Inspirational Botanical Art – Artist Karen Kluglein

I have been working on developing more ideas for art to be licensed and fine tuning my initial collections as a result of last week's review from my local art licensing group. If you don't have one in your area you might want to start one up, it's so fun and rewarding!

And for a new week of beautiful and inspirational art I invited artist Karen Kluglein for an interview. Her mother was a watercolorist and her father a woodworker, so she comes from an artistic background.

Artist Karen Kluglein

"People always ask if I learned how to paint from my mother but I did not", Karen says – "she painted at the kitchen table when my sister and I were in school and so I never saw her paint until she had her own studio later in life. Our work looks very similar both in subject and style and though I have worked hard to perfect it I have also been lucky."

Karen went to the School of Visual Arts for illustration and was freelance primarily in advertising and food packaging for about 20 years. When computers took over and illustration was no longer done by hand she eventually discovered botanical painting.

Karen's food packaging

She says: "I went to an American Society of Botanical Art Exhibition and knew that my work was a perfect fit. The ASBA has members from all over the world. It is a specialized art. Shows are judged for composition, scientific and color accuracy, detail, etc. Most people looking at the work would not see what judges would appreciate."

She has also received awards and recognition in the botanical painting field relatively quickly – "I am always trying to push myself a little further whether it is being keenly aware of composition or adding whimsy or depth to my paintings, as there is always something to strive for."

Botanical paintings by Karen

Karen adds: "I love working with watercolor. Soon after I began my botanical work I started painting on vellum which is animal skin. Having been a vegetarian for many years I try to make each painting the very best I can so the vellum is not going to waste and the painting will be treasured."

She also says she was lucky to have had the luxury of time to spend many hours drawing while in high school. They had an experimental program where they had a certain amount of free time each day. She was known to always be in the art room drawing and she knows this helped her drafting skills tremendously. Karin also had a professor while she attended Visual Arts, Marvin Mattelson, whose wife was her representative during her illustration years. He was her mentor.

© Karen Kluglain - Lilacs

"Right now I am working on some commissions for a woman who is creating a one of a kind book. She has chosen botanical artists working on vellum to contribute to her project. It is going to be very beautiful. I also teach at the New York Botanical Garden in Manhattan and on the eastern end of Long Island. I exhibit in the ASBA shows so my time is divided in a few different areas" – Karen says.

Karen does not yet have her art licensed. It is something she is interested in but would like to make sure she finds the right fit for her work. "Because it is so detailed and delicate I often think it would be suitable for fine china where it would not loose detail in the printing. I often feel my life has unfolded in phases and licensing may be the next phase for me!"

For more of Karen's beautiful artwork see her website.

Technology, Humor and Cards: Artist Kate Harper

I had the great opportunity to show some of my new licensing collections to my local licensing group. It was my "debut" to this design industry and it was a thrill! The group is a fantastic one that was originally founded by artist Kate Harper – the group is called Bay Area Licensing Artists and its new blog was recently launched to help promote its artists. 

Kate has been very inspirational to many other artists. She has been sharing so many precious licensing tips, including a very comprehensive list of manufacturers she herself created. I am very happy today to host this great and informative interview with her.

Artist Kate Harper

The Moon from My Attic: Please introduce yourself –

I like to create designs that make people laugh. I believe that if we surround ourselves with humor, it brings us closer to others and our experience of daily life becomes more inspired. For over a decade I published my own line of humorous greeting cards and serviced national accounts such as Barnes and Noble, Whole Foods Markets and Papyrus. Now I currently license my designs with Recycled Paper Greetings, Leanin' Tree, American Greetings, Trader Joe's, Amber Lotus and several other companies.

I live in Berkeley, California and have a Master's Degree in Art Therapy. Before entering the design world, I taught "outsider art" at the local City College and Adult School.

© Kate Harper

TMFMA: What brought you to art in the first place? A writer friend of mine told me once, If I only had $50 in my bank account, that I should spend it on art supplies. I took her advice.

TMFMA: What's exciting about your creative work? What excites me at the moment is not what the gift market is ready for yet: Tech humor and the changes in culture, street art stenciling and using odd words in my art. It's the kind of thing I would buy, but bigger companies are hesitant to take a chance on edgy concepts. Perhaps later they will come around.

