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I'm on Dribbble's blog for one of their "Time Out" interviews. As far as hard-hitting journalism goes, it falls somewhere between being interviewed on "The View" or by a fern.

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Although you're no doubt tired of me going on and on about Adobe Muse, tough cookies, cause I'm gonna make one more post about it. It's just such a great program if for no other reason than it makes it SOOOO much easier for non-programming types to build a super-duper web site. Seriously, I love it. If I were Brad and Angelina, I would adopt it. (I swear Adobe isn't paying me...) (Oh, and click on the images below to embiggen.)

It functions a lot like Adobe InDesign, which means you use things like:

• Master Pages, meaning if you make changes there, such as the menu, it's automatically applied to all the assigned pages. Yes!
• Character and paragraph styles that are applied site wide.
• Headers and footers.
• A drag-and-drop site layout that uses page icons.
• Move stuff around willy-nilly on the page, any ol' way you like without worrying about CSS or tables or whatever nonsense.

Additionally, it allows you to do lots of neat-o web stuff with familiar panels, and no coding:

• Widgets that include cool interactive stuff like light-boxes (I'm looking at you, illustrators), dynamics menus, pop-ups, slideshows, news boxes, accordion menus—all totally customizable. Brilliant.
• Your menu is automatically updated site-wide when add, remove or move pages. Glorious.
• Import your images any old size and Muse will automatically optimize them for the web and generate thumbnails when publishing.

• Embed all kinds of junk anywhere on your page: YouTube videos, Google maps, all that.
• Design yer site for tablets and smartphones. Booyah.
• Publish directly to your web host within Muse, no third party FTP app needed.
• You get to use Adobe's library of web fonts so you're not stuck with Times or Arial. You can also use your own fonts, but bare in mind those will automatically be converted to images on export.
• If you want to tinker with some of the code, you certainly can, although you have to export the site and edit the HTML, etc. in a program like DreamWeaver.
• Gives you a back rub, asks you about your day and really listens, then makes you a nice hot cup of herbal tea.

Now, I know a lot of illustrators are perfectly happy with some of the simpler site-building tools out there. Fine. Goody for you. But if you're interested in making a web site that isn't boring and lame and just like every other web site on the interwebs, and want to do it easily, well partner, you might wanna look into Muse. That is all.

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One question that gets asked a lot among illustrators around the ol' World Wide Interwebs is where do you get your postcards printed? Those who have been at it a while seem to have their favorites, and I have mine certainly, but I thought that since I'm such a nice Viking (and I got bored one afternoon), I'd compile as definitive a list of online printer's as one probably could before falling asleep at one's keyboard.

Not only do I hope to provide this list as a resource, but I'd be anxious to know what other folks think of any of these vendors through experience.

My personal favorite is GotPrint (best quality, best price as far as I can find), but check the others out and see what you think. I only priced a standard size, but tried to get two quotes each, starting with the lowest quantity available from that vendor. All prices are for full color, both sides.

GotPrint

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I spent a good amount of time lately working on a mural for one of my favorite clients. I was excited about it, not just because it's a fun kind of project to begin with, but I was also interested in further testing this new style I've been playing with. I wanted to see if I could get similar (or better) results by doing it in a vector format in Illustrator, so I even spent time just figuring out how to make a custom brush that did what I wanted.

(As a side note, I hate referring to it as a "new style" because, to me, it sounds like I'm abandoning my old style, which I have no plans of doing. It's just fun to try new things...)

I had planned on adding a simple label to the bottle, but didn't get that far.

Unfortunately, I fell prey to one of the most common errors known to all illustrasigners / designastrators: I put my own creative interests ahead of what the client wants, or even what's best for the client.

Needless to say, they said, "Er.... no. Try again."

The white area is where a window would have gone.

Still, even though I didn't finish, I liked what I came up with. I'm not sure I'll stay in Illustrator, though—I'm just so comfortable nowadays in Photoshop. On the other hand, many times, we need to force ourselves to do what's uncomfortable to grow. Growth isn't always easy or pretty or convenient.

At any rate, I've started on a different look, and—fortunately—I like where that's going as well (that isn't necessarily always the case!). And who knows, I might get a chance to go down this road another time, for another client.

