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Read more about the article Is There A Difference Between Depth and Volume in Two-Dimensional Design?

Is there a difference between depth and volume? And, if so, how are they different? This question was posed during a classroom discussion…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingIs There A Difference Between Depth and Volume in Two-Dimensional Design?
Read more about the article Year-End Planning For a Propserous New Year

Planning is necessary for any business owner. Going through an end-of-year assessment in order to set up for the next can lead…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingYear-End Planning For a Propserous New Year
Read more about the article How To Design A Drawing

An Eye Level reader wrote: What would be the forward steps to draw realistically, in correct proportions, from imagination? Especially imaginary (though…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingHow To Design A Drawing
Read more about the article Firing A Non-paying Client Is Not Burning A Bridge

From the Freelance Road Trip mailbag: A Freelance Road Trip (FRT) member shared an experience with a non-paying client. The member gave…

  • Post category:business/client relations/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingFiring A Non-paying Client Is Not Burning A Bridge
Read more about the article Drawing Basics: How To Find Angles and Proportions In Linear Perspective

This article is Part Two in a series of tutorial articles explaining linear perspective from a visual, non-technical approach. By visual, I…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingDrawing Basics: How To Find Angles and Proportions In Linear Perspective
Read more about the article 5 Outreach Steps For Winning Better Clients

Successful freelancing is a matter of finding the right clients in the right places for the right reasons. Every client you take…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue Reading5 Outreach Steps For Winning Better Clients
Read more about the article Drawing Basics: A Visual Approach to Linear Perspective

This is the first of a series of tutorial articles dealing with linear perspective. Read Part Two here. And there there's Part…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingDrawing Basics: A Visual Approach to Linear Perspective
Read more about the article 5 Limiting Lies Freelancers Should Stop Believing

Successful soloism is about 80% mindset and 20% mechanics. I’ve learned from experience that you can get the mechanics right, but still…

  • Post category:design/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue Reading5 Limiting Lies Freelancers Should Stop Believing
Read more about the article Fundamentals of Value Contrast

Light and Dark Value is the term used to describe lightness and darkness of color in design and art. Our ability to…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingFundamentals of Value Contrast
Read more about the article Doing Good Work and Working for Good

On his Dear Design Student blog on Medium, Mike Monteiro, design director at Mule Design, author and speaker, discusses designers and their…

  • Post category:client relations/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingDoing Good Work and Working for Good
Read more about the article The Line Between Doodling and Drawing

While I think that designers in general should be able to draw well enough to communicate their ideas, (Von Glitska @Vonster tweeted…

  • Post category:art/design
Continue ReadingThe Line Between Doodling and Drawing
Read more about the article Idling and Acceleration: The Four Cs of Moving Forward

I’ll get to it when I’m ready. I’m sure you’ve had the experience of planning to get something done and then putting…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingIdling and Acceleration: The Four Cs of Moving Forward
Read more about the article How Paying Attention Helps You Draw Better

I want to preface this by saying that as you learn and apply design principles, and gain experience with organizing elements within…

  • Post category:critique/design
Continue ReadingHow Paying Attention Helps You Draw Better
Read more about the article Why Branding Is Crucial If You Want To Be Profitable

Creative freelancers invest time and effort carefully crafting brands for their clients. In regard to their own brands, they often come up…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingWhy Branding Is Crucial If You Want To Be Profitable
Read more about the article Portrait Sketch Tutorial: Bonita at 102

Older people provide a varied facial landscape to draw. In many ways, it's easier to describe the external contours when there are…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingPortrait Sketch Tutorial: Bonita at 102
Read more about the article 4 Onboarding Steps For Successful Client Relationships

So you have a brand-new shiny client that you're excited to be working with. You're looking forward to helping them achieve their…

  • Post category:design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue Reading4 Onboarding Steps For Successful Client Relationships
Read more about the article How To Draw A Hand

In this Sketchbook Session I demonstrate my approach to drawing a hand. I start by sketching the general structure and overall shape,…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingHow To Draw A Hand
Read more about the article 10 Proven Networking Strategies for Introverts (and Everyone Else)

Building a business requires connection with people: prospective clients, colleagues, mentors, customers, and sometimes even family members. When we connect, we share…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue Reading10 Proven Networking Strategies for Introverts (and Everyone Else)
Read more about the article How To Create A Complementary Color Scheme

Are you ever unsure how to create a color scheme? Do you tend to use color directly from the tube because you…

  • Post category:tips
Continue ReadingHow To Create A Complementary Color Scheme
Read more about the article Keys to Building a Better Portfolio

Art and design students focus on developing their portfolios during the final terms of their education. The portfolio is the most important…

  • Post category:design/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/tips
Continue ReadingKeys to Building a Better Portfolio
Read more about the article Color Basics: 10 Absolute Truths About Color

Color is fundamental to life. We not only see color, we experience it. To apply color appropriately in art and design, you…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingColor Basics: 10 Absolute Truths About Color
Read more about the article 3 Types of Freelance Contracts and Which Ones to Avoid

Because pretty much everything runs on design and other forms of visual communication, the role of the visual communicator (designer, illustrator, photographer)…

  • Post category:art law/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue Reading3 Types of Freelance Contracts and Which Ones to Avoid

One of my latest illustrations is a portrait of Albert Pujols, who plays first base for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim…