TMFMA: What's your favorite medium or tool/s you create with? I do things like put a blob of acrylic paint on a piece of plastic and then stick things in it, like yarn, rocks or onion sacks. From there I stamp those textures onto white paper and scan them into my computer. I like textures more than anything -- especially where edges are undefined.

TMFMA: Who or what has inspired you in your art? What inspires me is to be around a creative person who is living the life they were meant to live. Being a witness in those moments makes me feel that I am exactly at the right place at the right time. When I see people drawn to their own vision, it effects me greatly.

TMFMA: How long have you been doing art licensing? Approximately 4 years. Before that I ran a greeting card publishing business for about 15 years. I didn't realize I could do art licensing for royalties. Once I learned that, I approached one large corporation about licensing my line and they accepted it right away. After that, I decided to close my business since it was growing too large and I didn't want to relocate or manage staff.

TMFMA: Tell us about your creative process in creating art for licensing combined with words. I tend to start with words. I write my own words and also buy professional writer's and kids' words. Once I get the words, I draw around them.

TMFMA: What do you think makes words and images together so powerful? Well I don't know that they are powerful (LOL) but I can only hope they are! People tell me it is humor mixed with bright colors. I like to use colors that don't normally do together also, like lime green and burnt orange.

© Kate Harper

TMFMA: Tell us about a recent project where you used words and images to create your art. I'm currently working with an iPod app publisher who is expanding their current app to include a greeting card feature. I created 72 cards for their app in about two weeks. This was challenging not only because of the short time to make all new cards, but also because they had never worked in the greeting card business before and I had to help them learn all about the industry quickly, down to the basics such as envelope size standards.

It was one of the few times in my licensing career where it turned out to be easier for me to make the decisions on what kind of art a company should license from me, rather than having them be the ones to decide on design, sentiment and occasion.

TMFMA: If you were to mentor a new artist into licensing, what would you have her do as first thing? I think it's critically important to develop the kind of art you really enjoy doing, something you really get a buzz from and makes you feel like you are at home in your own body. After that, the art can be adapted to a product.

© Kate Harper

TMFMA: Please give us your analysis of the market based on your own experience and contacts. I still feel so new to this career, that once I think I know what is happening, then the opposite happens. My personal opinion is to look in the direction of tech. That is where the world is right now. Recently I bought a Kindle Touch for $99, yet the only flimsy skins (rubber cover) I could find started at $20! Interestingly, all of these skins had art on them. Common sense tells me these skins can be made very inexpensively, and yet people are buying them for this steep price. In my mind, that's the future.

Available as an e-book at Amazon

TMFMA: In your view, what was of major interest to manufacturers this year? Each one is so different. All I can say is they all want something safe, and that will sell. I think humor and pets are always a good theme.

TMFMA: What advice would you give other artists that are considering the art licensing field? Read my "Getting Started in Art Licensing article" on my blog.

TMFMA: Any other useful info that you'd like to share about art licensing? It's important to read, utilize and participate to the professional Art Licensing online groups; and it's also important to be action oriented, such as what you did when you made our first Licensing group blog/website! It's 4 years overdue!

Kate Harper Art Licensing | Gift Design with a Sense of Humor

Website: kateharperdesigns.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kateharperdesigns

Twitter: twitter.com/kateharpercards

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kateharperdesigns

Blog: kateharperblog.blogspot.com

Google+: http://goo.gl/nLz0a

Surface and Textile Design in Licensing – Artist Carol Van Zandt

Back to work! And happy + prosperous 2012 to everyone!

This year is going to be a fun one for me. I am looking forward to posting my new website within a few weeks and with it, some of my new collections for licensing I've been working on for the past couple of months. With the website, I will be polishing up my Facebook page, and I'll expand my licensing blog to cover more ground with fabulous art licensing artists and their inspirational stories. And while doing all that, I will probably resume my illustration work for my second children's book ... I am even thinking of taking my little characters for a brand licensing adventure. I can't wait!

Artist Carol Van Zandt

Meantime, I am very pleased to start 2012 by sharing this first editorial of a series of articles about surface and textile design, which is a topic many artists are interested in. To help illustrate it, I invited my friend, artist Carol Van Zandt. She designs fabrics, paper, and any product or surface that needs art on it. "I come from a fine art background and was a contemporary painter for many years. I also spent many years in the business world, so art licensing is a great way to use all my skills" - Carol says.

