I recently got in contact with Amanda MacFarlane who is an amazing self taught artist, which interested me, because she gained a high fan base on her talent alone! For me, this interview was asking questions that sometimes i ended up asking myself during present, and past projects, her answers helped my gain an angle on how people in the art industry make a living, which i hope to one day do myself
When your creating your own characters, whats your inspiration whilst doing this?
So many things inspire me while creating a character, It could be someone I saw that day, or someone I dreamt about. My kids inspire me a lot during the day with their hilarity, I keep a list of things they do that’s comic book worthy. Maybe one day Ill put them all together and make one myself? Often times inspiration comes by a simple stroke on paper. This past year I was really inspired by a website called SketchDailies.com. I found them while searching on Instagram. They helped medevelop a more creative mindset. Every day they post someone in history, books, or television to draw in your own style.
Would you like to see your work animated?
It would be SO amazing to see something you’ve created on the big screen. That is one of my dreams. I would love to be a part of a character design team for major motion picture! Its one of my goals.
Do you feel its important to have an understanding of animation?
I do think that’s important. I have not had any college training, or art training of any kind so I am a little intimidated by going after my dreams, however, I daily try to educate myself and research animation and character design but Im not sure that’s enough.
Obviously, you sell your products, how important do you feel it is for illustrators to be entrepinurial?
Its really up to the individual, but I think its a wonderful thing! If you can do what you love and get
enough money for groceries that week because of it all the while having gratified customers then yes, its definitely nice to sell your products. I’ve gotten taken advantage of so many times because of being an artist, I think that people don’t understand that its a lively hood as well as a dream. Stand up for yourself and other artists by putting a price on your work. Also if you’re doing a custom piece here’s a quick tip that I’ve learned saves a lot of stressful nights…charge by the hour, and not a standard fee. After a while I had to find new ways of selling my artwork, because being on the business side of things can burn you out fast. Remember to take time to draw for yourself as well, it will help you develop your skill as an artist, and enjoy your work load a bit more!
Does your fan artwork effect copyright issues?- the reason im asking this, is because during my recent project, i design a character, which my tutors felt was too ‘tim burtony’ and it brought the issue of copy right up i just wanted to know your thoughts on the matter
I love sketching characters I’ve seen on films, or read about in books…however it is scary when copyright issues come up. I try not to sell anything that will cause a problem. I’ve recently taken down items on my website for sale because I don’t want to sell anything I’m not allowed to. I believe sketching the characters for fun and posting your progress is alright though, if anything it’s free publicity of their characters. It’s a confusing area for a lot of us… That being said I’m going to try and just stay away from it from now on to be safe.
Lastly, you have a very big online community of followers/fans on your facebook and instagram accounts, is this where most of your commissions come from? And do you enjoy doing commissions?
Yes! Facebook and Instagram have been a HUGE help in getting commissions, I don’t know where I would be if it weren’t for them and all of you followers! When I started out it was a lot more stressful doing commissions because I had no idea how to go about it (like how to charge, how long it would take, what the client wanted vs what I was able to do, my creativity on projects being rejected over and over again..) I got burnt out very quickly in the beginning because of unsatisfied customers who were very judgmental and vocal about it. After I got over the fact that hardly anyone was like those few in the beginning I decided taking chances again and am so glad I did! Looking back I don’t blame them, my art was pretty awful when I started out and I was all over the place with my style.
I do enjoy commissions now, I’ve had a lot of fun ones as of late, possible comic books, children books, ideas for children’s shows, but that’s all of the details I can share at this time!
boxofmakebelieve.com 