Blog

How to Deal with Rejection

There's not an artist alive who hasn't experienced rejection. Everyone has had to run the gauntlet of editors, agents, publishers and art directors. Most advice on this subject centers on ways to cope with the emotional toll of receiving rejections to your submissions...

How to Beat Artist’s Block

I don't care who you are, or how well you draw, one of these days, the Art Block Fairy is going to pay you a little visit. When that day comes, ideas will be scarcer than possums driving pickup trucks. Despite the randomness of that metaphor, how you handle artist’s...

How to Improve Your Drawing Skills

Let’s say that you want to get better at drawing. How much should you practice? This is an excellent question, and not just because I wrote it myself. All right, maybe a little bit because I wrote it myself, but mainly it’s because sooner or later, every aspiring...

When Can You Call Yourself a Real Artist

When I was in art school, the instructor told us two things that I devoted to memory: First, the directions to the school cafeteria.  And second, he said that the word “artist” is a gift-word, which  you can’t bestow on yourself. People must refer to you that way...

How to Draw and Chew Gum at the Same Time

Most of us accept the fact that we have to practice in order to draw well. But it’s easy to get distracted. Many things vie to steal your attention: maybe it’s schoolwork, or friction at the office, or food poisoning. Mere excuses! So what can you do to stay...

Looking Down At Style

Looking Down At Style

When I began my career writing and illustrating art instruction books, there were already many manuals on topics such as perspective, watercolor, and landscapes. But very few books covered specific genres, such as cartooning. And no American author had yet introduced...

Do You Really Need Art School?

If you’re a lawyer, you’ve got to have a degree. If you’re an electrician, you have to be certified. If you’re a therapist, you need to act like you have a degree. But an artist needs no official piece of paper to prove his worth, only his portfolio. How many clients...