She loves to draw and also do brush painting and watercolor. Carol says: "I have come to love working with Adobe Illustrator, because of the editability and ease in changing colors and scale. I render most of my designs in Illustrator, even if I have hand drawn them first. Though I learned how to use the pen tool very well initially, I almost never use it now as I am typically not looking for that ultra smooth graphic look, but more of a hand painted or drawn organic look. I use Photoshop if I am going to use my brush or watercolor paintings for a design."

© Carol Van Zandt

© Carol Van Zandt

Carol has just started in art licensing; in the summer of 2010, after finishing school, (The California School of Professional Fabric Design) she decided she wanted be an independent designer and create her own design collections for sale and license. Carol spent the next year developing her first collections and preparing for her debut at Surtex in May 2011. After Surtex she decided to spend the next year researching and focusing on the licensing market exclusively.

I asked Carol what a repeat is, as many artists have emailed me with that question: "Designs are put into repeat for many end markets, where you need a design to 'continue' and become a pattern. This is especially true for all types of fabrics and also for paper, but repeating patterns are used across most products, sometimes just as as a coordinating pattern to a central composition, but just as often as the main design. The pattern can still be a one way design or it can be a design meant to be viewed from any direction."

© Carol Van Zandt

Carol also adds: "Rather than having a central focal point like a piece of fine art, motifs, scenes and compositions are laid out in a matter so they can repeat themselves seamlessly. It can be a very simple pattern or a complex composition with many scenes or motifs that all flow into a repeating pattern. Any icon or motif can be put into a repeat by tossing it with more of the same icon or more variety of similar motifs, or it can be incorporated into a more complex pattern. Anything can be put into repeat."

So how many standard type of repeats are there? The main ones Carol uses are a square repeat or a half drop repeat – "but this gets into a long discussion and different people use different terminology and also different techniques", she says. It takes practice to do repeats well. There are many good resources on repeats.  One of the best is a new e-book called Repeat After Me by Claudia Brown & Jessie Whipple Vickery of Pattern People. 

ebook by Claudia Brown & Jessie Whipple Vickery of Pattern People

But techniques aside, how does one go about getting licensing deals in the textile licensing industry? Is there a "protocol?" What type of fabric design can be licensed? Carol says: "Many of the traditional textile end markets don't license artwork, they buy outright, mostly from design studios which focus on producing work for those markets, on trend. This includes apparel, bedding and other home furnishing fabrics. However, quilting cotton companies set up licensing arrangements with designers, and there are some other companies that license for textiles like kitchen textiles, rugs, or indoor and outdoor home products. Every company is different. If they license, I follow their instructions on how they want work to be submitted."

For new artists to present themselves to the world of licensing for the first time Carol suggests to pick one end market and research that first, find out what kind of art the companies use and in what format, and develop and format designs for presentation to that market. Then move on to another market. She says:" Be patient, as it can take a lot of time to land a licensing deal, and even longer before the product is actually produced and you start getting paid royalties."

© Carol Van Zandt

Carol also mentions that in selling and licensing one's art and design to any commercial market, manufacturers are best found by looking at products in stores or researching wholesale trade shows or trade magazines that cover those kinds of products.

"Pick a product category and try and figure out who the top five, ten or more companies are, where they are located, what kind of art they use, then find out one by one, if they license their art, buy their art outright, or design in house. The internet is your best friend," she says.  

Her advice to new artists going into art licensing: "Art licensing is not just a way to make money off your art. It's a business and you are licensing your art to the commercial market. Each end product is in a market all its own and works differently. In the end, it seems to work better to develop art in your own style for a particular market and end product rather than find end products where your art will fit. It may seem a subtle difference, but an art director at a company that makes a product is looking for the best designs for that product and likely the best designs have been created keeping that kind of product in mind. That doesn't mean that the same art can't be used for different products. As artists and designers it is easy for us to imagine our designs on a multitude of products, but you really need to try and look at it from the point of view of the manufacturer - what kind of art they have used in the past, what kind their competitors use, and then present a fresh way to represent their look keeping in mind current trends."

