Speedlite

Wow. It took quite a while for me to post any updates here.
2015 proved to be quite a challenging year for me, one that
made me rethink some life choices and made me wonder if I
still wanted or enjoyed some things that I have been doing for
the longest time.
Anyway, new years are opportunities for new beginnings and
for an artist / geek like me there's a lot to look forward to in this
2016.
For this post I'd like to show off a little art commission done over
one of my Fiverr gigs. This one is of a concept design in color
of a character called "Speedlite", who was described by the client
as "something of a cross between Flash and Green Lantern".
The color blue and the hood he's wearing in the drawing was also
part of the request, so the decision to add that in wasn't part of my
personal design styles but I do try my best to make what the client
wants to work out.
If you would like me for to draw your own original character concept/s
please do check out my Fiverr by clicking here.
 

Titanore: Another 5-Star Fiverr Rating

On May 11th of this year (2015), I got an order for a concept art sketch for "an old Titan that has been living at the earth's core for centuries". The rest of the description goes :
very powerful, has blackened fire and lightning resistant half-plate armor and sword from iron-nickel alloy from the core.

So here's my rendition of it:

I had fun with this gig and I'm really grateful for the 5-star rating.

My First Colored and Gig Extra Order on Fiverr

On May 1st of this year I got a request on my fiverr gig for a sketch of a female superhero-type character. The buyer had very clear description of what he wanted drawn "...taller than average, blonde hair, beautiful face, long legs...", which is really good and helps me a lot to imagine the look and he continued with more specifics -"should be
smiling and upbeat, dressed in casual clothing-jeans, shirt, etc...pose, something fun and
quirky, maybe shrugging shoulders...".

It really feels good to start off with an order when you see how specific a buyer is with what he wants and the fact that he also sent a reference for the expression and pose that he was describing, sets me in the right direction of what to draw. Although my sketch is only very loosely based on the photo reference I was given, it helps that I can easily make studies that I know is close to what the client wants without having to do the tedious and time consuming research.

The study I sent had only a minor revision request from the buyer ("could you make the shirt a little longer") which I was happy to oblige for the cleaned up submission and thankfully, he was so excited with the end product that I not only received another 5-star rating but another order right away. He ordered a turnaround modelsheet for the character in color and purchased the original source file gig extra (and another 5-star review: "Fantastic service and high quality art. I couldn't be happier.") What started out a 5-dollar gig got me a $60 sale and it's thanks to having a buyer who helped me help him.

My First Five-Star Rating on Fiverr

It doesn't take much to express gratitude. Sometimes, for artists like me who have to draw for a living, it takes a very small gesture of appreciation to make the job however great or small to it make it more worthwhile.

On the first week of April this year I got my second client on fiverr.com. The job requested was another black and white, character design/modelsheet/turnaround. I don't know if he was referred to me by the first client but I was grateful to get more orders.
Since I had started to go completely digital only a few months earlier, I'm also thankful that a friend of mine had helped me get Retas Stylos (a vector app, primarily for professional 2D animation work) installed on my computer. Because I don't have much training or know-how on artist apps other than Adobe Photoshop, using Stylos helps me
get digital inking done a lot faster.

The design was of a female ninja/merc with dreadlocks which wasn't difficult to do because username "thelost" provided all the pertinent references and those helped quite a bit. Since I didn't get a review on the previous gigs, I didn't realize that option was actually available to buyers and sellers on fiverr and I was pleasantly surprised when I got a notification on my phone that I received a positive review and rating.

It was very short and simple, really. A mere "Thanks for delivering so quick. You did a great job!!", but it really felt good to read it. I may not have gotten the same kind of pay from other agents that sent work my way before for the same type of work and the art I submitted may not be in the same quality as the top notch artists that I look up to, but those words made it feel that way. It also did get me a 5-star, 100% positive rating on my profile, which I know led more people to trust in the service that I'm providing on this marketplace - a pretty big deal considering the number and competitiveness of other artists in the same category.

My First Fiverr Gig

Earlier this year I stumbled upon a website which describes itself as "the marketplace for
creative and professional services."
I browsed around and saw that services like creative writing, animation, programming, voice-overs were offered and neatly catalogued. I also saw that graphics and illustration
services were offered, although I was a little concerned that the base price for all the services on the site is $5. As a freelance artist myself who pitches my services on other
artist portfolio sites like deviantart.com who had found increasingly tough competition getting clients from younger artists who put their talents out for very low pay rates, I
thought $5 was really going so low.
I did learn though, by looking over some of the seller profiles that most services still go
beyond the basic price and can go up to around $40 per gig and some extras on top of the
basic gig can get you to up $150 per order.
I decided then to give it a try. I decided this site is mostly for buyers who didn't have the kind of resources that big companies have but have projects that they were willing to shell out what they can and figured out what type of service as an illustrator I was willing to give for 5 bucks and signed up and posted a gig.
It took about a week before I got my first order from a buyer under the username "kingsley8888". I honestly was excited to see how it goes and was happy that it was for a simple job - a two-angle modelsheet/ turnaround for use in 3D modeling. I usually get more for the kind of service the customer ordered, but as I have struggled for several months and was literally completely broke during the entire previous holiday season, this was like manna from the gods for me, and afterall, no costume design was required.

The gig required clean digital lines and I'm glad that I have Retas Stylos, an animation app installed because other than that, I only use Adobe Photoshop for my art and it would take a lot longer for me, at least to get this done. This was a 10-dollar job, 5 for each pose, so taking longer would not have been as cost efficient or productive.
It may not look like much, but I'm glad the client was happy and quickly ordered a second project which was another two-pose turnaround described as a Christiano Ronaldo body type model.

I'm really grateful for this site and I'm equally grateful for my first client who gave me a five-star review because I'm pretty sure it helped a lot in getting me my next clients and also for keeping me with a means to earn a living and also the opportunity to meet and help people out with original creations they would otherwise not be able to afford to realize.
Check out my fiverr profile and gigs from this link:
https://www.fiverr.com/iphibbz