11 Questions You NEED to Ask Your Art Director

[@HeyBear]

Confirmed Guys, iPad Pro 13" 2024 M4, Procreate 8.5 x 22 inches at 300dpi, maximum layers...wait for it... 107. did a few scribbles too and it was smooth as butter... with 2 layers! XD

[@carolherring2586]

Yup! It’s great eh

[@cireregnitto]

As an art director, I can confirm it is good to reference which pieces in an illustrator's portfolio you like. One time I did not do this and the illustrator didn't ask, and the final I got wasn't quite what I expected. It wasn't bad, just not what I expected. To the point of communication, one thing I do that takes just seconds, is to reply to an illustrator's email - be it sketch, final or invoice - with a quick, "Got it, thanks!" That way they know it has ben received. If they don't hear from me in a couple days they can reach out again to check if I've been busy and missed the email or haven't gotten to it, or if I never received it. This can work for both parties and is something that can be mentioned at the beginning of the project. Great points about getting job details upfront. A good AD should provide all of that info. Page trim, live area, bleed dimension, file type and size, method of file transmission. The magazine I work for publishes four page fiction pieces a few times per year and we usually commission illustration for these. I'll get the text from the editor along with illustration notes suggesting which parts of the story to illustrate. I'll drop this text into a layout, leaving room for the illustrations (usually a double page on the first spread and single page on the second). I always let my illustrators know the art notes from edit are suggestions but they are free to offer up other solutions if they have a different idea. The space indicated for illustration is likewise a suggestion, meant mainly to give them an idea of how much room they have to work with but I am open to rearranging the composition of the page to work with their art. I prefer a collaboration between myself and the illustrator vs them simply being a set of hands to do my bidding. Budget, rights and timeline are also brought up in the opening query email from me. It can be helpful to ask how the illustrator works. I've hired some that take a long time to develop the sketch but crank the final out lightning fast. Others are quick with a sketch and take a long time to finish. I might suggest a sketch deadline but am happy to adjust that as long as the final deadline is met. I might also send previously published layouts to give them an example of what we've done in the past. This might not always be possible depending on the job. As a note to other (newer) ADs, always have a second and third pick of illustrator for the assignment. Your first pick might be booked, uninterested in the assignment or have some other reason they can't take the job. In that case it's good to have a plan B or C. To Jake's story about getting ghosted by the company that had their act together - might not be you, might be them. The company I work for used to hire a ton of illustration years ago and that budget has simply gone away. There is so much talent out there, and so many illustrators I've worked with many times in the past that I would LOVE to hire but I just don't have any projects for them these days. That group might hire you again one day when the right project or right budget comes along. Love Lee's point about communication. I would MUCH prefer questions from the illustrator early on than to get back something that misses the mark. I'm also cool looking at really rough sketches and trusting in the illustrator's skill to make the final sing, but I've been doing this a while. That might be another good question to ask up front, what level of sketch is the AD looking for? And yes, I've made friends with many illustrators over the years and LOVE to hire them! Some I haven't hired in years but still chat with on social media.

[@DanTavis]

I've illustrated 8 picture books for publishers with an Ipad Pro on Procreate. I'm using last generations Ipad and at 10 in. x 20 in. 400 dpi it gives me 28 layers to work with. If I was working in 300 dpi it'd give me 54 layers so more than enough for most illustrators. Also regards to Will's color concerns with the Ipad, if you change Procreates color profile to SRGB IEC 61966-2.1 you shouldn't have any trouble with color. If the publisher needs me to change it to CMYK throw the illustrations into Photoshop to change them. But for art prints I use the SRGB Proile mention above and the colors come out perfectly on every print.

[@bethsnider5796]

I also have illustrated around 20 books using procreate and have no problem. I do the same thing you do when sizing and have plenty of layers to work with.

[@teepee2784]

So helpful re the colour - thank you! 🤗

[@artloveranimation]

Wow 8 books! That's awesome

[@mr.babichslessons7279]

THESE are the episodes I LOVE! There’s no better art podcast/KZbin channel on line.

[@lindaaristizabal]

The layers is not a procreate problem, it’s a RAM memory problem. The first ipad to be able to deal with big files was the M1 12.9in Pro. It has 16GB of RAM and the more RAM the more layers you get. I did research on this and bought this model for this exact reason a few years back. I work on illustrated kitchen towels for work and finish files of 30in x 23in (this includes bleed). And I get 32 layers, I am sure newer models are even better. That being said if you get an ipad air M4 you might still have a layer problem because as I mentioned it’s not about how new the ipad is but the amount of RAM.

[@DennisCNolasco]

Hi Will, I answered the Procreate limit on the Children's Book Pro Discord. I have the 2019 iPad Pro w/ 1 TB storage, so that has the largest ram of 16 GB. Most iPads have either 8 or 4 GB. I have 33 layers available for 10"x20" at 300dpi. So comparing my result to @HeyBear , it looks like the newer ones have much more available layers.

[@artloveranimation]

I actually got in contact with Procreate back in April and this is what they said: We would like to let you know that the option of setting curved text / text on a path, and additional printing tools or guides, are suggestions we have listed as requested features, and we have added your support load to them. Regarding CMYK, if you print a CMYK canvas directly from Procreate the result will be very accurate. However, there are some comparison issues between the way Procreate and other programs handle CMYK. Procreate is currently based on a three channel colour engine (RGB), which means Procreate can't fully recreate a true CMYK experience yet. Users often run into colour difference issues when importing their artworks into other programs with true four-channel CMYK, such as Photoshop, but we're working hard on improving this with future updates of Procreate.

