The Balance Between Business and Art

Monkey reads a lot of marketing and business blogs, courses, and books.  He makes sure he has a strong grasp on the business side of Monkey + Seal, as he handles a majority of those aspects.  However, while educating yourself about the business side of art is helpful and necessary for most, many artists have trouble managing the balance between the business development side of art, and the actual creating.

When Seal is working on a freelance project, she usually hits a 70% creating - 30% business, which is super awesome.  Monkey, on the other hand, is lucky to hit 50-50.  So how do you manage your own creation-business balance and what is the ideal?


While if you're already familiar with the business side: marketing, budgeting, pricing, distribution, accounting, and maybe stuff like web designing or printing, you may struggle to find more time to devote to your creating.  However, if you're already making art like a fiend but have no idea how to do any of that business stuff, perhaps you need to spend more time developing your business skills.

So what's the ideal ratio?  Well, it all depends on you.  Personally, a good balance with a stronger emphasis on the creating is what we recommend.  For us, we'd rather be at 90-100% creating, and doing very little business stuff (maybe we should hire an agent or assistant), but there are definitely people out there who really enjoy some of the business part, so you should lean more towards the business side.

The reality of it is that an ideal is probably about 70-30 creating-business.  Seal has found that works well for her, and Monkey agrees.  Monkey has been struggling with this personally for some time, usually spending closer to 80% of his time on business, sadly skimping on the creating.

If you make this same mistake, what happens is that while you may be great at drawing an audience and making sales, what you soon find out is that you run out of stuff to promote or develop.  Monkey lost focus on what was really important (making art), and focused too much on the "gotta make money" side of things.  He recently shifted more towards 50% creating (a big swing for him), and he found that by doing more of what he loves (creating), the money (the business) is following.

So we encourage you to spend more time doing what you love and less time doing what you don't like to do.  While learning the basics of marketing and selling art is important if you want to make a living off of it, make sure that you don't forget what your main purpose is: creation.  Do more of what you love, and the money will follow.  

Thousands of Dollars Worth of Lessons From Spectrum Fantastic Arts Live!

This past weekend Monkey + Seal took the long trip over to Kansas City for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!  It was three days of being surrounded by some of the most amazing contemporary fantasy artists out there. 

The week prior was sort of a whirlwind of madness.  Seal had concept art, storyboard, and commission work to do.  Monkey had an event he was coordinating on Wednesday, then hung the latest Big Umbrella Studios show on Thursday for the opening on Friday, and he painted all weekend.  Then, it was a mad dash Monday through Wednesday to finalize transportation plans, get prints made, figure out new displays, and pack. 

Monkey ordered plastic sleeves that didn't come in on time, we didn't sleep from 1:30pm on Wednesday until we got on our plane at 2:30pm on Thursday.  There were no restaurants open by the time we rolled into our hotel at 1am Friday morning, and so we had a large amount of pretzels, snack crackers, and dried fruit for dinner.

When we arrived at the convention center the next day, Monkey started freaking out due to the sheer overwhelming amount of "big name" artists with huge original paintings and giant, framed canvas prints.  However, Seal's courage was strong enough for the both of us and as Monkey calmed down, we started to set our booth up.

 

Over the next three days, we got to meet some amazing artists, listen to great presentations, and we even managed to sell some merchandise.  Even though the crowd was much smaller than we had hoped, we learned a lot and came out smiling.

To be honest, it was an expensive bunch of lessons and tips (even trying to take all the budget options) we ended up investing thousands of dollars that weren't made back.  This was a bit hard to take in, but the lessons were invaluable and viewing this as an investment in our careers rather than losing money has helped ease the sticker shock considerably.

 

Rows and rows of awesome artists and art

 Some good take-aways we learned:

-It's painful and scary to be beginners.  However, what option did we have?  Pack up and quit and go home?  Nay, you just gotta do the best with what you have.  Everyone has to start somewhere.

-From Mike Mignola: If you never put out that dream project, you'll never have the chance for movie rights and other "big time" offers.  Expect to make no money and do it for the love of it, and who knows where it will go.  At least you've put it out on paper and sent it out into the world.

-When you're just starting out in fantasy illustration, 5-6 amazing pieces is all you need in your portfolio.  Take out all the filler, emphasize the "amazing" part.  Also, tailor it specifically to the company you are submitting it to.  Your portfolio for Magic:the Gathering is much different than your portfolio for book cover illustrations, which is much different that the portfolio you submit for editorial work.  

-from basically every presenter: DO WHAT YOU LOVE

-From Donato Giancola: Expect to make absolutely no sales from any craft fair/exhibition/expo, and just go for the love of it.  Think of it as investing in your career.  You'll always leave happy.

