Gilded Pelican by Meg Lyman

6×8″ gouache on matboard

$50 – e-mail to buy

Remember last month when I talked about meeting with some fabulous people to discuss illustrations for a children’s book? Well, good news! We rearranged my standard contract several times, got it to everyone’s liking, and signed it. I’m currently on the hook for some character development, and if it goes well, full illustrations. Exciting! Busy! Challenging!

I have already started the back-and-forth with sketches, and it’s such an interesting process. I’m learning so much. I won’t get into specifics since nothing is finished yet, but if you have questions, ask away.

I haven’t put it into action yet, but here are a few things I included in the contract:

• Deadlines: How long I have to generate thumbnails, how long the client has to make changes to / approve thumbnails, how long I have to finish the art
• Purchase Options: Original, prints, print rights (first print, one-time print, ongoing print, royalties)
• Final Product: Original, prints, high-res file
• Rights and Usage: Who owns what, my right to display on my website and make my own prints
• Copyright
• Alterations: I get dibs
• Contract Agreement: can be done via e-mail
• Termination: If one side or the other doesn’t deliver on time, if I croak, etc.
• Payment: I require half as a deposit and half when done but before I deliver the final product (i.e. I send a low-res jpg showing the final, they send money, I deliver)

I tried to cover everything that could bite me in the ass later. I used knowledge of the process that I got mostly by example; friends, art boards, and sample contracts online. I also used the Graphic Artist Guild‘s Guide, which is a great purchase for any artist.

I’ll let you know how it goes. Comments, suggestions, additions? Anyone?

On a side note, I varnished two paintings yesterday; one on cheap board-mounted canvas and one on cheap stretched canvas. The varnish made the board warp and the canvas sag on the stretchers. I wonder if this is solvable, or yet another inevitable side effect of buying cheap supplies. People say, buy cheap stuff if you’re just starting out! See what the medium is like! Great advice, but after you use the cheap stuff once, you’re intimately connected with the reason why it’s cheap, and you want better stuff. The problem is, you have a whole set of pastels that you’ve used once, and what do you do with it?

Oh yeah, I updated my website on Friday. Go visit! www.meglyman.com