Echo Chernik: Ask Me Anything

@echochernik umm I didn't mean stamps for pull and peel, i meant the "cherry twizzlers"  LOL

Did I miss any questions?

Posted by: @echochernik

Posted by: @emilygoodwin

@echochernik lol "cherry twizzlers are important artists tools." Do they work better if you bite the end off or do you paint with the blunt tip?  

 

They taste best if you dip them in your paint water first.....

The clean water or the colored water? I find they taste best dipped in Quinacridone Magenta wash water, and it has the bonus of enhancing the color's saturation.

Can you share some good examples of website portfolios? 

Please be sure to follow me on instagram. https://www.instagram.com/echochernik/

Echo this has been awesome! Do you have any recommendations for those who have been trying to win the Illustrators of the Future Contest, but are not quite there yet?

Posted by: @echochernik

Did I miss any questions?

You done good, Echo. I believe you answered all. 

Posted by: @wulfmoon

Posted by: @echochernik

Did I miss any questions?

You done good, Echo. I believe you answered all. 

You have one last one.

Posted by: @dragongirlb

Can you share some good examples of website portfolios? 

Fashion changes quickly as to what looks good. General rules to a good site design for illustrator: No landing pages - the viewer should be seeing your art right away, without having to click through!   I pulled up this article on well designed pages - There are some beautiful and wonderful templates out there nowadays.

I didn't use a template for www.echo-x.com because I wanted something specific. I wanted the viewer to see a variety of thumbnails, to be able to order them based on what they were searching for, AND to be able to either ZOOM or hit DETAILS in order to see other examples of the same art being used. Sometimes I have the same art in several formats, and wanted this to be viewable without it being distracting. SO what I ended up doing was buying base code for a site and then programming the site myself.  This goes back to an earlier question - which asked me what skills I value knowing from early on - and I have to say that knowing how to code websites came in handy!!!! 

But if you don't have coding skills, there are some amazing templates out there.  Make sure your social media links are clear - and invest in your OWN url that's easy to use.  www.echochernik.com  for instance.   

Posted by: @emilygoodwin

Echo this has been awesome! Do you have any recommendations for those who have been trying to win the Illustrators of the Future Contest, but are not quite there yet?

Enter EVERY quarter. Be sure to enter three pieces.  Illustrate things that excite you and enter those.  Sometimes I see someones work come through and think "oh, I want to pick them, but don't have enough spots this quarter - I hope they enter next quarter!", so don't let me down.

Hi Echo,

I found the place! Wow.

Have you any advice on shipping art?

Posted by: @toddric

Hi Echo,

I found the place! Wow.

Have you any advice on shipping art?

Hia Todd!!  Shipping prints and physical art, you mean?  Expect that the usps will bend some of it, they've got a skill for fitting square art in round holes, so be sure to pack accordingly. We use shopify to sell and shippo to help calculate and do our labels.  

Echo, This has been an amazing exchange of questions and answers. Thank you very much! We will be sharing your AMA on follow-up social media and email marketing so others can read what you had to say. 

@johngoodwin Thank you! It was fun, happy to do it anytime.

Thank you for taking the time to be with us today and answering our questions, Echo! Your answers were informative and helpful. All the best to your new gallery in Bellingham, Washington, and I look forward to seeing you in October at the next WotF workshop week and gala! It's going to be interesting seeing how all of you pull off a double-sized class!