Hi all - I've been absent for some time and have left some drawing in limbo - sorry!

I've been working on a new skill set and it's got me distracted from my cartoon cars. Over the last year, I've learned a ton on how to really detail model cars (1/24 scale) and paint them to near real quality. Hopefully I'll get better and achieve the results I see in my mind's eye.
But all this really started with trying to get better at color illustrations on Corel Painter - I needed to learn more about the reflections on cars and the colors minor nuances and changes in different light.
Most of us use reference material, but drawing from life is the best. Except that I lack a garage full of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Corvettes, Mustangs, Vipers, etc...
So my models are finally coming up to near the grade that I hoped to achieve.
In this pursuit, I have built a 30 inch by 24 inch spray booth in my office that vents out thru my crawl space so I can spray paint in any weather.
Trial and error and repetition are the norm for me now.
Photo etched parts are the next step for me - highly realistic details that are nearly microscopic. But small details make the big picture.
All that time sanding, cleaning up mold lines, fitting parts together and researching cars for additional details should step up my drawing - I hope!

At present, I've built a Toyota 4x4 pickup, two Impala police cruisers (for new guys on the force here in Anchorage), a Lamborghini Countach LP400 (1974 version) and a Corvette Z06. Next up is a 1968 - 72 Ferrari Dino 246 and a 1975 Jeep CJ-5 with a modified suspension (Rubicon style traction/ locating arms and coil springs with 31" mud tires). Also, a 1965 Shelby Mustang 350 GT...

The ambition is to do a competent job on a Ferrari 288 GTO, F40, 599 GTB, 250 GTO, Lamborghini LP500 and 5000s, Muira, Murcielago and Gallardo as well as some Subaru Impreza's, Jeep Wranglers and and a Toyota FJ40.
On my wish list are Porsche 944, 928, 911 Turbo (1985 - 88), Chevy Camaro (1967 - 69 & 2007), Corvette Stingray (1963 - 71), Dodge Challenger (2008) and if they ever make it: Toyota Tacoma or Tundra.

My wife and I bought a 2009 Jeep Wranger Rubicon - the one that has all the goodies: locking differentials, disconnect sway bar, 32 inch BFG mud tires... We LOVE it!
I lost a long, long time friend and pet - my Baby girl. Better to have loved passionately and lost than to have never love at all.
We have a new doggy, Emma - 1/2 Rottweiler, 1/2 German Shepherd. We love her and she is fitting in nicely - very smart and is eager to please us. We just sit and wonder how we got blessed with such good pets. The kitty (Trouble) is getting fat - we don't live in the country anymore, so she stays inside too much. The goldfish got a little friend, a La-clost-a-mus or some such sucker - my wife knows how to say it, I just get tongue tied and call it a lost-my-pus. Or whatever pops into my feeble brain.

The obvious thing is: I need to give a big thanks to my loving wife who puts up with my car obsession and has let me use up a whole room in our home for my hobby of building and drawing!

Do you know your rights when it comes to copyright protection?
Do you get a fair deal when you sell your talent?
Recently, I was contacted by a former client (I freelance on the side from time to time - I have since 1988). He just bought a website and wanted me to illustrate a scene from historical Alaska folklore for his website. For FREE. He offered me a little bit of publicity (credit on the picture) if I could do it for him.
In my response, I articulate to him the facts that 1) I work 50+ hours a week at my regular job, 2) my freetime is first for my family and second for me, and 3) he should NEVER ask an artist to put out 5 minutes or 5 hours (or any time) for free.
I thought I was done and wouldn't hear anything so audacious from him again.
WRONG.
He contacted me about a week later wanting me to do four illustrations for him. Simple line art like I did for a book of his about 3 years ago. Only thing is, his "simple" line art turned into a lot of redrawing (I wasn't using Corel Draw 12 or Painter X so much then) already inked lines. Meaning a full rework of completed work.
Because of all the headaches from before, I told him it would be conditional that he provide me with an accurate description or reference material that he wanted line art from before I start and that each prelim sketch would cost an small fee (I would deduct the fee of the selected sketch that would go to line art). Reworking line art would cost him 50% to 100% depending on the reworking.
He changed his request to asking me to conceptualize and draw a cartoon strip for him that would appear at least monthly. I needed to research the market for going rates, so I told him I would get back to him soon.

