Several millennia ago, the art of illustration began to take form on cave walls on the south of France. Under the direction of the shaman, they drew picture after picture of animals and the hunt, believing that good fortune would follow.
In many ways, the art, and business, of illustration has changed very little from the Stone Age to today. Like their primitive forebears, contemporary illustrators can find success if they can develop a pleasing style that's easily replicated and realize that the essence of what they're producing is art on demand.
The tools as well have changed very little over the years. While some illustrators are taking advantage of the computer to help them create, more often than not , concepts are being devised using such implements as pen and pen, pencils and markers; or such painting techniques as acrylic, water colors, or oils.
Long overshadowed by photography, illustration is not often the first choice of art directors and editors when looking for ways to bringing visuals to an ad or magazine article. Indeed, many of the illustrators contacted for this article admit that getting work in Atlanta can often be a difficult task.
Illustrators say that while there is very little in the way of editorial opportunities here, the number of ad agencies in town provide them with such assignments as drawing comps and storyboards. In addition, there is a smattering of corporate. Finding work here, though, can be a job in itself.
"You can scare up work if you pound the pavements," says veteran illustrator Steve Sweny. "There's work here, but it's mandatory you get work elsewhere. Once you've made a connection, it doesn't matter where you are as long as you're competent, reliable, and professional."
Tom Mattix feels that working in Atlanta relies on making a connection with the client. "In this market, people need to know you a little bit," he explains. "You might have a great portfolio, but there are a lot of people here who are doing the same thing. Networking is important, because it's all about connections. You need to create a relationship with people before you start getting work from them."
Being an Atlanta-based illustrator, however, doesn't mean that the bulk of work comes from this area. Thanks to technology and overnight delivery services, an illustrator can service clients from coast to coast.
Richard Waggoner estimates that his business is divided almost evenly between out-of-town and local clients. "I think local is going to mean less and less," he explains. "I think people who buy illustration are seeking somebody who has the look they want and can do the job. It doesn't make a difference if they're in a different city. With modems, e-mails, faxes, and Fed Ex, it's easier to use them now."
Versatility is a key ingredient in obtaining success. "The only way to survive as an illustrator is not to be overly specialized," states Jay Montgomery. "That is especially important if you're an up-and-coming illustrator. Further along in your career, you can specialize and get a steady flow of work, but starting out, it pays to be versatile and to be able to make the client happy by giving them what they want."
A major dilemma that illustrators face is clients reluctance to stray away from photography solutions for their art needs. "It's easier for art directors to find a photo rather than having to worry about hiring an illustrator," says Justin Kauffmann. "A lot of them prefer using stock photography, perhaps that's because they don't have the budget, but it just may be they don't have the understanding that it's nice to have original artwork specifically created for the project."
"Advertisers don't think [illustration] will sell to their potential customers because it doesn't show what their product is in an exact representation," says Jennifer Singh. "I hear potential clients say that illustration doesn't work. They think that they're safe with photography."
Jason Proudler believes that art directors prefer photography because it gives them increased options for tweaking art at a later date. "You can digitally manipulate photos on the computer," he explains. "For that reason, I don't know why you'd get an illustration if you can get a photo of something."
Illustration has been on many Atlantans' minds recently thanks to the exhibit of the work of Norman Rockwell at the High Museum. This showing helped renew the old debate over what separates illustration from fine art.
Sweny says illustration is a "different animal" from fine art. "It's problem solving for an express purpose and specific usage," he explains. "Fine art is a much more personal process that draws on your experience."
"An illustrator is concerned with producing a particular kind of visual style that art directors and editors can depend on getting each time," explains Waggoner. "It's less concerned with the explorative process than the fine arts. Illustration feeds on the homogeneity America favors, while fine art fights against it and tries to find another direction."
Most illustrators agree with those assessments and stress the principle that their discipline is more concerned with providing what the client needs than on satisfying some inner muse.
"From an illustrator's standpoint," says Montgomery, "art is something that comes from the mind of the creator of the art, while illustration is usually something that comes from somebody else's ideas."
Proudler, however, declares that he doesn't see any difference. "When I was in school," he says, "they used to tell us that there was a difference, that illustration was more like a job. But, I don't see it that way. If I treated it as just a ‘job' rather than something I really enjoy doing, I'd probably quit doing it."
