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Ray Frenden



Last Updated: 8/18/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 28
Sign: Libra

City: Chicago
State: Illinois
Country: US
Signup Date: 10/13/2006

Blog Archive
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography
Now that I’ve gone traditional, using my Cintiq is a drag. The 1/4″ of offset between the stylus and my cursor paired with a fair amount of lag makes for a frustrating drawing experience.

I’m glad I started digitally. It afforded me the luxury of mistake making and experimentation. As my control of lines has gotten better, though, I make less mistakes and have started to want more accuracy out of my tools. In other words, my capabilities are not the problem now – it’s the tablet that is slow and inaccurate comparatively.

Case in point, a cheapie, #6, sable-round on cardboard gives me more control than a $2000 Cintiq and three $60 styluses (paired with $5400 worth of a MacPro, extra hard drives, and a 24″ secondary display).

That setup is beaten by a $5 brush. Deeeeepressing.


2:11 PM 
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Thursday, August 13, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography
I’ve said before that it’s become increasingly difficult to make an honest living as an illustrator. Print is dead, taking a large swath of possible clients with it. The tubes move too quickly making custom illustration for articles an unlikely occurrence. Prices have been driven into the ground by a sea of amateurs gleefully accepting spec work and companies eager to exploit them. It’s on that latter point that I want to provide a new example to back-up my statements.

I get a lot of emails from large companies looking for spec work. Most of the time, there is an implied confidentiality. A smattering of text on the bottom of the email indicates that it’s for my, and the 300 other recipients’, eyes only. Posting the contents of the email to my blog would only get me sued. Billabong’s Art Director, Aaron Hennings, included no such text.

Large companies are exploiting illustrators. They use the lure of working with an established brand to engage in unethical business practices. But don’t take my word for it, take Aaron’s:
Billabong is looking to supplement the Men’s T shirt collection with fresh freelance art by new designers. You have been selected and invited to be part of the freelance submission process.
Take a look at the attached .PDF and let me know if I can answer any
questions. Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing some great work.
We review new submissions every week, so the deadline is on going. However, we do have a limited number of designs we can include each season, so sooner rather than later is better.
Regards,
Aaron
Aaron Hennings
————————
Art Director
Billabong USA
117 Waterworks Way
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 753 7222 tel. x3292
Here’s the attached PDF. I’d suggest you take a look at it. They even provide a nice tee template for forking over your multitude of Billabong branded, spec generated designs.
I know a half dozen or so other illustrators who got this email. Luckily, most agree that doing spec is bad. Some don’t. Please, don’t be one of those illustrators. Your decision affects us all.
4:42 PM 
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Saturday, August 01, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography
I’ve been trying to draw through my forms. This is a tip gleaned from Scott Robertson’s videos on perspective. He suggested drawing past the point you’re trying to hit while still hitting it. Drawing “through” the form. I’ve been doing that when drawing in perspective, but I’ve started to use the technique in my life drawing with organic figures. Paired with the square-boundary, outline-your-figure philosophy, I feel like I’ve found a way of quickly, loosely jotting down ideas that suits my arm.



Fluid strokes are important in my style of work. Analog, most people “push” lines away from themselves. Digital, I tended to “pull” lines towards myself. I’d start fast, with light pressure, and slow down, with heavy pressure, if the line were, say, a feathered halftone.

Now that I’ve been drawing traditionally, I get more fluid, natural strokes with a “push” (again, dragging the stroke away as you draw). Working traditionally has taught me this, and It’s helped a ton. Draw from your shoulder and elbow, not your wrist. It takes some getting used to. You won’t be as good this way, likely, to start. The end result is fluid, pretty strokes.

Stock Carpenter Race





Art directed by J.L. Vara of Dutch Southern, it was a fun job to revisit the characters of Carpenter movies past. I’m a huge fan, from Thing, They Live, Christine, to Big Trouble in Little China and, guiltily, Ghosts of Mars, there’s little he’s touched that isn’t worth a tribute or two. It’s up for sale if you feel the same.
A little process from this guy:







7:47 PM 
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Saturday, August 01, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography


Back of the tee for my wife’s TNR charity (trap, neuter, return – it’s for feral/stray cats).
We don’t want to spend the charity’s money on tees, so I kept it to one color. We need something, though, to look more official when we’re out doing our thing.

7:45 PM 
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Thursday, July 09, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography
Coincidentally, I was just told a podcast where I ranted about the evil of spec work is now live. I’ve yet to listen to it myself, so be forewarned that I probably cuss and speak in a fast, nervous manner. Mork with a potty mouth.

The Work in Progress podcast is produced by a few close friends of mine and I definitely recommend checking it out and would do so even if it didn’t prop up my fragile ego. :)
9:31 PM 
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Thursday, July 09, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography
Google launches Creative Commons filtering for it’s image search service.

I worry Google will give people a false sense of entitlement depending on the level of accuracy of the service.

On a quick test search, my first using the service, the word “illustration” returns the following “commercially usable, modifiable” images.

Take this result. It’s a “Creative Commons” image embedded in a Flickr set featuring an illustrator’s copyrighted work. The user has it labeled for both modification and commercial reuse, but I’m guessing the illustrator’s estate (as marked in the Flickr photo’s comments) wouldn’t want others to take his image and slap it on the side of a product. Confusing to searchers.