What I learned about copyright practices was something I knew - kind of - but had never invested time in before. When I illustrated his book a few years back, I charged a rate that I considered to be on the high side (but found it was on the low end of what folks should be getting for pencil to ink illustrations, backed up with computer files). Also, I learned that I gave away the farm with regards to copyright.

I sent him a pricing structure that allowed him to find a level that he would like to work with, my fees for art remained about the same (except for reworking stipulations), but I had added a copyright usage fee that graduated from first North American printing rights all the way up to selling him the copyright completely.
My research was drawn from many artists who have similar skills as well as several books on freelance illustration and business practices. The best book I found was the Graphic Artists Guild "Handbook - Pricing and Ethical Practices Guidelines". If you don't have it - GET IT. It is the all inclusive book for Guild members and non-members alike.

My guy changed his tune again - now he wants a single pane cartoon in ink. How much? My reply - $xx sketch fee to start, $xx ink and $xx for copyright usage (depending on the degree). I'm not showing my prices here because I do believe that we each have to find that balance of what we will work for and what the client will spend.

His response - He wants the art in vector format (twice my ink price!) for 1/2 of what I said I would ink for, no sketch fee and he wants all rights including but not limited to: product licensing, printing on various media such as hats, postcards and flyers, resale, and so on... what some would call a full buy out.

Let me repeat that: He offered me 1/2 of what I worked for before, wanted it done to a much higher grade and wants all of my copyrights! I was tempted to tell him to go to hell.

I did not take the job - I turned it down flat. He got the whole world for a low rate before, but is now very sore that I wised up. He agreed to my fees on the previous project readily but later told me that no one would touch him for what he wanted to pay. I wish I would've known that at the beginning.

Okay, sorry for the long sob story, but the point of all this is: Do you know your rights and do you stick up for them?
I would rather not lift a pencil for a client for a cut rate deal like he was offering. It's a flat out insult to all professionals and freelancers - and even to amateurs! If you don't know already, in the United States and most countries of the world, once you create something - it is copyright protected without any further action needing to be taken by you.

It is better in the U.S. if you do register works with the Copyright office (to be able to sue for damages and attorney's fees). But having seen a few notices of folks here on DA recently who are getting ripped off by cowards with no talent, this topic seems timely. A good reason for submitting a WIP of your art is to establish when it was created, altered and finished.

Also, I'd like to think that this will help somebody to be able to stick up for their rights. It is not recommended that you ever sell off your copyright completely, but retain the ability to show your work at least in your portfolio or sell in non-competing markets from your clients.

Last thought: Unless you are getting ALL the benefits of a full time employee - NEVER do "work-for-hire" illustration. This is usually just deceptive way around the law to steal your copyright. If you do "work-for-hire" and do NOT benefit as a full time employee - you are not just selling yourself out, but also harming the industry as a whole.

Hi all, sorry I've been absent! I haven't forgotten all my friends.

My wife and I were offered too good of a deal to pass up and have been working hard since September to get all the work done on our new house. Basically, an elderly friend of ours wanted to sell us his house at bargain basement rates (1/2 price!!!) as long as he could just pack up two suitcases and move to Hawaii to live out his remaining days. His step daughter (my wife's best friend) rents the downstairs unit in the duplex and would have to move if he sold to anyone but us. She gets a cheaper rent than anywhere else.

So he offers this deal to us, all we had to do was get a mortgage for half the value of the property and fix up the place. Well, inside was a bit of a wreck. He didn't have the energy to do home cleaning and his former pets didn't always make it outside, if you know what I mean. ALL the carpet and flooring has been ripped out, we have painted all the walls and ceilings, primed the floor with an odor blocking primer (BIN) and are getting ready to lay down carpet as well as pergo flooring. Next, we have to get appliances - some of these have been in the house since 1978! All this work is worth it, when you consider the HUGE gift our friend gave us!

After all that is done, we get to pack up all of our goodies and move to our new home! See why I haven't been drawing lately?

Not to mention, I rediscovered scale models (done to a professional level!) and had been tinkering with some real paint jobs. I'll share some so you can see what I mean. I have a new Iwata airbrush and I love it! In my new house, I will have a room just for art, so I'll be back in the swing again soon!

