How I am Building an Art Licensing Portfolio

Happy Friday Creative Souls! (Click images to see them larger)

Before I start, there are always many ways to do something. I don't think my way is by any means the best way :-). Also, it is a safe bet in a year from now, I will be doing things differently. Based on feed back from my fabulous agent artsdg.com and a manufacturer, I just recently made adjustments! This is a great thing <3




I am heavily icon based in creating art. So what I mean by that is I only occasionally complete a painting with background and supporting images. Depending on the collection, I will paint a couple of different backgrounds (this one has some different color washes for backgrounds). I put the icons etc, together in photoshop. The upside is speed. I am just shy of creating a collection a month. The downside is I don't have a finished original painting to sell. Another upside is it is easier to isolate the images when their isn't a background to remove. The photo below was taken close to completion.

A collection for me means 4 - 6 central images. (There are 3 "images" above). 6 snowmen doing different things would be the main players of a snowman collection. For the above collection I painted supporting images: Swirls, 4 ladybugs, 3 dragonflies, 3 leaves and I think that was it. It varies with each collection. Some are much larger.

After I get the painting done and scan in all the art, next comes patterns & borders! In the beginning I would do fewer patterns. Now I am setting up a minimum of 6 patterns, with at least two colorways (I usually do 3-4 colorways). The patterns can take as long as the first stage of creating and scanning. I like to be sure to have some subtle and or small scale patterns to use as backgrounds/textures. Borders are great to set up. They can ad more interest to a product and make a stripe pattern or two.

Finally I set up a few product mocks and tear sheets. (Image at the top of this post). I like doing the mocks for a few reasons. It lets my agent know a few of the products I think the art will be fabulous on. It shows a few ideas of how to use the art. I like it because it makes the art 'real' for me and gets me jazzed to see it on all kinds of products. Something I have started more recently is setting up some 4" x 6" layouts (flags, greeting cards etc.) some 6"x4" (rugs, doormats, placemats etc.) and some Round designs. I am wondering if I should set up some squares too - Do any of you set up square designs?

The tear sheets are portfolio pages for me. I also use them to upload to ArtLicensingShow.com to speed the uploading of art. 4 or so tear sheets shows the majority of a collection, instead of taking the time to upload each individual image/pattern/mock.

I have a list of collection ideas. It is pretty long. For example, I have 12 ideas for winter/holiday. I may never get to them all, but I write ideas down when they pop in my head. Usually when I am wrapping up the patterns and creating mocks I am thinking about the next collection and sketching out what I will do next. If I don't get it down, it disappears from my brain :-)

How do you build your portfolio and any please share any tips you may have. Thank you for stopping by the blog. It really makes my day! Sign up for my newsletter if you don't want to miss anything.

Peek into ArtLicensingShow.com! - Next Opportunity to Register

 Hey Creative Souls!

I have been getting questions of what the NEW and fabulous ArtLicensingShow.com looks like.
The above image is what an art director will see when visiting my profile. (Click the image to see it larger). That will give you a much better idea of how the site navigation is set up, what your profile page might look like etc. You can connect with other members and join groups too! :-)

You can feature up to nine collections on your profile page. (You can upload as many collections as the plan you signed up for allows). I think of those images as 'teasers'. Art directors and manufacturers can request to see your portfolio. Or in my case I have selected the option to share my portfolio with all art directors and manufacturers. This site is set up for you to choose the amount of privacy and control you want to have with your art - nice! ArtLicensingShow.com is in Beta, and holly cow is it amazing and working wonderfully - yes, I am excited about it :-)

I can only speak from my perspective, but I would think art directors and manufactures would love the one-stop-shopping with NO travel expenses! They can join for free. I could gush on, but those two are big benefits.

I also imagine the same goes for agents (they do have to pay to join just like artists do). They can use this site as their privacy protected art catalog :-)

Next opportunity to register:

I asked Cherish, Founder of ArtLicensingShow.com if she has any news to share. Here is what she said: "We are thrilled with the way the new ArtLicensingShow.com (ALSC) community is already blossoming in it's early Beta stages. So far, we have about 250 art licensing professionals registered, including agents, artists, and art directors/manufacturers. Art licensors are very busy uploading thousands of pieces of work that can be shared with ease and searched with art directors they select. There is an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm in the air for the way this new tool has the ability to create opportunities for creatives and licensee companies alike.

Our next opportunity to register for portfolio membership on the site is March 2nd. All information will be sent to our email updates list. If you want to get on that list, be sure to click over to RedCarpet.ArtLicensingShow.com to sign up.

Qualified art directors may email RedCarpet@ArtLicensingShow.com at any time for details on how to set up a complimentary account."

I want to take a second and thank ALSC for the great profile they posted on me! I REALLY appreciate it. If you are curious about it, you can see it here: http://artlicensingshow.com/annie-troe/

Join a group:

If you have joined or do join ALSC, join a group! There are already several groups on the site. It is a way to get together to talk about the business or ask a question. I started a group called "2nd Thursdays" and we had our first get together last night. We had a great turn out - what a blast! :-) Even though I have picked a time and place for us to hangout, you can post in the group at anytime. Hope to see you there!

Thanks a bunch for stopping by the blog, sharing it with your friends. If you don't want to miss what is going on, be sure to follow this blog and/or sign up for my newsletter. Happy Creating!

Next week's post: What should be in an art licensing contract with a manufacturer. - Bo's bLAWg.