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Come on in, have a seat. I'm about to lay some serious knowledge on you that a trained, qualified professional would charge you an arm and a leg and possibly a few goats for—for FREE.

Yeah, I'm generous like that.

Here's the thing. Us creatives may be a wildly talented bunch, and all those everyday, average lumps out there wish to Odin's eyeball that they could draw like we can or write like we can or dance the Argentine Tango like I can. But all that genius typically comes with a price: a rather cruel and persistant self-critic. (And maybe that's a good thing, to a degree, lest we allow our own inherent awesomeness inflate our egos to the point our heads begin to make us look like a Peanuts character.)

You know what I'm talking about: he's that little bastard that lives inside all of us and whispers to us about our work doesn't measure up, that we'll never get published or make it as a freelancer, that no one wants to read this slippery pile of bat poop. On one hand, that critic is also the one that often compels us to try harder, to work at our craft, to improve. Unfortunately, he's also the one that makes many of us want to throw in the towel and give up on our dreams. Or even if we're living our dream, we're not enjoying it.

Thanks to the fabulous Andy Ward.

So just what do we do about that little twerp? Well, keep reading, Priscilla, 'cause here comes that knowledge I promised.

The official, technical name for that little Debbie Downer in our heads is "negative self-talk." This may sound silly, but in reality, the one who's telling us that we're no good is not some little gremlin living inside our ears. (Well, almost always; there are gremlins who do inhabit people's ears, but they're generally more interested in convincing their hosts to do ridiculous things that no one else in their right mind would do, such as base jumping, running a marathon or reading Sarah Palin's memoir.)

Nope, it's US. We're bringing ourselves down. Why? Why would we do that? I'm not going to get into that here, but it has to do with what's called "mistaken beliefs", things we believe about ourselves—I'm lazy, I'm hopeless, I'm a bad mother, etc.—beliefs that are so deep-seated we don't even consciously realize they're there, nor do we question them. David D. Burn's books "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" and "Ten Days to Self-Esteem" are considered the best sources out there on this whole topic.

That negative self-talk can typically be broken down into a handful of types (most sources put it at about 10). Read through these, and then then spend the next week or so checking yourself to see if you ever think things like this about your work (or about any aspect of your life, really). But you have to really be on your tippy-toes: these thoughts often zip through our heads faster than you might imagine, because we've made it a habit to think them practically our whole lives.

1. ALL OR NOTHING THINKING: You see things in black and white categ

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I needed to print up a new postcard, but frankly, I didn't like any of the illustrations I had on hand that I hadn't already used (I know, we artists are soooooo critical of ourselves). So I did a new one.  Here's the front:

Now, on the back, I have traditionally put ALL of my contact info. But since talking with the AD from Simon & Schuster at the last SCBWI conference, I realized it was probably not necessary. He said that really, all he needs in a web address and maybe an email. Plus, after meeting a few industry people in person, I thought it might be nice to leave some room to hand-write a custom message, if applicable.

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There's always two sides to every theory. Take the subject of authors & illustrators making use of social media, for example. For some time, I've been largely impressed with how Neil Gaiman has made blogging, and now Twitter work wonders for his career (helped, of course, in no small part by his fabulous story-telling and relentless schedule of public appearances).

Since then, a whole host of authors & illustrators have followed suit. Everyone has a blog, Facebook profile, and a Twitter account. But here's the thing: is it really working for them? And by working, I mean, is it helping them sell books?

That sounds somewhat crass to say out loud, since most of us do what we do, deep down, because we love to write and to draw, and it's what we would do even if no one paid us a single solitary dime for it. At the same time, we hope to make a living doing it, not so much to get rich, but mostly so we don't have to spend our days doing something we don't like (or even hate) and leave more time for doing what we love. And to make a living, ladies and gentlemen, we have to sell books.

To do that, we try our hands at something called "marketing". These days, social media seems to be a crucial part of that strategy—or at least, that's what we're told. But take a look at this article from Publisher's Weekly that takes quite a different stance. In it, the author suggests that authors need to go back to being more "inaccessible"!

