The Classic Battle of Mac vs PC

Is there a difference? You betcha.

Superman vs Underdog, Batman Vs The Hulk, King Kong Vs Godzilla— in the age old and endless battles of battles I’m often asked, as an elder statesman of digital art— if there is a difference between MIcrosoft Windows and a Mac. In the olden days I used to say easily that Mac had the advantage, but then as the years went on and Microsoft upped its game (Windows 10 is a lot like Snow Leopard for Mac) I assumed the difference was minor.

Then Veronica bought a PC.

She bought a PC simply to play a series of puzzle video games she’s had for years and because PCs are SO cheap just use it as an external hard drive to hold all of her music and photos and free up space on both her Mac tower and her Mac laptop.

Well, my opinion is back to its original— if you’re planning on working digitally get a Mac. After an entire day of trying to get the new PC out of Windows 10 S which is a secure mode to prevent it from accepting any programs from outside the Windows Store it is abundantly clear here that you get what you pay for. And you pay a lot for a Mac don’t get me wrong, but in the long run it’ll run better, faster and you’ll get better results.
Mac’s are more expensive because they don’t clog the operating systems with tons of third party software, but in the end they are worth the extra 5-6x expense. Buy a PC now if you have to but save for a Mac and you’ll be shocked at how much more productive you’re going to be.

Comic Cons Behind the Scenes

With the popularity of TV Shows like THE BIG BANG THEORY and the Blockbuster hits of Marvel Studios comic con fandom has grown by leaps and bounds and more and more people attend these shows, even though a good chunk of them don’t actually read comics, there are still many die hard fans of the medium or of collecting comics in general and they can be fun.

I’ve written many Convention Reports over the years and have some folks asking for more details of what it’s like to be a guest at one of these shows. So here is an attempt to open the curtain a bit more;

Everyone attends a comic con for their own reasons, but it’s not a fair and even playing field by any means. Fans buy tickets to attend the show, some opt to pay more for VIP passes which allow them to get into the show earlier than other fans (usually a half hour to an hour before the show opens) but the uber serious comic collectors manage to get exhibitor badges which allow them to get into the show SEVERAL hours before it opens and even the day before when everyone is just setting up. Exhibitors are, for the most part, vendors selling wares be they old comic books, collectibles, etc. When they buy a space at a show they are given X number of badges for their helpers and often times one of those super collectors will help the exhibitor set up in exchange for one of these highly valued badges.

Artists have it slightly different; you are either setting up in Artists Alley where you’ve likely paid a small amount for your table OR you’re an invited guest of the convention and you don’t pay for your table and in most cases you are also comped hotel and travel to and from the show, many cons offer a meal stipend during the event and some even pay the artist to attend the event. The show we did in Minneapolis at the end of August flew us out, put us up in the convention hotel, covered all our meal and bar tabs and then paid us a fee as well as provided our travel to and from the airport. That particular show was an Anime Show, which is trying to incorporate more comic guests, and that was quite an experience which I will eventually write about here, stay tuned.

Rose City treats us very well, they fly us out, they provide us a hotel room, they provide us meals all weekend and they set up a very nice “green room” off the show floor which is constantly stocked with healthy snacks, coffee, tea and other beverages. They bring us in the day before the show starts and they fly us out the day after so we aren’t rushing to or from the convention center at all.

When you arrive at the convention on the first day to get your badges it can be difficult to figure out your classification, a Guest Badge is the highest rank at the show— you get treated like royalty and as soon as the volunteers realize you are getting a Guest Badge rather than a Pro Badge (given out for free to industry professionals) or an Artists Alley Badge they make sure you’re well taken care of. You’re assigned a handler who will help you to get to and from your various signings and panel appearances and they will even run out and get something for you if you need it.

All right, back to some behind the scenes intel; You’ll need to set up your table before the show opens, although I know many artists who just show up midway through a con to setup— I think this is rude, especially if the con has paid to bring you out. I like to arrive about 90 mins before the show opens, it doesn’t take that long to get your table arranged.

During the show you’ll be looking for things to do, one option is to offer hand drawn original art commissions. At the Portland Show I was thrilled that each and every commission I took was something I was happy to draw. A lot of Batmen, almost as many Sabrina’s and an Old Man Logan here and there. I even had a Frankenstein commission which is my favorite character of all time.

I often sketch while waiting for commission orders to come in, and I did this and then put it for sale online and sold it within a few minutes.

