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By now we should all know that to be successful in our industry you need to have an online presence. Freelance artists must promote their work in as many places as possible to gain exposure and attract as many clients as we can. This infographic made by the PrintRunner Blog shows statistics and sites that designers and illustrators can use to promote their portfolios.



It was originally intended for designers but it is definitely applicable to illustrators' work. They discuss using seven different sites to promote your work as well as statistics for each site. I have used most of these but a few I haven't tried yet. The sites are Carbonmade.com, behance.net, coroflot.com, dripbook.com, viewbook.com, deviantart.com, and krop.com.



The infographic discusses statistics for each site and the advantages of paying for each service. Most offer a free version but a few do not. It also talks about the pros and cons of each site, whether it offers mobile support and the site's community size. It also has a few best practices when showing your portfolio online. Here is the full infographic. Take a look at the graphic and decide which service you would like to use to promote your work.

 

For all those illustrators and designers out there that want to do publishing for the iPad but not write a line of code, Adobe is here to help, kind of. Earlier this year Adobe announced that it's Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) is now part of the Creative Cloud software collection.

Using DPS, illustrators and designers can mock up their projects in Adobe InDesign CS6 and then build a .folio file that can then be taken into the DPS App Builder, where then the app will be compiled. For the PC user out there, sorry, this app is heavily Mac-oriented because iOS apps can only be created on Apple computers (I'm guessing). This diagram shows how Adobe InDesign CS6 works with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite to provide an integrated workflow for publishing content to the iPad.



This updated version includes a streamlined workflow, quick testing between desktop and tablet with Adobe's iPad app, easy optimization for both the standard and Retina iPad screens, and apps can be updated after being approved for the Apple App Store.

This is Adobe's latest push to encourage users to migrate from software licenses to the subscription model. Adobe has built in a huge advantage for Creative Cloud subscribers by letting them build an unlimited number of apps for Apple’s App Store for the regular Creative Cloud subscription price of $50 per month. In contrast, InDesign users who are not subscribed to Creative Cloud must pay the usual $395 fee per iPad app. You read that right. Use Creative Cloud and its free to submit your app using DPS, but if you only have Adobe InDesign CS6 it will cost you $395 per app. Wow!

A quick side note. I feel like I've been beating on Adobe a lot lately and I feel like an Adobe hater, but thats not the case. I use their products everyday and I really enjoy them. We are just in a transitional phase where adobe is moving their products to the "Cloud" and I'm not sure if I'm happy about it. Ask me again in 3 years.

Read the full press release after the break.

Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition Available Today as Part of Creative Cloud Membership
Members Now Able to Deliver Digital Publications to iPad Without Writing Code

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 18, 2012 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the latest addition to Adobe Creative Cloud™ - Adobe® Digital Publishing Suite (DPS), Single Edition. DPS, Single Edition significantly simplifies the mobile app development process by enabling designers to create and deliver digital publications to iPad through the Apple App Store, without writing a single line of code*. Adobe Creative Cloud is a membership-based service that lets creatives download and install all of Adobe's creative desktop applications and also get online services for file storage, sharing, collaboration, and
publishing.

With DPS Single Edition, members can create single-issue content, such as brochures, annual reports or personal design portfolios, and submit an unlimited number of apps to the Apple App Store for publication, at no additional cost. This gives freelance designers, design agencies and small-to-midsize businesses easy access to the same core digital publishing technologies that leading publishers, such as Condé Nast, are using.

The new, enhanced workflow in DPS Single Edition makes designing and building single-issue apps easier than ever. Designers can use InDesign to create and build the .folio file and move directly from InDesign into the DPS App Builder (a Mac OS application), where the app is produced. When complete, the app can be submitted to the Apple App store through Apple's standard app submission process. Customers can also preview the app in real-time on their iPad, a time-saving feature to ensurean accurate look and feel, and update their Single Edition apps at no additional cost after they have been submitted to (and approved by) the Apple App store.

Quotes
David Wadhwani, senior vice president and general manager, Digital Media Business, Adobe:
"Adobe Digital Publishing Suite is helping the publishing industry as well as corporate publishers by enabling them to transform their print publications into beautiful digital experiences. With the inclusion of unlimited publishing of singleissue apps to iPad for Creative Cloud members, Adobe brings this capability to freelancers and design shops as well as corporate publishers. Adobe is delivering on our promise to keep Creative Cloud members ahead of the curve."

Graham Peace, founder, Graham Peace Design:
"Publishing my portfolio as an iPad app using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition has proven to be an incredible value and enabled the teams I work with to transform and present my work in ways I never imagined. Including DPS Single Edition as part of the Creative Cloud membership gives me endless possibilities to use the latest apps, software, and services to create, update, and publish individual iPad portfolio apps that will help me win future
clients."

About Adobe Digital Publishing Suite
Digital Publishing Suite is a set of turnkey hosted services and viewer technology that tightly integrates with Adobe Creative Suite 6 products and Adobe Creative Cloud. Using Digital Publishing Suite in combination with Adobe InDesign CS6 allows traditional media publishers, corporate organizations, ad agencies as well as individual freelance designers and small design firms to publish, distribute, monetize and optimize a new class of innovative digital magazines, newspapers, ads and corporate publications on leading tablet devices. The Digital Publishing Suite is available in Enterprise, Professional and Single Edition offerings.

For more detailed information about product features, pricing and language versions, please visit www.adobe.com/digitalpublishing. Additional information about Digital Publishing Suite is on the Digital Media blog. Connect with the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/adobedigitalpub and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/adobedigitalpub.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition is available as part of Creative Cloud membership or on Adobe.com for US$395 as a standalone product**. Adobe Creative Cloud membership for individuals is US$49.99 per month based on annual membership and US$74.99 per month for month-to-month membership. Pricing for education customers and customers who upgrade from previous versions of Creative Suite is US$29.99 per month.