What do you think?

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At a recent conference I attended in Chicago for graphic designers, a handful of presenters talked about organization and work flow. Specifically, how many of are loosing precious time and not realizing it.

There are many culprits, but one of the main concepts I took away was that of operating in a "reactionary workflow."In other words, your time may go something like this:

Check email, and respond to some.
Begin working on a project.
The phone rings. You stop working, and answer it.
That call raises a question about another job. You go track someone down to answer it.
You come back after an impromptu meeting, and work a little.
New email. You stop and read it.
Holy moly, you forgot all about such and such job! You dig it out, finish it, email it.
You wonder, "Where was I?"
The the mail comes and you want to go through it.
Another phone call. "Did I mail that invoice?"
A little more work.
Software starts acting up, then you spend an hour searching help forums.
You check Facebook and Twitter...

...So on and so forth. In essence, we're reacting to the things that go on around us throughout the day. We may feel like we're getting things done, but research is showing that we're actually not. It takes time for our brains to "shift gears" and transition from one task to the next, time that could be better spent.

Right. Makes sense. I thought so.

Now, doing something about it? Easier said than done.

But it's got me thinking about what I do all day. Some things are constant, stuff I do every single day. Some stuff is occasional, a couple of times a week, or month. Most, if not all, had become a matter of "when I get to it." Naturally, some thing I "got to", some things were late, and other were completely forgotten. Not good.

Some people have mentioned making lists. Lists are a good place to start, but for one thing, I don't think most of us do it right (more on that in another post) and for another, that will only solve part of our organizational problem.

Changing the "reactionary workflow" model takes scheduling—rigorous, consistant scheduling—of your day and your tasks. Let's take email for example.

For me, email was becoming a huge time thief. I was getting more and more email and interrupted more and more often. I got less and less actual work done.

At the recommendation of some of the experts at the conference, I turned off the feature that automatically checks for email. Now I do it manually three times a day, morning, noon and late afternoon (before quitting time). It seems scary at first. But when you really think about it, there's not a whole heck of a lot that can't wait a couple of hours (next to nothing in fact).

At those times, I go through all of it, answer all the questions, or make notes of things to get done later, or whatever. Then it's back to solid work for a couple of hours.

Those speakers also recommended doing the same thing with phone calls (perhaps make a voice mail message that says you'll return their call between 12 and 1 or 4 and 5 so people know you're not ignoring them). The same kind of scheduling goes for all those things you've wanted to do but never got around to. In my case, I made Friday morning the time I set aside to learn something new, like checking out video or blog tutorials.

Whatever works for you, of course. But the more I do to take control of my workflow, rather than let my workflow control me, the more I get accomplished—and the less stressed I feel. Display Comments Add a Comment

I got my next round of postcards in the mail the other day. I've been feverishly pouring over my new edition of the Children's Writers & Illustrators Market to check against my existing mailing list (found a few new addresses, and corrected a few, too).

This time, I realized that it didn't cost that much more to do a full color back than it did to do a black and white back. So, I thought, what the heck. Add a little pizazz, right?

I also have to say that I love GotPrint. Love them. L-O-V-E them. These cost me about $29 plus shipping for 100. Overnight Prints is $38, Vista Print $35. Righteous. Plus, I love the quality, the turn around seems pretty quick for choosing the slowest shipping option.

Now, let's hope they work their magic.

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Since writing about getting organized the other day, I've been thinking an awful lot about it. And this is a good time for me to think about it, really, because as it happens, the nature of my day job has shifted quite a bit over the past several months, so the habits I had put in place to help keep myself organized aren't working any more.

But that's bound to happen. Life evolves and even changes entirely whether we like it or not. One of the keys to organization is not just being organized but learning how to organize so that when situations change, you know how to rearrange routines and priorities to keep yourself on track.

Of course, there are dozens if not hundreds of resources available out there already that offer various methods of getting organized, so I'm not about to go into it here, at least not in any great detail. But I would like to share some general thoughts, especially as I go through the process of re-organizing myself.

