News!

©Ben the Illustrator

Hello all,

I've recently been selected to design a Speakerdog for the upcoming 6th series. I'm really psyched! Papercraft has always had a spot in my heart, and knowing I'll be apart of something so cool makes me happy.

I've also been featured here! (well, I wrote it and submitted it...) Yay!

I've been actively trying to stay updated with all my online resumes and profiles and making everything look nice and pretty and neat. I've been applying to contests and for little freelance bits on craigslist and other sites. I'm really trying to use all of my resources to the fullest, and I've been meeting so many wonderful, talented artists.

I'm also reading a book called "How to be an Illustrator." It's INCREDIBLY helpful if you need to go with baby steps. I need shit LAID OUT WORD FOR WORD about how to do things or I'll panic that I'm not doing it right. So it helps to have advice and suggestions from another seasoned professional. It gets me pumped up to get things done. So I'd recommend it to anyone trying to get into the illustration field just starting out - the book is even written as though you were a college senior.

That's all for now! Etsy updates soon! Working on small paintings of Rainbow Brite, Princess Peach, Strawberry Shortcake, and Minnie Mouse. :)

I <3 vinyl toys.

I bought another book today! It was $29.95 at the MFA bookstore. I want allll the art books in the world now. I think I'm going to start an Amazon wishlist or something. Do those even work?

Anyways, I bought Full Vinyl by Ivan Vartanian. It's basically amazing. It has soooo many of my favorite artists in it, such as Junko Mizuno, Dalek, and Tokidoki, focusing on vinyl toys and supergraphic artwork.

One of my dreams is to make vinyl toys one day (something I'm looking into). The other is to be in awesome, kickass anthologies with other hip and happening artists. I just need to find people who are motivate enough and who have enough time. It'll probably have to wait until I get out of school. But it'll be awesome!

Anyone know a good place I can find books on clowns? I've tried the MFA bookstore, Barnes & Noble, the MassArt library, and Borders. Nada. I suppose I should just check online, but I kinda need it for Monday. Any suggestions?