Commissions can be simple sketches or they can be very complex. I like to do tiers; 10 min, 30 min and 90 min sketches. The longer the time spent the more detail that can be worked in.

In between you’ll be signing copies of comics people bring— some creators charge for their signature. I’m against it. I’m told at a convention in India you’ll be signing endlessly and they’ll be buying little else, so in that case I’d consider charging a $1 or $2 to make my time worthwhile. It’s not the worst thing because a lot of the fans take your signed book and just flip it for a profit.

Now for the folks that pay for tables at Artists Alley— I’ve never done that. I’ve only done shows that gave me a table in the days before they went a step further and covered all of my expenses. I don’t like the idea of paying and all I can offer for advice is offer to do a sketch or something for the con organizers or donate a piece to whatever charity auction they’re running (most of them do one) to avoid paying a table fee. You’d be surprised at how many are happy to comp your table.

Doing these shows you’re going to want to resist the temptation to do more of these commissions than you can handle— simply because the money is good. I restrict only to what I can get done over the course of the show, which means Sunday morning I’m usually closed for commissions and wrapping up the ones I have. This past RCCC I did pretty well and was able to knock off a quick couple on Sunday— you’re also going to want to make sure you get up and walk around every 60 mins or so— sitting too long is very bad.

Stay hydrated— drink plenty of water and get some rest. Resist the temptation to go to the all night parties that a lot of artists and publishers attend. I know one creator who stays out until dawn and then struggles through the show— and he looks it!

Flight and Fashion

NOTE: I think this fits FREELANCE ADVICE— when I taught at Massachusetts College of Art— strictly teaching seniors— I helped to prep them for their coming success. My last class of FREELANCE was to have them come in dressed like I was an art director and somehow they managed to arrange a meeting to show me their portfolio. I’ve got a large advertising budget and do I want to trust it with this newbie?
The truth is with the internet and with freelance you’ll be judged 95% by your portfolio— but that 5% matters too— because if you look like a stoner or you look homeless you’re not getting hired because the art directors job is on the line.

Even though the days of in person reviews are pretty much over—you can run into opportunity— and how will you look? I can hear the screams of “you should judge” coming from many of my artist friends, but I live in the real world and impressions matter.

Been traveling a lot lately and I have to say that I saw more men dressed like Pierce Brosnan and David Beckham than I did guys dressed like Gumbah's but then avoiding the Newark Airport completely may have aided that.

Gumbah's (you might type it Goombah's-- but that's incorrect) are not exclusive to Jersey, Boston certainly has its share.  In fact, on the plane heading from Reagan National in DC back to Logan my wife and I sat across the aisle from each other (we both like aisle seats) and pretty much had our rows to ourselves-- but then a young man with Gum-tendancies plunked down a seat away from her and I figured we were in for a show.

Not so-- this young man pulled out a book, Raymond Chandler's LADY IN THE LAKE as a matter of fact, and he spent the flight immersed.  I was impressed.

Shameful that I instantly mistook him for a mouth breather-- but that's how he was dressed.  Because dear readers, we only get one chance to make a first impression.  Unfair or not, that is a fact, and you never know who is going to be standing next to you in a restaurant line, seated across from you in a plane or waiting in line at California Burrito at Reagan (excellent).  That first impression is your chance to impress.

I get airline travel is uncomfortable-- you're sitting in this seat for a few hours, you're sitting at the airport, you're going through security and because some moron attempted to make a bomb out of his Keds we all have to take our shoes off in the US (Ironically you DON'T take your shoes off at Japanese airports but you do take your shoes off almost everywhere else in Japan).

But I'd argue that comfort doesn't necessarily equate to pajamas-- if your clothes fit and they are the right materials you can be comfortable and still avoid looking like an unmade bed.

Some things I've learned in my nearly half century on the planet about travel:

1. No baseball caps.  This is a hard and fast rule for all men over the age of eleven.  You should not wear one ever.  Not backwards, not forwards, not ever.  You are trapping sweat and how often do you wash this thing?

2. No shorts.  Veronica found this out the hard way.  Planes are kept pretty chilly-- as are most airports.  Pants make a lot more sense.

