05 Apr 2016
We got more and more customers in our STORE plan, and we are improving our initial product to be more flexible while keeping it easy to use.
Today, we bring you two small improvements that will make things easier to you and your potential customers:
Weights in products and shipping prices: You can now set a product's weight, and set a minimum and maximum weight in your delivery prices rules. This way, you can have different delivery prices on the same set of countries depending of the order weight: as flexible as it gets!
Product Categories: You can now create product categories, and add a product to one or many of them. On your store main page will be still showing all products by default, but your customers will be able to filter them by the categories you set on the navigation menu.
For any doubt, question, suggestion or problem, please contact us at uservoice or write us at [email protected].
24 Feb 2016
Two weeks ago, we launched the revamped version of our Discover Artists section, and lots of our users have already listed themselves on a category or tagged their portfolios.
If you created your portfolio time ago, it is possible that you portfolio will be in the latter places in a category or tag listing. To mitigate that, we are now featuring invidual images in the Featured Pictures list.
You can also go to "Edit" in a picture you uploaded and tag it to better describe it and be more easily found.
For any doubt, question, suggestion or problem, please contact us at uservoice or write us at [email protected].
22 Feb 2016
Victor is an illustrator and designer from Valencia. We met him while he presented his last work, The Festival at Manhattan Comics. We are also big fans of Providence's most famous author, so we didn't think twice and interviewed Victor as soon as we could.
Tell us a bit about yourself: How did the road began for you to get into illustration?
I always loved drawing, and slowly moved my educational path towards the art world: I went to art school, finished the Graphic Design degree later, and tried to work on projects afterwards.
You recently illustrated a book by H.P. Lovecraft: "The Festival". Can you tell us a bit more about this project?
Sure! I've always been a big fan of Lovecraft and always was drawing stuff about the Mythos, specially the Great Old Ones.
When I finished my bachelor's degree, I spent some time looking for a corporate job with little luck. I decided to complete my education with a final graphic design focused course, where I had to make a final project.
I spent some time thinking on what I could do, and then found out that it was H.P Lovecraft's 125th aniversary, and decided to make a little tribute for all the great times I had enjoying his stories.
The process of making the book was slow and frantic at the same time: I had only 6 months to complete the project, but it was a slow process because I spent 4 months just getting the right style and format, because I really wanted to do something original and unique. That left me just 2 months for illustrations, layout and printing!
The crowdfunding campaign at Verkami was instrumental for making "The Festival" possible. How was the experience of planning and making the crowdfunding campaign a success? How do you think crowdfunding has changed the comic and illustration fields?
It was crazy! I threw myself into it without the proper planning and had to calculate packs and rewards on the go: I also had problems with two printer shops and my budget was a bit fuzzy. But it worked well in the end! For promotion, I walked over to every comic-book shop in Valencia and worked intensively on social networks.
Crowdfunding has changed every creative area for the better. Now you can try to release your work on your own: sometimes great work won't be given a chance by publishers because of being too controversial or because it has little commercial potential.
You are working on other projects, like Twist Comics and "The fucking badass". What new things can we expect on the next few months?
I don't know if I can talk about this yet, let it be a secret between us: at Twist Comics we are working on a card came that it's going to be great and with lots of humor, mocking action films from the 80s-90s. It's going to be a fun, fast-paced game focused on friend-backstabbing. You can't get any cooler than that!
I'm also working on another Lovecraft-inspired project. It's on a very early stage, so I cannot tell anything yet!
And last, but not least: any advice for aspiring artists and illustrators just starting up their careers?
Yes: never stop drawing, and if you cannot get something right, just copy! Look for references and models, you won't get things right the first time but you surely will get it the 30th time.
I don't mean copying other people's work as it was your own: I mean copying to learn by practice!
Thank you, Victor!
08 Feb 2016
Slowly but steadly, Drawfolio has been growing to more than 4600 registered users. They come from countries like Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, USA, France, Russia or Arab Emirates, but they also work on a diversity of fields: illustration, photography, fine art, 3D modelling, tattoo, architecture or interior design.
That's why we've been working to evolve our "Discover Artists" engine. Now, finding portfolio websites from any of our users, PRO customers, or the ones featured by our team, is way more easy.
You can also filter by Categories and Tags. In "Information -> Be Discovered", you can now choose the Categories you want your website to be in, and add the tags you want to better describe you and your website.
We think it's better for you to be easily found, but if you don't want to be listed on "Discover Artists", you can always enable the "Prevent showing in discovery" option in "Settings".
For any doubt, question, suggestion or problem, please contact us at uservoice or write us at [email protected].
01 Feb 2016
Art pieces by Martina Billi instantly draw people's attention: big wooden panels with illustrations of wolves, bears, crocodiles or monkeys drawn only with ballpen or ink. We met Martina at Ilustrisima 2015 and we couldn't (or wouldn't!) pass on the opportunity to talk with her.
Tell us a bit about yourself: How did the road began for you to get into art and illustration?
My education as an artist began on the Art Institute in Florence, my home town. It is a beautiful building that actually used to be the stables of the Pitti Palazzo. I later graduated on the Fine Arts Academy at Florence. There, I had the chance to study painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, and engraving, among other things, in a very creative and estimulating environment.
A key part of your work is the material you work on: wood. How did you get to focus on wood? What do you find special about it?
Wood is a material I've worked with during years. Studying Fine Arts, we used to experiment with a lot of materials and media, and I always felt more comfortable painting on wood than on a canvas. It gave me a way stronger foundation that wouldn't deform on pressure and was more resistant to brushing.
When I arrived at Madrid, I began collecting and recycling all the wood I could found in order to experiment with it, now with ballpens and ink. I liked the warmth of the final result, and the challenge of working over a tough surface with a lot of "personality". Wood ended being part of the composition and the art piece.
Where do you find inspiration for your work, and how do you melt your sources of inspiration to create a unique style like yours?
A big inspiration for me is photography, specially black and white pictures. I like to collect old photos that I find at antique shops or flea markets. I look for unusual characters and instantly start dreaming about stories or events I didn't take part on. This images are a true, unique treasure for me, always at hand if I want to look at them. I feed this collection from old magazine scraps, too. Making collages is very inspiring and fun!
Another side of my work is based on the observation of the animal world and the animal's anatomy. The thorough execution on medium and big formats are also a good foundation to develop other compositions that blend humand and animal traits.
What qualities does a client and project need to have for you to feel comfortable and motivated?
I like challenges and also getting my clients to be happily suprised and satisfied with the final result. Some people have a clear idea of what they want and guide you step by step through each line you draw, which is sometimes curious, educational and a real zen exercise for the artist.
In other ocassions, like the last comission I made, people who trust you give you complete freedom without interfering in the process. When talking about projects, I like them to be collaborative and fit my own sensibility and ethics.
And last, but not least: any advice for aspiring artists and illustrators just starting up their careers?
If art is really what motivates you: full-time dedication to it, no tricks!
Thank you Martina!
