Interview with Michael C. Hayes! (And the Lily Queen)

[This work belongs to Mike Hayes, a direct link from his blog.]

I am taking the time to thank Mike Hayes. 

[http://artofmike.com/] [http://michaelchayes.blogspot.com/]

For class we were asked to find an illustrator whom we admired very much and to interview them. Not only was Mike one of three that responded to my inquiry, but he was the one artist out of the 25 that I approached that I really hoped would reply.

He gave me a lot of wonderful advice and some great insight into the industry I hope to break into. He also gave me hope that traditional art isn't dead! I'm going to really dive into this, listing my questions, his responses and why I feel everything he said is so valid and important for students to know. (In case you didn't catch it, that is my warning that this is going to be a rather long journal entry.)

To give some excerpts from his thoughtful replies...

The Interview

• Kim: How did you put together your portfolio and did you select your work based on the markets, subject matter or style?

•  Mike: I started out targeting myself towards the gaming market.  (Trading card games and role-playing games).   First and foremost I only put my absolute best work, if I was unsure of an illustration I cut it out.  A.D.s in that market typically want to see very strong drawing and painting skills,  energetic and/or iconic figures,  strong figure ground relationships and silhouettes (card illustrations are reproduced at 2 inches,  so this is key for that kind of work) and an overall sense of "cool" that will appeal to the 16-32 year old male demographic.  I should also note that I didn't put together this portfolio from a pre-existing body of work (student work, figure drawings etc...)   I built it, from the ground up for this market.

[[I thought that this response by itself was brilliant. Most art students attempt to break out into the industry with work that they had from assignments that they had done all through their years of college. What they do not realize is that these works are a part of the process to become the professional that you dream and aspire to be. He approached the field he wanted to work in very carefully and selectively and made sure that he fit to their needs, a great way to ensure that you will work in the industry you love.]]

• Kim: What were the most difficult aspects of illustration in school, after graduation at the start of your career and now?
  

• Mike: They haven’t changed:  Coming up with a good idea/composition and getting stuff done in a timely manner. The better I get at the first, the higher the bar is for the next piece. The faster I paint, the more jobs I seem to get and/or more work I put into each piece.

[[I am so glad that the things I find important and work so hard on now are always going to be important. So many times, students around me seem to give up on their ideas. They stop working half-way through development and don't push themselves for the following works. I love that my passionate way of working and looking at this will help me on this path.]]

• Kim: What do you think the best tools are to promoting yourself as an illustrator?

• Mike: Good work, the single best thing you can do to promote yourself is to do really, really good work. People will take notice and talk about you if you do.  You do have to get it out there….  Internet communities, conventions, networking among artists, illustration annuals, mailers etc….   They are all solid options, but if you want to be remembered your work has to be memorable.  The best promotion in the world isn’t gonna help a ho-hum portfolio.

[[Oh thank God! No really. This made me laugh and made me really happy. I know my work isn't there yet, but I'm so glad that I'm not the only one that knows this! I've always struggled with my work being strong enough and, as he said, memorable. But reading this made me want to restart every project I was working on at that time and do it even better. This is great advice to all artists, never stop striving and working hard. Your work is will get itself noticed.]]

• Kim: What advice would you give to an illustration student?

•  Mike: 2 things: equally important:
  
  

  Work hard, very, very hard:  The biggest impediment to success I see amongst aspiring artists is just not taking it seriously enough.  This is an intensely competitive field and there is simply no room for anyone but the most dedicated.  Treat it like the Olympics or a major league sport. That is how hard you have to train.  I don’t know the exact numbers, but I am willing to bet that the ratio of “wanna-be’s” to “get-to-be’s” is probably the same in both fields. 
  
  
  Work smart, very, very smart:  I know people who have been drawing the same shitty ten drawings in their sketchbook for 5+ years.  They won’t look at reference because that is “cheating”, they won’t study anatomy because it is boring, and any criticism of their work is met with “that’s my style”. They put in the hours,  but get nowhere. You need to be the exact opposite of these people.  If your work isn’t improving and you are putting in the hours, then you are putting in those hours the wrong way and you need to change something.  You must take a proactive role in your own education.  You need to be constantly seeking out instruction, advice and criticism (and learn to differentiate the good from the bad). Use every tool available to you to help advance your skill.  Always be very aware of what you are doing and why you are doing it.  Always have that next level in mind and a plan on how to get there.  Always have one or two very specific aspects of your craft at a time you are paying extra attention to (anatomy, perspective, composition etc…).  Drawing is a very cerebral exercise, and like physical exercise it should both wear you out and produce results.  Simply moving your wrist and “getting the bad drawings out of the way” is not enough in the same way that doing a whole lot of walking will not get you to the Olympics. 
  
  

[[This response literally left me sitting in front of my computer staring with a huge smile on my face. The first point he makes made me nod in complete agreement, but his second point? Really inspiring. The frustrations that he voices are the exact ones that I have almost every day with artists who use "style" as their excuse for crappy art. And I'll have to say as many times before: Shit is not a style. I love how Mike looks at things, how he sees art and how hard he works on his own.]]

My advice to any artists working out there: professional, casual or otherwise. Work your ass off and make sure you're always kicking your own. We depend on each other in this world of collaboration. We inspire each other and need to make sure that we are always working hard, striving to learn, and excited to live.

[[I did not include the full interview. If anyone wants to know everything he said, send me an email and I'll send it. ;) I'm trying to keep some of it a surprise for the presentation I'm doing next week!]]

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ONWARD

I have to say I'm pleased with this work. I spent a great deal of time on it and I think it a good sign of the direction that I'm headed in. I still wish that this had been the last project for this class as it would have been a great place to stop at, but no! There is one more! And I'm going to try to make it be better than this one! :)  ( Cuz hey, what's the point if you don't keep striving to do your best? )

Please be sure to full view so you can see all the fun texture. :)

I feel like I have learned so much from these assignments and the process has really taught me a new way to think. The first one was the final for this assignment, and the second one was my practice sample where I tried out any thing I could think of to try differently with the technique that our professor showed us.

For the final, we have this weekend to work on it and it is due on Thursday of next week. I'm pretty nervous, but hey, it will be a good taste of what being a really illustrator is like, won't it?

Well, its Thursday today and technically a SCAD weekend. Happy Veteran's Day to all our Vets out there, thank you for your willingness and dedication to serve and protect our country. Not nearly enough people thank you<3

I must go now, a great deal of work lies ahead of me in this all too short weekend before finals. 

Good luck,

<3kim

[[not sure why the bullets are being odd in format, i'll fiddle with this later]]