Can You And Me Really Do This Together?
This blog post is a guide for new or aspiring artists who are interested in collaborating with another artist. Co-authors, Jenn and Kris will provide you with the necessary tools and knowledge to create your own work. They will also offer any advice they can, including what motivated them to start creating art together themselves. In the end, they hope that you share this article with others and help new artists find a way to create art collaboratively.
In this blog post I wanted to discuss the importance of collaboration between artists in order to make it easier on each other as well as have more creative freedom while maintaining quality control over time. I also want to discuss some of the pros and cons and how you can best prepare for collaborating with another artist. Collaborating with other artists has been nothing short of crucial for my development as an artist and I believe that it is a good practice to engage in regularly.
There are a few reasons why I am writing this blog post, one being that my creative partner, Jenn and I have been working on our collaborative project FIVE YEAR PICNIC since October 1st of last year, and our deadline is just over two months away on July 10th. I also wanted to write this in hopes that I can inspire other artists to take risks and be creative by collaborating with others.
What Does Collaboration Look Like?
There are two different types of collaborations; formal and informal. The first type is where an artist and another artist (or a group of artists) work together on the same project, but are not best friends or family members. The second type is where an artist finds another artist who may not be a friend but does have similar vision for the project, and works directly with them on the project. There is a third type of collaboration that exists somewhere in between these two categories; one-on-one collaborations where partner will meet up regularly and work on projects over time. As for example, Jenn and I have been working on Five Year Picnic since October 1st, 2017 and we meet up monthly to work on the project together.
While neither one of Jenn and I are experts in this area because we are relatively new to it ourselves, we do have a few thoughts on what makes for a fruitful collaboration. First things first, you need to keep the vision of your art consistent when collaborating with someone else. In other words, you both need to be on the same page regarding what art you want to create. Another aspect of collaborating is learning how your partner works in order to discern their strengths and weaknesses as an artist. Typically, you need to meet up at least once a month to discuss the project and make sure that it’s still on track.
What We’ve Learned from Collaborating Jenn and Kris
Sometimes collaborating with another artist can take a lot of hard work. In addition, like any relationship, it takes time to grow. Over the past five months I have learned the following things about working with Jenn: She is incredibly passionate about what she does because unlike myself she has never been formally trained in art. She tends to work on our piece long into the night and even wakes up early in anticipation of working on our piece at her studio. Because we are in different cities, she likes to send me photos of her progress and I will take a look at it and offer my feedback. By contrast, I am a night owl who is most productive when the sun goes down. I have also learned Jenn’s strengths and weaknesses as an artist; for example she is more skilled at acrylic painting than she is with graphite.
Though we set our goal to work on this piece almost every week, there has been weeks where our schedules didn’t allow us to get together (and sometimes life gets in the way). But because of all of the hard work we put into it, our relationship has strengthened over time. As for myself, I have learned Jenn is a very patient person and it takes time for her to build up trust with someone. In addition, she is a good sounding board when it comes to our piece. For example, she will tell me when she doesn’t understand what I was trying to say in one panel or another.
Our advice: things will not always be perfect but you should never give up on your collaborative project. If something isn’t going right, talk it out with your partner and don’t be afraid to ask for help from other people if need be (this goes both ways). Just remember to keep your artistic vision consistent and don’t be discouraged if things aren’t going according to plan.
Starting your own collaboration can be difficult, but if you set a deadline and work hard at it day in and day out, you will make great strides towards achieving the goals that you set out for yourselves. Remember to hang on in there because it will eventually pay off! Even though we are right now at a plateau in our piece, we are looking forward to the future and what lies ahead. If Jenn and I can do this together, anyone can! It just takes a little bit of effort.
If you have any questions about this blog post or would like some advice on starting your own collaboration, feel free to leave a comment below or contact us.
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Have Your Say
What do you think about collaborating? What has been your experience in the past? Would you ever collaborate with another artist? Let us know in the comments below! We’d love to read from you.
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Conclusion
This is a great collaboration. We like how the picture goes from looking at it in the near future to what it will actually be. It makes us very excited to see how they finish up this project as it looks very promising.
In this collaboration we can see that both artists have been working on the same piece for a while. The piece has gone through changes, but at some point has now finalized and is ready to be shipped out to its final destination. The artists have spent time making sure their vision has been set and they are following their journey with the same artist consistency. One of our favorite parts was seeing their Instagram posts talking about where they had first started working on this piece and are currently at.