It supports my theory that improperly marked, “found” images from third parties could cause a headache for illustrators, photographers – any content creators really.
That, and might it give unscrupulous designers an excuse to rip off work for reuse? Maybe?
I’m not anti-Creative-Commons, I just have concerns with this particular service. Playing devil’s advocate here. Yahoo has been doing this for a while and the sky hasn’t fallen…
9:29 PM 
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Thursday, July 09, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography
quakerninja: Have you without giving names found higher paying clients to be more or less douche’y as a whole, then lower paying clients or is the douche level about the same.
I wonder of there is a correlation between price and douche.
My theory is that it is about equal but for differing reasons.
I think a low douche would think that we art types should work for free and thus be happy for scraps, where as a high douche would feel entitled to own you because they are paying more.
Typically, and this is not ALWAYS the case as there’ve been notable exceptions, the price one expects to pay is inversely proportional to the amount of douchehood.
The cheapest clients want the most changes for the least money. They seldom have a clearly defined image and you end up hunting and pecking for little monetary compensation.
Big clients hire you because they are intimately familiar with your work, know what to expect, let you do your thing while providing solid input thanks to having an Art Director worth their office chair, and pay well.
Cheap clients are like mean people. They suck.
9:26 PM 
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Wednesday, July 08, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography
jimiyo (Art Director, Design By Humans – Ed.) said: I have no problem with spec or contests, because it got me where I am today, and also it affords me the freedom to create as I wish, become better at art, and maybe eventually get paid for it. (Emphasis mine. -Ed.) I don’t expect to get paid, so it’s more the better when I do win and get paid.

Something more important!

Crowdsourcing, being undercut, etc is inevitable. The game is changing even in the freelance world. Because of the global economy and the internet, the competition will get even more fierce.

If you view the participants of the contests, you will see more and more international artists participating. Artists from countries who’s exchange rate makes it much more profitable for them to haul ass to even win just ONE contest, or to do freelance work for much cheaper than an established artists from a richer nation.

As they begin to proliferate into the freelance world, you might find yourself being undercut by cheaper artists as well. I notice this escalation of threats becoming enabled in many areas. Cheaper computers, easier to use software, easier digital transferring of art.

So what’s the solution?
Better work your ass off doing whatever you can to make a name for yourself, or get out the kitchen.

Art is mostly subjective, and becoming famous in art is also largely based on becoming known, after a certain point, not for skill level, so it is possible.
The cheese is moving ya’ll.
_______
P.S.
Someone is going to win money from the DBH contests, or Cameesa contests.Someone is not going to win money from he contests, but will have done one or two more pieces of art, and having done so, become better at art, than someone who didn’t. DBH… also has contests that you don’t have to use logos for… like the 10K. Just saying. I’ve transitioned at least 6 designs from Quiksilver/KOL into regular paying DBH or TF designs. So smart artists, say like… Mr Rocks, https://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/58013, might have himself a win regardless if it was entered into a “sponsored” contest.

We tried to promote the fact that you can still win without using logos, so calling out DBH is somewhat biased. We are not just asking for art without specific logos, etc IF THE ARTIST so choses. It’s very similar to Threadless’s PreLoved VolksWagon sponsored contest.
I sure hope I maybe, eventually, get paid too! Le sigh. Enough on Spec for one day. Time to draw some shirts.
6:49 PM 
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Wednesday, July 08, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography
I don’t know about you, but I’m having a hard enough time making a living from illustration in the current economy. The ever growing list of crowdsourcing, spec-generating sites like 99Designs has added another to its tally, Cameesa. This is a particularly hard pill to swallow. Cameesa’s crowd-funding philosophy was almost an ubuntu-esque, anti-spec treatise. Enter “Operations.” “Operations” on Cameesa let entities create requests for designs. From their own copy:
How it works? … Artists submit their Ragnarok Tee designs. … Members financially support an unlimited number of their favorite designs with $10+shipping. … Artists & Supporters are rewarded with ongoing dividends and t-shirts (once a designs hits $500). Read the full details OR Start supporting.
Screenshots from the current system:



Most designers are not picked and spend many hours working for the entity’s “theme” for free. They end up with designs for a specific entity that are not applicable for resale in most cases. This is much different than creating personal works that can be used elsewhere should the designs not be chosen for print. How likely is it that a Ragnarok games based design will be usable for another purpose? I have similar issues with Design By Humans’ “themed” contests that often require work to be created on spec for large clients. Incubus and KISS, really? Good luck selling the Gene Simmons design elsewhere! I’m sure you won’t be sued into oblivion; perhaps that’s the final fuck you to the designers leasing their souls one entry at a time?

I tweeted a succinct, if vulgar, summary of my feelings on Cameesa’s “Operations” program and received a reply from Andrew Cronk, who created a thread on Cameesa to address possible concerns. Let Cameesa know how you feel there.

Designers lose, entities win. Spec-alike, for sure. Crowd-funded? More like crowd-sourced!
3:59 PM 
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Wednesday, July 08, 2009 

Category: Art and Photography


My work has been getting tighter, slicker, cleaner and I felt as though it were distilling into a bit of a “house style.” See above. I really admire the flexibility of the old school, iron-man, Jack-of-all-trade illustrators. The sorts of guys Leif Peng rescues from the depths of near obscurity, making us all feel less capable in comparison.

My own sources of inspiration are probably obvious based on my work. I’m a huge fan of Bernie Wrightson, Wally Wood, Milton Caniff, Johnny Craig, Frazetta, Alfredo Alcala, John Romita – I could go on and on.

I’ve been learning so much from them all. Between Bridgman’s collected books on anatomy and mass, Harold Speed’s great The Practice and Science of Drawing, and the constant specter of those aforementioned illustrator’s flexibility, I’m allowing myself to take more chances. Painterly work. Mass drawing. Lletting style be the result of fulfilling a need rather than a means to an end – a true designer’s philosophy towards illustration, is something I strive for.

With that in mind, I’ve been trying to branch out:














3:55 PM 
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