Art Director List For Illustrators

Welcome!

Below is a comprehensive list of website I've personal used and approved. Helpful for emerging illustrators in the freelance community.
Enjoy!

Self-Promotion, Contracts, Building a Client List, etc.

Drawn + Drafted - Everything you need to know about building a client list, contracts, etc. Created by Art Director of Orbit Books Lauren Panepinto and artist and Art Director Marc Scheff. I highly suggest there free PDFs. They have a great Youtube channel too.
Art PACT - Offers sample contracts, articles, and company reviews. Free service.
Illustration Age - articles, podcasts, online classes, etc.
How to Invoice - Muddycolors.com

FanSocial Media Advice
It can be a slow process when trying to grow your social media presence. A growing following is useful for freelance illustrators who are trying to get their work in front of the right clients and connect with people who will share, buy prints, originals, merchandise, etc.

The 4 Essentials
Instragram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Usually I'll post on my Instagram, which will then post on all my other sites. I also use IFTTT, which will assists me in posting across even more social media platforms like Pinterest, Linkedin, etc. And if I'm posting from Instagram to Twitter, it allows a photos instead of a URL link.

Some Things to Remember

Know your Audience. Post consistent work. If you consistently post concept art, then that is what your audience was drawn to in the first place and that's what made them click the Follow button.
Connect Everything. Use IFTTT to post across all your social media. Always have links to your website and other social media platforms, so people can choose how to receive your information. Some people prefer Twitter over Facebook or Instagram over Tumblr.
Post Regularly. Post at least once a week. Every 3-4 days is best.
Engage. People want to get to know you, your artwork, and your process. Always try to respond to comments and engage in other people's accounts. Tell people thank you if they share your work or sales. Don't be shy to share other artist's work that you admire too and tag them.
Process Work. People love process shots and videos.
Share. Share your work with other accounts that post the same genre. Do your research.
Tags and Hashtags. Use tags to help people find your work. If you've created pop culture work, be sure to tag the creator, fan groups,actor, etc. See examples in the gallery (bottom left). Look at other artist's with large following and see what #hashtags and accounts they are using.
Online Challenges. I've seen accounts grow so fast by participating in challenges. InkOctober is a big one. Here is a PDF of all the challenges I know about: Monthly Challenges #hashtag List. A big thank you to Amanda Makepeace for collecting this information.
Leave a Trail. Add your website to EVERY jpeg you put out on the internet. Typically a low opacity website link that doesn't distract from the image (see examples here). Another extra measure is to have your name in the file title. For example, AshlyLovett_Title.jpeg
Create a Brand (hardcore marketing when you're ready) - Using your story to create a personality/brand. This webisode is helpful. Creating a Brand Story - 1FantasticWeek.

Security and Your Copyrights

Don't be a victim of hacking. Here is a good article to keep your accounts and personal information safe: Getting Hacked as an Internet Creator -Internet Creator's Guild
What to do when someone steals your artwork for financial gain:
Stealing Art by Greg Ruth. -Muddycolors.com
Understanding copyrights and the selling of fan art prints:
Intellectual Property II: The Wrath of Cons by Seth Polandsky - SethPolanskyLaw.com
Understanding what your rights are. Article includes suggested lawyers and other tools:
RESOURCES! Contracts, Copyrights, and Legal by Lauren Panepinto - Muddycolors.com
Fan Art. Should you sell it? Answers and other resources provided - Dear AD Tumblr

Exposure Opportunities

Online Submissions

Illustration Age
Illustration Friday
Juxtapoz Magazine
Hi-Frutose Magazine
Imagine FX Magazine
1xrun Magazine
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
DPI Magazine
Month of Fear
Month of Love

Annuals

Society of Illustrators
American Illustration
SILA Illustration West (online gallery)
Spectrum Fantasy Art Annual
Art Directors Club
Communication Arts
Infected by Art
Creative Quarterly

Online Contests

Contestwatchers.com
Jerry's Artarama
Artist Network

Convention & Seminar List

Comic/Gaming/Pop Culture

GenCon
Dragoncon
NY & LA Comicon
Wizard World
Emerald City Comic Con
Comicpalooza
Trojan House is a Unicorn

Scifi/Fantasy

Spectrum - book publishing
IlluXcon - gallery collectors, Focus on traditional

Editorial & Advertising

ICON

Useful or Just Fun Websites, Blogs, ect.

Muddy Colors - a must have daily dose of advice and art sharing blog
One Fantastic Week - weekly webshow interviewing artists, art directors, and more.
The Art Order - excellent articles and career development services
Creative Bloq - inspiration, articles, news, etc.
Little Planet People - Youtube channel from Schoolism teacher, Bobby Chiu
Anyone Can Improve at Art - Tumblr of artist's past vs present drawings.
Gurney Journey - hundreds of posts on art techniques, theory and history. AMAZING resource.
Tor/Forge Blog - keep up-to-date on today's top scifi &fantasy publisher.
Character Design Blog - collection of character designer interviews and their art.
Annyas.com - collection of movie stills from 1900-present. Great for composition studies.
Figure and Gesture Drawing - free website for timed figure and animal drawings sessions.
Faceout Book- created to appreciate the practice of book cover design.
Casual Optimist - Book covers, design inspiration, comics, publishing, and pop culture
The Book Archive - exactly as the title says.

Things I'd like to Add When I Have Time

Convention advice, online merchandise websites sources, newsletters, etc. coming soon.
Kickstarter and crowdfunded campaign advice coming soon.
Artist Representative advice and list coming soon.
Advice on Limited Edition print sales, giclee prints, archival inks, etc. coming soon.
Printing and shipping advice coming soon.
How to do your taxes as a freelancer, retirement fund, keeping the books, etc. coming soon.
Mounting and Framing Artwork coming soon, I do already have 2 blog posts on Fixatives and Mounting Paper on Wood.

Follow my social media for updates or sign-up for my Monthly Newsletter .

Children's Books Industry
• SCBWI Membership
I highly suggest joining the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) guild. It is a national organization with many very useful resources, which include grant and scholarships, local and national conferences, online forums, monthly bulletins, a membership profile page, etc. The biggest perk that is worth the yearly membership is their annual PDF handbook, which is updated regularly and lists all the big and small publishers within the US. It includes the publishers' contact information, publication type, what they are looking for, art director and editor information, etc. It also includes a lot of other useful information on how to submit to publishers, pricing, copyright information, etc. etc.
That book is gold.

• It is also smart to join local guilds, art communities, groups, etc. This way you can talk directly with people who have the same interests and goals. It is always about networking and getting your work out there and seen. Networking, networking!

Useful Websites
• Writing and Illustrating
• Children's Illustrator (includes useful interviews from Art Directors)
• Publisher's Weekly:Children's Books
•Publishing Trends
(more coming soon)

Want me to come give a talk at your school?

Contact me at alovett@ashlylovett.com if you'd like me to be a guest speaker for your illustration department.
I give talks to soon to be graduating illustration students. Presentations run from 1-6 hours depending on what package you want. Topics include how to build a client list, how to improve your online portfolio and online presence, social media, invoicing, contracts, cold emails to art directors, etc. Information applies to students who want to freelance or want an in-house job. On site or online web cam sessions optional. I know how difficult it is to enter this particular field and my mission is to help young artist navigate this exciting, but challenging career path. Past clients include College For Creative Studies in Detroit and The Visual Art Passage Way. Student and/or teacher referrals available on request.