Perhaps the biggest problem we all have when faced with tackling a "to do" list is that it's way too long. We are champions of expecting way too much of ourselves, and consequently stressing ourselves out. We pile up a long list of "shoulds": I should participate in Illustration Friday every week, I should do that Sketchbook Project everyone else is doing, I should learn more about some software, I should go to these SCBWI conferences, I should make this Twitter chat, I should experiment with other media, and on and on and on.

Not that there's anything wrong with doing any of those things, they're all worthwhile pursuits. The problem is, we might be expecting ourselves to fulfill far too many of them. And when we don't actually get around to doing them, we beat ourselves up about it! "I'm not very organized, I'm too lazy, I'm not professional enough to do it all."

I'm telling you, we are our own worst enemy. I'm willing to bet your "to do" list is too long and needs to be seriously pruned. Which is not to say that it can't evolve. Like I mentioned earlier, it will evolve. For example, I have enjoyed participating in Illustration Friday just as much as the next illustrator, but at this very moment, I have greater priorities. So I put that off to the side and forgot about it. There's absolutely no use complaining about how I don't have time, that's wasted energy. It's okay, I'll live. Maybe I'll get to it again, maybe not. But I can't let myself feel guilty for not being able to right now.

I think you'll find that when you go through your list, you'll find more things you can due without than you thought. But here's the thing: that should apply to your whole life, not just your job. I've made great efforts to minimalize over the years, to sell, give away or throw out whatever I don't absolutely need. It's remarkably freeing. I'm not saying you have to live like a monk, but chances are you can do with a lot less than you thought.

For example, my wife and I decided to get rid of our cable and our land line phone. At the time, it had more to do with cutting costs, but once we did it, we realized, we could live just fine without it! (We still watch videos online or on DVD, so it's not like we're living like the Amish or anything.) In fact, we're able to spend time doing things that have real meaning for us.

One benchmark for helping you decide has to do with your goals. Setting those is a whole other topic in and of itself, but having them allows you to look at an item and say, "Well, it would be nice if I could do this, but right now, it won't help me get where I want to go." Illustration Friday is great for a lot of things, but right now, ord

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The theme around last night's Twitter chat among kid lit illustrators (the hash tag is #kidlitart, but frankly, I really don't like using the term "art" when it comes to illustration, but that's another discussion for another day; remind me later...) anyway, the subject centered around the idea of keeping everything organized.

The gist of the hour-long conversation, as I understood it, is this: no one is.

I heard (or saw, actually, you can't hear a tweet, which is odd, since the word itself is an onomatopoeia) a  lot of fellow illustrators lamenting the fact that they don't have time to do this or that, or spend ungodly amounts of time working late hours, etc. I couldn't stay for the last few minutes of it, but it didn't sound like anyone had any solutions to offer, either.

Perhaps this universal inability for illustrators to get their act together is just a common trait among "artistic" types? Perhaps there's something about the way the brains of painters, musicians, dancers, writers, poets, actors operate that naturally leans toward a more loosey-goosey approach to life. The left brained people (you know, the "dull" folks like accountants, computer programmers and NASA engineers) must be really organized, but the right brained "artists" just can't think in terms of schedules and lists. Besides, it would hamper our creative spirit, and reign in our imagination, right?

Nonsense. Rubbish. Don't believe a word of it.

I know a great deal of left brain "dull" folk who are just as much a hopeless mess as the rest of us. "Organization" is a skill, not a personality trait. Anyone can learn it, including "creatives" without it limiting your thinking in any way. My old college graphic design professor is one of the most creative minds I've ever known, hands down. He's also the most logical, reasonable, and organized person I've ever known.

For that matter, "creativity" is not limited to the so-called "artistic" types. I ran across an article the other week, in fact, that explained how people such as NASA engineers are every bit as creative as painters or musicians. How else do you think they figured out a way to put a man on the moon? Which means that "creativity" is a skill, too, one which can be learned and must be practiced, and one which can also atrophy through lack of use.

In short, creativity and organization are not antithetical; they're not even related.

So really, we "creatives" have been using this illusory "long haired hippie" artist personae as an excuse for not getting our act together for far too long. It's your brain, you control it. In fact, living a disorganized life can actually be preventing you from being your creative best.