-We figured out that we have to step up our own game - we're working on designs for new display units as we type!

-Established artists are sometimes insecure and freaked out as well!  We've overheard numerous other exhibitors freaking out over who they're vending with as well.  One artist on a panel (who freelances full-time for Wizards of the Coast + others) said "I still feel like someone is going to reveal me as a fraud."  Sound familiar?

Overall we had a great time, got to (re)meet some other Bay Area illustrators and meet some of our heroes.  We have no regrets and are super thankful we were able to take the plunge and make it out to a whole new venue and a whole new level!

Award Ceremony honoring artists who won the Spectrum Silver and Gold Award

James Gurney receiving the Grand Master: an artist who has had at least 20 years in the art industry, who inspires others, and has made an impact in the community. He is Seal's hero.

Onwards! Towards more adventures!

Fear or Love? Your Choice

"If you try and give it your best shot, then the possibility isn't zero"

This weekend, Monkey and Seal will be on a plane towards Kansas City, Missouri for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live. We'll be vending next to some of our long-time art heroes. It's quite scary to be honest. We have never been to Kansas City. This will be our first out-of-state show. Most of the artists we'll be vending next to have at least 10-50 years of professional experience and have been published worldwide. Some of them have been doing art long before we were even born.They made the art that we looked up to as children. For Monkey, there is an artist that he has been following since he was 11 years old. We have also submitted multiple annual competitions for Spectrum, the magazine that is hosting the event, but have yet to break in and secure a published page. So going in there, we're pretty much unheard of. We are babies.

When we signed up, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We thought it was going to showcase more different levels of experience, but everyone so far seems to be well established professionals. So in the last couple of days, as reality creeps on us, there is an overwhelming impulse to run away. To say, we're not ready for this. Maybe next time.

But we have this sign that we made, posted in our humble apartment when we first moved in about six years ago, "What would you do if you weren't afraid?"

So we asked ourselves, what is the worse that can happen? We don't sell a damn thing and don't make our flight money/hotel//booth back, but we can meet our heroes, geek out over artwork and life-changing workshops. Go or not go, which choice can we live with later with no regrets?

I think everyday, there is an opportunity to say yes to either fear or love. Fear of failure. Fear of embarrassment. Fear of the unknown. Fear that the journey is long and your skill level is not where you'd like it to be. We can choose those things. But we can also choose love. Love of art. Love of accomplishment. Love of pursuing something rewarding. Love of your work to have pride for it regardless of what people think of it. Love of people, artists. To recognize and acknowledge each other as unique creators. Love of the mysterious unknown. Love of the awkward growing pains. Love of yourself and how far you have personally come from.

In life we are always either running away or running towards our dreams. Why not choose the path that promises a brighter ending? After all, if you try and give it your best shot, then the possibility isn't zero. You're opening a window. You can make "impossible things, " possible, if you take a step forward.

So what can you do today to make that step towards your dream?  What are you scared of that you can embrace?  What path will you choose today that will promise a brighter future?  Grab hold, and let's take a step forward together.

Don't Fear Revisions!

I need to revise some fables...

Most artists' stance on revisions of their work are polar opposites: either you love them or you hate them.  For those that love to revise your work, awesome.  For everyone else, read on.

Today we wanted to talk about revising your work.  While this is a day-to-day part of the business for illustrators and designers who are hired to execute specific images and are often asked to revise images repeatedly, we wanted to talk about self-initiated revisions.

For many of us, revising isn't easy. Usually it's because of one of three reasons.  Either we're in love with the image, we don't know what to fix, or we're tried/frustrated/over it.  

When you're working on a piece of art, you'll come to love a certain part of the image, if not the entire thing.  Maybe in a figure painting you really did an awesome job on the hands, or the ear, or the hair.  Maybe in a script you have a piece of dialogue that you absolutely love.  However, as William Faulkner has said, "Kill your darlings."  

While Faulkner said this to imply that any piece of writing that stands out as too-amazing probably isn't right for the story, we'd like to suggest that it means that you have to be willing to revise parts of your work that you like.  After all, would you rather have a painting of a person with a really awesome ear, or would you rather have a really awesome painting of a person?  

It's really difficult to do, and especially affects beginning artists.  This is because when we're just starting out, we tend to highly value our paintings, especially our best ones.  We think "This is my best painting yet!" and don't want to touch it for fear of messing it up. However, we have to keep in mind that we will create more and more pieces of art, and we should strive for always making each piece better than the last.  (although not if you're experimenting - then you should just experiment and have fun).   The best way to get over this is mileage.  Unfortunately, it may be tough to just start killing your darlings right away, but after you've put in hours and hours and created work after work, each piece becomes less and less important as a whole since you start to learn that you're always improving, and that your "best piece" is always yet to come.  If you keep your old work and compare it to your newer work, you should see some growth (unless you're not putting in the work and time), and this is a great way to remind you to not fear revision.

