By Morgan Gaynin Inc.

Last Friday night was the opening reception for the Society of Illustrators (the Uncommissioned and Sequential Show), and though it is always a delight to congregate with so many colleagues and friends, we had additional reason to feel jovial - the wonderful Steven Tabbutt was awarded a Silver Medal for his gorgeous image “Infest”. Congratulations, Steven! This is one of the great honors of our industry, and we couldn’t be prouder.

“Infest,” copyright Steven Tabbutt:

Workbook and Scott Hull Associates are proud to announce that Curtis Parker’s work for Panera Breads was chosen to appear in the Society of Illustrators 54th annual and exhibition.

Society of Illustrators is the premier showcase for illustrators and animators, featuring over 400 pieces of the most outstanding works created throughout the year. Open to artists worldwide, thousands of entries were considered by a jury of professionals, which include renowned illustrators, art directors and designers.

It’s so nice to be noticed!





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Richard Solomon is celebrating 29 years as an artists' representative. His group of 20 artists has worked for a variety of clients producing over 8,000 assignments. His artists have won six Hamilton King Awards, two Greenwich Workshop Awards and have collectively received over 80 Gold and Silver Medals from the Society of Illustrators. Five artists have been profiled in Walt Reed’s “The Illustrator in America: 1860-2000,” a comprehensive guide to innovators of American illustration.

This was the third year that I was invited to Mirko Ilic’s grad student illustration class at SVA. As in the past, I first gave the overview of my career as an illustration agent, and used examples of artists that I have worked with from our website. It was helpful to have sequential process shots of several jobs to reference. My associate, Michael Mrak, and I talked for several hours and answered many questions. I believe the topic of most interest to Mirko’s students was the relationship between a rep and an artist. How it develops and what are the ground rules, why one would have a rep instead of going alone, and so on. We tried as best we could to answer all of their questions.

To briefly sum up what I said: All agents have passions and lean towards certain types of art. I’m no different. When I’m looking for new talent, be he or she young or a veteran, I want to see great drawing skills within a context of a signature style. Once I see a body of work that is consistent and I feel is applicable in the market place, I begin to think seriously about the possibility of forming a relationship with that artist. I explain to the artist that we’re not miracle workers, but we can mentor and work with an artist to target the work to the proper client base. We do this through an advertising and promotional campaign, using all the electronic media available including our website, blasts, the Workbook, the iSpot, Behance and other online portfolio sites, and individual targeted promotions. The cost to an individual artist is reduced substantially because of the ability to be part of a group, and I believe that the artist benefits from being with well-known and prestigious artists.

I explained to the students that we are responsible for negotiating billing, being strong advocates if there are problems during the process, collecting and dispersing monies and most importantly, guiding the artist to reach his or her full potential.

A rep-talent relationship is valuable to both parties because it allows the artist to focus on what’s important to them, while I deal with the business side of the equation. One of the benefits of having an agent is that we are somewhat removed from the emotional attachment that an artist has to valuing his or her work. Also, an artist tends to be reluctant to be confrontational with a client, but an agent can negotiate from strength. In short, a rep is subjective while an artist is objective.

And this frees up time for the artist to do what they do best, which is create great imagery.

I also mentioned that we have a mentor/intern program in which we are capable of taking 3-5 student artists per semester and helping them see what really goes on in the “business of art.” I pointed out that many of the questions that they didn’t have time to ask may be answered on my blog.

I really enjoy these give-and-take sessions. Not only do I learn a hell of a lot, but it’s my way of giving back to a business that has been very good to me. Have PowerPoint, will travel.