Artist Spotlight - Phyllis Dobbs

 

Did you go to school for Art? Are you self taught? 

I’m both self-taught and attended school. I’ve always loved creating and have been drawing and creating from a very early age. The women in my family taught me the needle arts - needlework, sewing, and quilting. My father was also creative and taught me drawing. I attended the University of Alabama for a degree in Interior Design and focused on color theory and painting while there. I love taking classes and love to learn. As a result, I have since taken many classes in painting, various crafts and needle arts as well as digital art. Dangle a creative class in front of me and I will take it. But I also learn simply by working everyday in my business and stretching myself to try something new or different.

Do you work in just one medium? Several? 

I use several methods to create. I usually paint with acrylics and some gouache. But I also turn my art into digital art to format for product design and fabric design with Photoshop and Illustrator. I love textiles and use fabrics to create quilt and sewing patterns. I guess the two creative paths are from the Gemini in me although both markets overlap heavily.

What inspires you/ where do you get your inspiration from? 

I see inspiration all around me, especially with animals and the florals and greens all around in nature. Combining this with my love of humor, I put a lot of whimsy and vibrant color in my art.

How did you start licensing your art?  

I began my career using my art and drawings for counted cross stitch designs which I self-published. I’ve always loved textiles and dreamed of designing fabrics, so I turned my art focus on creating patterns for fabric design. I showed the these pattern collections to a major fabric company, and that started my career in licensing as a fabric designer. I then pursued other product companies outside of fabrics for licensing and signed with an agency Jewel Branding and Licensing.

What are you working on now.   

I am working with a client on new bedding lines as well as working on new art for licensing for fabrics and other products in the gift and home markets. I’m also excited to be working on a new quilt book with a slant on modern quilting.

Anything else you would like to share with us? 

Loving art and classes, I started ArtBizJam, an art-business retreat, 4 years ago with a couple of other creative souls. The focus is to help other artists expand their art business in several directions, such as product design and licensing plus more, and to rejuvenate their creativeness. Our guest speaker this year is Susan January, art director and VP of Product Management at Leanin’ Tree. Susan will be joining Lori Siebert, Cherish Flieder and myself in presenting classes on all aspects of an art business. ArtBizJam has been a wonderful success! This year will be the 4th annual retreat and will be held in October in the Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, TN.
http://artbizjam.com

I am also working on another retreat SewBizJam to help start or expand a sewing or quilting business. SewBizJam will be held in September in the beautiful and relaxed atmosphere of the beach in Destin, FL.
http://sewbizjam.com

I love working with these retreats that help others with their creative businesses. Other perks from these retreats are the great friendships formed among all the attendees plus lots of fun and laughter, great networking and just spending time with fellow creatives.

Along with helping artists, I created a product template package, Create Product Mockups that allows an artist to show clients or potential clients how their art looks on products. Find it here

Any great advise for our readers? 

I learned early after starting a creative career not to put all of your “eggs in one basket” with what you do. It is a definite advantage to be versatile and willing to adapt as it is to be able to work in multiple mediums. But at the same time, you need to be true to yourself. Allow yourself to expand and experiment. Find your “creative pot”, put what you love to do in it, stir and let it work together.

Are you an early riser or a night owl? 

I prefer to get an early start so I tend to rise early. However there are also a lot of late nights when you are your own boss and when there are deadlines.

What is your favorite food?   

I have given up sugar and artificial sweeteners. This is a bummer as my favorite food is dessert - Flan, chocolate, cheesecake, key lime pie and wine (horrors). So I am focusing on my 2nd favorite food.  Hummm, haven’t found it yet, unless its pasta of some kind.

Phyllis’ website and blog, social media links - 

http://phyllisdobbs.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/phyllismdobbs/
Licensing - http://www.jewelbranding.com
phyllismdobbs at gmail.com

Do you want to be spotlighted? Send an email: info@AnnGraphics.com

Make my day and follow this blog :-D Don't want to miss the good stuff? Sign up for my newsletter ;-)

 

Agent Spotlight - Jan Draheim, Painted Planet Licensing Group

I got to know Jan and a couple of her team members at Surtex last spring - What a treat! - NOTE, click images to view larger.