For more detailed information about product features, pricing and language versions, please visit www.adobe.com/go/dps.

Last weekend I finished up my Gesture drawing class at Schoolism.com with Alex Woo. This is the second class I've taken at this site and so far I've found both classes to be very helpful. The first class I took at Schoolism was character design (Read my review of that class here). When I took my first class I took it as the Video Feedback option where you take the course, watch the videos, do the homework and then the instructor gives you a 5 to 10 minute review of your work. I found the video feedback very helpful but it was double the price. This time trying to save a few bucks I took the class as a Self-Taught. Self-Taught classes let you work at your own pace and take the lessons whenever you want with in a 3 month window. My thoughts on the Self-Taught version vs the Video Feedback classes in a bit. First lets talk a little about Gesture drawing with Alex Woo. 

Alex is an award-winning story artist and one of the instructors at Pixar, teaching gesture drawing to their artists and animators. Alex has adapted his Pixar class into an 8 lesson curriculum. In this course, the video version of Alex walked me through breaking down the fundamentals of gesture drawing into 7 foundational topics. The foundational topics went as follows: Lesson 1: Line - Distilling the pose to its essence, Lesson 2: Shape - Abstracting the pose, Lesson 3: Silhouette - A clear read, Lesson 4; Space - Creating depth and dynamics, Lesson 5: Exaggeration - Pushing and pulling a drawing, Lesson 6: Extrapolation - Seeing beyond the surface, and Lesson 7: Story - Giving your drawings context. Each lesson consisted of Alex talking for 5 to 10 minutes about this session's approach and then a 20 minutes of Alex drawing and talking about his philosophy. One side of the screen was a video of a model doing 30 second poses (the pose length changed with the topics) and the other half was of him drawing. Once the first half was completed Alex would give you a 5 minute break and then the class would continue with another 20 minute session, but this time you would just draw on your own applying what you had learned in the first 20 minutes. Each lesson followed this same structure. A small nit pick I had was that they reused the same videos of the model quite a bit. Which didn't really matter all that much because each time you saw the same video you would be looking at it for a different reason, but at the same time I kept having the feeling like I had already drawn this before. After the last session Alex would assign homework which normally consisted of 2 hours of cafe drawing (drawing people on public places) applying what you had learned and a few other assignment sprinkled in. Here are a few of my drawings for the course. Please don’t mind my scribbles I only had 30 seconds to get each pose and some of the poses felt really quick.



One of the things Alex wanted us to do was to find the story in every pose and not just to copy what we saw. When I took figure drawing in college I remember someone saying about one of my drawings "thats a great drawing, but it doesn't look anything like the model." I was never very good at photo realism and thats why this approach resonated with me. I've got to say I found Alex's approach on gesture very refreshing. The sessions I found most eye-opening were distilling the gestures into a single line of action and finding stories in your gesture drawing. I never thought about applying these processes to my images, now I find myself doing it all the time.



About the two different approaches to the classes. First off the self-taught class was a fine way to take the course. I feel I got most of the information, but I think it would've been great to receive feedback on my drawings. Then again the self-taught class was half the price and there was no time limit, so I could just take the class at my leisure. I did find the three month time limit a little short. I would have liked to have gone back through these courses one more time before my time ran out. After the three months you cannot view the videos again, whereas with the instructor led courses the videos stay around for the length of your account, I'm assuming. As for the instructor led courses I think this would be the preferred way to take the class. It was great to get feedback and I found the instructors comments very helpful. I did find that with the self-taught classes you could watch previous students feedback videos, so you did get to see a little bit of feedback just not on your work.

Gesture drawing with Alex Woo was an amazing class and I was astonished by how much I learned and now apply to my everyday drawings. If you've ever considered taking a class with Schoolism I would recommend both of the classes I've taken so far. Personally, I might start with gesture drawing but that's completely up to your own tastes. Since I’m a Schoolism Alumni I can get you a small discount. If you're interested follow the link here to get the discount code.

This month as a holiday gift Schoolism and Bobby Chiu are offering a free audio stream of Bobby's book The Perfect Bait. The Perfect Bait is an audiobook about finding your natural style and creating demand as a creative artist. This is how he describes his book:

 

"When I was a student in art school, I had an idea of making a book. It would be about how to become a successful artist, as seen from the viewpoint of somebody who wasn't successful yet.

Over the next ten years, I wrote down all the thoughts and methods that worked for my career, so that one day, if I ever DID become successful, I would have a "step by step" of how I did it. During this time, I've been very fortunate to do a lot of the things that I've always wanted to do, and live the way that I wanted to live.

In addition to doing art, I've also been lucky enough to meet some of my favorite artists, each very successful in what they do, and interview them at length. In learning their stories, I felt that it was time to put this book together."

 

Personally, I've been wanting to listen to this for a long time. To be honest I only found it this morning, so I'm only about a half hour into it. It's amazing to me how much information Bobby Chiu shares with the art community. For him to have the foresight to start taking notes from the beginning of his career and then compile it into a useful manual for others for inspiration and guidance is really impressive. Then to build other relationships with well-known artists and bring their voices in is equally amazing. The other voices include Chris Sanders, Peter DeSeve, Lynn Johnston, Dylan Cole along with many more well-known artists.

If you want to make an impact in this industry and just be inspired you should give this book a listen. Hey it's free until January 10, 2013. To give the book a listen follow the link here.