© Carol Van Zandt

Carol's excitement with her work is that it is creative work! She loves her studio time and loves the business aspect also, working with the manufacturers and art directors. It's a nice balance of studio work and business she says. She also spends time keeping up with what is going on in the design world which is invigorating for her – "I love that inspiration for surface design is so wide open and there are so many choices and directions to go. Compared to fine art, designing for the commercial market feels so much more expansive."

She concludes saying: "Art licensing is a business, and you are going into business with yourself if you go in this direction. As in any small business, it takes time to build it up, and you need to be able to fund your business until it really starts to work for you. If you are out of work and think you maybe should license some of your art that is just laying around to make some money, you are probably on the wrong track. Better to get some work that provides you some security and then be able to build up your art licensing portfolio and business on the side until you are ready to commit full time. And the fun part, make lots of art!"

website: www.carolvanzandt.com

blog: carolvanzandt.net

twitter: twitter.com/carolvanzandt

pinterest: pinterest.com/carolvanzandt

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/carolvanzandt

facebook: www.facebook.com/CarolVanZandtDesign

Your comments are welcomed. Please enter them in the comment section below.

A European Art Licensing Market - Artist Helz Cuppleditch

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season so far! I just came back from a short trip to Milan, Italy where I visited family and did some brief market research to see what's going on there. Bright colors, especially red, are everywhere in accessories, fashion and Home, and not just because of the holidays. It was refreshing to see!

And for those European followers interested in art licensing, there are two main 2012 trade shows to explore: the Brand Licensing Europe in London and the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair in Bologna, Italy which is the only trade event in Italy dedicated to the business of subsidiary rights, with the participation of the main Italian and International licensors and licensing agencies. The licensing show takes place at the same time as the so sought after Bologna Children's Book Fair. So if you're also an illustrator you might want to see both!

In the spirit of European art and shows, and as a warm wish to a happy new year to come, I'd like to introduce you today to a wonderful illustrator and licensing artist from the UK, Helz Cuppleditch. 

Artist Helz Cuppleditch

TMFMA: Please introduce yourself – I am Helz Cuppleditch, an illustrator based on the south coast of England. I've been licensing my work for about 8 years, for various products including paper craft, greetings cards, gift wrap, gift bags, packaging, calendars, fabrics and stationery. In the summer of 2011 I was invited to join the Board of The Association of Illustrators, the only UK non-profit organization to advance and protect illustrators and promote professional standards. As well as illustrating, I volunteer at local schools running illustration workshops, which stemmed from when my daughter was at primary school!

TMFMA: What's exciting about your creative work? In lots of ways I am living the dream! I'm able to work from my studio at home, so being Mum as well as running my business is whole heartedly satisfying. I get really excited when a new brief comes in from a client and love being able to transfer their brief into sketches and final artwork; then wait to see how the client's team uses their skills to create the final products. Being able to use my experience to help and mentor other people through the AOI or on a personal level is also very fulfilling for me.

© Helz Cuppleditch

TMFMA: What's your favorite medium or tool/s you create with? I work mainly with gouache, because I love the intensity of the colors. Every now and again I wish I had more skill with art programs on the computer so I could use the "undo" button when things aren't quite right!

TMFMA: Who or what has inspired you in your art? I love happy art, or art that has that feel-good factor. Three of my great influences are women, not just because I adore their art, but I believe they had great business skills and instinctively knew what to create for the markets of their time: Mabel Lucie Attwell, Beatrix Potter and Mary Blair. I can't leave out my daughter as an inspiration. Throughout her childhood, she has noticed the little things around us, colors in the leaves, insects, shells and twigs in the shape of love hearts. This awareness re-ignited the child within me that is transferred through my art.

TMFMA: Tell us about your experience in art licensing? Initially I didn't realize that art licensing was so big. That sounds very naïve, but I started out licensing my work for greetings cards. Then, it hit me that my work could be used for other products. So I investigated and educated myself about this wonderful world of licensing. A lot of my work is still used for greetings cards, but I also create collections for other manufacturers and products. A big leap forward for me was in 2009 when I was commissioned for a paper craft collection, and fortunately it was a really successful line here in Europe. This has led to other manufacturers licensing my illustrations for other surfaces. In October 2011 I took a booth at Brand Licensing Europe. This is the UK's only trade event where the "decision making" licensees go to do business with all the big brand names, in addition to visiting the "Art and Design Licensing" section for little people like myself! It was an amazing experience, nerve-wracking to promote to people directly, but well worth the time and financial investment.