[@page135creative]

For Will's question: I just set up a canvas in Procreate at 6600 pixels by 2550 pixels, and it gave me the ability to have 58 layers. My iPad Pro is a 6th gen that is less than two years old, though

[@sunnysommerset8475]

I love Jake's stories 😃

[@ItsBrandonAllred]

Can confirm it’s just what iPad you use. My 1st Gen iPad Pro has serious limitations on size, but the 2 most recent ones I was able to do 11x17 600 dpi with over 20 layers no issues.

[@BlenderPretender]

Another open source alternative for digital painting is Krita, besides GIMP.

[@sunnysommerset8475]

I have a 2018 ipad pro and I can go 600 dpi 22x16 but very limited in layers - 14 layers. I select the document in gallery, duplicate the file and then condense layers and move on to the rest of the image. It's kind of crazy, but I've been doing it. I'm ordering my iPadPro 2024 13 inch with nanoglass in the next few days.

[@sofialisse]

I do the same with a first gen iPad. A bit annoying, but it works.

[@chrisdudleyart]

27:46 Will I bet he has your number blocked by mistake. I just realized I had a friend blocked for years. He got my texts, but I never got his! 😅

[@StephySketches]

I did the same thing! One of my friends who I texted with daily, I accidentally blocked on the same day she got a new phone so we thought it was her new phone. We planned an entire trip via FB messenger because I couldn’t read any of her texts in the trip group text which made it super confusing. An old supervisor did it to me too.

[@Mariposa-rgb]

Will, I have an iPad Pro and have the same issue with layers if you try to have multiple pages in a single file, I always have to split the pages into multiple files. I used Art Studio Pro and Clip Studio Paint in the iPad without any problem with layers. Affinity also gives more layers but I like it for vector work but is not as nice for painting. Procreate said in their forum they are working on increasing layer capacity.

[@JohnCliver]

Doing an oil paint Fresco work (live brushes) recently, I was fighting file size and maxing the storage on my iPad. I normally do drawings that are primarily vector layers and those are a lot more forgiving.

[@Jo1day]

For the texts not going through --it might be the format of the message. I have a friend that can't receive multimedia messages, so I had to convert my messages to her to SMS, or straight texts

[@historiadeunahora6383]

what about Krita? Is really nice for illustration

[@gingerbearhaus]

What do you guys do if you did the entire digital painting in RGB and then they say they needed it in CMYK?

[@katon4525]

Thought the audience should know. Will has been very vocal about the recent news regarding a women in the Olympics. Apparently Mr. Will thinks it's his business to dictate what a women is and is not solely based on his own opinion. He's also been posting awful lot of Ai generated images on his illustration fb page. I know these boomers are promoting their own art school but why would you pay for someone to teach you about art who is using an ai generator and who is also a bigot? There are better platforms and places to support than someone who thinks they are so entitled enough to vocalize their hatred without someone calling them the f*ck out. Learn from real artist who understand where the industry is and why so many ai is affecting so many artist right now. Be carful who you allow to give you advice especially when they claim to be an artist but is using ai lmaoo

[@artloveranimation]

I'm not sure what social media posts you're referring to...

[@willterryart]

Khelif was disqualified from the Women’s World Boxing Championships so I'm not really alone on this. I'm comfortable in the number of people that also don't think much higher levels of testosterone have a place in women's boxing. As for the AI images - you must have it in for me - or just don't read? Those posts lead with an AI generated image I downloaded from Google to spark a conversation about AI art. I have never promoted AI art. I think you are attempting to participate in cancel culture by trying to rally a particular group of people that think like you. You're better than this. You are attempting to divide and conquer based in identity politics and that's a low way to live your life.

[@IdeationSketches]

@@willterryart I am so disappointed reading this. I have been following the podcast for a long time, I was pretty sure you leaned right wing, there were plenty of context clues (Mormon, vocal about DEI and anti-union). I am not American so I didn't care despite coming from a significantly more progressive country. But going after a woman for a medical condition is vile! I have been following the boxer story, most people don't get their chromosomes tested at birth, doctors assign it based on what they see. Most people have no idea what chromosomes they actually have and it isn't uncommon to be born a man or woman with opposite chromosomes. Biology rarely fits in boxes! Having high testosterone is even more common as many women with PCOS have hormonal imbalances, I personally know several women who had to have surgery for endometriosis or to remove cysts. That boxer is from a country where being LGBTQ is illegal and she couldn't have changed her passport's gender even if she wanted to. The place that ran those tests, the IBA, which is not recognized by the IOC has no role in Olympic boxing. YOU are the one delving into identity politics here! I hate that US far-right rhetoric starts to get shoved in our faces and this just seems like a new brand of misogyny. Honestly, I would have preferred you loved Ai that is way easier to look past.

[@willterryart]

@@IdeationSketches I could say that I'm so disappointed in you for not caring that women are unfairly being brutilized by a person who has an abnormal amount of testosterone but I won't because I know that you don't care. Imane Khelif was reportedly disqualified by the 2023 International Boxing Association (IBA) championship due to an unspecified gender eligibility test. You want people to think I'm a freak for not wanting this person to box against women. Got it. I can not express enough how little I care about your disappointment in me.

[@willterryart]

@@IdeationSketches The IBA disqualified Khelif for gender test issues so I'm not alone over here. Obviously you live in a world where you think that your brand of politics is correct and the other side is not only wrong but should be shamed for being wrong. I couldn't care less what you think of me.