1. Thank you so much for taking the time for an interview on my blog! Could you tell us a little bit about your art background?
Thank
you for interviewing me! I have a bachelors in Fine Art with a focus on
illustration. I decided when I was in elementary school that I was
going to be a children's illustrator. I tried a couple different careers
in the creative professional fields: interior design assistant,
theatrical painter, and gift packaging design. But ultimately I have
settled on exactly what I wanted to do even when I was younger.
2. What is your favorite subject matter to work with when it comes to your clip-art?I
LOVE creating characters. Drawing people is always harder because I
tend to get too realistic as I create the character so I have to really
monitor the development of the drawing. Turning an animal or an
inanimate object into something with personality is always extra fun.3. What was your favorite comment you ever received from a clip-art set?My main mission is for my illustrations to help students to learn so I love comments, like this one, that show me how students have reacted and benefitted from my work.
"Hands down the single best clip art purchase I've ever made. I was struggling to find engaging, well made emotions clip art for a Zones of Regulation product I was creating and was thrilled when I came across your work! This was exactly what I needed to create something that will engage my fifth grade students and provide them with clear facial clues to different emotions. Thank you so much for creating such an awesome product!"
from Light Up Learning Labs
4. How did you get into creating clip-art?When left my full time job to be home with my son I knew I wanted to build my illustration business based on licensing when I realized there was a market for illustrations as clip art. Since I had experience in art licensing (though my career in gift packaging design) and I was already making these little bitty illustrations to use with my kids at home, creating clip art was a perfect fit.
5. What do you enjoy most about making clip-art?What I love the most about making clip art is that I get to help educators communicate concepts to their students. Sometimes words just aren't enough to make an idea click, so nothing feels better to me than when I know that my illustrations help learners make those connections.
6. What is your favorite clip-art set you've created and why?Oh man! Every new one I create is my favorite! I think if I had to pick a favorite I would say my Emotions set. I love how each kid's expression is easy to read and understand. With every character I drew I checked with my own children to make sure they understood the emotion without the aid of text. Plus they're SO useful beyond just describing emotions! I have seen so many creative uses of these characters. My buyers really inspire me!
7. Describe
an experience in your educational or artist background that inspired
you or helped you on your journey as an illustrator.
In
5th grade we had an artist-in-residence who worked with each grade
level to develop a school-wide book. Each grade had a responsibility.
I'm not entirely sure what the 5th grade's job was, but I remember the
author asking me to be the single artist to draw the main character, a
frog, across the whole book. I hope that one day I can be an
artist-in-residence and make an impression on a young mind like that
artist did for me.
8. Do you take requests?
I take "suggestions". I work about three hours a day. The rest of my time is split between my three kids and super busy husband (who also owns his own bustling business). I hate letting people down and when I don't have a whole lot of time to complete projects I try to keep the focus on the best stuff I can list in my shop to keep the ball rolling. But I know that resource designers are my buyers so I will take any suggestion they have to make my next clip art sets the most useful they can be.
I take "suggestions". I work about three hours a day. The rest of my time is split between my three kids and super busy husband (who also owns his own bustling business). I hate letting people down and when I don't have a whole lot of time to complete projects I try to keep the focus on the best stuff I can list in my shop to keep the ball rolling. But I know that resource designers are my buyers so I will take any suggestion they have to make my next clip art sets the most useful they can be.
Do you have any related websites to share?Mine! sarahpecorino.com. It's still very much a work in progress.
9. How do you manage time to create clip-art?
Sometimes I don't know how I manage it! I wake up at 4:30am
every morning to get some work in before the rest of my house wakes up.
I work when two of my kids are at school and the littlest is napping. I
squeeze work in while they're playing nicely and not busting in my
studio every few minutes. I also recently switched to a standing desk
and gave my L-shaped desk to my kids so now they have a place to work in
my studio while I'm working. Lots of crafting and creating happens in
this room.
BONUS CONTENT:
Do you have any tips for TPT sellers (who use clip art) or clip-artists?
For clip artists:
- Find your own style. Play, doodle, sketch to find it. Be inspired but DO NOT replicate. Just because another clip artist is successful doesn't mean that style is the only thing buyers want. Buyers are likely hungry for something new. So find a style that resonates with your inner artist, be proud of it, and make it work for you.
- Listen to your buyer. If you don't know who your buyer is, ask. Your style might be perfect for upper levels. If so, find out what upper level clip art buyers need the most of and make it.
- As clip clip artists we are often artists first, business owners second. Sometimes it is hard to separate our hearts from our product. It is important to love what you do, be proud of the finished images, but don't take it personally when a product doesn't sell or buyers have suggestions to change it. Remember you are building a business. And to be successful as an artist business you need to find that sweet spot where satisfying your artist heart and meeting you buyer's needs overlap.
- OH! And label each of your graphics appropriately so that a buyer knows what they are by file name, not just "Bug_1", "Bug_2". Try "green_bug_blue_wings". And put either your store name or initials in the title of each file. It will help buyers know who made the art instead of little orphan PNG files floating around their computer.
For clip art buyers:
- - Give credit where credit is due. Clip artists, font designers, and photographers want to help you make your resource the best it can possibly be. Please use a Credits page that credits the artists you ACTUALLY use in the resource. And if you use one or two clip artists primarily in your resource, be sure to give them ample credit, especially if it's an image based product like flashcards or posters. If you're using the images in this format then the artist has allowed it in their Terms of Use because they know how useful it is to you and your buyer. Remember, when you buy a book credit is given to both the author and illustrator.
- And please, DO NOT STRETCH the clip art or borders or backgrounds. Resize them proportionately by holding the SHIFT key and pulling the corner squares of the image. It'll keep your pages looking perfectly pristine.
Wow! Thank you for this in-depth and helpful interview, Sarah!
