Side Hustle presentation at Pique Gallery

Recent Q&A with Priya Rama of Gallery 708

How long have you been an artist/designer?


I have been a designer and illustrator for nearly 20 years, and have been printmaking for the past five years. I also minored in art history and my work often references the past 150 years of graphic design.


What in your youth/childhood helped you decide to become an artist/printmaker?


My mother was a commercial artist/designer when I was young and I would often draw while she worked at a drafting table.


Has your work changed over the years? How so?


I like to continually challenge myself with greater difficulties and increasing the amount of detail in my work.


Tell us more about your process.


Printmaking allows for me to elevate graphic design to a fine art through attention to craftsmanship. The creative process doesn't end with the image — paper and ink can add so much beauty and finesse to a piece.


I love to create an image that stops the viewer at a distance, and continues to delight them with fine levels of detail as they get closer to my work.


I research my subject matter and develop content. Typically I take between 10 to 20 hours to illustrate my prints. I then spend around another 5 hours to create custom headline typography. I also like to include other design elements like borders, patterns, monograms.


How is your work different than other artists doing Cincinnati-themed works?


My career as a graphic designer is what makes my work different than other artists depicting Cincinnati. I consider graphic design the marriage of image with typography to communicate a message.


Whose works are you influenced by?


My "heritage-style" of very intricate illustrations of architectural landmarks is inspired by great draftsmen and architects like Samuel Hannaford. My other style is a playful geometric pop-art illustration style that is influenced by artists like Keith Herring, Mike Perry and Charley Harper.


For your "love" series, what's your process, technique and how do you choose images to go in the heart?
For the Queen City Love, I thought it would be a fun image to place our skyline in a heart as a way to celebrate our city's great civic pride. I have created an initial run of letterpressed prints and cards with Rachael Hetzel of Pistachio Press as well as a run of larger screenprinted posters I made in my new studio in Northside.

Customer Testimonial

"I was going to use 99 Designs, but MY MOM LOVES James Billiter"

Artist versus Designer, chess-boxin Shaolin style!

Chris Breeden from Arnold's Bar & Grill reached out last summer and invited me to be part of a Wu Tang Clan themed art show at Frameshop.

For the past year I have been very intrigued with portraiture. I've always felt that I have not truly learned how to draw the human form well, and the artist side of my head feels that landscape art and portraiture are these classic subject matters that I should explore in my work to gain commissions someday.

My first focus was Method Man and I began approaching the project with the perspective of a Graphic Designer. I wanted to incorporate borders, and type, and be inspired by traditional printmaking techniques to add small graphic details. As I got into the project, I visited the Cincinnati Art Museum's "Van Gogh: Into the Undergrowth" and it inspired my original thought of the details and turned the Wu Tang logo into a halftone pattern. The sky behind Method Man glitters with dots inspired by Pisarro and Van Gogh's Starry Night.

I took the W from the Wu Tang Clan logo and used it to facet Method Man's face. This was inspired by a bit of Art Deco, and perhaps some of the African sculptures I used to collect where the human form is broken down into geometric simplicity.

My major critique is in my abstraction I lost a lot of Method Man's actual likeness in the work.

At some point, things were looking really bad with the progress of Method Man. So in only a few hours I was able to illustrate a portrait of Rza by hand. Using ProCreate on the iPad I was able to draw Rza from composite photos, and create a background pattern inspired by Japanese prints (referring back to Shaolin culture and Kung Fu movies that inspired the Wu Tang Clan).

I created a black and white portrait of Rza, and isolate the background pattern in gold. In some ways this approach was partially inspired by the work of Kehinde Wiley as well as those 19th century Japanese print makers. 

Once in the studio, I painted the skin tones of Rza with watercolor inks on the screen, and created a small series of 3 monoprints. You can see the process of making the prints here: Path to process video on Vimeo

This was an experiment to see how I could capture the human form in a unique way, but also possibly how to create work for commission some day. The Method Man is more unique, but took an entire week of time to produce. Rza is more gestural and actually captures the likliness better, and only took two days to create. The price would estimatedly be $1600 versus $4000 for a patron in the future.

