FAQ

cost/payment

I wrote a picture book, will you do the illustrations for no pay upfront then split the profit when it gets published?

This is the number one question I come across as I search for my next gig. The simple answer is no. In brief, It takes anywhere from four months to a a couple of years to create 20 plus illustrations for a picture book and it can take anywhere from two - six months for publishers to respond to manuscript submissions. Publisher’s also don’t like to pair unknown illustrators with unknown writers. If you are interested in self publishing, the process can be faster but still costs a lot of upfront fees and then you do all your own marketing. I can't go through this process for free with no guarantees of ever making money. I would be happy to illustrate one or two paid illustrations for you in order to send along with your manuscript to publishers. They don’t require this but often publisher’s like to see what the finished look could be.
How much does each illustration cost?

This is largely calculated on how much time I expect to spend on an illustration. I generally ask a potential client a few questions before starting to help me determine a fair price. Some things that effect pricing include, the size (often this is determined by the scanning process a client wishes to use), the medium (oil, acrylic, watercolor, b+w), The deadline, the method of sending work to a client, the rights a client wants to own (first time rights, full rights, web use, amount of years in use etc.), the amount of images required. Please contact me for a price quote on any project you would like me to illustrate. Magazine publishers generally use a flat rate and book publishers pay an advance and then a royalty in some percentage of sales.
What other costs are involved in making a children's book other than the artwork?

Ahhhh, now you've asked the golden question. This shows you are thinking ahead and are more likely to succeed. Unfortunately I can't answer this question in full as every project is vastly different. But I can lay out some pointers to help you determine costs for your project.
1) The cost of the art is determined on how many illustrations you need, medium (ie. watercolor is cheaper than oil), amount of detail expected, amount of characters (ie. santas workshop filled with elves takes a lot more time to illustrate than one girl with a dog), if you want the original art, spot illustrations vs. single and double page spreads etc.
2) If you want the original art you would be responsible for the cost of shipping the art to you. So that depends on insurance, method of shipping, size and weight of original art (again watercolors are cheaper for this reason), distance you live from Vermont.
3) You would generally pay for Digitizing the art (if it's for a book). Generally my oil paintings are about 18"x24" canvas or panels and would cost roughly $50 each to scan or photograph with a professional. I wouldn't advise doing this yourself unless you or a friend know what you're doing. Here again, watercolor is cheaper as I can sometimes do the illustrations small enough to fit my personal scanner.
4) The internal graphic design layout and file submission would depend on whichever graphic designer you decide to use. Basically they take the artwork and make it print ready by adding the text and layout and submitting the final product.
5) You may need to consider having and editor look at your story.
6) Lastly you would have other expenses associated with whatever self publishing method you decide to utilize. I've heard that some like LuLu.com don't charge a dime out of pocket but take a percentage of sales. I think Createspace.com is the same. Watch out for vanity presses that want to charge you thousands of dollars to get your book published. They promise big things but then accept nearly any manuscript. You know what that means.
All of the above expenses are things that you would pay for as a self publisher. However Brick and mortar publishers take care of all of this on their end.

How Long

How long does it take you to do an illustration?

This is difficult to answer because there are so many variables involved. It depends on the amount of detail, what medium, client input, the subject matter, and the size of the canvas. The longest part of the illustration process is doing all of the sketches, research, reference and color compositions. This takes longer for children’s books because each character has to remain recognizable from one image to the next and all the images should look like they belong in the same book. This includes making a character map for all of the main characters and sometimes I make 3d models. While illustrating my own concepts I have much more freedom which enables me to do less in terms of re-touching and re-drawing. Some of my illustrations took as long as 100hrs and some took only a couple of hours. Most of the illustrations in my recent childrens books took around thirty hours to complete from sketching ideas to finished oil painting.

Original Art

Can I buy prints or original artwork?

Please contact me for available landscape paintings. You may also check out my online zazzle store for some of my artwork printed on products like shoes, stickers, postcards etc. or just commission me for a painting or illustration to fit your needs. Most of my recent illustration work had full rights transferred to the clients.
What medium do you prefer to work in?

My medium of choice used to be Oil. I transferred to a water based oil paint since I work in a home based studio. My two recent books are done in watercolor as this was a cheaper alternative and I found I like this medium as much if not more than oils. I also acrylic, and b+w mediums. I have also used adobe photoshop for the past three years for editing and some digital artwork. Check out my blog for samples of my sketches, digital art, and watercolors.
How large are your original illustrations?

For picture books I worked on canvas 18”x24” for a single page and 36”x24” for a full page spread. My greetings cards are done on 8.5”x11” art board.

book process

What Steps are Involved in Illustrating a Children's book?

There are ten main steps I generally take to create the art for a children's book.
1) Page break layout 2) character design 3) thumbnails for all illustrations with many options for each page 4) find reference photos 5) make character models 6) rough drawings 7) final drawings value studies (sometimes) 9) color samples 10) the final color artwork.
Generally I work with my client via e-mail throughout the whole process as they like to guide the process. However I am capable of working on my own and sending out key steps of the process if you are too buisy to respond to e-mails on a day to day basis.
I like your artwork and would like to see if we would be able to work together. What's the first step I should take?

The first contact can be tricky as there are just so many unknowns on both ends. If you've looked through my art and feel it may be a match for your book project then the first step is just to contact me by phone or e-mail and say just that. I prefer e-mail simply because I won't be caught in the middle of a watercolor illustration being asked questions about how much an unknown book will cost to illustrate,LOL.
As an illustrator part of my job is to listen to clients concerns and try my best to proceed in a manner that will be informative for them. I don't want you going into a book project without knowing what's involved. One of the best things you can do is read through the FAQ on this site. If that doesn't answer all of your questions then feel free to ask me questions of your own. Simply put, I can't answer questions about pricing and specific details in regards to your project unless I know what your project is. Tell me as much as you know about your book or illustration and we'll go from there. Questions I generally ask potential clients are listed below.
Do you have a deadline in mind?
Do you have a publisher in mind? Are you self publishing or looking for a brick and mortar publisher? Self publishers would need to find their own illustrator but brick and Mortar publishers have their own team of experts who take care of that aspect of the book making process.
Do you have a medium of choice? ie. Do you think my watercolor or oil illustrations would work best for your book?
Do you want to keep the original artwork?
Do you know what size your final book will be?
What age group is the story for?
Do you have a budget in mind?