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FAQ

Name: Mike Corriero Location: Colonia, NJ USA Website: www.mikecorriero.com

1: You graduated in Illustration from Pratt Institute in 2003. Which courses would you say helped most in preparing you for your job?

I majored in Illustration during my 4 years at Pratt and although the experience and the surroundings were motivational I didn't feel like the majority of the courses I took prepared me for the field of art I'm in now. The one course that did help was a business course on freelancing as an artist. This course touched upon topics of promotion, contracts and protecting yourself and your work, dealing with clients and negotiating and setting up a business. I learned later after graduation that there were other schools that really focused on the field of concept art and design much more than Pratt. There weren't many courses at Pratt that revolved around designing creatures, characters, visually interpreting a story or description and communication of ideas. I did take some courses of introduction to digital painting, design and programs but I found that I already knew more than some of the teachers who were running the class. Pratt has some very dedicated and professional teachers who can definitely steer you in the right direction and are equally talented but I would classify it primarily as an Illustration and Graphic Design school not a school for concept art and entertainment design. I would still consider myself largley self taught since I had been drawing and learning by myself long before I went to college. I do think college can be helpful for beginners, but I don't particular feel that it helped me as much as I would have liked.

2: What would you say are the prerequisites for becoming a successful illustrator/concept artist?

When speaking in terms of freelance work I'd say you would need to know the ins and outs of the business and the promotion ends of the industry to become successful. You need to get your work out there, make a name for yourself and network with some of the biggest names in the industry from the artist to the art directors and crew involved. Who knows where the dream job of your life will come from, it could be from posting your work on myspace or losing your portfolio at your local Dunk n Donuts. The point is, you never know who will run across your work or where they'll first find it. You could be sitting on a subway train in New York City drawing in your sketchbook and perhaps an art manager from some well known corporation will ask to take a look. You never know when someone who can and is willing to give you a chance will come across your work so the best thing you can do is get published in books, post on art forums, post on networking communities like facebook and create promotional outlets like blogspot and a professional website. Get out in the real world at conventions and exhibits, museums and gallery shows. Educate yourself in the understanding of contracts and the details of copyright law and clauses. Talk to friends or acquaintance's and ask any questions you have about industry standards concerning payment, deadlines, contracts and available contacts.

3: You use Photoshop and Painter apart from traditional pencil sketching.
How useful do you think designing software is in bringing alive an artists' visions?

Digital painting and design software is practically essential for concept artist these days. It's possible for an artist to still work traditionally of course because sketching in pencil and working on something that exist in reality such as a canvas or sketchbook have their advantages. Presenting a pencil sketch has it's own unique qualities that a digital sketch doesn't always produce. Using software like Photoshop and Painter is important for concept art because there is a constant changing and redesigning of one idea so much so that if you worked in paint or pencil it would take you days to produce what could take hours on the computer. If you screw up on a painting you need to take time to rework the error whereas in Photoshop you can just hit Edit-Undo. It's not just the quick undo option but it's also the fact that you can produce multiple variations of one character design with different elements of the concept just by saving the one idea, copying it and paste multiple versions of it next to the first concept without the need to redraw everything. This comes in handy precisely if you only wanted to redesign a small portion of the overall figure such as the head or one hand. Working digitally as a freelance artist is without question the best way to go about getting work done quickly and efficiently. I'm able to handle all promotion and negotiations online, I'm capable of showing a client a sketch within minutes or hours of getting the design brief and I can produce the final and send it by means of ftp server upload or e-mail. There is no waiting for the paint to dry, no packaging and snail mailing or wasted time in restarting a failed painting.

4: What Software do you usually use?

I am currently running both Photoshop CS3 and Painter X on my machine with a Wacom Intuos2 9x12 inch tablet. Primarily when working on a job I'll use Photoshop because I'm quicker and more comfortable with it at the moment and I'm just learning the new tech Painter has added to its latest version. I do jump back and forth some times creating an image using both programs. All my work is done using a Dell Dimension 4600 PC and a Microtek Scanmaker i320 for scanning my pencil sketches. I use Mechanical drawing pencils and waterproof fine point/pigment liner drawing pens. I plan on furthering my use of programs like Illustrator for some design work and perhaps mediums like sculpy and clay playing around in the 3d realm of things.

5: When did you start to illustrate?

Probably around the same time I learned to pick up a crayon. If you mean in terms of a professional illustration career then I've been freelancing for about 4 years now, but I have been drawing every since I was around 4 or 5 years old and haven't stopped. This is really how I learned what I know..not from schools and teachers although I do have a degree.

6: How long have you been drawing and how did you become a Professional Illustrator?

I've been drawing since childhood, it's something that never really stopped and has always been with me. This is something that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It's not something I just decided to do in my teens or something that peaked my interest later in life. I enjoy it very much though and all the challenges that come with improving and competing in the professional world as well as sharing my work with others and learning from those who inspire me.

7: Do you have an agent?

No, I never used an agent mainly because I haven't been stuck in such a rut that I ever felt the need of sharing a percentage of my work with someone, not when I'm capable of finding my own work. It might be something some artist enjoy, having an agent promote their work, setting up schedules, finding jobs, dealing with negotiations, but I like the hands on experience and gaining the business experience and knowledge for myself.

8: You appear to have a large number of creatures in your portfolio.
Are they a particular favorite among the subject matter you choose to illustrate?

Creatures are definitely a favorite subject matter of mine. As a kid my first love of art was always about the concept of creature design, the main attraction came from movies like Labyrinth, Jurassic Park, The Neverending Story, Legend, Willow, Star Wars and a handful of other sci-fi and fantasy films. I felt like, if I could grow up and get paid to create creatures for a living that was what I would do. It's also good to find something you can excel at and specialize in

9: Could you provide some useful tips on self-promotion, do you self promote?

I promote entirely through the internet and printed publications such as magazines and books like ballistic publishing, ImagineFX magazine, advanced photoshop magazine, 2dartist magazine and other open submission art books. I would recommend submitting to these type of publishing companies because they get a lot of exposure, their free to submit to and it's an honor to have your work accepted and published as well as having your name, e-mail and website information promoted.

10: Can you send me your brush or texture list?

Sorry I do not send out my brushes or textures on request but I may make them available on the website shortly along with a few tutorials



All artwork Copyright 2010 www.mikecorriero.com and it's respective clients All Rights Reserved
The artwork shall not be used without written permission from Mike Corriero