2010)
Drawn shortly after David Tennant's final episode as the Tenth Doctor

Medium: pencil on sketchbook paper

"Bigby Wolf, Fabletown Sheriff" (January 16, 2010)

Medium: pencil on sketchbook paper

==============================

Commissions will be drawn either on sketchbook paper or cardstock, depending on the preference of the customer.

Pencil Sketch: $10
Ink Sketch: $15
Colored: $20

Will not charge extra for large groups of characters, though it may take longer to finish and send out.

No paypal, no credit cards. Check, money order, cash only.

My DeviantArt page (full of ANCIENT artwork, pre-2007): http://cliff-roswell.deviantart.com/

Let me know what you guys think!

--Cliff

*sniff sniff* I knew I smelled the Doctor in this thread.

Your tank girl looks familiar.....

*blinks* Sonuvabitch.... Hehehe. Guess that's a popular panel, then....

Rath99 wrote:You can post samples here and detail your rates. You should also look into starting an account on Diviant Art to show of your stuff.

Let's see some stuff

I agree w/ Rath. Start showing off your stuff on message boards, DeviantArt, Facebook/Myspace etc. And, if you have the funds, set up a table at some cons to get your art out there .

Playing around with photoshop.....



James Roday, Nathan Fillion and Simon Pegg in "Ghostbusters III"*





*NOT REALLY! This is just a proposed "Who should we cast?" thing.

So for the last...

...it's just after five AM now...

...nine and a half hours, I've been working steadily on coloring a drawing of Howard the Duck I made back in January:



It's a frame from an animation test I'm working on, where I'm syncing up one of Denis Leary's rants to an animated Howard. I'd been drawing Howard frame by frame on notebook paper, and --with the lack of a scanner at the time-- taking pics of them with my cell phone and emailing it to myself to edit together in Windows Movie Maker.

After a test animatic, I realized I could more than likely color it in Photoshop and then edit them together in WMM for the full test.



....it's only now I realize how freaking LONG that would take. Took me almost TEN HOURS just to color this damn thing! I mean, yeah, it's in PS, but...damn.

Course, I could be just complaining due to lack of sleep. I've had massive bouts of insomnia lately, and getting less than five hours sleep. I'm not exactly...myself right now. I guess I'm on the level of having a drink and feeling kinda buzzed...that numb, tingly feeling.

...I think I'm gonna hit the sack. Night.

The biggest boost to my career getting started was I got a table at Wizard World Texas back in 2008, and did $5 full body sketches and free head drawings. It was brutal, I was taking home stacks of sketchbooks each day of the con to finish and hand back to their owners the next day, but I built up a fanbase from that one convention that is still getting sketches from me today now that my rates have gone up.