3. Comfortable shoes.  I like to travel with two pairs of shoes-- the ones I'm wearing (usually slip ons) and another pair in my bag.  If I'm traveling light I only bring one pair but that's not great for your feet.  This past trip I wore my boat shoes (Sperry's to be exact) and they are the softest most comfortable shoes I own.  I will only wear these between May and October and then only in 75+ degree weather since they are made to be worn without socks.  Points off for me however because I ended up being barefoot in the airport going through security which means I'll have to boil my feet.

4. Layers-- layers are great-- weather changes and so do conditions, a sports jacket or a casual dress shirt over a nice T-Shirt works well to add or subtract for comfort.

5. The right pants-- since deciding I'll only wear shorts at the gym or around the house I've had to find warm weather pants-- linen is great but I don't like wearing light colored pants and I don't like wearing black pants so it's tough to find a pair that work-- but they are extremely comfortable.

Jeans-- did you know they are different weights?  I guess I did but I've only just discovered the joys of 9 oz jeans vs 14 oz jeans.  9 or 10oz Wrangler's breath and move with you-- I love 'em.  I'm a child of the 80s so stone washed is my favorite.

6. Stay classic and you never go wrong.  If you follow trends expect to find some pictures of yourself that make you laugh in a few years, stay classic and you'll always look good.

FREELANCER GUiDANCE - Handling Rejection

Rejection is a part of the creative lifestyle.
Nobody likes it, but handling it is a big part of whether or not you're even cut out for this.  The example I'm showing above is from Marvel Comics but this goes for any type of submission-- comics, novels, illustration-- you are going to send your work in and for some reason or another it's occasionally going to get rejected.  A few keys to remember:

1. It's NEVER personal.  They are rejecting your work, not you.  Learn how to separate yourself from your work and it'll be a lot easier to handle.  YOU are not your work, your WORK is not you.

2. Take constructive criticism.  The above letter is a form letter Marvel used to send out to slightly promising artists.  If your work showed more promise they might have hand written in some details as to what they thought needed work.

3. How much of a stomach do you have for this?  I myself got well over 200 rejection letters like the one above before I finally got hired.  TWO HUNDRED.  My routine was to send in a new sample packet every week so 200 means I did that for well over three years since sometimes I got more than one rejection letter at a time-- you see as I sent in samples I told the submissions editor I was wallpapering a wall in my studio with rejection letters so on occasion I'd get a stack of them.  My consistency with sending in samples (always new once I figured out what I was doing) showed them I wasn't going away.    It also showed that I could produce at least five pages a week working a full time job.

4. Keep at it or give up and find another career.   Some people prefer the life of a regular paycheck to the struggles of freelance.  Not everyone is cut out for this, but if you think you are then a little rejection isn't going to hurt you.

Next week:  I'll go over HOW to send in submission packets.

Andy Fish is a professional comic book artist and freelancer who's been doing this for a long time.  He also mentors and teaches other artists looking to make the jump to pro.  You can contact him (where he will answer not in the third person) at andy@andytfish.com

#5 GET PAID SON! - FREELANCE GUiDANCE: A 10 Part Series

The biggest magic trick the Freelancer ever pulled was convincing his client to actually pay him a fair wage.

You want to make it in this business, kid, you gotta get paid. So how do you figure out how what to charge?

You can turn to the Graphic Artists Guild Pricing Guide for some reference if you're just starting out. But unless you live in New York or LA (lower Alabama I'm not talking about) those prices are going to be spit-took when the client hears them.

So HOW do you get paid?  The easiest way is to negotiate with respectable clients.

First and foremost, make sure you agree up front (and in writing) that you WILL be paid.  Not only do I use a formal contract I also insist on ALL communication between me and clients to be via email-- why? Because then I have a paper trail-- I can re-read emails for project details and I have essentially a written correspondence regarding the agreement of trade. Keep the email conversation in a chain— i.e. so you can scroll back and see what was said. Update the Subject line so that you can find a particular conversation quickly. Just keep it professional and remember this is a client/provider relationship.

Cause that's what it is-- the client is trading you something (preferably cash) for your services to provide. 

When you first hang your freelance shingle up you're going to get approached by a LOT of people offering you work either on SPEC or "for the exposure".  Here's a cold hard truth-- unless that company offering you exposure is Time Magazine it's not worth it-- and guess what?  Time Magazine actually pays you for work so the point is moot.

