Is this job title equivalent in the art world to an actor who got their start doing porn? Nobody ever seems to be touting themselves as a coloring book artist, yet there must be hundreds of them produced each year – and they don’t give up any pages to those pesky writers, just picture after picture.
So…who does CB art? Staff artists, freelancers? Any famous artists, illustrators have CB artist on their resume?
thanks
-rainy
I’m not aware of any “famous” artists who got their start that way – but for folks who make their living doing illustration, it’s a perfectly respectable gig that pays okay.
I’m not disrespecting the profession in any way, please don’t misunderstand. Maybe my porn example was poorly choosen. I wondered if it had an “in-industry” stigma attached to it.
My oldest son is almost three and the last coloring book we bought for him had these really cool, stylized pictures in it. It reminded me of the kind of flare you see in comic book and game illustrators (in fact, to me it looked like three artists were responsible for all 60-70 pictures) – which got me wondering about the whole issue.
I have a friend who does maps for the roleplaying game industry (books and magazines) and am always surprised at how little he gets paid for his work.
Commercial Art gig, I do believe.
The artists probably spend most of their time creating ads & logos, so a coloring book must be a much-need break.
Sorry – the porn comparison threw me off.
Up until six months ago I worked for a puzzle publisher. I oversaw one project that involved freelance artists – didn’t pay great, but I gave them bylines, so a lot of people did it to beef up their portfolios; plus it allowed them to draw according to their own whims, which was also nice for them.
Another division of the same company produces a lot of puzzle books for dollar stores, Wal-Mart, etc. They also used freelancers. You are correct, it doesn’t pay well – but it’s possible to crank out a lot of illustrations fairly quickly, since they tend to be rather simple and graphic. I don’t think anyone makes a living at it, but it’s a nice job in between better-paying gigs.
I do have a friend who wrote coloring books (story, not art). She said the got $400 for them. They were additional income from her general freelance writing. I would assume artists would do the same.
One of my favorite artists, Berni Wrightson, got coloring book jobs as some of his first jobs. Then he moved on to comics, then to fine art.
Dover Books does a lot of coloring books with the name of the artist who did the drawings displayed prominently on the cover of the books, so it’s apparently a good gig.
Yeah, it’s more likely a “one of” jobs than the sole job. The guy I know does everything from art for video games to graphic novels (he’s got a saucy cover coming out that I really dig - the cover’s a big point in the resume!) to designing toys for tie-ins (Spongebob doodads and placemats and the like) to coloring books to random posters and stuff. When you make a living with art, you take any gig that requires a pen, brush or pixel. If it includes coloring books, there doesn’t seem to be a stigma attached.
Of course, there is a class of “artists” for whom simply “making a living with art” is its own stigma.
Wow, just looked at that. I’ve never seen a coloring book with any sort of credit before.
I just did the one and didn’t even try getting money for it, so I guess I don’t qualify.