The second reason why revisions might give us difficulty is that we just don't know what to fix.  Especially when you're starting out, figuring out what exactly is wrong can be a huge challenge in itself.  During our stint at art school, we were told by one of our drawing teachers that the only difference between a student and a professional is that the professional knows what they need to fix, while the student doesn't.  While this isn't always true, the sentiment is.  Basically, if you don't know what to fix, how can you fix it?  

Really, the only way to combat this is to continually study art.  Whether that means art school, or taking classes, or working with a group of other artists, or carefully examining other pieces of art, it's all about expanding what you know so you can see what you need to work on in your own work.  Most of the time, the problems will be habitual, so it may take a while to see exactly what isn't working, but if you take a step away from your work and return to it, the issues usually become more obvious.  Go go revisions, go!

The third reason why artists skimp on the revising is what people might call "laziness."  We don't think that is really true - it's not laziness, but a general frustration with the piece.  Perhaps you waited to start a piece too late and it's due for a critique or even a gallery show.  Maybe the client is demanding and frustrating and visually clueless.  Perhaps you took a job that doesn't pay you your worth.  It could be that you just don't know how to fix the problem or haven't developed the skill yet.  Regardless, when people tend to go "the lazy route" and not to revise/fix things that they know are problematic, it's usually due to a larger emotional issue than just plain "laziness."

This is the most dangerous form of fighting revision, mainly because it involves actively making the choice to ignore an issue, which leads to your standard of work dropping.  This can lead to a reputation for poor work, current clients dropping you, etc. etc., all stuff that isn't too good.  

So how do you fight this form of revision anxiety?  We've found that the best way to to give yourself some time.  Procrastination is one of your biggest enemies, with Taking-On-Too-Much being a close second.  The more time you give yourself to work on your project, the better off you'll be, and the better state of mind you'll be in to make needed revisions.  

A good basis to start budgeting more time is to figure out how much time you think a project will take you, and then double it.  Think you'll knock out that painting in three days?  Give yourself six.  Think of it as a "distraction/emergency allowance."  Need a nap?  Take it.  Get sucked into the internet?  That's what all that extra time is for.  Have a freelance project that is a rush job?  Now you can take it!  Optionally, sometimes it just takes you a lot longer to create something than you originally thought, and with the extra time, you'll be in much better shape.  Heck, if you finish in the time you originally thought it would take you, then now you have more free time (or time for personal pieces, walking the dog, doing laundry, whatever).

Even better yet, if you budget in time for revisions, you'll be a happier camper-artist.  We usually find that if we give ourselves 6-8 hours away from a painting, upon returning to it, we'll immediately see things we missed in our first pass and be able to quickly fix them.  If we try to do a huge marathon paint  session, usually we'll miss things since after you stare at something long enough, it all looks right (or it all looks wrong), and by stepping away you allow yourself a fresh perspective.  

So revising is your friend.  It's how you get better, it's how you learn new things, and is how you grow as an artist. We know that there might be a lot of reasons why you prefer not to revise, but if you really want to take your work to the next level, learning to embrace the revision/editing process will make your  transition faster.  

The $100 Startup

So for all you out there who are interested in starting up a business (art businesses count!), we wanted to share with you a new book that came out today called "The $100 Startup."

If you're not looking into taking hold of your life by the horns and working for yourself (like we always say, entrepreneurship is not for everyone), please feel free to just skip this and come back tomorrow for our usual art posts.

If you are interested in working for yourself, either as an freelance illustrator, or maybe a photographer, or any type of business where you are your own boss, definitely stick around and hear us out on this.

"The $100 Startup" is not the book for people who are content to sit around and think about their dreams, but is for people who are actively looking to get up and do something about it.  If you're long-time readers of the blog, you know that it's all about hustle-hustle-hustle, and the book has a whole chapter (Chapter 9) on hustling, or as Chris defines it: "building interest and attracting attention."

Filled with case studies of others entrepreneurs who all make at least $50k a year from their small businesses, this book gives you the blueprint to start your own little company based on something you love.  The first part of the book examines the lean and mean $100 startup business model, and also leads you through how and why you might want to start up your own (side) business.

The second part of the book talks about the basics behind launching a product, marketing, getting your stuff out there, unconventional fundraising, and one-page business plans.  Lots of good stuff here to get you up and running.