© Helz Cuppleditch

TMFMA: Tell us about your experience in illustration? I have worked on a few illustration projects over the years, including some advertising agency work for global brands. As much as I enjoyed the work, my whimsical and feminine style was pretty limited in the traditional illustration markets of advertising and editorial, which is why I explored the art licensing business. Here in the UK very few illustrators have investigated the possibilities of art licensing, but for me it was a really positive investment of my time and energy. 

TMFMA: Do you work with an agent or do you represent yourself? I self represent in the UK and Suzanne Cruise at Cruise Creative is my rep in the USA.

© Helz Cuppleditch

TMFMA: What do you suggest new artists do to present themselves to the world of licensing for the first time? In my opinion the most important thing is to educate yourself with the business side of art licensing; understand the terminology, copyright, what to expect in contractual agreements, how to keep accounts etc. Then if you are suddenly hit with interest from clients, you feel confident that you can deal with them professionally and speak the same language. When promoting your designs to clients, it can be a winner or loser depending on how well you display your work, so think about what that client will want to use your design on. Tailor the promotional material to that client, so the client can visualize your designs on their products. Having a collection of designs gives more impact for a client, rather than just one or two designs. Also, having designs that will be suitable for various surfaces or products will benefit you; designs that can be transferred onto circles, squares, rectangles and borders.

© Helz Cuppleditch

And, promoting yourself to clients is paramount in illustrating. These clients get hundreds of promotional materials every week, so make your promo stand out from the crowd and promote yourself several times each year. Your style might not be needed for months or years, but if you've kept on top of promotions, your work will be lodged in the commissioner's filing drawer or brain when they need it!

TMFMA: Please give us your analysis of the market based on your own experience and contacts. The current markets are definitely hard, not just for newcomers, but also for established artists, illustrators and designers. We are competing at a higher level now than ever before, and have to be aware of trends and technology in order to keep on top. I am no technical expert, but even in the last few months have had to learn skills that a few years ago were reserved for graphic designers. We all hear the news regarding retailers and publishing suffering at the moment, but there are new areas opening up for design. As commercial artists, we have to keep our minds open to new technology and the possibilities these offer for commerce, in particular new media. With regard to art licensing, certainly here in the UK publishers and manufacturers are looking for the next new character or collection that will connect with consumers through retail sales. Brand building and brand licensing is competitive but it is still a viable and growing market.

© Helz Cuppleditch

TMFMA: What advice would you give other artists that are considering the art licensing and illustration fields? Join some illustration and/or art licensing groups and on-line forums. People are really great at knowledge sharing! Educate yourself through publications, blogs and by speaking to other illustrators or designers. I think you have to have equal amounts of business acumen and design skill to be successful as a commercial artist, but you still have to be prepared for rejections. That can be hard at first; we're showing the world our creative soul and can take it personally if we get knocked. Every businessman/woman gets rejections, from plumbers to architects, and we are no different as commercial artists!

TMFMA: Any other useful info that you'd like to share about art licensing and illustration? I would definitely recommend joining a trade organization. These lobby the governments regarding copyright issues, and most importantly have a wealth of knowledge available for their members. Not only are these organizations there to support the individuals, they are there to help protect our rights (copyright and intellectual property rights) today and for the future of the industries. The more members these organizations have, the louder our voice is on important issues at government level. It also helps us keep up to date with news that could have an impact on our livelihoods. 

© Helz Cuppleditch

Website: www.helzbelzart.com

Blog: www.helzbelzart.blogspot.com

Your comments are welcomed. Please enter them in the comment section below.

A Christmas Licensing Special - Artist Wendy Edelson

© 2011 - Alex Colombo

Christmas is around the corner and brings with it a message of peace and hope for a prosperous new year ahead. To help me fully illustrate the spirit of this holidays season I invited a special guest, artist Wendy Edelson, to share her story with us.

I asked Wendy what kind of projects she is working on and she said: "Somehow, all my projects are about Christmas, the Holidays and snow! Sometimes I feel like the Christmas Illustrator...I never really thought about going in that direction...it seems to have chosen me."