Rockwell was reviled for the critics of his time, and mocked by the art cognoscenti as being too simplistic and sentimental. However, his covers for the Saturday Evening Post have been accepted as representations of an American ideal, and his craftsmanship and abilities mean something different to today's illustrators. If anything, Rockwell has become an iconic figure worthy of both respect and emulation.
Says Montgomery, "Rockwell is a prime example of someone who started out as an illustrator, but his illustration became fine art and well respected. The state of illustration between the Rockwell era and now is completely different. Norman Rockwell was treated with respect, but now, illustrators are a dime a dozen and don't get the respect they deserve."
"Rockwell found a tasty, mannered style that he used to great effect," says Waggoner. "He did very little exploring once he figured out what he wanted to do. One of his pieces is pretty much like the next one."
The question of developing a personal style is important. Some name illustrators may get hired for their unique
perspective, while others prize the ability to conform to the needs of the assignment.
"A successful illustrator can put their feelings, personality and individual style into a piece," says Charly Palmer, "but, a lot of times, as illustrators we become chameleons and become whatever the client needs. People will rarely come to me and say they like my style. I'm inspired by so many different artists and try to incorporate that into everything I do."
Waggoner believes that having an identifiable style can be both a blessing and a curse. "Illustrators are very much captives of their style," he states. "A bit of me rails against that, but I also understand why that's important. A client needs to be able to call up on deadline for a visual and not get a terrible surprise when the time comes to print it. They need to know what they're getting."
"On the other hand," Waggoner continues, "I think art directors would be better served if they were more adventurous and took chances. There's nothing that serves an idea better than to have some visual that isn't something people say they've seen hundreds of times before."
Sweny says that there are times his input is welcome, and other times when his ability to translate the ideas of the art director gets him hired. For editorial assignments, he is sent a copy of the article or book manuscript and comes up with a concept.
"I have a lot of creative input," Sweny explains. "I give the client various treatments to choose from. Sometimes, they have the concept, but they want it done in my style, which is all right with me."
Sweny says that kind of input is rarely found in assignments for ad agencies. "There's less creative leeway, but they're calling me because they want my style," he explains. "If anything, it's easier than editorial, they already have the idea, but they want it in a particular style. I wouldn't want a steady diet of that, but I enjoy the collaboration."
Even if an illustrator is blessed with abundant skills, he or she will be subsisting on nothing but macaroni and cheese dinners without getting work. If they want to keep working, self promotion is critical. "Your self promotion is as important as the quality of the work you produce," says James Way. "It's almost a full-time job just getting your work in front of people."
Most Atlanta illustrators rely on word of mouth and referrals from satisfied clients to secure new work. But, even with a kind word or two in their favor, they must still get their work in front of potential clients' eyes. To do this, they'll take out pages in directories such as "The Black Book," or the Graphic Artists Guild directory, or they'll send out post cards, or other direct mail pieces which they hope will capture an art director's attention.
Singh relies on direct mail, which she says, "Seems to be the best way . I just don't send post cards, because that tends to get lost in the mail. I've been doing 3-D packaging, where I create sequences of my art work. When I send things to publishers, they want to see how I can use the same character again and again."
To help his cause, Way has used such methods as buying a page in "The Black Book" directory sending out samples via direct mail, and through the use of a rep, Suzanne Craig Represents.
Way says the rep has helped garner assignments from New York, Miami, and San Diego, places that might have been difficult for him to break through. "I don't have to handle all of the promotion by myself," says Way. "She also handles the billing and collecting, which takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. If a rep is good, she'll have a finger on the pulse of what's going on. She'll let me know about things that I'm not aware of or get past me because I'm working so much."
George "Dusty" Hanna has gone digital for his self-promotional efforts. He sends out a slide show of recent work on either a floppy disk or CD-ROM, depending on the recipient's particular computer requirements.
"I want to stand out and give people something different to look at," says Hanna. "Hopefully, this will stick in their head. It's very cost effective and less expensive than printing up and sending 1,000 post cards. I can burn my own CD's or compress the slide show to fit on a floppy. The floppy holds 15 illustrations, which I think is plenty. I get a good number of call backs because people think it's a neat thing."
