Dept. of Illustration: How to React When...

... your stomach drops to the floor upon receiving a complimentary issue of the thick, glossy magazine that had been a regular client who always told you how much they loved your work and seeing that they are using another illustrator whose work is amazingly, uncannily similar to your own.

First you will wonder: Why did they send me this? Then: Was it that this other person worked for that much less money? And then: If so, how on earth could they afford to? (Not that you blame this other illustrator-- having taken assignments for grocery-store-money when necessary, yourself.) But your mind will continue toward: How depressing how much fees have dropped in the 15 years that you've been freelancing (not to mention: How'm I gonna pay my oil bill??) And then perhaps you'll get to: Will we ever live in a society that values the arts as much as overpaid sports-stars and CEO's?

The answer: You will pick your stomach up off the ground and move on. And not take it personally. It's just business.

A Map, From Start to Finish

When I'm not working on children's books my "day job" is creating illustrated maps. Here is a step-by-step of one I did for Westchester Magazine.

First is the scrap that the client sent-- rough map info and a few reference photos of some of the buildings. The yellow box lists all of the places that need to be included. ("Yikes!" I say to myself. "How am I gonna make that look pretty?")


Here is a very-cleaned-up version of the sketch after the client approved it, with corrections indicated:


And, voilà, the finish!