A morning with Pascal Milelli

If you're an illustrator like myself, you're probably familiar with that need to burrow and lock yourself in your home studio and just produce work without a care about the outside world. The good news is that this is a completely natural feeling! Not to worry – unless of course you've become a hermit and lost all contact with the real world, stopped showering and are living off of scraps... then we might need to have a chat. But as many successful people in the industry will tell you, it's important to "surface" every now and then. Gaining insight from your peers and professionals in the industry is extremely valuable – especially when you're just starting out. I had the pleasure of listening to Pascal Milelli speak this morning and I must admit it was extremely insightful. It's important to realize the role of quotes and invoices and that 'money' isn't a dirty word. It's great to see how other illustrators work too. For example, when I was in Brooklyn I found it comforting to learn that Sam Weber transfers his sketches by using graphite on the back of the paper (something I do as well). And today I learned that Pascal uses the grid system. I don't know why illustrators as a group seem to doubt their talents a lot of the time; perhaps because we're such an introspective group of individuals. Whatever your method, realize you're talented and that your work is worth a lot!