Your Full Name
Cassandra Jean Piedra

Tell us about you
I am an obsessive compulsive comic artist. I graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design. And I absolutely love drawing. I really can’t picture myself in any other career. I spend all my days working on one project or another, with my puppy Yukiko sleeping at my feet and my cat Hoshi stealing my pens and pencils.

In your opinion, what would be the secret ingredients to become a great illustrator?
I don’t think there is any big ’secret ingredient’ to be an illustrator. Natural talent as well as studying art. The knowledge of a lot of subjects has always proved useful to me, for creating a variety of work. I think if there was a special ingredient though, it would be determination.

Illustration is not an easy field to get into, and even harder to stick with. Sometimes the money will come in very slowly, and you have to be careful that you don’t give up and fall back onto another more secure job. A teacher once told me, and I agree completely, that the only way you can succeed as an illustrator is if you can not possibly imagine yourself  doing anything else in the world. If that’s the case for you, then you will definitely succeed in becoming a great illustrator.

Where are you located?
I’m a bit of a snow bird. Half the year I am in Florida, and the other half I live in New York.

What is the most fascinating part of being an illustrator?
The most fascinating part to me is all of the different subjects I get to study. Most of my work is in comics, though I freelance as well. But every project brings a different subject, from a different time period and new world. I absolutely love researching for the various projects I receive, particularly the comics since you can get so involved with the characters.

Where do you get inspirations from?
Everything. I would be hard pressed to find something that didn’t inspire me. Music, movies, books, other artworks. Conversations with friends or even the weather can inspire me. Other cultures or even clothing can inspire as well. My ‘acrobat’ series was inspired by Cirque du Soleil, for example, as well as each individual image in the series influenced by different country’s traditional costumes.

How do you promote/ sell/ showcase your work?
A lot of the promoting I do is online. I have a website, plus I am on some of the various freelance art websites like Guru or Elance ( though I find they are not the most helpful sometimes). I also post my work on gallery sites like deviantArt or Mangabullet. I sell prints and take commissions through those sites, but there is also an Artist’s Market in the city where I live. I sell prints, t-shirts and promote my work there. If I want to promote to a specific company though, I send portfolios through the mail.

What is your long range goals in your life?
My long range goals are pretty similar to any short range goals. I want to continue to work as an illustrator, specifically a comic artist. And basically that is what I’m doing. I spend every day working toward that goal. I have one manga published so far, and am working on it’s sequel. And a publisher is showing interest in a new series. Not to mention I update two online comics every week.

What types of assignment/ project are you attracted the most? Why so?
I enjoy character sketches a lot. I think it’s a lot of fun when people want me to draw their original characters, covers for their books or illustrations of scenes from their stories. I love to try my take on their beloved creations.

Who is an illustrator that you look up to? Why so?
This question is too hard! There are countless illustrators who I look up to, both living and not. And the reason I look up to them is pretty simple, I admire and am in awe of their talent and body of work. I am always finding new people to admire, there are so many incredible artists working in the field.

Describe a difficult work/ project situation and how would you overcome it?
One of the most frustrating things I have encountered is when a client wants you to constantly revise a picture. It’s understandable in a way. They are paying you and they want  something specific. However, sometimes it can get to be a little much. So to overcome it you need a bit of a premptive strike. Make sure when you write up the contract, that you mention how many revisions are included, and if more are needed, that there will be an added cost for every extra revision.

What do you think about the Internet and how it is affecting the visual communication business?
I think that the internet has done both wonderful and terrible things for artists. On the one hand, through the internet I have been able to get the majority of the work I have received. The current publisher I work with is in Germany, something I would not have accomplished without the internet.

On the other hand. With the internet, companies that would be hiring illustrators can easily find websites with stock images and pay a very small fee in comparison to what an original illustration would cost. There is also a sad amount of art theft going on when people simply pluck images off of google.

If you could turn back time, how would you do things differently?
I’m actually pretty happy with all of my choices, I think I’d do everything the same way.

How do you keep your work fresh? Do you need to consciously adapt your style or does it progress naturally?
I think its a mix. Sometimes, I  will consciously sit down and challenge myself to try something new. But more often than not, I think my style progresses on it’s own based on all the new things I see, or just through time seeing the flaws in my own illustrations and working to correct them.

Name 3 of your favorite (art) books/ magazines.

• Braun & Schneider’s ‘Historic Costume in Pictures’. I find this book is endlessly useful in reference whenever I need to do a picture from a specific time period.
• Hiroaki Samura’s ‘The Art of Blade of the Immortal’. The artwork is so incredible and inspiring. Whenever I need good eye candy, I take that artbook out. I can look at it all day.
• ‘Graphic Artists Guild Handbook’ . I highly recommend this book to any up and coming illustrators, or any already established artists as well. It’s a huge help when it comes to pricing and approaching issues like copyrights and contracts.

What is your life motto?
“Just keep swimming~ Just keep swimming…”

In what kind of a work environment do you do your best work?
Comfortable and alone. I don’t do well with other people around. I work from home, so my studio space is an organized collection of books and computers. I always have music playing, and usually my dog is chewing on my desk chair.

What do you like the sound of? Why so?
Rain. I love the sound of rain falling on the roof, windows and the gutter. It’s just so steady and peaceful, so long as you don’t have to leave the house, and after it rains everything smells fresh.

If you have online portfolio, what is the URL?
My website: http://cassie.100megs13.com/
My deviantArt: http://cassandrajean.deviantart.com/

—–

—–

[.]