#approvers

This happens a lot, and often it has nothing to do with the artist’s work. I have had to kill pieces because a project got cancelled, because the final manuscript wasn’t anything like what we expected and the original art no longer fit, because everyone who was approving it all along got into a snit and hated what they said they loved. 

But, realistically, it also could have been something about your art. In that case, the AD probably feels badly about it, and isn’t going to go into detail unless asked, because a lot of artists don’t want honest feedback.

So you can say something like: “I just wanted to check in. I know the piece was killed, and I know this happens sometimes, but I just wanted to make sure that there wasn’t anything I could have done differently to help the process. If there is, I am open to the feedback and would love to maintain our working relationship.”

—Agent KillFee

Routed means going through a chain of approvers. For example, when a piece of art comes in, your Art Director sees it. Then it’s usually given to a designer to put in a template of some kind. Then that template is given back to the AD to approve. Then the Creative Director might need to see it. Then the Editor. Then the Publisher. Then maybe the author, agent, copy check, etc. 

Each pass through all of the necessary approvers is called one routing pass. 

—Agent KillFee

However when I google “Ji Lee Artist” his portfolio site comes up right away. 

http://pleaseenjoy.com

If I go looking for his Instagram, the link is broken on his site (party foul) then if I go to Instagram and search for him, his normal profile comes up:

https://www.instagram.com/ji_lee_/

and only if I look in the bio of THAT Instagram profile does the link to the page you’re talking about come up:

https://www.instagram.com/jileeprojects/

It’s an interesting way to get your work seen on another platform, but he’s doing it IN ADDITION to a regular portfolio site, not instead of. It might get him noticed by an AD on Instagram…but he still needs a regular site to back it up. For one big reason artists never think about: Art Directors are not the end of the approval chain. Artists forget that most ADs need to take images from their site, or at least link to their site in order to get a project approved. We may need to send your work to authors, to editors, to publishers, and most annoying, we probably have to download images of your work, email them around, put them in presentations, etc. Do you know how much MORE annoying it is to have to dig out and screen shot every image buried in an Instagram profile? Generally ADs won’t do it. We may look at your Facebook profile to see if you have a work folder. Worst case, we’ll see what pops up on Google Image. And you know you don’t have any control over that. You do not want us going to Google as a last ditch attempt.

I will be honest with you, it’s not fair, but when I’m collecting artists to pitch to my approvers to hire for a project and I am super swamped, whether an artist has an easy-to-navigate-and-link-to portfolio absolutely affects whether they make the cut and get put into the batch. Especially if it’s a longer shot artist I’m not completely decided to put in the pitch in the first place.

Do YOU want to be the artist that gets left out because there’s no reliable place to link to and download your work?

No, I didn’t think so.

All the fancy/fun stuff on social media and sites should be extra. It should be window dressing, not the main show. Getting an AD to notice you is only half the battle. Getting them to use your work is just as important.

—Agent Negative Space

Paintovers are very common in many fields, not just publishing. So do not take it personally, like there is something wrong with you. There are many many reasons why an AD will do a paintover rather than just tell you in words:

—The AD is over there selling your work to their approvers (editors/publisher/author) and those people do not have the capability to visually imagine like artists do, so to get buy-in from them on the direction the art is going to go, the AD needs to show them. Once that is approved you really need the illustrator to not change it too much, or you have to start over with approvals. In many cases an illustration has been saved from being killed by an AD’s photoshopping, so it might help you to realize a paint over is preferable to a kill. Remember, art isn’t only killed bc it’s not good…a kill might happen if a piece of art is gorgeous but just isn’t serving the commercial purpose the approvers need. But an AD is generally going to be too polite to say “well this almost got killed but I saved it like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Photoshop, high five, go team!” – they’re just going to send you revision notes/paints and assume you know you’re both on the same team.

—Most illustrators are crap at following directions. ADs have had it proven time and time again that if you give illustrators a written list (numbered, bulleted, made as easy as possible to use as a checklist) they still miss things. It’s pretty accepted that if you send 5 points of feedback, and illustrator is going to send it back with only 3 done. Maybe you are more careful. But understand that most of your peers are not, and ADs have to manage that.

—Some ADs are better at explaining themselves visually than verbally. Remember, we’re artists too. We’re not always as clear with the words as we are with the images, especially when it’s something complicated or a note we think can be easily misunderstood. Easier to see it.