This brings up the basic formula of work:

• 1. Work on Spec - You'll get paid after publication based on the number of copies sold because your work appears in it. I HATE these deals. HATE 'em. If you're going to work on SPEC then work ONLY on something you OWN. In the comics world writers can whip out a 22 page story in a day or two, an artist will take a month or longer if they have a full time job. Yet SO many writers and publishers of small companies offer you spec for payment with ZERO equity in the product. BAD. Make sure if you're providing the artwork you are getting a share of the profits. If you’re hired on spec to provide an illustration, or worse, for donation purposes (for exposure) make the image something that you could sell prints of afterwards to turn your time into money.

• 2. Work for hire-- You'll get paid up-front or upon completion but you will own nothing. You are solely providing a service, like a plumber installing a new bathroom for you-- they can't come over and use it any time they want just because they installed it. Same thing here, you do the work, you get paid and that's it. This is how the vast majority of publishing works.

• 3. Royalty Work-- You get paid up front or upon completion of the work and you will get a royalty based on the number of copies sold or you negotiate for additional payments if the image is re-used, or you set a limit to how often it can be used.

How do you negotiate?

I use a simple method when someone contacts me-- here's how I handle it and it works 85% of the time:

"Hi Andy-- we LOVE your work and we have (such and such) we think you'd be PERFECT for!  We were wondering if you'd have time and what such a project would cost?"

"Great! Thanks! What's the budget?"

That's as involved as it gets, now keep in mind there are a couple other factors--

A- I look over the project that they're talking about and make sure I understand exactly what it is they are looking to hire me for. I listen carefully to what they’re describing and trying to figure out if I can “see” what they’re looking for. If I can’t see it in my head as they describe it this might not be a good fit for me. But asking for their budget is essential.

B- I calculate a rough budget and time frame in which I can deliver it so I have a number in my head.

Now if that client has a project that I REALLY dig, or if they happen to make me laugh in the proposal AND they show that they've actually LOOKED at my work that will go a long way towards keeping my price down.  Steve Altes, when he reached out to me about his graphic novel GEEKS AND GREEKS, not only referenced specific works I'd done but he made me laugh. His online presence was tremendous and he happened to mention a record album he had been looking at that day- and by sheer coincidence I had looked at the same exact one (a vintage one at that) -- I knew it was instant Karma and this was a guy I not only wanted to work with but I found a new friend.

Ok, so about 85% of the time the client will come back with a budget they had in mind.  On the 15% of the time they don't I have to give them a number.  I've been doing this a long time so I can come up with a number pretty quickly.

I use a simple equation:

WHAT DO I NEED to pay the bills this month?

HOW busy am I?

How LONG will this take?

How badly do I want to do this project?

Let's say you pay yourself an hourly wage of $100/hour and that is what you consider your IDEAL rate.  Ideal= you're in good shape bills wise so it's okay if you lose this job. 

Factor in the number of hours you expect this to take (a good rule of thumb is to double whatever number you come up with because you're likely to underestimate how much work this'll be).

ASK and UNDERSTAND what your royalties will or won't be. If it's none then you need to up the price a bit.  If it's being used for commercial purposes what kind of permissions are you granting?  Someone who hires you to design a T-Shirt for a Cub Scout fundraiser shouldn't have to pay the same amount as someone who is hiring you to design a T-shirt for their website that they will then sell in perpetuity with no royalties on those sales.

This is the point where you're going to hear about the magic of exposure.  Exposure means you should do this cheap because of the fame you will gain.

I just don't buy into that.  I DO free work that I donate to Charity Auctions like Art In The City or the Boys and Girls Club.  I do it because I believe in the cause and if it's lead to any exposure no one has mentioned it to me. Full disclosure— I used to donate to a community medical clinic’s annual fundraiser— the pieces I would donate generated a good amount of money. One time back when I was starting out and I didn’t have health insurance I went there with an emergency and they turned me away. Note— the for profit hospital I went to next admitted me, so this was a serious situation. I tell them to get lost when they call me every year now.

In fact you can get a lot of exposure just by building yourself a decent web-presence, but that's next week's lesson.

All right so let's assume they've given you all the details of the project and you want to do it, and it fits in your schedule and it seems to be a good mix for you. 

You figure how many hours-- let's say 10 to keep the math easy-- double it because you know how bad you are at figuring how much work something is going to be and you have that hourly rate-- in this case $100/hour which brings us to a grand total of $2000/USD for 20 hours of work granting them whatever useage rights you are comfortable with. NOTE: Specify the currency you'll be paid in. USD = US DOLLARS. It's a world economy now.

