Greg Newbold has been an award winning illustrator for over fifteen years. His work has appeared in advertising, books, and editorial assignments as well as Communication Arts, the Society of Illustrators, and Spectrum. The two images above are a couple examples of his illustration, and the images below are from his gallery work. The first image, Zootopia, just got into CA.
I recently asked him a few questions about his experience with illustration and how it relates to the gallery work he is doing now.
Q: What were the most successful marketing tools for you in the beginning of your career?
A: I was sort of thrown into the fire early in my career. I was working thirty hours a week doing illustration for an educational software company when our second child was born. I had taken this job to get through school and it had health insurance and other benefits, but after
college, I began to hate it. My wife and I decided she would quit work and stay home with the kids. I wanted to leave my job and freelance, but the benefits kept me there. The day we brought our new baby home from the hospital, I got laid off. Then came the mad scramble to turn my sporadic part time freelance income into a full time family supporting income. I hit the pavement and dredged up as much work as I could locally by showing my portfolio around town, but it soon became apparent that I would need to branch out. I bought a page in one of the illustration directories and sweated bullets while I waited because of the expense. The investment paid off and I began getting national clients. I admit that the directory route is not as effective as it once was simply because the Internet has made it so much faster, cheaper and more current than the printed books, but I still believe in the value of letting clients see how your work reproduces and it gives you a stable presence in the marketplace. I also relied on competitions such as the Communication Arts and The Society of Illustrators illustration annuals to give me much needed exposure. Of course there is never any guarantee that your work will get in, but when it does, it is very cheap and prestigious marketing. I have been fortunate to be accepted on a fairly regular basis and secured many projects as a result. I rely quite a bit on returning clients to keep me busy as well. The people most likely to buy your art are the ones that have bought your art in the past, so I try really hard to stay in touch with my long time clients, show them new work and be interested in them as people, not just paychecks. I have not enjoyed the two less than satisfactory stints during which I had an artist representative. Both left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth as I felt they were not really doing any promotion I couldn't’ do myself and I wasn'’t getting enough work to survive from them. Since leaving the last one about ten years ago, I have been fortunate to stay pretty busy even though I should probably focus more attention on marketing. I could be better at it, but when you are busy, you don’t worry much about marketing.
Q: How do you see promotion now?
A: I admit that the directory route is not as effective as it once was simply because the Internet has made it so much faster, cheaper and more current than the printed books, but I still believe in the value of letting clients see how your work reproduces and it gives you a stable presence in the marketplace. Lately markets and marketing strategies have changed and websites /web marketing have become more important for me. I am looking at revamping my website yet again to incorporate different aspects of my career (gallery art vs. illustration) as well as money making avenues such as a web store and online book sales. A blog will also be part of the plan as soon as I decide what the focus is going to be. I am currently trying to find a literary agent who would like to represent me as I have been writing a few picture books along with my wife Amy. Literary agents only take about half the cut of an art agent, so it makes much more sense, especially if you are writing your own books. Overall, I think it is important to first do your best work. Do work that you love and want to continue doing and then be aggressive in getting seen by those who buy art, whatever that process entails.
Q: Your known for a very recognizable technique. How does fine art fit in with your current brand?
A: Most successful artist become known for their style and many end up doing the same look for an entire career with very small changes along the way. I am always interested in learning and growing, trying new mediums, approaches and techniques. The style I am pursuing right now in the gallery work is also quite a bit different than the illustration work, so there isn'’t that much crossover. It’s a little tricky to balance the two right now, since I am much better known in illustration on a national basis than I am in gallery art, which I am just beginning. I am not sure that what I do for a gallery needs to fit into my illustration brand since it is a new market, but I do want to be honest and have it feel like my work. It goes back to the idea of “if you build it, they will come”. I figure if I do my best work, working smart, I will eventually be recognized in the gallery market as well. The frustrating thing is that galleries want you to price your work at an entry level - far below what I am accustomed to getting from my illustration clients. What they don’t get is that I am not an entry level painter. The parallel in the corporate world would be like a top businessman that just happens to be switching companies. You wouldn'’t expect him to take that big a pay cut, but a gallery wants you to do just that. I am trying to find a middle ground and just do top notch work that will justify the price tag. Of course I am in no way ready to abandon illustration for a gallery career unless demand skyrockets. Too early to tell, we’ll see how it goes.
A: Most successful artist become known for their style and many end up doing the same look for an entire career with very small changes along the way. I am always interested in learning and growing, trying new mediums, approaches and techniques. The style I am pursuing right now in the gallery work is also quite a bit different than the illustration work, so there isn'’t that much crossover. It’s a little tricky to balance the two right now, since I am much better known in illustration on a national basis than I am in gallery art, which I am just beginning. I am not sure that what I do for a gallery needs to fit into my illustration brand since it is a new market, but I do want to be honest and have it feel like my work. It goes back to the idea of “if you build it, they will come”. I figure if I do my best work, working smart, I will eventually be recognized in the gallery market as well. The frustrating thing is that galleries want you to price your work at an entry level - far below what I am accustomed to getting from my illustration clients. What they don’t get is that I am not an entry level painter. The parallel in the corporate world would be like a top businessman that just happens to be switching companies. You wouldn'’t expect him to take that big a pay cut, but a gallery wants you to do just that. I am trying to find a middle ground and just do top notch work that will justify the price tag. Of course I am in no way ready to abandon illustration for a gallery career unless demand skyrockets. Too early to tell, we’ll see how it goes.
