For those interested, I've started an "add yourself" directory on Google+ of art licensing people:

http://bit.ly/GP-artlicensing 

Apologies for the recent lack of posts here on the blog, by the way. Busy working on next round of illustrations for I'M BORED, a picture book written by Michael Ian Black (coming out from Simon & Schuster USA next year).

I've compiled a list of some of my favourite art licensing blogs in the blogroll along the right side of this page, and one of them is Joan Beiriger's Blog On Art Licensing. TONS of great info in Joan's blog, and it's all free.

Joan's recent post is a great summary of the 2011 Surtex experience, plus she also links to a number of attendee and exhibitor Surtex experiences online (including mine):

Surtex 2011: Experiencing The Show

Above: My first attempt at a half-drop repeat pattern in Photoshop.

Oo. Way fun and addictive, with possibilities for paper and fabric designs as well as texturing/background possibilities in my children's book illustrations. Thanks to children's book author and illustrator Jennifer Morris for posting her tutorial on how to create half-drop repeat patterns in Photoshop on her blog.

After reading this great tutorial about how to quickly create patterns in Photoshop by Jennifer Morris, I made my own first attempt (above) in just a few minutes. I had WAY too much fun creating this. Next, I'm going to try half drop repeats to make it look less grid-like.

If I was an accomplished seamstress, I'd SO be considering Spoonflower.

(Cross-posted from Sketcharound)

I recently came across Mary Engelbreit's story about how she got started in art licensing, and found it informative and inspiring. Here are some of her main points:

- Her drawings were different from anything else on the market.

- She was told she needed 100-120 designs to establish a card line.

- Companies look for new artists with creative designs and clever logos.

- Aim to retain all rights to your work, This will give you the freedom to license the same image to multiple manufacturers.

- Don't forget to draw, paint and create just for the joy of it.

Technorati Tags: maryengelbreit

I purposely held off starting one because I've heard that art licensing portfolios can be huge, and I'd rather know what I'm doing BEFORE I create one to avoid the hassle of having to do a major revamp later.

One question I had: Do I really need to password-protect my portfolio?

Up to now, I haven't worried about password protection. 99% of my illustration assignments in the past have come about because I've posted my art online. Blush Publishing found me through my Flickr set, liked the woodcut images I posted, and commissioned me to do an entire line of greeting cards for them.

But Tara Reed makes some good points in her FAQ post:

Four Reasons To Consider A Password-Protected Portfolio On Your Art Licensing Website

so now I'm thinking of having part of the portfolio public but keeping the rest behind a password wall.

Related info:

Should I, or should I not protect my online portfolio with a password? - Pokidots! studio

I've been going through some of the great art licensing stories on Tara Reed's Art Licensing blog, and here's one of my favorites so far:

What inspired me most about this story: Jane Shasky's persistence despite some big disappointments along the way.

You can read more art licensing stories on Tara's blog. Jane Shasky's website: http://www.janeshasky.com/

Just came back from attending my first Surtex and National Stationery Show! I'm a newbie and this, and only found out about these shows during a workshop at the SCBWI Conference in NYC earlier this year. During the conference, Penny Sikalis, Suzanne Cruise and Priscilla Burris recommended that children's book illustrators interested in finding out more about art licensing should check out Surtex.

In prep, I found the following post useful:

Advice from an experienced exhibitor for artists wanting to walk the shows

(posted on ArtLicensingBlog.com by Tara Reed)

I tried to follow the advice in this post, which included the following tips:

- Walk along the middle of the aisle and don't approach exhibiting artists' booths.

- Don't take photos. "We don't want people taking photos because we have struggled to dream up something that's ours- we don't want you to copy it. You must find your own vision, dream up your own wonderful and unique booth, not copy mine."

- Don't look at exhibiting artists' portfolios unless you're invited.

- Don't engage exhibiting artists in conversation unless they make the first move.

"...Because if you are standing at our booth, proper show etiquette means that nobody else will approach us. Others do not know this is just a friendly, non-business conversation and if we're just having a pleasant chat, prospective clients will walk by because that is politeness in this industry. They will not interrupt what might be a business meeting. You may unintentionally be wrecking our show. We may be wishing you'd leave but too polite to ask and make it awkward."

I also came across a bunch of quotes from artists with opinions about whether or not artists should be allowed to walk Surtex, and quite a few seemed to feel quite strongly against the idea.

Conscious of all this, I have to admit I felt pretty intimidated as I walked up and down the aisles. Even if I came across a booth that displayed art I really would have like to admire some more, I didn't want to linger because I was worried the artist would think I was trying to steal their ideas. I was aware of many exhibitors' eyes dropping to my chest where my badge proclaimed me to be an Artist, not an Exhibitor or an art buyer.

I did work up the nerve to speak VERY briefly to Tara Reed to let her know how much I enjoyed her blog, and she was courteous and friendly.

Thanks to the research I did before the convention, I was prepared for the event to be solely for observation and research, not for meeting people. I think it would have been more fun, though, to be walking the convention with another artist. I also would have LOVED to be able to take a few pics of some of my favorite booths to help promote the artists via my blogs and other social media, but I can understand the "no photos" rule.

I paid $50 for my Surtex registration, which I thought more than fair for the privilege of walking the show. I'd love to exhibit someday, but I think I have a lot of research and learning to do before then.

Hence, this blog.

There are already many excellent blogs out there about art licensing, and it's not my intention to compete with them. This blog is going to be mainly for my own reference, keeping a categorized and tagged record of resources I've found for those just beginning in art licensing, and will be from a children's book illustrator perspective.

It's not my intention to give up writing and illustrating children's books for art licensing. Rather, I'm hoping to generate enough income through art licensing to enable me to drop short-term one-off illustration assignments, make more efficient use of my time with the end result of giving me more flexibility and time to work on children's books.

Wish me luck. :-)