 

 

How long have you been in business and how did you come to be an agent?
My family founded an arts and craft supply distribution company, Viking Woodcrafts, Inc., 35 years ago. The timing was perfect, as my husband and I had recently moved back to Minnesota from Illinois so I became the first employee. Eight years later Viking Folk Art Publications was formed, a new division focusing on publishing decorative painting books. My husband and I purchased the publishing division in 1996.

Our company published books for artists from all over the world –from Canada and the UK to Australia, Argentina and Japan. Our knowledge and understanding of color and the process of reproduction led us to the exciting world of art licensing, giving us another service to offer our artists. Painted Planet Licensing Group was formed in March of 2004, and today we represent 21 talented artists from around the world. I thoroughly enjoy being surrounded by such beautiful artwork on a daily basis and watching our business grow and evolve.

Do you have help/employees?
We are fortunate to have a great multi-tasking team to assist our artists and licensing partners. Leah Cochran is our Licensing Coordinator. She works hard at matching our extensive library of artwork with the right manufacturer, along with keeping our licensee and contact databases up-to-date. Alyssa Christian serves as both the Public Relations Coordinator and Account Manager, promoting and branding our company and artists via numerous outlets (check out her blog on our website!), while also handling record maintenance and royalty payments. My husband, Larry, is our part-time Accountant.

What do you look for in a manufacturer?
Currently we have strong, long-standing partnerships with manufacturers of various different products—from burton + Burton, who produce gifts for all occasions, to Leanin’ Tree, an industry leader in greeting cards, to tableware manufacturer Certified International and fabric forerunner Red Rooster. We’re always looking for new manufacturers to partner with. Our artists represent a wide variety of styles, allowing us to satisfy the needs of a diverse range of companies.

Quality of products, good communication and willingness to promote the artist’s name or brand are some of the key elements that we look for in a new manufacturer. Establishing a good working relationship is critical to everyone involved. There’s always a risk involved when signing a contract with a company we’ve never worked with before but we’ve found that some of our most profitable ventures and strongest partnerships have stemmed from taking that risk.

Do you prefer royalty deals? Flat fee?  
Typically we prefer royalty deals versus flat fee but there are times when a flat fee can be the right route to take. If the production run is small, sometimes the guaranteed flat fee is better. Also, there are some card companies, and companies that print for non-profit groups, that will only pay a flat fee. It’s important to weigh all factors of the specific situation when negotiating a fair payment. Whether signing a royalty or flat fee agreement, we advise our artists against selling their images outright in order to allow them the flexibility of licensing the same artwork again in the future for different products.

How do you market artists? Who pays for this? Anything different for new artists?
One of the most substantial ways we market our artists is by exhibiting at Surtex every year and occasionally at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. We also meet with art directors year round—at their offices, twice a year at the Atlanta Gift Mart, at the Houston Quilt Market and usually a specialty show such as the Chicago Housewares Show. We’re in constant communication with existing and potential clients, responding to hundreds of callouts a year and submitting artwork to companies for consideration on a weekly basis. We frequently send out mailings and e-mail newsletters to promote new artwork or a new artist.

We’ve recently revamped our website, making it easier for art directors to navigate portfolios and stay up-to-date with new artists, upcoming shows we’ll be at, etc. Our new blog, Painted Planet Perspective, features a monthly “Artist Spotlight” interview. We have an ever-growing social media presence, marketing our artists daily via Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. We also encourage our artists to maintain their own personal websites, blogs and social media, which we link to from our website.

When we sign a new artist we assume all costs for exhibiting at shows, portfolios, advertising, etc. We recoup our costs by sharing any royalty revenue 50/50. Because of our initial investment, the decision to sign a new artist is very deliberate and well thought-out.

What do you look for in an artist?
When considering a new artist, we want to make sure that the artist is bringing something new to the Painted Planet family. We look for artwork that is fresh and on trend, and styles that complement yet don’t compete with what we currently have to offer. We also take into consideration our current licensees to determine whether the artist would be a good fit for them.

Equally as important when considering a new artist is their willingness to put in the necessary hard work and treat this as a job, not just a hobby. Licensing is a commitment, and an artist should be prepared to meet deadlines, be asked to make adjustments to their work to meet a client’s needs, and create new artwork on a regular basis. It’s also extremely helpful if an artist has certain software experience, such as Photoshop, InDesign or Illustrator, and has the capability of creating product mockups.