The third section of the book is about expanding (or choosing not to), leveraging your existing resources, and talks about what to think about for the long haul.  Throughout all the sections, Chris intersperses advice with the case studies I mentioned earlier.  

While I wish there was a bit more specific advice and less storytelling, I do realize that specific advice for me doesn't apply to everyone, and vice versa.  Chris did the best job of straddling that fine line between sharing what worked for others and what might work for you.  Also, as someone who has read a lot of online marketing material and bought courses, this book didn't offer many mid-tier/higher level advice, but then again, that's not who this is for. 

This book is for people who haven't taken that first step towards becoming entrepreneurs, and want to learn more about the process before they dive right in.  I think this would also be great for any college-age students who are getting a bit disenchanted with the job market out there right now.

Overall it's a lot of information Chris has shared in his premium Empire-Building-Kit, but if you want a distilled, no-frills version of his $149+ premium course for a budget price, this book is the way to go.

Head on over to read more about Chris or to buy the book or to buy any of his other hand guides here.  

Full disclosure: we got a free copy of this book from Chris, and we're also part of his affiliate program, but that's only because his stuff is really good and Monkey has bought almost all of his products.

You Can Change Your Dreams

And that's vegan, gluten-free mushroom pizza, if you were wondering.

Here at Monkey + Seal, we're all about chasing dreams - more specifically, we want to inspire you to chase YOUR dreams.

But sometimes, as we're working towards that dream, you might feel uneasy.  Maybe it wasn't what you expected.  Maybe you've heard a bunch of negative things from people you respect and trust.  Maybe you've found a different passion.  Do you give up on that dream, or do you keep plugging away?

This is something that unfortunately, (just like most big answers in life), there is no simple solution.  We can't just tell you what to do, because every situation is going to be different for every person at different points in their lives.  However, let's talk it through.

First off, why are you experiencing this resistance to chasing your dream?  Is it the hard work?  Because if it is, know right now that most dreams are going to take a good amount of effort.  They don't have to, but if you want to be excellent at something, it's going to take your 10,000 hours.  So if you want to jump board just because "it's hard," while we get it, and we empathize, it's no reason to abandon your dream.

If you give up because of your natural inclination to go with what is easy and avoid the hard work, then the unfortunate reality is that you're very unlikely to reach any of your dreams.  No matter what it is, putting in the work (let us emphasize that the work doesn't HAVE to be hard, there is just usually a lot of it), is a necessary component for any dream.  If you give up now, you'll find another dream, and then you'll be more likely to give that dream up because of the work involved.

So what happens if it's not the work but something larger and more fundamental?  What about when you achieve your dream, and you find out that your dream has changed?  Maybe you're older and want something else, or maybe your life's priorities have changed.  That's okay too.  It's a natural part of growing.  Maybe you've realized that that dream company with all the status isn't really the best place for you. Perhaps you woke up one day realizing that it was your mentor's dream, or your parent's dream, or what you thought you wanted based on what you assumed a rational human being would want.  Maybe it is what you imagined that your ideal self would want.  A good example of this case is if you think you should want to be self-employed because tons of people (Monkey included) extoll the virtues and freedom and all the benefits of being self-employed, when you really want stability and security and to not have to worry about all the challenges self-employment might bring (legal status, taxes, permits, finding customers, etc. etc. etc.)  Perhaps maybe you're just bored now that you've finally gotten what you've always been working towards.

Regardless, we want you to know that IT IS OKAY.  Whether you've invested four hours or fourteen years, it's totally okay that your dream has changed.  It may feel at first like you've lost a lot of time, or that you wish that you discovered that it wasn't your dream earlier.  However, you probably wouldn't have ever even known that your dream wasn't right until you achieved it, and you wouldn't have wanted to live you life with a huge "What if" hanging around in the back of your mind.

Also, think about all the new things you've learned on your journey.  You've completed a journey, which is a huge accomplishment in itself, and you've probably learned about your new passion and goals from achieving your first (or second, or third, etc.) set.  Feel free to take some time to reflect on your path to where you are now, and give thanks for all the challenges you've learned from, the good and great stuff that's come out of your hard work, and all the people you've met and who have helped you get to where you are.

You might be frightened because you're starting over.  After all, to quote Linkin Park, "the hardest part of ending is starting again."  You're might be switching fields completely, going from being an expert to being a beginner again, or you could be just shifting over, utilizing a slightly different skill set than what you were doing prior.  Whatever it is, don't fret.  Change is good.  It keeps things interesting and it's okay to be a beginner again.

Remember: if you learned anything at all, (even "I hate this"), then it wasn't a waste of time.  Wrap  up what you have to, and start preparing for the next major journey in your life.

