coyleart

green letter day

Here's the latest epromo, on it's way out today from my rep Kiki and me in celebration of all things green, and of course St. Patrick's Day!

©Laura Coyle 2008

If you would like to receive my e-promos, drop me a line and we will add you to the list. These little e-postcards go out about every month-or-so. And this month as a special bonus, the first 12 respondents will receive a card pack of some of my fun designs for Hallmark.

I was in Philadelphia for my cousin's wedding this past weekend - what a beautiful time! And speaking of St. Patrick's Day, I've never been surrounded by so much Irish pride, I fit right in with my red hair and freckles. There was even a professional contest-winning jig dancer there trying to recruit folks for a spontaneous Riverdance thing, but I'm afraid that was a little out of my league even after a few glasses of wine.

I did manage to get to a couple of places that I always love to visit when I'm there - these are highly recommended for a world class flower fix: Longwood Gardens and Andrew Wyeth painting fix: Brandywine Museum. Very worth the short drive from the city out to this beautiful part of the countryside.

happy happy happy new year

Well, I'm back finally after a great holiday ski trip and then a good week and a half of crunch-time, meeting lots of deadlines that were on hold while I was away. I am excited about what this new year will bring. Today Kiki (my rep) and I are sending out our latest e-promo, take a look:

©Laura Coyle 2008

If you would like to receive my e-promos, drop me a line and I will add you to my list. These little e-postcards go out about every month-or-so.

And on the subject of happy new year, I notice the word 'happiness' popping up a lot, as people talk about their new year resolutions: how to be happy, cultivate happiness, why we get so busy we forget what truly makes us happy. I recently watched this interesting talk on TED, with a Buddhist monk/author/photographer, Matthieu Ricard discussing the "habits of happiness."

Then I saw an episode of 20/20 that reported on neuroscientists studying a community of Tibetan monks, who they describe as "olympians of meditation," by studying their brain waves in a quest to understand their happiness tendencies. The report also ranked countries by happiness level: Denmark is apparently the happiest country in the world, and surprisingly Italy was shown to be the least happy country in all of western Europe. Hmmm. It didn't quite make sense to me at first, but you can follow link to the episode above to find out more.

One recurring theme that was reported to affect happiness is the balance between how secure a person feels, and how much control they have over their own situation. Which reminds me in my career as a freelance illustrator (and now part-time musician) I have all the control and freedom I could ever want, and I gain a lot of happiness from that. On the flip side, the roller-coaster nature of owning your own business sometimes makes the feeling of a warm security blanket a little harder to come by. Somehow it all balances out - there are days when I long for a more circumscribed path, a nice benefits package, a steady job - but the adventure of my "job" and the fact that it's all mine is what I love about it - and that gives me a whole lot to smile about. At least this week, that is! (ah...and there's the elusive nature of happiness for you) Here's to a (mostly) happy 2008!

yeah, he's comin' to town

©Laura Coyle 2007

Here's the latest promo from me and Kiki at Alexander|Pollard. You can click on the image above to be taken to some of my other seasonal imagery at my Workbook online portfolio. Enjoy! Don't forget to leave out some cookies this year.

back home again

Last week, I had the pleasure and honor of participating in a symposium at my alma mater Auburn University's College of Architecture, Design and Construction. The title was "Outstanding Women in Design," and I was invited to represent the school of Graphic Design alongside 6 other graduates who represented their respective disciplines. I had the chance to meet and chat with some great women, all successful in careers ranging from Architecture to Building Science to Urban Planning and it was inspiring to say the least!

Above are Dean Dan Bennett, Lee Ann Gamble of G+G Architects and Myra Deyhle, Interior Architect/Designer of LRK I was so impressed with both of these women's portfolios and their aesthetics. I also met Leslie Norvell, a Landscape Architect from Philly; Rebecca Burleson, a builder of enormous amazing projects; Shayla Jones Beaco, an inspiring City Planner and Heather Bailey an Industrial Designer and engaging speaker.

My talk was entitled "Making a Career of Creative Freedom," and along with showing my portfolio and talking about my work as an illustrator, I also hoped to offer a little inspiration to students headed towards careers in design and illustration. One theme I heard repeated a few times over the course of the day was the importance of finding out what you love to do, whatever it is that is really you and using that as your guiding force along your career path. It seems self-explanatory, but I think it's one of the great challenges of having a creative career.

Knowing who you are and what you do best (usually because it's something you love and have a passion for) is the ticket to finding fulfillment in your career. And I don't think jobs or assignments always provide the best ground for exploring those things for artists and designers, so you have to make a real effort to seek it out on your own, even as you are working and doing your best to pay the rent.

In some ways, that is your "career in creative freedom," and it runs parallel to your work career, it's the place where you spend years in a quest for what resonates deeply with you and time developing your talent and showing what you can do with it whenever you can. I'm amazed at the opportunities that come out of the work I do on that parallel path. And while I'm working there, I'm a little free-er from the pressures of other people's expectations, is it on schedule? will somebody else like it? will it sell? we all have to give ourselves creative freedom.

Aside from all this other stuff, Auburn is just a lovely place to be in the fall.

And here's a place filled with lots of happy memories of art school. Biggin Hall. 1950.

And just on the opposite corner from Biggin, a tradition at Auburn, lemonade from Toomer's Drugs.