Any advice or other information you would like to share?
My best advice to any artist considering licensing is to take a shopping trip and look at how artwork is being used on products. Can you envision your artwork on similar products? We receive submissions from some artists who produce amazing fine art but the licensing possibilities are too limited. Don’t become discouraged if your first submissions to a licensing agency or manufacturer are rejected. If licensing is truly something you want to pursue, do the research, ask the questions, be flexible, and keep refining and working on your artwork.

I feel very fortunate to be able to sit in my office, look around, and see the fruit of all our years of hard work adorning the walls and shelves. I get just as excited opening a new box of samples now as I did opening the very first one over 10 years ago.



You can find Jan:
Website: www.paintedplanetlicensing.com

Email: jan@paintedplanetlicensing.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Painted-Planet-Licensing-Group
Phone:  (507) 835-8009

I REALLY appreciate all of you that help spread the word about my blog. Happy Holidays!

Do you want to be spotlighted? Send me an email: info@AnnGraphics.com

Make my day and follow this blog :-D Don't want to miss the good stuff? Sign up for my newsletter ;-)

Artist Spotlight - Kimberly Baxter Packwood

Tell us a bit about yourself: Did you go to school for art? Are you self-taught?
A little bit of both actually.  My aunt taught me how to stitch at the age of seven and my paternal grandmother taught me how to hand sew and use a treadle Singer sewing machine at the age of nine.  I continued to seek out different crafting techniques until the 1990’s when I switched my degree from Chemistry to Art Craft Design at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Do you work in just one medium? Several?
I’m a Mixed Media Fiber Artist and have recently started licensing my designs.

For the past twenty plus years I have worked with natural dyes, rust, earth pigments, and oxides on fabric which I then further embellish with hand and machine stitching.  My work depicts the prairie and plains both in ancient times and in modern times with corn as the unifying theme.

What inspires you / where do you get inspiration from?
I gather inspiration from where ever I am at the moment. My favorite place to visit is a natural marsh and native prairie north of Ames where migrating birds come to nest and feed every year.

I’m intrigued with the microscopic world of lichens, mosses, and liverworts; these lifeforms inform the base texture of each piece I create.  I spend a lot of time studying birds, cows, bison, corn, native plants, and the wind, which figures predominantly in my work. 

What are you working on now?
Currently I am taking an online drawing class which has been a wonderful refresher, given that my last drawing class was some twenty years ago now.  It has caused an intense need to re-examine my work, the corn, crow, and bison pieces, so I’ve been drawing a lot recently exploring these subjects in a way that stitch doesn’t allow due to time and material constraints.

The other project I’ve been working on is mastering Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop so that I can digitize my original art into repeat patterns, and designs for fabric, paper, household goods, and the gift market.

Any great advice for our readers?
Advice No. 1:  Don’t be afraid to go back to the fundamentals of art.  Take a beginning drawing, painting, lettering, or design class.  There is much to learn again and now you will see it through the eyes of experience.

Advice No. 2: Observe.  Be still, listen, what do you hear, smell, taste, see, or feel?  All of this information informs your artwork, study it and your work will reflect this valuable information.

Anything else you would like to share with us?
Don’t give up! If at first you are told no, just keep asking!  It took two years from the time I submitted my first design to the time I saw my first royalty check.  Don’t give up, these things don’t happen overnight!!!

Are you an early riser or night owl?
I’m a Night Owl and have been for the better part of thirty years now, my best works occur late in the evening/night when there are no distractions like a ringing phone.

What is your favorite food?
My current favorite food is Sushi and Raman bowls the real stuff not the stuff in the package.

You can find Kimberly:
www.kbaxterpackwood.com  
email  prairiefibers@hotmail.com
http://kbaxterpackwood.blogspot.com/
http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/kimberlybaxter_packwood
You can also find me on facebook, twitter, flickr, linkedin, instagram, and youtube @kbaxterpackwood

"Fear is an addiction to failure". - kbaxterpackwood

I REALLY appreciate all of you that help spread the word about my blog <3

Do you want to be spotlighted? Send me an email: info@AnnGraphics.com

Make my day and follow this blog :-D Don't want to miss the good stuff? Sign up for my newsletter ;-)

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.