Jennifer Meastre’s Pencil Sculptures
Ms. Maestre sculpts incredible pieces made from sharpened pencils. They look like something you might find at the bottom of the sea, if the sea were made of sharpened pencils.
James Gurney’s Blog
James Gurney is the author/illustrator of the Dinotopia series. He draws and paints like a son of a gun. His rough sketches make my finished pieces look like dog barf. Plus, I met him at a book signing last year and he’s really nice. His blog is a phenomenal reference for all things illustrated. You should probably be reading it right now instead of this.
Vonnegut on “Writing With Style”
Here’s a great essay by Kurt Vonnegut on writing with style. He breaks it down into seven simple steps. My favorite is number seven: “Pity the readers”. Lord, how I pity my readers.
What Do I Put In My Portfolio?
Irene Galo, an art director at Tor Books, has posted a good, common sense primer on putting together a portfolio. It covers tips on content, knowing your audience, your competition, and even minding your manners. Excellent advice, and a definite bookmark for all illustrators.
Thsrs
Ernest Hemingway once wrote a story in six words, and claimed it was the best thing he ever wrote. None of the words was more that two syllables long.
If you’d like to write like Hemmingway, try “Thsrs”. It’s a thesaurus that only returns shorter, simpler words.
Finding Value in a World of Free Stuff
The modern internet is little more than two decades old, but we’ve adapted fast. Concepts that might have seemed preposterous a generation ago – instantaneous global communication, for example, or Google searches – have quickly become a part of everyday life. It’s been a remarkably smooth transition, for the most part.
But for people who create content, things have been a little bumpier. Artists, writers, musicians and other creative types have found that we need to rethink the rules for what we make. Our audience has new expectations. Digital content is immediate, abundant, easily archived and shared, and pretty much everyone wants it for free.
But what is free content worth? What, for example, is Pen & Link worth? I’ve been thinking about this a lot.