Many illustrators say that they have been asked to do work on spec when they were starting out. More times than not, these jobs turned out to be dead end situations, with the illustrator investing time, effort, and imagination for naught.
"I used to do a lot more spec," says Way, "but now it's got to be a big client or an obviously great opportunity. I've given so many pieces of artwork away for nothing, because in so many cases, nothing ever comes out of it besides development of skill."
Palmer says that some clients will offer illustrators spec assignments as a way to get ideas without having to reimburse the artist. "On several occasions," Palmer explains, "we were asked to submit ideas before we were given an assignment. We were made aware there were other artists doing the same thing. We passed on them because it's just as much effort without any guarantee of work."
The illustrator's intellectual rights to their work is sometimes a reason for contention with clients. It's often an educational effort to explain to clients that when they hire the illustrator, that unless they negotiate a buy-out, they are not acquiring the original artwork to use as they please for as long as they want, but rather for specified uses for a limited time.
"A lot of clients assume that when they pay for an illustration, the original art is part of the fee, that everything is a buy out," says Way. "It's tough battling that assumption. A lot of clients will say, "If you won't take the assignment on those terms, we'll find someone who will."
Singh says she will need to have discussions up front with clients, to make sure there are no misunderstandings about rights or usage. "I'll ask questions about how they're going to use the work," she says. "I'll have a contract for first rights, and if they want to use it later, they have to contact me. I don't think anyone out there will maliciously use my work. If they do, they don't have a conscience."
As president of the Atlanta chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild, Montgomery says that rights issues occupy a good deal of his time. "You get a lot of people who don't understand the value of the art," says Montgomery. He suggests that illustrators explain to potential clients that their fee is dependent on not only traditional uses, but such new media as web sites and CD-ROM's.
Like every other sector of life, the computer is making its presence felt in the world of illustration. Although artists still use traditional tools to create, the computer is becoming more and more a part of their working environment and routines.
"It's a wonderful production tool," says Hanna. "I still sit down with a pencil and paper, but it all ends up in the computer as well. It's easy to touch things up digitally. It makes me more efficient because I'm able to produce more than I could without one."
Mattix says that everything he does goes through his computer. Although he still sketches with pencil and paper, he relies on the computer as his primary creation tool. "I find I work a lot faster on the computer," he explains.
Although she still creates original ideas on paper, Singh says she will often scan an element that she knows will be repeated into the computer. "Instead of having to sketch the same element over and over again," she explains, "I have it in the computer and I can move it around and use it as I need it."
Not everyone agrees on the computer's role in illustration. "I try to stay away from it," says Proudler. "I did a lot of computer stuff when I first got out of school because there was a lot of demand for it in terms of graphics and computer illustration. But, I didn't get much of a kick out of it. I'd rather get my hands dirty."
With more and more of their clients becoming computer savvy, a number of illustrators have entered the digital age by posting their work on web sites. Potential clients can get a glimpse of the illustrator's work on a moment's notice any time of the day or night, rather than wait for the arrival of the portfolio.
Mattix believes the Internet is going to have a major impact on illustration. "There's going to be a huge need for content," he explains. "In the near future, a number of magazines will be computer generated to the point where they won't be printed on paper any more."
Although she directs people to her web site, Singh still sends one of three copies of her portfolio. "They want that tangible feel," she explains. "A lot of people aren't on-line, so this is the only way they can see my book."
While their photographer colleagues are actively involved in building and marketing stock libraries, few photographers are re-selling their art.
"I've danced with the devil," says Sweny with a laugh, "or maybe it was more of a slow waltz. As far as stock is concerned, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. You can partake in it and reap the profits from re-using one image; but in the end, it reduces demand for new commissions. In the long run, it's having a devastating effect in the industry."
"I can see why art directors find stock attractive," Sweny continues. "The bottom line is they can get quality images from bigger illustrators at a fraction of the price. They know what the end result is like, so it doesn't differ from the rough."
While Atlanta's illustrators may never gain the acclaim of a Norman Rockwell, they know that there will always be a need for their talent and imagination. After all is said and done, illustration still has a place in people's hearts. Perhaps some part of our collective memory recalls the wonder of seeing animals come to life on the walls of a cave so many, many years ago.