thingstodowitharat asked: is your wild dog shirt available for sale anywhere?

Unfortunately, the only place it is available (to my knowledge) is at Threadless.com, here: http://www.threadless.com/product/2729/Wild_Dog If they are out of your size, request a reprint! They are really good about re-releasing shirts. 

Wild Dog as a Tattoo + My Concerns

Hey! There has been a lot of buzz about this lately, so I thought I would make a journal entry based around it.

I’ve heard a lot of people tell me lately that they have gotten my artwork tattoo’d, thank you! I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to hear you enjoy my work on such a personal level. Most, if not all of you have contacted me and asked permission first which is truly something I have to thank you for. (I know a lot of other people who have NOT asked, and its saddening, in a way). 

But here are some things I would like to bring to the table that have me a little concerned.

To start, I have not been charging individuals who want to get my piece tattoo’d. If you as a person see my work, fall in love with a piece, and love that enough to have it a part of your body, that’s amazing!

But I say individuals because I HAVE had people messaging me asking to put my design in their tattoo shops to sell for profit. this is not okay. Never have I accepted someones request to place my design in any of their shops, for any one to get tattoo’d. My throat goes into my stomach when I think about people getting my work tattoo’d on them, without knowing the background, who I am or even my name. 

I have heard of people who have seen strangers, seemingly with my work tattoo’d who have NO idea who drew that picture, and have to be told it is from me. 

So, my biggest concern right now is the integrity of my work. I want people to enjoy it and be inspired by it, but that it means I have to give up in my name in the process, I don’t think I can do that.

So here is a HUGE favor I am asking of you guys:

Please , if you ever see my work in a tattoo shop, or if someone you know has had it tattoo’d without at least knowing my name, it would mean the world to me to find out at least where it came from. That way you can contact me so I can ask them to remove it, or (if you would like to) contact them yourself ask that they stop profiting from it. 

It’s a low, dirty thing for a shop to steal someones work and then charge someone else for that design.

(for those of you who would like to see which design this is, it’s here: http://www.corinnereid.com/wilddog.html )

Anonymous asked: I am really interested in your process, especially the initial drawing before it goes digital. Could you post some images that follow a drawing's progress from start to finish? Like, sketches turned into a final product? Thanks!

Here you go Hope this helps!

captainspaz asked: What advice would you give to an art student about how you got to this point with your art/career? I'd like to know what REALLY worked for you.. even if it's just as simple as "drawing every day!"

Good question! I actually just did a talk on this last week at RISD, which has allowed for a good amount of reflection. For me, these worked:

1. Put your art everywhere. On every portfolio site, art community….anywhere that offers a free home for your work. I have, easily, 10 portfolio sites right now all on different corners of the internet, and they’ve all brought people to my art. Better yet, most of the websites have twitters, facebook pages, or tumblrs where they feature different artists from their sites every day. I received my first gallery gig from an art community (society6), and was invited to do some character design for another website I had my artwork on (Carbonmade).

2. Enter into contests, competitions, and whatever else you can find. Before and since graduating I’ve been putting my work into art competitions, and entering contests and weekly assignments (illustration Friday). I  suggest Quarterly publications like Creative Quarterly. The fee is only $10, so its not a huge sacrifice if you don’t get in. c:

3. DON’T wait for work! Aside from putting your stuff on the internet, make promotional material and send that out. Every little bit helps, and you’ll be surprised how powerful word of mouth is.

4. Like you said….draw EVERY day. It is so insanely easy to not pick up a pencil after college. Other things get in the way: work, home life, entertaining distractions. But before you know it, four months have rolled by and you haven’t completed a single piece.

- Adding onto that, draw seriously. Scribbles are good, but you want to work your creative side. Complete concepts and try to generate at least one idea a day. its tough work, but like everything it gets easier the more you do it!

LASTLY

5. Understand your work. You may graduate with the idea that your work looks one way, so you need to do this one thing (“my work is cartoon-y, I need to do comics.” or “I paint more than I draw, I’m only suited for gallery work.”) If you treat your art this way, you wont succeed. The world of art is fluid and VERY accepting, don’t feel you need to blind yourself to other areas because you feel you aren’t suited for them. Do what feels natural to you, don’t try to fit in anywhere, or reference your style from someone because (either consciously or subconsciously) you think it will make you successful. 

I could go on forever with this…but every career, every life is different. What works for me may not work for everybody. Fortunately, I’ve been exceedingly lucky in my career thus far. People have been so wonderful, sharing my work and supporting me, that a lot of my jobs have come to me.

Good luck!

RISD Talk Tomorrow

Hey everyone! Tomorrow I’ll be doing a talk at RISD with a couple other RISD Alumni. If you’re a student or affiliated with the school, stop by and say hi! I believe it starts at 3:30.

(email Fred L. for more details)

jineshrevagar asked: your work is fantastic, do you mix traditional media with digital or is your work all digital?

Thank you! You could say I mix the two together…I scan in textures of watercolour washes and different kinds of paper, and lay them over flat colors in Photoshop to create a traditional “painted” look. It takes quite a bit of layering though…I usually end up with about 40-50 layers on a finished piece (and my poor computer is choking by the time I add the final details).

Hope that answers your question! :)