You can take my word for it. Man, you should have seen my room growing up. Actually, I had two rooms. All but one of my older brothers moved out by the time I hit junior high, so I got to use another room as my studio. Both were a disaster area. Crap everywhere: floors, desks, walls. It made Oscar the Grouch look like an OCD poster child.

But once I got into college, and began to study graphic design, something changed. I started thinking about what I was "creating." You see, design (and illustration, too, for that matter) are unlike "fine art" in the sense that it's not a form of self-expression where I can do or say whatever I want. I have to communicate a certain message, and do it clearly and effectively. And sorry, but illustration is no different.

"Find what works, minimize th

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Well, I finally bit the proverbial bullet and signed up for a year on the online illustration directory Children's Illustrators (you can see my profile & portfolio here). I've been debating for some time whether or not to join any online directory. There's also another one geared toward kid's illustration at www.picture-book.com, and there's a bunch of other directories that are more general.

Part of the problem was I could never get a definitive answer from other people as to whether or not they actually worked. Some got a job or two out of it, others nothing. The other part of the problem is that they're really, really expensive. It's odd that you need to get on a directory to get a gig, but you can't pay for it unless you get a gig.

But, at this point, I need all the help I can get, so I took a shot. At the very least, I just hope I get enough work out of it to make my money back!

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Yesterday, comic artist Eddie Pittman, creator of the marvelous online comic "Red's Planet", which you should read, by the way, made this comment on Twitter:

"If your billing yourself as an all-ages comic artist, you might want to lose the f-bombs from your posts. just sayin'."

I have to say, he's got himself a point.

The interesting thing is, not very long ago, maybe half a century, the general public had absolutely no contact whatsoever with authors and illustrators. Heck, outside of a few exceptions like Norman Rockwell, no one even knew your name. I didn't even know what Dr. Suess looked like, or what his real name was, until I was an adult. The idea of putting an author's photograph on the dust jacket is also relatively knew to the world of publishing.

But now? Authors and illustrators are all over the place. You can't escape them. Everyone has a blog, they're on Facebook, they're on Twitter, they're being interviewed by every newspaper, radio show, podcast and reviewers blog under the sun. They're traveling all of the time. The concept of the "book tour" is also pretty new in the grand scheme of things.

All of which is great to a certain extent. You can make a real connection with your readers and develop a fan base, wider and more loyal than ever before. Just ask Neil Gaiman, arguably one of the most successful author-bloggers out there.

The problem arises when the line between your personal life and professional life starts to become blurred. But the lines don't end there. When it comes to your "professional" life, there's an additional distinction between industry peers (other writers and illustrators, agents, editors, etc.) and the consumers of your product, be it art or writing, otherwise known as your fans.

And in your personal life, there are distinctions, probably several. Think about it: are there things you would say, jokes you would make in front of your buddies, but you wouldn't say in front of your mother? or your nieces and nephews? or employers? or even, as Mr. Pittman points out, fans of your work who happen to be children?

Facebook has all but obliterated those lines. With Facebook, you can set up lists and post things only to that list, sure, but I guarantee you, at some point, you will screw up and somebody will see something you never intended them to see (happened to a friend just the other day with a phone text message).

You can also set up a personal account and then maintain a Facebook "page" which is reserved for businesses, groups, etc. Ideally, you would want acquaintances, family and peers to be "friends" and your fans to "like" your page. At least then, you can enjoy some degree of separation.

But what about Twitter? There's usually only one "you" and everyone can see and follow it. Should you create a professional account for fans, and then a private, permission-only account for

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Check it out...

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Here's another question I, as an artist, get asked all the time (find the first one here).

Frequently Asked Question #2:
Can you draw a/an _______ ?

Answer:
In short, probably not.

For some reason, just because you can draw, people assume you can draw anything under the sun at a moment's notice. Truth is, drawing is like any other creative endeavor. Just because a person knows how to play the piano, for example, doesn't mean he can play any song you throw at him; and just because someone is an actress doesn't mean she can recite any monologue from any play ever written.

