Are you ready for your second act?
You might have had a career BC ( Before Children) and made the decision to be a full time mom.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t still have talents you want to explore.
Or perhaps, like me, you’ve raised your children and they have ( hopefully) left the nest:)
You may be asking yourself, “What’s next?”
Wherever you are in life, if you have the passion and desire,
it may be the time to consider venturing into your second act.
I’m actually on my third.
I was a full time lettering artist BC.
Then I switched to being a part time Parent Educator while raising my kids. ( I made my own hours.)
And finally came back to lettering 8 years ago when my youngest son started driving himself to school.
That’s how I ended up with my latest title of “Lettering Artist/Font Designer”.
It was scary a lot of the times. And it continues to be.
(Learning new programs, understanding social media, meeting deadlines, etc..)
But my new motto has become ” Do something that scares you a little each day.”
That’s how you know you’re still learning.
Since Fonts are a licensed product, I thought I would venture to learn more about other licensed art.
Getting information is the baby step I always take when considering a new venture.
So I got the book “License to Draw” by Ronnie Walter.
It’s funny and very helpful as she tells the story of her own journey to becoming a full time licensed artist.
She’s been in the biz for over 20 years and has tons of products that actually made it to the market place.
So it’s full of very practical real life information.
I was lucky enough to get her to agree to an interview.
And she was kind enough to offer to give away a book. You’ll find out how to enter at the end of the post.
An interview with Licensed Artist and Author Ronnie Walter:
Tell me a little bit about yourself:
I’ve been a freelance illustrator for the past 20 years, mostly designing stationery, greeting cards, giftware, fabric and other cute products. I’ve also spent a lot of years developing products for the scrapbook and rubber stamp markets. I license all of my designs–which means I “rent” the designs to different manufacturers who then pay me royalties for the life of the products. In the past 5 years or so I have been writing a lot more, so I am using that on products as well. Oh, and I wrote a book too!
What’s the book about?
It’s called “License to Draw-How I built a fun career in art licensing and you can too!”. I decided to write a book that includes the nuts and bolts of how the business of licensing your art onto products works, but with a lot of personal stories “from the trenches” so someone interested in entering the business can get a full picture of what’s involved. It’s presented in a friendly, arm-around-the-shoulder, “you can do this!” style. And it’s funny.
What kind of person is right for this business?
I’ve always been encouraged by the fact that the gift and stationery markets need constant refreshment of looks, ideas and art styles to stay current with their customers. That means that new artists can come into the market at any point in their career— as long as they have a refreshing viewpoint, art that is at a professional level and a compelling message to wrap it all together. Simple, right? I wish! We work with some of the best names in the business and they are constantly looking for new ideas and my philosophy from the beginning was, “why shouldn’t it be me?” and now, why shouldn’t it be you?
What kind of practical advice would you give someone who might be looking at this market for their artwork?
Well, do your homework first (I suggest starting with my book!) about the basic process of working this way—you’ll need to know about developing a portfolio, discovering your best clients and how a contract works, and then you need to go for it! You will quickly learn if your work is suitable for the kinds of products that typically have licensed artwork on them. And the cool part is that as long as you have good artwork, a positive cooperative attitude and decent business skills, nobody cares where you went to school (or even if you did) or any professional credentials—it’s all about art that sells. And you have to keep in mind that you will be working with manufacturers who invest a great deal of money to develop products so they expect to be working with artists with business sense—the “I’m the crazy creative type” doesn’t work for very long in our business!
Is this the kind of business that would work for a stay at home mom or an empty-nester?
Well, there’s always that pesky myth “I can work on my art while the baby’s asleep” when in fact a shower and laundry might be all you can manage! But– I know many successful artists that didn’t start their creative careers until after they were home with their children, were downsized from corporate America or looked around once the kids were gone and thought, “Hey! I’ve got something to say here!” When I started freelancing I decided that I was too old to start at the bottom, so I decided to start at the top and work my way down—so far that was the right way to go for me. In fact, I believe that some of the most beautiful designs come from artists who have a little “life seasoning” behind them. Once you’ve lived some of life’s most meaningful experiences–both happy and sad, you can bring a depth to everyday events—and products that can really resonate with your audience, whether with the art itself or with the sentiment you choose to enhance the art. And that sentiment can be delivered in a heartfelt, poetic or humorous way. Any time you decide to start is the right time for you. It’s the waffling back and forth between “should I?” or “shouldn’t I?” that wastes precious time! You’ll never know if you shouldn’t have until you do it, right?
So, how fast can a person make money?
Ahhh, the thousand dollar question! I like to say that licensing your art is a “get rich slow scheme”. It takes a while to develop a professional portfolio, it takes a while to contact manufacturers and it takes a while to get a deal in place! Then once you do, it can take months and sometimes up to a year to receive royalties, depending on how quickly they can bring a product to market. So don’t quit your day job or tick off your significant other during the building phase of your career! But each success builds on the next one and if all goes well you will have a (sort-of) steady stream of royalty income coming your way.
Any final advice?
Yes, you’ve got to love the stuff! If you are the type of person that loves an adorable notepad and goes a little nuts over the shape of a latte mug and if you have a need to browse gift stores and greeting card racks far longer than your shopping companions, that’s the first step in developing compelling products! You already know what you like– you just have to put your unique stamp on it!
As I look at the pics she sent, I think to myself “Could my lettering be on some of those products?” If I’m willing to work hard and find my own unique way of saying things…Why not! And why not you too?
To enter the contest to win a copy of “License to Draw”: CLICK HERE. THEN SHARE OR COMMENT ON THE POST. DO BOTH AND YOU’LL BE ENTERED TWICE!
Deadline is December 2 at 12:00 Noon. A winner will be picked by random drawing.
Gotta have it right now?
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE “License to Draw”.
Many thanks to Ronnie for taking the time to share about this interesting business.
And a Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Debi
Check out any of my three hand lettered fonts by clicking on their graphics below.
Cantoni made it to #1 on Hot New Fonts, was a Rising Stars list winner for September 2013 and has remained on the on the Best Sellers list since it’s release.
Dom Loves Mary made it to #4 on Hot New Fonts, was on the Best Sellers list and a Rising Stars winner in November 2012
Belluccia made it to#1 on Hot New Fonts, spent 26 months on the Best Sellers list and was a Rising Stars winner in July 2011 as well as one of MyFonts Most Popular Fonts for 2011.
