I have decided to go back in history and combine it with todays events and goals, and bring this blog up todate. I commit to keeping it up todate from this day forward. Expect to see more of Toni McMillan , the artist, individual and business person on a regular basis.
I will be organizing this blog by category for now so I can go back into the past to demonstrate my training, accomplishment and future goals.
The first category is
EDUCATION- PastMost of you know I received my
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration from Boise State University, in 1989. I graduated cum laude with a GPA of 3.89.I had planned to go into Graphic Design, and Illustration. I did freelance logo design for a variety of organizations and businesses.
LOGO Design Future Goals- I currently have a new online art store, at
http://www.tonidraws.com/where I can design anything for any purpose, that can be added to up to 50 products priced under $30, that can be used for the following:
Organizations- Events, Team Identity, Prizes, Promotion, Marketing and Awards!
Each member can order their own style of T-shirt and size! You don't have to collect money for the group, no set up fees, and you can order 1 or thousands. They will be shipped anywhere you want within a week or two depending on quantities. ex. of products include: tote bags, mugs, mouse pads, greeting cards, hats, magnets, clocks, pillows, etc. Check to see all the products and how they look with designs on them at:
http://www.tonidraws.com/ or call 208-345-4-ART to discuss ideas for your organization. There will be a charge for the designing of the logo or art to be negotiated. If you want to resale these items this will need to be negotiated as well.
LOGO DESIGN- Past ProjectsBoise City Police- my logo was used for the off-duty officer's softball hats, for the entire Boise Police Department.
Boise State University- I designed a Bronco horse logo for an Ice Cream cart, that was
taken around to all the sporting events and campus.
Idaho Revolver League- Logo for the organizations T-shirts
Idaho Bird Hunters Association- Logo for organization's T-shirts and organization brand
Wolf Recovery Foundation- Logo for T-shirts and organization's brand
ILLUSTRATION- RecentJan- 2010-
Timberline High School- Athletic Department- Six Graduating Seniors
Project- Six Line drawing of the six 2010 graduating seniors. I was allowed to present the drawings to the seniors after a win against Boise High at a special event ceremony. Each athlete and their parents were very pleased with the drawings. Here is the testimonial of the parent that contracted me:
February 25, 2010
My name is Lisa Hall, and my first encounter with Toni was the day I called her to see if she could bail me out of a tough position. Graciously, she agreed knowing that if she said no, there was not enough time for the project to be completed by anyone else.
My story is as follows:
I have two sons who play basketball for the Timberline High School Team. We asked the Art Department to create caricatures for each of the six seniors to present to them on Senior Night. Their versions did not turn out how we wanted, so we had to move on and come up with another plan.
At the time it was Tuesday and we needed them by Thursday. From a referral artist who teaches for the Young Rembrant's Art Program, we called Toni to see if she could produce line drawings for each of the boys by Thursday, and she agreed. We provided her with a physical photo of each player, and we didn't give her much time. She worked diligently late nights to create the awesome drawings of each player. The boys love them, and the parents were thrilled with the final product. Success!
Toni is a wonderful artist, and I would definately refer her to anyone I know, and I plan to hire her for some personal projects myself.
Lisa Hall
Boise, Idaho
ILLUSTRATION- PastBook Illustration: I am a published illustrator. This book was written by two physical therapist in Boise Idaho. It is a parenting book for anyone that is involved in raising children, parents, child care providers, teachings, grandparents, etc. I am proud of the 65 drawings I completed for this book. I did all the photography for the book as well as 65 line drawings. It took 9 months to complete these drawings.
ILLUSTRATION FUTURE GOALS- I would be interested in doing more illustration and perhaps write and illustrate my own childen's book in the future, however I prefer to work with only individuals and publishers that know copywrite laws, and those that have adequate funds to pay for quality illustration.
COPYRIGHT LAWS on book illustration and Ethical Hiring of Artists:Please do not take advantage of artists or even hobby artist. Pay them for their time and work, even if they are not experienced and even if they don't ask. Art is valuable and so is the artist's time and talents. Do your homework and find out what is fair, just because you wrote a book, do not expect an artist to invest in your project that may never get published. Pay them on time and fairly!
Pay the artist 50% upfront: We need this to pay the costs of art supplies, and living expenses while creating and to insure the client is committed and won't back out of the project while you work on it.
Future Plans in Illustration:
I am only interested in working with experienced and professional publishers in the future. It is insufficient to only offer an artist their name in a book, or royalties based on possible future sales as payment. These are standard perks and do not offer much value in gaining more work for an artist. The artist delivers images now, and should be paid a reasonable rate for each illustration as it is completed and accepted. There is a lot of time involved with creating art, pay for their time fairly. Pay them an extra rush fee if you need things in less than 2 weeks. Be Realistic: When you see a sketch artist at the fair doing a drawing in 15 minutes, that doesn't mean every drawing will only take 15 minutes and you should only pay $10 for an illustration. There are many steps to creating an illustration, and each drawing requires different skills and different hours to create. Some artist are more experienced and better than others. Expect to pay more for these skills and experience. Some Illustrations can take 5 hours some up to 50 hours. Most illustrations can start at least $50 to $500 per drawing. Try to be realistic as to how much time your project would take. Think about how much you would want to be paid if you were doing it. If you worked for 4 hours doing anything , would you want to be paid $10? That's $2.50 an hour. Do you think because you enjoy your work, you should be paid less? If you got your name on a book cover, would'nt you still need a paycheck to pay your costs of living and supplies? Recognition is not enough, and the artist has bills and cost of living too, and needs to be paid fully and also given recognition for their hard work. Referrals are always nice too. The artist keeps the original drawings when they are used for publication. The publisher is only paying for the use of the drawings not ownership. The artist retains full ownership to the images even if they are contracted and paid to do the drawings for a specific book.
The artist should be paid for each use of the drawings. For the cover, interior, and each time it is reprinted according to their agreed terms of their contract. To print or alter an artist's work without payment or permission is Copyright infringement and you can be sued. The artist is paid each time and image is reproduced, because this is how they make their living. This is true in music, writing, and any other performancing art.
"Kids Learn from the Inside Out," Shirley L. Randolph, MA, PT and Margot C. Heiniger, MA, OTR, Illustrator - Toni McMillan 65 line drawings of children, illustrating the developmental stages of children from birth to age 7 years.