Sure, I've seen a giraffe before, and I could take a stab at it. Just like a musician may have heard a song before. But don't expect us to be very good at reproducing it. We might get close, depending on how familiar we are with the object in question. A dog? I can wing that one pretty well. Margaret Thatcher on a moped? Not so much.

Here's the thing. If I had a chance to look at the subject, or to even practice, then sure, I could probably pull it off. But even still, I'm going to be better at more cartoony guys than I would be with something like the Mona Lisa.

And yeah, some piano players can play anything, from Bon Jovi to Bach, but those guys are usually some kind of freak show savant. Most of the rest of have a specialty, like pop or blues, and tackling some tricky finger-twister composition by a masochistic, centuries-dead composer makes them break out in a rash.

So, next time you ask an artist to draw something, do them the courtesy of keeping some photo references handy.

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Follow illustrator and blogger Diane Smith pointed me to this article, "Are You Looking for a Literary Agent? Want to Vent a Little?" What's the article about, you wonder? Well, how do I put it...

Basically, writer/editor Lynda Martin absolutely rips apart the concept of the literary agent as it stands today. It's a somewhat lengthy piece, but well worth the read if you've ever gone through the process of submission. Having gone through that myself a couple of times now, this came a real eye-opener; she makes a lot of sense.

Not that there's anything that can be done about it...

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Because I'm an incredibly generous individual, I offered my fellow SCBWI members in my chapter a steep discount on my design services if they needed a web site to help promote their work. At the moment, I'm doing a little research into the matter, to see what other author's web sites look like and how they function.Truth be told, the vast majority of them suck. Badly. Painfully.No, seriously, I

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Until I can afford to hire someone like Sigrid Estrada or Marion Ettlinger to take my publicity photo, I'll have to settle for a friend, his digital camera and some Photoshop wizardry.(If you have a little time to kill, you might check out this New York Times article about all the cliches of the author portrait.)

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Weee! All I have to do now is print out a bunch of labels and buy a bunch of stamps and start lickin'! (Not a great picture, but hey, I took it with my iPod Touch...)

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Ah, the drudgery of doing business as a creative. For the most part, all we really want to do is create; we want to draw and we want to tell stories. But we have to make money doing it, which requires we spend a certain amount of time handling the business end of things.

A couple of months ago, I mailed out a bunch of sample packets of my illustration work to art directors at publishing houses. After another bought of procrastination, I finally sat down this morning and compiled a list of art reps and addresses in Excel (I hate using Office software, but it's easier to generate mailing labels). Definitely the least fun part of doing all of this is compiling addresses, for writing or illustrating. You have to comb through the Children's Writers & Illustrators Market for listings and double check all the web sites and make sure they're a good fit for you. Then you have to make note of how they prefer to be contacted (some prefer old fashioned mail, some now want email). Then you have to keep track of what you sent and when.

Blah.

For writing, I started using QueryTracker, which is marvelous. I only wish something similar existed for illustrators (particularly for children).

About a year ago maybe, I sent out some email samples to a few art reps with a nibble or two but no bites. I wonder now if that was the best way to go. I wonder if they even looked at the link to my web site or just made a quick judgment based on 1-3 jpegs? Would tearsheets, which can hold several samples, have more of an impact?

I think our SCBWI regional president is considering asking an art rep to attend our spring conference instead of the usual art director, so that may be my chance to ask some questions.

At any rate, all of that contact was with my old web site and older pieces. So now I need to work up some sample sheets with the new look and send those to my new art rep list. I also had some new postcards printed (should be arriving any day now) that I'll send to the pubs as a follow up, and eventually everyone else as a follow up.

Then I need to comb through the listings for children's magazines and get all that contact info. Sigh...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As for writing, I finished chapter 3 of my WIP the other day, so things are humming along there. I had hoped to have a first draft in the bag before baby #2 is born sometime in February, and so far I think I'm on track.

For the most part, I follow an outline, and that keeps me from wandering all over the place, but as I started chapter 4, I thought I needed to spend a little time with the second of my two main characters because I had spent a lot of chapter three with the first one. However, what I started writing wasn't in the outline, and I wonder if I'm going down a dead end.

I'm often surprised where my gut will lead me, though, when in the process.

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