—Many illustrators have language barriers and it’s easier to show them visually. We don’t always know which ones do and don’t have problems with english, but sometimes we get that feeling from your emails and we make sure to be extra clear.

THAT SAID…I have never sent a paintover without saying “this is a guide, done roughly, so please recreate with your style/ability” — I know no artist wants to get a paintover, so I try to make them as rough as possible to make it obvious I want you to REDO it. If it’s unclear in this case whether it’s a guide or it’s exactly what they want to keep then I would ask this AD if it’s ok if you rebuild what they painted. Chances are, they’ll say yes but want you to keep very close to what they did, for approval reasons. But they very well might welcome a bit more creativity in how they solved the problem (I usually do, and I will tell the artist how close they need to stick to the paintover). 

If you want to be let in on the AD’s thought process, just ask. You can say “I’ve noticed you work by paintovers. Is that a necessary part of your approval process or is it because you are concerned I won’t be able to get all the revisions in text? I’d love to try to save you the effort and take a crack at the revisions without needing the paintovers.” And I would hope the AD answers with some explanation of why they’re working that way. Maybe they’ll be relieved not to have to do a paintover if they can avoid it. Maybe it’ll be the start of a beautiful working relationship. Maybe there’s a solid reason they’re doing it and you’ll understand and not be hurt by it and it’ll still be the start of a working relationship. It never hurts to ask (in a non-hostile way).

Remember, this is a collaboration. An artist and an AD are working together to hurdle all the approvers and make a great portfolio piece that also sells lots of whatever you’re selling. Both sides want that process to go as quickly and easily as possible. ADs aren’t fucking with your work just for fun. They very well could be saving your art from a kill fee.

—Agent KillFee

I find it helps explain WHY you are asking for a change, because not only does it show that you’re not making changes just because you feel like it, it’s also a teaching moment for the artist that can usually help them in the future. For example, if you want to move something in the composition, it’s generally for a reason: to fit type in, to make something pop more, to simplify the piece and make it more legible at a glimpse…if you can articulate these things (briefly, don’t overwhelm them) to the artist then you might just get them to agree to your change happily.

That said, remember at the end of the day, the artist’s job is to make the most beautiful piece they can. Your approvers’ job is usually to sell things. As an AD, you are halfway between, and have to hold both goals in your head, sticking up for one side or the other as you see fit, and explaining why to the other side so that they can understand enough to go along with the plan. You’re the diplomat, the translator, the sweet-talker, and often the bomb-diffuser.

—Agent KillFee

Ok, first things first: ADs don’t like to change your art. It’s more work for us. If we’re doing it, it’s probably for one of a few reasons:

—You didn’t follow directions and it doesn’t fit the template/size like it should, or that template changed after you submitted the art and we feel bad going back to you for more work

—We need to alter something that looks fine onscreen but isn’t going to print right, so we have to adjust the colors/saturations (a big thing in large-scale printing) & we don’t expect artists to understand the crazy obnoxious shit we do to properly DMAX something

—We’re in a rush and we don’t have time to go back to you for revisions, we just need to do it in-house to hit the deadline

—We’ve tried to get revisions from you but you’re not revising the thing we need quite how we need it, and we feel like you’re not getting it, so we’re just going to do it because both you & us are getting frustrated

—We couldn’t get the approvers to sign off, so we made changes trying to figure out what they want so they didn’t kill the art entirely and make us start over, and we figured out that they wanted thru trial and error, so thank god and we’re just going to praise the heavens and run with it

There’s no “consent” involved here. You’re the illustrator. We are not just hiring you to create a piece of art, we are hiring you to solve a problem. That means not just a pretty piece of art, but also one that sells to who we want to sell it to, that the approvers we have standing behind us all green-light, etc. You are in a collaboration with an AD, and together you will create a thing that gets approved by everyone. The AD is not your enemy, they are like the guy on the football field who runs and blocks people coming at the guy running with the ball so that guy can keep going and score. Sometimes, a score requires that the illustrator takes it as far as they can, then the AD kicks a field goal. (Thus ends my strained sports metaphor).

Ideally, I do give the illustrators a heads up that something has changed or needs to change and give them the option to do it. Especially in the last case above, when I have to change something to get it approved, I usually go back to the illustrator and give them the option of redoing what I did to their art in a nicer way (because I’m usually just mocking up quickly as someone is back-seat-designing over my shoulder). But sometimes there’s just no time. 

—Agent KillFee