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WHEN ARTWORK BECOMES COMMERCIAL

December 12, 2015/ Dave Messing / Advice & Art Tips / 8 comments

COMMERCIAL ART – “Art created for commercial purposes”

Getting inspired and being highly-motivated in your commercial art is an “art” unto itself. Inspiration and motivation are the primary components needed, followed by your God-given talent, skill, and experience, to complete a successful commercial art project.

Unbeknownst to you, your new client has, for a number of weeks, either been pulling ideas together, or forming ideas on a project that his boss wants done within a specified time period. And, now it’s time to call in the artist (that would be you…). You just parked your car, walked in the room and they are talking a mile a minute about their vision. You are absorbing, thinking, absorbing, thinking, and hoping you did not park too close to that guy who was too close to the yellow line outside. And you are required at this very moment to immediately engage just as enthusiastically as they are presenting their ideas. Time is not on your side. That’s when you need to GET WITH IT!

The possibilities of projects are endless, and some might involve: a commissioned painting; a pet portrait; a cartoon for a calendar; a caricature or a logo for a start-up business, or a business reshaping its identity. It could be a simple letterhead design; a set design, or props for a play. Maybe it is a cartoon for a business gala, or an author wants you to illustrate a children’s book, but not just any book – THEIR book! It’s all about them, you know! You are the service provider – the illustrator – the artist! It doesn’t matter what it is, or who it’s for – the point is that it is for someone else, a paying client where you must marshall all your artistic skill, get inspired and motivated, and fulfill their commission in a timely manner. 

UNEXPECTED EXPECTATIONS 

When I am asked to do a prop for a commercial, it usually goes something like this … I am at home digging post holes for my backyard fence when I get a phone call, and the guy on the other end has seen my work and wants me to be part of his commercial project. So there I am, covered in dirt and concrete dust, with half of my fence installed, and this guy who is hyperventilating on the other end of the phone wants to hold a production meeting in his office in an hour and a half!

For 25 years, I have been a commercial artist, set designer, set builder, prop, and miniature builder for film and print commercials. Here is how a photo shoot most often works. You get a call, usually in the middle of the week from a studio bidding on a print or film commercial. You now have to estimate how much money you need in material and labor and profit to submit a bid. If your bid is accepted, you get a call back a day or so later and find out the product arrives in town in two days and the studio booked the shoot in four days. You then call all your loved ones and tell them that you will be effectively unreachable for the next four days as you and your crew “burn the midnight oil” until the job is finished and shot. Even though the money was good and the insane time-crunch was exhilarating, you still had to get yourself inspired to fulfill the client’s hopes, the art director’s vision, the photographer’s requirements, and, finally the producer’s budget.  No pressure, though!  And that’s a wrap! The previously “hot set” (which means everything is perfect and nobody is to walk on the set) gets torn down and trashed in a matter of minutes!

Shtick = inspiration

I had the great pleasure of building six props for Tim Allen back when his show, Home Improvement, was so popular. This was a big contract and came with a lot of pressure. I had to imagine how Tim Allen’s character would build this prop.  That is, he would want “more power”; he would build it crude, yet functional, and, of course, hysterical-looking. It had to always seem as though it could spontaneously blow up or burst into flames at any moment. These props had to look like they might possibly … just maybe … almost work, yet be funny-looking and, as always, hazardous to his health. It was the “humor” and his comedy “shtick” that served as my inspiration.

This prop was to be a functioning remote controlled newspaper cannon that turns, telescopes out and shoots the paper up to the porch. I loaded it with plenty of pyro because the “gag” was that it had too much power and blasted thru his upstairs bedroom window

I have illustrated 10 children’s books in my career, and it is very similar to commercial art. The author has possibly had pen to paper for months, and in your very first meeting over coffee, you, as the illustrator, need to quickly get infected with their passion for their project. This is only possible via INSPIRATION. I have, with some of my most successful children’s books, while reading a few simple words on a page, formed the scene in my mind, styled the cartoon, the color, and the layout of the page within seconds. All that was needed was the time to create it.

Commercial art is different, and the mindset needed is passionate – passion from inspiration and motivation. So, whatever the commission, contract or winning bid, whatever you are asked to create for a paying client, you can make it a big part of yourself just as you breathe the “breath of life” via your inspiration, enthusiasm, style, and God-given talent.