[ambelamba]

I've been looking for jobs after I got out of ther service. I've been to Comic-Con 2004 and presented my portfolio. I've attended an art studio to hone my drawing skill. Oh well... I know that I suck at painting and color, but I am very confident about my drawing skill. I've been known to be very speedy all the time.

But I absolutely have no idea what I should put in my portfolio. I am not even sure what kind of job I should find! I'd be happy if I become a storyboard and comp artist who has to draw and draw all the time with a Prismacolor pencil and markers on vellum pads. 5 to 9. 6 days a week. 52 weeks a year. Money. As long as I can make money out of drawing I don't need a vacation.

But...since I know nowhere to go I simply stopped drawing for...like, 3 months. Partly because I am not confident about my skill COMPARING TO THE BEST OF THE BEST in the field. And I feel just sick of myself and stuff.

Now I painfully realize about the stone-carved rule: Breaking in the first job is the hardest one.
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Human mind is the battlefield of good and evil.

[Tomasis]

true about the rule

but you cannot give up and do nothing when time is going still...

[murkku]

this is what im gonna do, but i think u should try this also..
first: do work for free for some small fanzine or such, just to see if u can work in a deadline.. if u dont make the deadline, u can always blame them for not hiring a professional artist
second: if u do make the deadline, then u can put the work in youre porfolio and the next time u will have a better chanse to get a paying job(i think the most important thing they will look in ure portfolio beside ure art skillz is that u can make the deadlines and those oddjobs are good practise in that)
arent i clever!!!

[Strawberrysauce]

You should never work for free, always charge something, even if its for the spare change in their pockets. You dont want clients to think they can get away with that kinda crap all the time.

[stacy]

Shamhead,
Boy, that's the truth.

Anyone who moves a pencil or can
copy something out of a magazine
can call themselves an 'artist'.

The industry is full of utterly ignorant
half-baked kids doing crap work for
nothing, who are helping set a business
climate in buyers minds, that we all
work for free and are infantile idiots.

You can NOT walk in off the street
and call your self:
a cop,
an electrician,
a nurse,
a barber,
a carpenter,
a press operator,
a pilot,
a plumber,
or, any one of a million other occupations.

But, we're being 'represented' every day
by ignorant, no-skill jackasses who just make
real artists look bad.

This industry needs (internal) regulation.
I'm NOT suggesting letting the God damned
government regulate it, but we need a
peer review system, whereby, before any
simplton piece of garbage can start
representing him or herself as one of us
they have to pass a minimum qualification.
Just like any other professional.

P.S. I'm not suggesting that anyone here
is in that catagory at all!
It's just something that I think we as REAL
working artists should be doing to protect one
another AND ourselves.

[eyewoo]

Nope! Ease up. There are as many unprofessional operations trying to get started as there are unprofessional artists trying to get a foot in the door. I for one have no problem with the two getting together... occasionally something good does get birthed with that mix.

I'm pretty sure that professional organizations would rather pay good money for proven talent than trust their deadlines to unproven talent. I seriously doubt that the newbies are making a big cut into the professional budget pie.
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HonePie.com
tumblr blog
digtal art

[Strawberrysauce]

stacy, that was a bit harsh, and isnt what i meant at all. Fair play to anyone who wants to get involved in Illustration/design, im trying myself. But i do believe you should charge at least something for any job.

[Riven]

A bit harsh, I agree, but I can feel her frustration.

Anyhow, with regard to the original poster - start with putting up an online gallery, that may help. I'd be happy to give you an honest critique of your work.

I know "breaking in" for myself wasn't easy, but it came with determination and hard work.

[Quiet]

ambelamba:

The choice to work for free or not for free is up to you, but whatever you do, don�t not work. The important thing is that you continue to hone your artistic skills while you look for that first paying job.

I did some free work prior to getting my current job, and I found it to be good practice and a good addition to my resume. The largest part of that free work was illustrations for a college newspaper. That situation was ideal, because the newspaper was meant to be a practicing ground for students. There me be similar opportunities out there. You could approach small non-profit organizations that have no art budget and offer to make whatever art they need. Look around for college kids who are struggling to start a business, and supply them with art. (Then if they do manage to succeed with their fledgling business, you�ve created a market for more art.)

There is a time and a place for unpaid work.

[stacy]

0H yeah, I almost forgot.
The gutless know-it-all wussies and ignorant spineless little boys
who do nothing to improve the overall climate.

[Quiet]

"The gutless know-it-all wussies and ignorant spineless little boys
who do nothing to improve the overall climate."

Was this aimed at me?

[sweetums]

Opportunity is out there, but it no longer knocks, you gotta go hunt it down!

Make a list of:
10 local organizations that interact with the public (Comedy groups, theatre groups, melodrama actors, local bands, Magicians, etc.)
5 items each one of them use that are designed (flyers, business cards, programs, newspaper ads/announcements)

Now, make a local portfolio from this. Get in contact with 5 of the 10, take a digital camera, go take pictures of whatever you can that visually represents the organization and/or its members/participants/audience.

Now, make roughs of 3 of the 5 items you wrote for each of those 5 subjects (1: poster/flyer/program...2:Business Card/flyer/announcement...)

Polish up the top 3 pieces of the 15 you make.

Go back and see if there is interest in purchasing your efforts.

Tweak instructions to taste and repeat.

This will 1. Keep you busy (3 months of depression slacking off? ACK!)
2. Stimulate your creativity
3. Get you involved with your local community
4. Get you introduced to your community as an artist
5. Give you a chance to practice interaction/sales skills
6. Give you good practice
7. Provide you with concept, rough and Polished/completed works for your portfolio, online or physical...

Don't just sit there and stress over it, go do something about it, if only for the practice! Good luck!

A couple more thoughts:
1. Go to your favorite local hangout/restaurant/bar/ and make up a new menu cover or drink specials logo, or business logo for them.
2. Check with your local schools about upcoming PTA flyers, school plays, etc. and design something for them.

There are lots of ways to give your work away in a manner that keeps the rabid "Art Labor Organizers" at bay regarding "protecting the Profession," while still filling a need that giving away art can benefit both you and the receivers of your efforts!
_________________
Life is short. Expect nothing, enjoy everything.
That which does not kill you should make you wiser...

[mukkinese]

There's nothing wrong with collaboarting with other amateurs and publishing a non-profit project together, but it does make me cringe when I see artists giving their work free or for very little to a profit making company.

As has been said before, there are lots of people trying to start-up publishing ( in a variety of genre ), and they ask artists to supply work for free or very cheaply. Fair enough, everbody involved takes part of the risk, but even a cursory look at, say, the CCG market makes it evident that several publishers who started that way, have gone on to behave exactly the same even when making a profit.

This kind of behaviour is unlikely to affect established or "big name" publishers rates in the short term, but it does put pressure on the mid-level publishers and these make up the largest section of the market.

Could this be one of the reasons we have to work harder and harder to hunt down paid work? Don't get me wrong, I have no illusions that any amount of whining on our part will change the situation, but I do think the slide in rates should be resisted as much a is possible.

[ArtHo]

I've already had several careers before I decided to go back to school for art. I graduated last year and it took me about 5 months to find a full time art gig.

What I've learned working in the corporate and art worlds is that the job doesn't always go to the most talented but to the most persistent!