A good rule of thumb is if they aren't going to pay you royalties then add 30% to the quote.  So now we're at $2600.  I'd also be comfortable giving them a 180 days exclusive rights to the image, after that it reverts to you so that you can use the image on your own product.  If they want to keep the image as an exclusive to them in perpetuity (essentially forever) then add a few more bucks to the job.

I like the rule of 1/3s for payment- so 1/3 up front for me to start, 1/3 at the halfway point and 1/3 at completion with the agreement that they get the final useable image with the final payment.

Meaning of course, that every file you send them for approval through the stages was at 72dpi and NO bigger than 500 pixels or so tall. This ensures they don't just take your prelims and run with it never paying off the balance owed.

Remember if you give them a price that's too high you can always lower your price, but you can't raise it. 

In that same vein, if you are in financial straights as this potential assignment comes in you can simply follow up your quote if you don't hear from them within a day or two and tell them it's negotiable if you were far off from the number they had in mind.

It's all about NEGOTIATION.

NOW WHAT ABOUT THE CLIENT WHO WON'T PAY ME?

It's going to happen, sooner or later. A client runs out of money before the balance is paid. Unless they file for Bankruptcy protection your best option is to file a civil case against them in your local court system.  In fifteen years I've never had to do this, but I've come close twice.  It's not hard to do especially if you have a contract and a paper trial of your conversations.  It's a simple filing fee and the clerks will usually walk you through it.  You'll have to see a constable or sheriff about notice getting served to the (likely now ex) client but that too will be explained to you when the time comes.

You should also use your instinct.  If a client comes to you with a project someone else had been working on in this day and age of the internet it's not hard to track down the previous creator and find out why the relationship ended.

If a client comes to you with a project that is scattered with fallen creators that should give you a pretty good insight into how smooth this project is going to be.  It certainly could be that this person is a great partner to work with and all those creatives were the guilty parties, but far more likely is that this is a difficult client who is never happy.

Add that to the equation when you're providing your quote (should you decide to work with them). 

I was approached by a client once who I was warned against by several friends who stated they were difficult and slow to pay.

When I quoted the job I did my usual hourly rate x hours x2 only I added ANOTHER X2 to the equation so essentially the quote was DOUBLE what I would have normally charged.

They balked at the price, I stuck to it-- they finally relented and we were off to the races.  They weren't the most difficult client I'd ever had but they were "tweakers"-- so there were a lot of revisions along the way.  They were also a committee which is another FLAG-- committees are slow to green light, slow to get back to you on the latest status look, and slow to respond to emails and that usually eats into the deadline.

If a project needs more than one person's approval I stipulate when the approvals need to be in hand in order for the project to come in on schedule.  This way I can point to this when we start running late.  I also insist on ONE CONTACT person from the group so I'm not getting multiple directions taking me all over the place.

By the time the project was over it had taken me twice as long to finish it as I'd projected-- good thing I doubled my quote.

When they came back for a new project I knew what I was getting myself into up front and used the same quote system.

BECAUSE SOMETIMES IT'S OK TO SAY NO.

No matter how much they like you, how much they love your work, how much they're willing to pay, how desperately they want to work with you.  Sometimes the right thing to do is to pass.

*OK so what about that HOURLY rate? $100 might seem like a lot or it might seem dirt cheap depending on where you live and how long you've been doing this Freelance thing.  Your best bet to discover the going rate in your area is to keep yourself familiar with the work being done in your industry.

Locally you can attend Chamber of Commerce and Business to Business events, but I find local means little money (at least here in Central Massachusetts-- I've found the same thing in Boston too).  So I keep my client base international via the web.

But network with other artists, find out what they're charging.  Look at ads via sites that advertise for freelancers and see what clients are paying.

A site like FREELANCED.COM can give you insight and fits of laughter too.  I'm always amazed at the number of people who will apply for a gig that pays something like $2 an hour. Amateurs no doubt, because a professional couldn't keep the lights on for that rate.

Meaning keep an open mind when perusing the offerings.  Like the reviews on Amazon, you have to weigh in the value of what the person is saying.

Which will take us to the next lesson:

NEXT UP- ESTABLISH AN ONLINE PROFILE

Andy Fish is a freelance artist and writer who has been living the lifestyle longer than there has been an iPhone on this planet. The advice given has worked for him, it might work for you, he hopes it does. But like all advice, take it with your own situation in mind. If you want to contact him shoot him an email andy@andytfish.com