Today I drew an illustration of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2). This is the virus that causes COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019). It is depicted both free-floating and within a water droplet. Both isolated.
I’m putting it up on my Shutterstock account. Should be available in a few days. Or you can contact me directly.
I just posted a brand new holiday card to my Zazzle store. It’s my house vectorized and with Christmas lights. And I have a coupon code for 60% off cards, among other things. Good until midnight on Monday, Dec 3rd Friday, Dec 7th. Use ZCYBRMONDAY2 DECKTHEHALLS at checkout.
(Other merchandise also.)
This is the time of year to think about buying Christmas cards. I have several designs available at my Zazzle store. (Lately they’ve been running some 60% off sales on holiday cards, which makes them a reasonable price. Just look for the coupon code. Today’s is HOLIDAYZSAVE, but that only lasts until midnight tonight. Black Friday’s coming up, though, so they’re bound to have more good discounts soon. The code BLKFRIDAYZAZ will get you 60% off until the end of the day 11/25/18.) The code ZCYBRMONDAYZ will get you up to 75% off on some projects. I think it’s 60% on cards. Until the end of the day Cyber Monday. And I have a coupon code for 60% off cards, among other things. Good until midnight on Monday, Dec 3rd. Use ZCYBRMONDAY2 at checkout. Use DECKTHEHALLS at checkout for 60% off cards until midnight on Friday, Dec 7th.
My latest is the Christmassy Streetcar that my Dad requested.
Last year’s card was my family ice skating. Sorry it’s not a more universal image. It’s very specifically my family, complete with Katie in her Canadian flag hoodie. I have considered reworking it with polar bears or something skating instead, but I haven’t gotten around to it.
Before that was a snowman family. (Also available in portrait orientation and on other merchandise.)
A single snowman with a cardinal perched on it’s hand/branch. (Also available in portrait orientation and on other merchandise. It’s particularly pretty on a coffee mug.)
And, for the more new age among you, a Stonehenge winter solstice card.
There are also tons of other products up on my Zazzle store. Mostly prints and cards, but other merchandise as well. More-or-less any decent images that I still hold the copyright on are fair game for Zazzle printing. If there’s any of my work that you’d like to see printed on something and I don’t already have it up, just let me know. I’d be happy to set it up for you.
I’ve illustrated two books that are available also. They’d make good Christmas gifts.
The Squishy, Stinky Diaper Written and Illustrated by Karen B. Jones
The Genie Loophole by Paul Maguire Illustrated by Karen B. Jones
(Preview images were generated by Zazzle. They own the greeting card templates, I own the images pictured on the cards.)
Today I received a response from a potential client I’d queried as a freelance illustrator. They wrote to say that they thought my illustrations might work for their clients, who were big names and they listed quite proudly. Yada-yada-yada… If I would just send a $150 check for my work to be included in their talent list they would try to find me work (no promises, though!).
No.
That is not how it works.
I do not pay clients to (maybe) give me work. They pay me to do their work. Even art reps, which this company was not, do not charge for merely listing my work on their website.
This is predatory.
Inexperienced freelancers fall for this, waste their money, and get nothing out of it!
So.
Public service announcement.
Clients pay you, not the other way around.
Be wary.
I got my newest promo postcards from VistaPrint just now.
It’s a girl-themed card this time. I used the new Girls in a Treehouse image on the color side and the one with Sarah and Katie with the bike and skateboard on the back side. You might notice that I recolored the “No Boys Allowed” sign so that it didn’t distract from the overlaid text. You probably didn’t notice (because it’s not important) but I moved the bird too. The image wasn’t exactly the same dimensions as the card, so I had to cut off a little at the sides. So, I nudged the bird over a bit so it wouldn’t be too close to the edge. Working with digital images makes last-minute changes so much easier!
Now, I really need to get moving on my promo mailing list. I’m in the process of transferring my notecard-based system into a computer-based one. I have to type everything in new, which is time consuming now but should pay off later.
Anyone want one of these postcards? Contact me with your name and address and I’ll mail you one.
I decided to close my iStock account. Unfortunately, some of the royalty amounts were coming out to less than a penny an image. Now, I don’t expect to make much per image for stock. The idea is you’re supposed to make it up on bulk. However, less than a penny? Really? That would be insulting if the whole system wasn’t so impersonal.
I’m still offering my images through Shutterstock. Their royalty rates, while still paltry, are at least better than iStock.
I may look around and see if there are any other stock image sites around that would be worth setting up an account. Anyone have any suggestions for stock sites they’ve had good luck with?
The Genie Loophole written by Paul Maguire and illustrated by Karen B. Jones (me) is now up on the SCBWI Bookstop! Check it out or browse other great SCBWI titles.
It’s a chapter book with one black and white image per chapter. Go to my portfolio for a peek at the illustrations.
It’s currently available in paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers. It would make a great Christmas gift!
Synopsis:
It’s something that has crossed every kid’s mind… If you were given three wishes, what would they be? For Teddy Rogers, who one summer discovers a magic bottle on the beach and releases the genie inside, the answer is simple: Wish for a billion more wishes!
What follows is a series of unexpected situations, each crazier than the one before. Teddy soon learns that unlimited wishes can easily spin out of control… and sometimes into dangerous territory!
So, I finally got some information I needed yesterday about shutterstock’s rules for stock image submissions.
I have several celebrity caricature and political cartoons that I want to sell for stock images, but they can only be sold for editorial use because they’re images of real people rather than fictional characters and I don’t have a model release. Istock won’t allow illustrations to be sold as editorial stock, but shutterstock allows this, which is just what I needed.
I had a few cartoons and caricatures of Donald Trump, one of which was clearly offensive and kept getting rejected when I submitted it. I suspected it was being rejected due to being offensive, but they never said that. They kept saying they didn’t like my description or the keywords. I gave up on it for awhile, but I tried again a few days ago and I finally got a response that it was rejected due to being an offensive subject.
Which is fair.
It’s also what I needed to know.
My new Trump caricature (below) is very neutral. It’s not quite complementary, but it isn’t offensive at all. I figure this one should easily pass shutterstock’s censors and, based on my sales of my other Trump images, it should sell reasonably well also.
[Edit: Trump Golfing is now available on shutterstock.]
I reworked my Medusa image because the original black and white one was sort of visually confusing. This one’s better. I haven’t decided what I’ll use it on yet. Coffee mug, anyone?
Here’s a poster of it.
I also colored in Cerberus and put him on a T-shirt. Click here for that.
Who’s a gigantic menacing monster? You are! Yes, you are…
Karen B. Jones - Illustrator 