Admission: free
Date: February 6, 2020
Time: 6:00 – 9:30PM
 Location: NYC College of Technology, P122

Professor Sara Woolley had meticulously prepared networking events with a variety of artists for her class, Advanced Strategies of Illustration (COMD 3633). For our second week of class, she had set up an interview secession with Steven Harris.

Steven has won many awards, such as winning the Glyph Award four times, Glyph Award for Best Female Character twice and the VLA (Virginia Library Association) Graphic Novel Diversity Award. He has also worked and credited on many DC Comics, such as Aztek: The Ultimate Man, a character which he co-created along with Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, Batman:  Officer Down, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, and more. He has also participated in gallery shows in New York, Philadelphia, Georgia, Chicago, California, and Japan.

Steven Harris

See Steven Harris’ works:
Portfolio: nstevenworks.com/
Instagram: twitter.com/NStevenHarris
Twitter: instagram.com/nstevenharris

During the class, the students have worked together to create a list of questions in preparation for their own path. These are their notes:

Creator Owned – rights are kept by the creator

  • Line/Imprint –  

Work for Hire – rights are owned by the company

Royalties – continuing income from every edition

  • Storyboard – art director, ad agency
  • Storyboard for production art doesn’t get royalty fees

Network – internship, conventions

  • Conventions – never bring your originals (bring binder/portfolio); possibility of damages

As an artist:

1.   Be focused
2.   Be disciplined (time-keeping)

Artist Representatives

Freelancer – an entrepreneur, responsible for themselves:

  • Negotiations – ask for money upfront (minimum – 33% or 50% at least)
  •  Don’t take a job without a contract
  • In perpetuity – ‘law talk’ for forever
  •  Ask advisors for assistance for contracts

Graphic Artist Guild:

Pricing Ethical Guidelines – Industry-standard how to price your work (i.e. animation, storyboards, etc.); ask friends for input

Working in the Comic Industry:

Types of Jobs:

  1. Pencil/Drawer
  2. Inker
  3. Color
  4. Letter
  5. Editor
  6. Writer

Comic Process (varies from artist to artist)

  1. Read te script
  2. Look for reference
  3. Thumbnails (strategize placement, composition)
  4. Develop Sketch