Artist Wendy Edelson

She also added: "Right now I'm working on the illustrations for two children's books and I have two licensing projects on my drawing board, as well. One book is about 'The Christmas Truce,' the incredible spontaneous cease-fire that occurred along the Western Front on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1914, during WW1.

This project required an amazing research into a subject I knew virtually nothing about and is really different from so much of what I have been doing recently. It's been really challenging and interesting drawing German and British soldiers, trenches...all the details of 1914 accurately! A lot harder than painting bunnies!"

© Wendy Edelson - Skater

"The other project is illustrating a picture book version of Over The River and Through the Woods." Wendy is just about finished with the drawings for the spreads and this project has been exactly in "my comfort zone," she says, "a dappled horse and sleigh, patterned clothing, animals, country scenes and SNOW!"

But she isn't done...Wendy has more in the works. She says: "As far as licensing, I'm currently working on a request for art from a possible new client, so this involves snowmen and I'm working on ideas for Holiday 2013 for my fabric line."

She continues telling me: "In the next day or two I will finally begin painting again! I have spent over a month drawing, drawing, drawing all these projects and, for me, the drawing is definitely the WORK!

© Wendy Edelson - GingerMan Puzzle

I wish elves could do the drawing while I sleep. All my work is traditionally created and the painting is the fun part...for me, painting is a blast...by the time I sit down to paint, all the decisions and details have been decided, the anatomy and pattern and design figured out and the painting, the playing with color is what all that work was for!"

Wendy's adventure in the art world all began innocently enough when she was two, drawing way across the unfolding landscape of America in the back of the family station wagon, moving from Manhattan to Los Angeles. "I arrived at our new home surrounded by orange and eucalyptus trees, forevermore in love with drawing, having made the decision to Be An Artist during my first road trip.

Fast forward a couple more years to me and my Mom at an ubiquitous shopping center. See me transfixed in front of the window of a small stationary and art supply store. I was mesmerized, gazing rapt, in awe of what had become a Shrine. There, front and center, was a complete set of Prismacolor Colored Pencils. Until this moment all I'd every drawn with was crayons and I'd painted with drippy poster paints...but these pencils were calling to my Soul.

© Wendy Edelson - Snowman Border

My Mom who had walked ahead of me, came back to where I stood and looked, in a hushed and reverent voice I whispered to her,'those are what REAL ARTISTS use!!!' How I knew about Prismacolors or knew that "Real Artists" used them, I have no idea. In a moment of Pure Parental Perfection my Mom grabbed my hand and bought them for me. My path was chosen and I set out upon it."

© Wendy Edelson - Greenery Pattern

"In the Velveteen Rabbit, a child's love forever transformed a stuffed toy into a Real Rabbit, likewise an early moment of pure faith and love opened wide a little girl's vision. Everyday my Dream and Desire is to create work that somehow allows me to go to bed at night feeling like a 'Real Artist'," Wendy added.

Wendy is a self taught artist; her plans for going to college were put aside when she decided to try working instead and left for New York with a big black portfolio at the age of 17. Wendy says: "My life has been almost all about the work, drawing and painting. Over the years I've moved several times, back and forth from New York and Vermont to the Pacific Northwest and back again; currently I'm living in the Pacific Northwest, planning another move back to the Northeast again, this time to stay. I've married, had a son, fallen in love with dogs and gardening, learned how to cook and speak Italian. In the rare times away from my drawing board I've traveled through Asia, Indonesia and Europe and lived in Mexico for 3 years."

What brought Wendy to create art in the first place? It had to be "that cross country trip in the station wagon," she says. "It just sort of poured out of me and I simply couldn't stop; it truly was more of a calling than a conscious decision."

© Wendy Edelson - CookieJar Print

What excites her is a challenge, an unfamiliar subject, an unfamiliar medium, a scary deadline, a new relationship with a new client, the unknown, flying without a net and color – "color always excites me" - she adds.

Watercolors are her favorite paint; she loves the transparency - "Lately I've begun to use acrylics, the Golden fluids, I love using them as a sort of base to layer watercolors over. If I paint an underpainting with them, say the patterned bark of trees, I can glaze layers of color over that and not worry about the pattern below dissolving at all. Glazing and layering coats of paint so that they seem to glow, that's what I love best but it can be very time consuming," she says.

