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QUICKLINKS: Home - NEW! - Illustrations - Storyboards - Characters - Logos - Posters - Animation - FAQ's - My Method - Testimonials - Links - RATES - CONTACT Questions? email me! max@maxforward.com |
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FREQUENTY ASKED QUESTIONS
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PART I - What to Expect I've tried to hire an illustrator before, but it didn't really work out. How do I know I'll get my money's worth? Many of my clients come to me in frustration, having had difficult experiences with previous illustrators. Their biggest complaint is that the Artist would not listen to their direction, and despite being very talented, refuse to make changes or adjustments to project except at great expense. Anyway, I'm different because I stress open communication from start to finish, and the digital workflow I employ allows me to make changes swiftly and painlessly. So I'm very accomodating to the Client's needs from start to finish. And you know you'll get your money's worth because if you don't like my drawings, you don't have to pay. Really? Satisfaction Guaranteed? 100% guaranteed. And you don't have to pay anything up front- Only after you see my sketches, and get a sense of whether I'm right for the project, will I request a 1/2 payment. So if you see my sketches, and you decide I'm not working out, we can part ways with no questions asked. That's pretty generous! As an online service, I have to absorb some of the risk to incentivize my clients to give me a shot. It's worked out quite well actually. Well, since it's risk-free, I've decided to hire you for my project. What's the next step? Well if you haven't already, I need to get an email from you, introducing yourself and inquiring about my services. You need to ask me for a quote. In order for me to give you a quote, you'll have to divulge the following information:
Give me as much info as you are comfortable with - any surprises down the road will only complicate matters! Once I weigh the various factors, I respond to your email with a quote. Your quote seems very reasonable. Lets proceed. OK, lets do it! Usually I can send out a rough sketch the same day as the quote is approved. So I've reviewed your project description, and I whip out a rough drawing that will serve as a starting point for us to move forward. I usually spend about 15 minutes (at most) on these rough sketches. I upload this sketch to my website, and then I email you a link so you can view it. This way, I don't clog your mailbox with my high-resolution images. The sketch looks great! You really hit the nail on the head. I have a minor change I'd like to make. Is that Okay? Yes, in fact I want you to be very honest and upfront with me with any changes you'd like. Tell me what you love and what you hate. I have very thick skin, and art is a subjective science- I'm very confident in my abilities, so even if you tell me you hate my drawing and you want me to start from scratch, I won't take it personally. Since I do my drawing on the computer, it's much easier for me to make changes and adjustments. IMPORTANT: Once you have approved a sketch or draft of the illustration, I expect you to stick with your decision- if you find you must make a change further down the road, we may have to negotiate a small fee for the trouble. So you've sent me your notes on the sketch, and I take some time to revise the sketch to your specfications. I resubmit it for approval. Now it's perfect! Please finish it! Can I send you some money now? Haha, yes you can send me some money now. After sketch approval, I generally email you an invoice for 1/2 the negotiated fee (unless the total fee is under $50). I accept mailed Checks, Money Order or Credit Cards via Paypal. I prefer paypal in most cases where time is of the essence. Once I receive the payment, I proceed to finalize the illustration. Depending on how much work is involved, the process could turn around in day, or as long as several weeks. One thing is for sure- you can expect daily (or almost daily) emailed updates on your project until it is completed. It's actually in my best interest to send you updates as often as possible- that way you can catch me if you see that I'm doing something wrong or something needs to be changed. In most cases, the work progresses without interruption and the project is finished within days. At this point, I've sent you a link to the final version, asking for final approval. I love it! You're amazing! I do my best! Since you've approved the final draft, I send you an invoice for the remaing 1/2 payment, and once receive it, I send you a link where you can download the final version in the various file formats that you request (.jpg, .psd, .png, .tiff, etc.) And if you need me to mail you a CD or DVD, that's OK too, but I might charge a shipping fee. Wow, thank you so much! Thank you, and good luck with your project!