Staying Up Late is Not A Competition

Take care of yourself and watch out for blade injuries!!!

Monkey here (yes, again):

So yesterday I was sent an article by a friend that talked about how people who work more than 40-hour work weeks lose productivity.  This makes sense, as between plain fatigue, burn-out, and boredom, when you're working crazy hours, your brain doesn't work right.

People say that driving while tired is nearly as dangerous as driving while drunk (I totally believe this after some totally tired driving stints where I suddenly was five blocks away from where I thought I was), and I can totally tell that my motor skills don't work quite as well while I'm tired.  It's also been shown that fatigued workers will usually screw up, so that although more work  gets done, it's more bad work that's being done that will eventually have to be re-done.

Yes, Monkey is the king of irony, as he sits here typing this at 3am after printing for five hours, but once again, it's a matter of listen to what I say, not what I always do.

Why? Because I acknowledge that I'm not the ideal role model that I strive to be.  I know I should learn how to say no to things, or how to tell people "Sorry, I'm busy," but that's still hard for me.  It's something I'm working on, but yes, I take on too many projects and by my choosing to do freelance screenprinting/art/gallery ownership/event planning rather than do some job that pays me consistently every two weeks, I admit I have put myself in this situation.  The point of all this is that it is a choice, and I'm learning how to choose to not make myself so crazy sleep-deprived.  Regardless, I know what I'm talking about, even though I might be half-cracked out on lack of sleep.

Moving on, I realize how much of a culture of over-working we live in, especially as someone that has gone to art school.  In art school (for those of you who haven't gone), especially as an illustrator, you learn that you need to work hard, and work often.  Teachers tell stories of former students or their peers who drew nearly every waking hour.  When they would hang out at bars, they'd be drawing.  The star students are always working in their sketchbook.  Instructors will tell you that deadlines are everything - to miss one is to jeopardize your entire career (although this point is true).  Students will complain to each other about how little they've slept, and it almost becomes a sort of competition:

"Damn, I only slept two hours last night trying to finish this last painting."

"Really?  You're lucky, I didn't sleep at all.  I maybe could have slept for 15 minutes, but I figured I might as well power through it."

"I totally know how that is, I did that the night before last.  I think I've only gotten five hours of sleep over the past three days."

"I know, right?  I think I might be at like 8 hours this week, but I know how you feel, I think I only got five hours of sleep over the weekend working on that portfolio piece."

And on and on it goes.  Many people are trained to think that by staying up late, we're going to win some sort of magical award or something just for staying up late and being "productive."  Honestly, if I'm complaining on Facebook about how tired I am, most likely my brain is so shot that although I'm getting some work done at the computer, I'm probably also playing Solitaire Blitz or reading articles that friends had posted earlier in the day.  Seriously, if you're posting on Facebook, chances are that you're probably not just posting on Facebook then getting back to work.

Last week, there was one point that I was so tired that I stayed up from 3-5am doing work that, if I was sane and well-rested, probably would have taken me maybe 15 minutes to do.

Now, I'm not saying that all-nighters are not sometimes necessary, or that maybe your circumstances (working two jobs and raising kids, working and going to school at the same time, taking care of your elderly relatives, etc. etc.) are trivial and you should suddenly just quit things and get more sleep.  Believe me, I know what it's like to be tired all the time because of other obligations that pay the rent and allows you to eat meals on a daily basis.  We know that sometimes you just have to work and work until you're exhausted or the job is done.

However, what I am saying is that we need to fight against this competitive, crazy culture of overworking.  We need to start focusing on sustainability and making sure that we take care of ourselves.  Think of it like maintaining a car.  If you change your tires and oil on a regular basis, while expensive and annoying, it's much easier/less time consuming/cheaper than having your engine crack or your tires pop on the freeway.  Just as you have to schedule in vehicular maintenance, you need to schedule in maintenance for your mind and body.

Things to scare you into taking care of yourself: Carpel Tunnel and Repetitive stress injuries.  Loss of eyesight from staring at the computer too long without breaks.  Loss of cognitive function from sleep depravation.  Slicing your hand open with an xacto blade because you were too tired to focus properly. Chronic neck and back pain.  Ulcers and other gastrointestinal ailments from stress.  High blood pressure.  Type II Diabetes from not eating properly.  The list goes on and on.  And I personally know someone with all of that, and believe me, it's not fun.

So if you can, schedule in a breather.  Take a short break.  Get off the computer and take a nap.  Take care of your mind and body.  Whether or not you can do it right now is up to your own individual circumstances, but don't put it off until it's too late.  Stay healthy artists!