Where to Start?

Welcome:

Me with Actress Vanessa Williams 2004

Hello blogosphere and welcome to my first blog entry. My name is David E. Wilkinson. I am an artist with more than sixteen years of experience. In running my own agency called The Drawing Board Art Studio I have worked for some of the biggest names in toys, entertainment and sports. Some of my clients include Vanessa Williams (TV’s “Desperate Housewives”), Jon Cryer (TV’s “Two and a Half Men”), Mattel, Hasbro, Warner Bros, MGM Studios, Learning Curve / RC2 Corp., Starz / Anchor Bay Entertainment and more.

It has been 6 months or so since on the advice of a fellow artist and old friend of mine Evelyn McCorristin Peters that I set up my blog account. In that time I have not entered a blessed thing. I suppose like many, I have struggled with where to start and what to say. That and there is that pesky thing called time. As a full time freelance artist I must make sure my clients come first. Thankfully I have remained busy in this depressing economy.  Even so, when I am not busy with paying jobs, then my focus needs to be on finding my next job. One of the pitfalls to being a self employed artist is that your time never is really “your own”. Often, when you work full time for someone else and clock out, you know that time is yours. Not so when you are on your own because you can always be doing something productive, so finding down time to do what you want can sometimes be difficult. Even from just a mental standpoint.

Myself with NHL & Flyer Great Brian Propp 2010

Then, on top of all that there is family and my lack of ability to control my creative inspirations which lead me into all kinds of other time consuming projects. As those of you who stay along for the ride here will find out, I am a uniquely versatile artist who like to express himself creatively in everything from drawing & painting to video production. I even write poetry on occasion. So, in the end there is just not much time for blogging. Even though I do enjoy writing, historically I share what I write with a select few people. So, sending my thoughts out into the blogosphere would not be my first choice as a writing outlet, but social networking and blogging have become such an important part of an artist marketing themselves these days, I feel as though I have to. It can go such a long way and be a powerful tool in getting the word out to promote yourself and your work. That all said, this can certainly be considered networking and marketing, so in a round about way it is working. With proper justification now properly in tow, here I am.

I can’t even begin to tell you what kind of shape or direction this blog will begin to take. I haven’t thought that far ahead. I see it as an ever evolving thing that grows with each entry, learning from the last and hopefully getting better as it goes along. I am sure some entries will be informative and insightful and others might be me just plugging something I have just added to my Zazzle shop. What I do know is that I have a lot of work and experiences to share.

I have always considered myself very fortunate to have been able to make a living doing something that I truly enjoy doing and working primarily in the three industries I have always loved the most. Toys, movies and most recently sports. What more can an artist ask?

I won’t lie, my main motivation in even creating this blog is to promote myself and my work but I do hope that in sharing some of my experiences both past and present that some of the younger readers and art students among us who are just starting out might be able to learn something along the way from my successes and failures.

Once a year or so I am asked to speak to the junior class at my old school, The Hussian School of Art which I am always honored to do.  The reaction I get from the classes has always been very positive so I am going to bring much of what I share with them here to my blog. Some of the things I try to stress most to the students I speak to is the importance of networking, marketing yourself, remaining open minded to each and every opportunity that comes along and most importantly striving for versatility in what you do. I really believe that these are the keys to my success.

Caricature I created for Flyers’ enforcer Riley Cote
2010

Although I feel as though I have been the luckiest guy in the world in that I have had some amazing opportunities fall in my lap. It takes initiative, talent, professionalism and hard work to make the best of those opportunities and have them lead you to the next one. I am certainly not saying that I have not earned what I have achieved or worked very hard to get where I am. I certainly have but I also feel very fortunate to have met some of the people I have and had some of the opportunities present themselves at key times in my career.

In closing I will just say thanks for reading and stay tuned. Please let me hear from you if you have any thoughts or reactions to anything I may say or if you have any questions regarding my work.

Dave