  • Post category:art/Process
Continue ReadingNumber 5: Illustrated Portrait Step-by-Step
Read more about the article Creating Rituals To Do Significant Work

I recently read Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, in which the author, Cal Newport, makes the case for engaging…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingCreating Rituals To Do Significant Work

Whether drawing from photographic reference or from life, we can easily adopt what I call a line-by-line approach to drawing. We look at…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingAdd Energy To Your Drawings With Structural Syntax
Read more about the article Making the Most of a Creative Review

You can get more out of a creative review than just a go-ahead to move to the next phase of the project.…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingMaking the Most of a Creative Review
Read more about the article The Art of Influence: 5 Ways to Affect Your Outcomes and Attract Clients

If you want to be successful, you need to be influential. Influence can be positive or negative, and everyone has influence. The…

  • Post category:design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingThe Art of Influence: 5 Ways to Affect Your Outcomes and Attract Clients

There are two ways color is mixed to make new colors. One is commonly known as admixing. The other is optical mixing,…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingOptical Color Mixing
Read more about the article Do You Need A Marketing Plan?

Q: As a freelancer, do I need a marketing plan or can I just wing it? A: Indeed, you do need a…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingDo You Need A Marketing Plan?

Light logic is a system of using value pattern to create the illusion of real space and form. It is simply the idea…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingIntroduction to Light Logic

Whenever we create design and art we are composing. Composition is the make up, arrangement or structure of a work, whether it's…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingCreating Compositions That Communicate
Read more about the article Create A Social Media Connection Strategy

When you’re in business, you use social media differently than you do personally. I was an early adopter on many social media platforms…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingCreate A Social Media Connection Strategy
Read more about the article A Freelancer’s Guide To Retainer Agreements

When you work project-to-project, you can experience inconsistencies in your schedule and revenue flow. One way to mitigate those gaps is with…

  • Post category:design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingA Freelancer’s Guide To Retainer Agreements
Read more about the article Blue Steel: Anatomy Of A Portrait

In my article, Show Your Work, I talk about how showing your creative process increases your value to clients. If you are…

  • Post category:Process
Continue ReadingBlue Steel: Anatomy Of A Portrait
Read more about the article Using Visual Planes in Design and Art

Planes are probably one of the least known formal elements of design outside of the classroom, but understanding what they are and how…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingUsing Visual Planes in Design and Art
Read more about the article Contracts Protect the Freelancer and the Client

As I write this article I'm in the middle of a contract negotiation involving copyright and licensing of one of my character designs.…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingContracts Protect the Freelancer and the Client

The first 3 1/2 months of the year are known in the US as tax season. If  you are an independent creative professional,…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingTaxing Topics: A 9-Point Q&A For Your Schedule C
Read more about the article 5 Surprising Things You Didn’t Know About Color

Although we see in color, have favorite colors, and use color for practical reasons every day, we aren't necessarily aware of what color…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue Reading5 Surprising Things You Didn’t Know About Color
Read more about the article How To Show 3D Volume in 2D Space Using Spatial Devices

  How to create space… specifically, how to create the illusion of volume in 2-dimensional art and design. In this tutorial I…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingHow To Show 3D Volume in 2D Space Using Spatial Devices
Read more about the article Drawing Basics: Portrait Drawing Tutorial

A demonstration tutorial from my sketchbook using a bearded man as the subject.  

  • Post category:tips
Continue ReadingDrawing Basics: Portrait Drawing Tutorial
Read more about the article 3 Reasons Why Creative Freelancers Should Go Bold Or Go Home

A long time ago in a faraway place called Pasadena, CA, I sat in a classroom and heard my instructor say, “You…

  • Post category:advice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue Reading3 Reasons Why Creative Freelancers Should Go Bold Or Go Home
Read more about the article 10 Items On My Don’t-Do List

I keep a Don’t-Do list. I spend most of my efforts on my to-do lists, agendas, and getting things done,  but a few…

  • Post category:advice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue Reading10 Items On My Don’t-Do List
Read more about the article Leads and Referrals — What’s the Difference?

Early in my freelance journey I joined a business networking group through my chamber of commerce for the purpose of generating leads and…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingLeads and Referrals — What’s the Difference?
Read more about the article Drawing Tip: The Ears Are Pivotal

These 2 drawing tips from my sketchbook are all about ear position and human head proportions. First, let's look at the head in…

  • Post category:tips
Continue ReadingDrawing Tip: The Ears Are Pivotal
Read more about the article How to Freehand Draw a Tetrahedron Using Linear Perspective

  • Post category:tips
Continue ReadingHow to Freehand Draw a Tetrahedron Using Linear Perspective
Read more about the article This Is A Pencil

https://youtu.be/0MowEmVwHRIPencils are so common that we use them without thinking much about them.When it comes to drawing, we become much more aware of the…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingThis Is A Pencil
Read more about the article Should Freelancers List With Online Business Directories?

Q: As a freelancer, is it worth having business listings like Yelp and YP? A: It depends upon what directories you choose and…

  • Post category:advice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingShould Freelancers List With Online Business Directories?
Read more about the article Profit Motive and the Freelancer: You May Be Running A Business If…

A photographer is still in school full time but is already establishing connections for professional work. She is purchasing cameras, lenses and equipment…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingProfit Motive and the Freelancer: You May Be Running A Business If…
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