PART II - Real Questions I have a great idea for a Children's Book. I don't have any money to pay you now, but would you be willing to work on spec? That is, maybe we can form a partnership, and you can get paid after we sell the book. I get asked this question at least once a day. The answer is no. I'm not anybody's partner, and I never work on spec, no exceptions. If you are serious about getting your book pubished, you'll need to have a real budget. I'd like you to design an image to go on some T-shirts. But I don't have any money to buy the rights to the image. Can I pay you royalties instead? No. Again, you must have some kind of budget. I'm going to Film School and I need somebody to do the Storyboards for my Thesis Film. I have a little money but not much. Can you storyboard my 10 page script for $50? These kinds of offers are really insulting. C'mon people! I'm not that expensive! So what are your rates? My rates are quite clearly posted here. Please take the time to review them before you contact me. At times I am willing to work below the rates posted there, but not often. Hi Max, I have a project I'm working on and I'd like you to call me to discuss. You'll have to do better than that. I need to know MORE so that I can prioritize your call. Go here and fill out the fields and that will get us started. I'm a artist too, and I wanted to ask you some questions about your Prices/Business/Technique? I'm usually happy to answer these questions IF you give me lots and lots of compliments. Otherwise I just can't prioritize your response. I saw that you advertise on Craigslist. Do you actually get any clients from Craigslist? 95% of the work on this site was done for clients who contacted me view Craigslist. I tried to contact you, and you didn't respond. How come? Please try again. I use Spam Filters with my mail program, and sometimes things get mixed up. That said, check your spam folders regularly to make sure you didn't mark MY response as spam. I'd like you work on my "Adult-Oriented" project. I don't work on particularly Sexually Graphic projects. But I'm happy to clarify if you'd like to email me. It should be clear from some of the illustrations on my site that I'm open to mature themes. You weren't available for my project, but can you recommend anybody else? I tried recommending somebody once, and it was a disaster for the client. Anyway, the honest answer is that nobody comes close to what I can offer. I recommend surfing around Craigslist to learn more about those who offer freelance, low-cost illustration services. You quoted me $200, and I've found another illustrator who will work for $150. Will you match his price? It would be irresponsible for me to work for less than I already do. It's very difficult for artists to make a living. Anyway, I encourage you to find an artist that will work with your budget. Are you available for hire? 99 % of the time. PART III - About Me... Is Max Forward your real name? Yes it is. Where are you based? I live in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Born and raised. How long have you been doing Illustration work? MaxForward.com went live in June 2004, but I consider the start of my Professional Career to be in August 2005, when I drew a series of boards for a Show called "Bananas." It was on that project that I developed my current style and workflow. But you've been drawing all your life, right? Yes, I was quite serious about being an Artist from an early age. At 14 I made a real commitment to study Art. How old are you now? I'm 24. Wow! So you must have taken a lot of Art Classes, right? Yes, mostly Fine Art stuff like figure drawing and some painting. I've taken classes at (in order) California Art Institute of Westlake, Pasadena Art Center, California State Summer School for the Arts at CalArts, some Glenn Vilppu workshops, Vancouver Film School's Animation Program, Master Painting and Drawing Program at Associates in Art in Sherman Oaks, and last year at Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art. You went to College? Any Degrees? Yes, at Vancouver Film School, but I dropped out before I completed the course. At 17 I was a little too reckless to be on my own in Vancouver. But I highly recommend the VFS program to anybody interested in Studying Animation; the teachers and classes there were first-rate. No Degrees, but I did manage to finish High School. I'm not very Academically minded, unfortunately. I did get my Certification for fixing Apple Desktops and Laptops! You were a Mac Repairman? That's right, for almost 3 years. That's actually how I got tuned into the whole Digital Illustration thing. I bought a Power Mac G4 with a 22" Cinema Display, and was wondering what the heck to do with the thing, when a coworker turned me on to a Program called Painter, which was in version 7 back then. Up until that point I was an Artist without Direction- I loved painting and drawing, but I didn't really feel comfortable with the concept of selling my pieces... like I was too personally invested to part with them. It made me very frustrated, and at the same time I was not happy with my other Artistic options, like working in Animation, which, while obviously a very sophisticated and worthy Art Form, struck me as tedious and laborious. But Painter showed me the future of Art. The concept of an All-Digital workflow had stammering consequences on my Artistic Outlook. The matter of "originals" had gone out the window- the works never even existed in Material space! It was like the Art was in another dimension, capable of being everywhere at once. And the speed at which I could create was boggling. And there was no limit to the size of the piece- and there were no materials to buy- and no mistakes! I could just hit "undo" and it was like it never happened! And on and on. So I was hooked from the beginning. So you probably took some Digital Illustration classes after that? Actually, no. I am 100% self-taught when it comes to my Digital Illustration techniques. I did read a book on Flash Animation though. So you use Flash too? Any other Programs? I'm proficient in Painter 9, Flash MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. And Final Cut Pro, but I don't offer editing services generally. So is Digital Illustration your thing now? What are your goals as an Artist? My real goal is to explore what it means to be a Visual Artist in Today's World. That means embracing the new mediums as they are discovered, and never stop learning! One last question: Right or Left-handed? Left, of course! Happy to answer any questions at max@maxforward.com . . . |
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