I posted some of my car art on a scale model (auto's only) web site and got a massive response. I guess I shouldn't stop drawing cars... I promise, I'll be back - just let me get moved into my new house.
And thank you to all of you have stopped in to see what I've been up to.

Well, I've been away from my tablets and computer alot lately. I've put some art to the side at present due to work load and due to weather permitting me to do more wood working (with logs).

My Dad is still confined to a bed from his stroke in November of 2007, we have to do everything for him (EVERYTHING - the things you don't let anyone do for you - that's life, but we don't do nursing homes for loved ones!)
This wears me down (no days off), I find the wood working is more of an outlet right now. So, expect to see more car art, but not for a bit... sorry.

I will post my progress on my miniature cabin and log cache (my version of Alaskan sculpture - desktop log cabins and log caches, I have a love for architecture and construction almost more than I do for cars!).

Well, it's nearly all work and no play for me right now. If anything is inspiring me, it is log construction...

Treasure your loved ones while you can. No regrets, right?

Hi all!
From what I'm seeing, there is a desire for help on finding one's way around in Corel Painter X. I guess the first thing for me to say is that I am not an expert on Painter X, but I have been using Corel products since 1998 starting with PhotoPaint 8 and Corel Draw "?", moved up to PhotoPaint 12 and Draw 12 in 2004 and Painter X in 2006. So, I'm basically too involved with Corel to start over in Adobe (I know, I know, the "industry standard"...).

My purpose is not to say one product is better or worse, but to help folks who are in Painter and want results like I'm bumbling into... needless to say, much of what I have learned is from the ubiquitous "help" tab and many, many hours of experimentation. Of course, I like to share, so IF my tutorials are helpful - GREAT!
I use a MAC, but I run Windows XP on the backside so I am still occasionally in Photopaint 12 and Draw 12.

The reason I use Painter X so much is because it is relatively EASY and quick! Although, some features in Adobe CS, Illustrator, Photopaint 12, Draw 12 or 13 are really way better for certain applications, if you just want to pick up a brush, pen, play with watercolor or oil or pastels - Painter has more features than I have even discovered in two years.

One major factor that will enhance anyone's results is a quality tablet or drawing pad - digital style. Most folks here know what I mean, but maybe somebody has no idea how the rest of us - If you don't have a digital drawing pad, I can tell you that I am totally sold on Wacom's Intous larger drawing tablets. Of course, if you have the bucks, a Cintiq 21 ux or such tablet is really a nice toy!

Here's a breakdown on tablet features (there's way more than this, these are the ones I know)

Wacom Graphire: Bare bones basic tablet, inexpensive, allows you to use a pen (stylus) on tablet, little or no tilt, pressure, line width functions - I don't think my old one did those. Good to get started with.
No idea what you can expect to pay for these now, I would not pay more than $60-$70 for one... it is really better to go up a notch.

Wacom Intuos: Tilt, pressure sensitivity, line width, rotate and many more options. Also, the bigger the tablet, the more programmable buttons on the edge of the drawing area. I use these for quick keys like: undo, save, magnification, clear mask, etc... just remember which one is which or label 'em! Tis crap to "undo" a bunch of work accidently!
You can have several pens or "airbrushes" set up for it - also, the "nibs" are changeable, giving you a more natural feel of pencil on paper (basically a rough nib) or a broad head or a chisel point... lots of variety here.
I use a 9x12 Intuos and paid about $350 for it with one stylus & several nibs.

Cintiq 21 ux: This is basically a large screen laptop (I believe 21" - haven't used it yet), the main improvement over the Intuos class is the ability to draw right on the screen. That's going to give you the most natural feel, but it comes at a price of around $2000 (last ad sent to me by Corel showed that much - down from $2400 a year ago).

I'll post some "tutorials" on how I do things in Painter X from time to time, just please remember that I am an end user and not a "professional" - there are likely better ways to use it, and if you spot an error or a redundancy in what I say, please share with me!

Next few tutorials I'm thinking will be helpful: How to use the Gradient Fill tool, More on Channels in Painter, The Divine Proportion Tool, & most useful - Making Text Follow A Path.
Let me know what you think please, if I can save you some time and headache - good!


CARtoon, Landscape, People, Guns, Line Art, Digital Coloring Commissions - NOTE me here

Thanks for stopping by to check out my gallery.