I was lucky to have some great professors to inspire me at Auburn. (that's Professor John Morgan to the left, I missed my chance to get pictures of Ross Heck or Ray Dugas) I rely on the solid foundation in graphic design training I got there, along with the opportunities to study other studio arts like printmaking (Charles Munday), painting, ceramics (Gary Wagoner) and photography. And who could get along without art history? The other great thing about art school at a big university like Auburn, is that you have ample opportunities to explore other fields of study like literature and writing, sociology, music, physics and I benefited from all of those. Among the working illustrators I've met over the years are many interesting, smart people with a lot going on in their imaginations; all those different classes, explorations and tangents can broaden your possibilities.

If you want to know more about the school, check out Auburn's new graphic design website designed by Professor Wei Wang.

And thanks to my husband (architect, webmaster, designer, photographer, editor, supporter) Clayton Daspit for taking all the pictures!!

promo materials

Here's my latest promo, since teaming up with Kiki Pollard at Alexander|Pollard Artist's Representatives.

©Laura Coyle 2007

if you want to see a related image from my portfolio, you can check it out on my site. Next time, I'll have figured out (asked my husband) how to make the image above succesfully link to the related page on my site. (He showed me how!) click the image above.

finding your style as an illustrator

Or you could just as easily call it “finding your voice.” Thoughts of singing lately have reminded me of the quest for a style as an illustrator. Since I started my pursuit of singing relatively late, (in my mid 30’s) I haven’t had to think of my sound or singing style in commercial or career terms. I’ve been free to play around, open up and explore. I probably have some kind of style, it’s just not something I’ve spent a lot of time crafting. It’s evolving as I’m having fun with it. And I’ve been noticing how liberating that is.

In contrast, with illustration I worked and concentrated on developing a style so that I would have something ready to sell. And I’m always tweaking my style and thinking: how can I make it better? take it in a new direction? It's important I keep developing, but what happens when the quest for style becomes so crucial, I lose track of what enthralled me with illustration in the first place?

Too often, thinking in commercial terms, like “how am I going to make a living at this?” can be a little stifling when you’re trying to find your style or your own voice. Even when I set aside the time to explore, paint or make something, I often have to contend with the voice of an imaginary dungeon master working in the background. It’s pretty well rehearsed after all these years – it tells me I’m running out of time, there’s a deadline, there are expectations to be met. Oh how that voice loves to ruin the party. Maybe it helps to keep me on track in the middle of a job, but sometimes I just need it to shut up.

So when I’m painting or drawing or making something for my own exploration I try (try!) to deliberately tune my ears to something more lyrical. I’ll be listening for the voice that says “oooo!” or “wow!” when I lay one color next to another, because it guides me to what excites me. Of course it often says, “that sucks!” but I keep going, looking for another ”wow!” Sometimes I’m lucky enough to happen upon something I just love, then I really pay attention.

It’s like singing – there you are, in the shower or in the car and a song comes over you and you go with it. Whatever it is that keeps you singing, it’s certainly not a critical evaluation of your technique. Maybe it's just for the love of music, or that feeling you get when you and Aretha sing “what you want.....baby I got it!”

I want to try and bring more of that attitude to my experimentation with art and my illustration style. If over time, I can collect those moments of "wow," I am on my way to finding a style that will keep me excited and interested through many future assignments. There’s always time to hone and polish things and make them ready for public consumption later – that's an important stage of developing an illustration style. But for the moment I’m painting or drawing for myself, it’s all about listening for those pleasing tones. (And tuning out the critical ones.) If I’m having fun with it, it's a good sign that I'm on the way to finding my own voice in the process.

illustrators getting published / PR clients

Last month I was quoted in an article by Maria Piscopo that appeared in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual. The topic was on “Getting Published” and I talked about a book I illustrated from cover to interiors. That book is The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous, by Carolyn O’Neil and Densie Webb, 2 nutritionists who have a flair for making nutrition fun and adventuresome.

My assignment came through the unusual channel of knowing the author first, and being introduced to the publisher through her. Typically though, I submit my samples to a publisher knowing that they usually like to do the pairing of authors and illustrators themselves. The website of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, offers some great information on the subject of getting published.

In the case of The Dish however, I had already worked with author Carolyn O’Neil. We met years earlier, but by the time Carolyn had signed on with Simon and Schuster/Atria to do her book, I was ready!

Although this isn’t the typical route to publication, I think it brings up a different avenue that illustrators can think of as we develop our careers. My initial contact with Carolyn O’Neil came through another client, the owner of an Atlanta PR firm, Melissa Libby. I first met Melissa while volunteering my artwork with a local charity. You never know where you might find the opportunity to do work that inspires you. And PR clients can be a fresh, untapped source of creative assignments for illustrators.

I discovered a couple of interesting things from working with PR clients: they may not be as accustomed to buying illustration as ad agencies, magazines, or design firms. If that’s the case you may be doing a little more educating up front on buying usage rights to artwork and copyright issues. But, they can offer an alternative perspective and fun, creative and interesting assignments (depending on their specialties). So if you are looking to develop and diversify your client list, try seeking out experts in PR and media relations. There’s always something to be learned from hanging out with people who are plugged-in and media savvy.

Here’s some more “getting started in illustration” advice at How Magazine from the ever-inspiring Keri Smith.