© Wendy Edelson - Expect

Her inspiration? When she was a child her father gave her books illustrated by Howard Pyle, pen and ink, black and white, which she says "inspired me enormously and definitely implanted a love of pattern and detail. My father was a sculptor, he carved wood and would carve horses, tired work horses and people from the trunks of trees. His studio was filled with those books of photographs of people and animals in motion and anatomy books. I wanted to be with my father so I would draw while he sculpted, and he wouldn't let me stop until he'd decided my drawing was correct. He'd say, 'the foreshortening in that foot is wrong, draw it again!' Sometimes I'd have to draw something twenty times; hard but great training. That still happens but now I have to be my father's voice."

Wendy is also an accomplished licensed artist and so I asked her about it. She has been formally licensing her art for about 7 years. Before that, as a commercial illustrator, she had images of hers re-used so that when she heard about "licensing” it sounded perfect and made a lot of sense to her.

© Wendy Edelson - Tossed Animals

She says: "One of the things I like about licensing is that it's a kind of vacation from the character driven illustration of children's books. In my books I have to create the characters consistently in various poses and moods. With my licensed art I can paint plants, flowers, objects, or animals and take a rest from the people. The two paths, licensing and children's books happily satisfy two different sides of what I love to do. Whenever I do a lot of one, I long to get back to the other."

Wendy is represented by an illustration agent and also a licensing agent. She also has quite a few "house accounts," clients she works with on her own. "I write lots of letters to publishers and clients that I would like to work with, and then, if we connect, continue either on my own or have them contact the proper agent. I'm pretty informal in my approach so I'm happy to have the expertise of agents in the business world." Wendy spends 7 days a week painting, she says.

"I guess what has already been said so many times, by so many other people that one should have as many collections as possible ready to go, and definitely a look, a recognizable style, a theme, something that sets them apart from everyone else", she suggests to newbies.

© Wendy Edelson - Snowman Bunny Border

She also adds: "My work is very personal, it's how I see. I see the world close up and I see in detail, rather than in graphic flat color and bold shapes. The recent trends seem to have been diametrically opposed to my style but I believe that one has to be true to one's own self, that if one's style is really different than what is currently popular one has a choice to make, to try to interpret the trend in one's particular hand or simply keep doing what feels true to one's self and hope that the pendulum swings back a bit. I think that there is a bit more movement towards traditional work and detail, I feel that change. I find that I am known for a very detailed illustration style and clients seek me out for that. Things have been quite tight in the market but they seem to be easing up a bit."

© Wendy Edelson - So many Bunnies Fabric

A couple of other tips she gives to us newbies are these: "One needs to be always looking, whenever one is in a store, anywhere and one sees something that resonates with them, their style; look to see who makes it, write it down and look them up on the Internet.

Just the other day, I saw really cute bowls with a snowman design filled with candy placed on the counters of my bank. My teller dumped all the candy out for me so I could write down the name of the manufacturer that was on the bottom of the bowl. Ideas and possible connections are everywhere! And, above all, be patient and willing to create MOUNTAINS of work for no immediate financial reward. One can easily work a year in advance so, especially in the beginning or during lean times, it can be a bit insecure financially. This makes it even more important that you love what you are doing, and that you have a recognizable look/style of your own."

© Wendy Edelson - Gabriel's Rhino

Wendy's take on trends is also very helpful. She says: "I think art licensing is always evolving, always changing, trends are, just that, trends, as soon as you notice a trend everywhere, it's probably too late to jump on the bandwagon. I find the best thing for me has been to create art that I love creating for myself, and hopefully that people who enjoy my work would enjoy this year, two years from now...indefinitely.

I illustrate books and create art for licensing, and I really only have one style. It's recognizable and the images for books are similar to the art I create for my fabric lines, for cards, for puzzles. I am working on tabletop and various decorative pieces for home and garden now and it is a fascinating process learning how to interpret my style for all these different items. I find I'm working 7 days a week at this point, but it's all fine. I feel truly fortunate and blessed to be able to have a foot in both the children's book and the art licensing worlds."

© Wendy Edelson - Scarf Stripe

www.wendyedelson.com

www.elevenlemons.blogspot.com 

I wish you all happy holidays!