I have the same issue with my scanner. I guess that's just how scanners are--- they mess up the artwork. I have never found adjusting the scanner's settings to be helpful though. I have, however, learned that the best way to solve this issue is to edit the image in photoshop. What I do is that I hold up my illustration next to my monitor and I try to tweak the Color Balance, Contrast, Vibrance, and sometimes, Curves until the image on display is similar to the one I'm holding. You'll need to do a lot of trial and error with this process but you will get there. There is no fixed way to go with this. It all boils down to how you feel about the image. I hope this helps.

@smceccarelli Brilliant idea-thank you so much!

Thanks, Lee! I just got worried something was wrong with the board and maybe it wasn't coming through. I got kinda freaked out about the assignment but then after I re-watched the videos, I figured it out. Thanks for getting back to me. 🙂

@jason-bowen

Not everyone is able to obtain an agent.

When I was doing licensing years ago (paper products, greeting cards) I owned the copyright of the images which was spelled out in the contract but if I remember the copyright legalities were handled by the licensing company. I'll see if I can find the contracts.

@marina Some of this advise is the very opposite of what Will and Jake recommend

I discovered another method by accident: I was messing around with new apps and realized that an animation app also works for this if you turn off the onion skin. I can do a sketch in a frame and quickly add a new frame on top of it, and if I want to look at all of my gesture sketches (to see, for example, if I'm improving at all), I can look at all of the frames in the storyboard.

I still prefer Procreate for real sketching but for the 30 second gesture sketches, the animation app works well.

@taru If it is a personal piece I will eventfully flatten it down and work on top for the final. On occasion I do commission work and then I always keep my characters, BG and foreground separated so I can make easy changes. One tip if you find having too many layers hard to manage then try using folders to keep them organized

Also Bobby Chu has some great stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjw9vFuI2Qw

I used a 19" Yinova tablet with PS for about 5 years before getting my Cintiq It only cost me $500 and was well worth the money. I t was easy to work with and great for sketching on.

I use Bubu since many years - also for this kind of thing. Whichever you choose, have them send you their samples set (normally they do it for free). Prints can look amazingly different on different papers, and it´s good to have a reference to choose the right one for you.

I have used Carbonite for the past year. It's about $5.00 a month. I think it's worth it. I never think about it. Backs up everything automatically.

I know she mentions briefly in (I think) the last video that companies are sometimes OK with hiring artists from other countries, in part because those artists are sometimes ok with just taking a flat fee instead of royalties. Not exactly an answer to your question, though my guess would be that it just depends on the company/AD.

I believe she also mentions in the last video how those plates that sell for $1 might have a lower royalty rate, however those cheap items often have huge distribution (nationwide, or even including USA Canada and Europe, or International) and that wide distribution turns into a big pay check for the artist, despite the low royalty and cost of the item. Basically, take each contract on a case by case basis--royalties, distribution, length of contract, and all other factors effect what you'll get from each agreement, and what works well in one situation might be a bad idea in another.

This is just me going off of my memory of the video and obviously I have no personal experience, so watch for yourself and take what I say with a grain of salt. If I remembered anything wrong I'll claim its from lack of sleep 😉

@eric-castleman Feel free to email me directly if you need help with Photoshop or whatever. We'll take care of those little aliens! 🙂

@tyson-ranes

Kyle's Brushes!
They are now included with photoshop CC - They are amazing!

Thank you, that did the trick! Even though the file size was small enough, the image size does indeed matter as well.

@tamisha Thank you. Yeah, I'm leaning towards traditional, and the artist Aeppol. That's the closest to how I'd like my work to look; gentle feeling, tells a story, bright cheerful colors, and a lot of nature involved.
I think first I need to work on discipline though, as I hardly ever draw anymore. I spend more time writing the stories than I do sketching.

@eli I'm glad you like it! If I had to guess I'd say her art is a combination of traditional and digital. I say that because I haven't seen any original art for sale, only prints.

Any SVSers planning on attending NESCBWI Spring Conference in April? It would be cool to connect in person.

@jason-bowen Hi Jason..I'm using Windows Surface pro 4. wishing for a cintiq but feeling undeserving just yet. I'll persevere! Meanwhile, I avoided it for now by scanning in my pencil drawing. 🙂 Thanks for the help everyone.

@carriecopa, Thank you! I hope so.