Marcos Chin

FOLLOW ME : VOTE ON THREADLESS.COM

As I mentioned in a previous post, 2010 has really begun on a bit of strange footing; not in a negative way whatsoever, but in that I'm beginning to explore new possibilities within my (art)work. I've been weary at times about sharing (new) work that I've done online mostly because a huge part of me is not fully committed to them. Another reason is that because competition is so ingrained in my being that whether or not the image is being entered into some creatively competitive forum, I will essentially create this environment within my head. At times I feel as though it takes away from the joy of image-making; this constant wondering about the relevance of my images, will it sell?... is it contemporary? does it resemble too much, the work of someone else, who is alive or dead?
Consequently, a part of me wants to therefore, hold onto the images, until they are ripe for an audience to harvest them, or until i am ready to harvest them myself, and then display it amongst the rest of the work that I've done up to this point. But from my limited experience, I've realized that I will never be entirely ready, or fully perceive when will be the proper time to put these images out into the world. I'm sure that there is a business logic about how to do this, that perhaps if I create some sort of outline, and some sort of time line, and adhere to it, then following that formula will result in some sort of positive return.
The art of business?
The business of art?
The illustration market is changing.
No, despite rumours, print is not dead. And I think that editorial illustration will be alive and well, and it's not just because Apple has released its I-pad ***snicker -- snicker*** But with all of these new networking sites, the ability for many people to participate, interface and interact online, how does that affect illustration?
I don't know the answers.
For me, it's become a new learning experience.
Not knowing can be a good thing - change can be a great thing.
It's only that the growing pains make me think that I'm treading along the wrong path.

As per the images shown above, it is the process and final image for my submission on Threadless.com. I'm aiming to try to get it printed. So if you have any time or interest, please click on the thumbnail below to vote it in -- and thanks!

The illustration fell under the theme "Create The New Trend," and so I did a literal interpretation of the sentence. Soojin Buzelli, who is the Creative Director of Plansponsor and Planadviser magazines, and who is also one of my favourite art directors, approaches art direction in this manner, by assigning us a general summary of the content of an article, or by just giving us the title of the story that we have to provide an illustration to.
In this case, I chose to replace the word trend, with the expression follow me. Moreover, the first sketch that is shown above was originally an unapproved sketch for The Atlantic, which I tweaked (yes, there can be a shelf life for even those drawings that end up on the cutting room floor - so don't throw them away; they can be either reused or reworked!) As I continued to draw I thought about using the lightbulb as a metaphor for enlightenment. Through even more sketching I arrived at the idea that I could change components of my drawing to make it more relevant ie. our push towards energy efficiency. As a result, the head of the lightbulb ended up transforming into a China-bump, as I like to call it.
Long-winded explanation.