At the end, it felt wrong to take money as an artist using the image of another person I don't know personally without permission. So, it felt best to donate 100% of my profits to Elementz, a Cincinnati-based non-profit created to foster Hip Hop Culture for future generations.

Semi-Lame Inspirational Quotes

I've been listening to Garrison Keilor's Writer's Almanac a lot lately. In his "on this day" segments Keilor often departs bits of wisdom that feel like fragments of broken mirrors where I catch glimmers of the reflections of my experiences. Okay, too heavy handed there...

"Do not wait: the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along."

Napoleon Hill

“Think and Grow Rich"

I feel like sometimes creatives can't get overwhelmed by the idea of perfection and take no action at all. I often feel like I am flying a plane that is not completely built, a ramshackle monstrosity that would tumble from the sky at any moment. I took solace in that quote, perhaps someday I will be more buttoned up.

"Find your own stress level — the speed at which you can run toward your own goal. Make sure that both the stress level and the goal are really your own, and not imposed upon you by society, for only you yourself can know what you want and how fast you can accomplish it. There is no point in forcing a turtle to run like a racehorse or in preventing a racehorse from running faster than a turtle because of some 'moral obligation.' The same is true of people."

Hans Selye

I've been overwhelmed by "saying yes to the universe" a bit too much. I had to start questioning why am I working so hard, and i it worth it. I am trying to slow down and really analyze why am I doing what I am doing and proceed on a smarter path. A famine of opportunity I have not.

Jane Kenyon
On writing poetry, Jane Kenyon said, “Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours.”

Stephan Dunn said: “I think one of my early motivations for writing was that other people’s versions of experience didn’t gel with my own. It was a gesture toward sanity to try to get the world right for myself. I’ve since learned that if you get it right for yourself, it often has resonance for others.”

And, “You must be a little driven, and what you’re doing must be crucial to you in order not to be defeated by the likely neglect that awaits you, the lack of rewards, and the fact that, by and large, your culture doesn’t take you seriously.”

Fat Tire Beer Poster

When: June 23, 2016 @ 6pm.

Artist: James Billiter. One of Cincinnati’s busiest artists right now, with shows all over town and a steady stream of art coming out. Billiter has done posters for bands Wussy, The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs, Jake Speed and the Freddies, Wild Leaves and more.

Event: Poster Release + Tappings of New Belgium/Rhinegeist Fat Tire Collaboration, Barrel Aged Mushushu and the super rare New Belgium Nitro Coffee Sour — Oscar Worthy Coffee.

New Belgium / Rhinegeist Fat Tire Collaboration: Rhinegeist has transformed Fat Tire into a Belgian XPA, combining a fruity Belgian yeast strain with bready-sweet European and Colorado malts for a beer to please hopheads and wine drinkers alike.

Rhinegeist Mushushu is a blend of four black beers aged in bourbon barrels for more than six months, this melange strikes a dynamic balance of wood character with the addition of coffee, vanilla and cocoa nibs. Panther Porter – 50% Bertha Milk Stout – 30% Ink Imperial Stout – 10% Panda Oatmeal Stout – 10%. ABV: 8.5%

New Belgium’s Oscar Worthy Coffee: Oscar Worthy Coffee. Three words, that when uttered, cause an almost Pavlovian drool response among New Belgium co-workers. Like our dry-hopped sour Le Terroir, Oscar Worthy Coffee is a beer unlike any other: It’s our sour Oscar “dry-beaned” with coffee in collaboration with Fort Collins friends The Bean Cycle. The result is an ultra-smooth sour beer that bursts with sour-and-espresso aromas, and it tastes like magic. ABV 6.7%

New Solo Show at frameshop in OTR

Walls of Cincinnati: New Works in Watercolor Monoprints and Serigraphs by Billiter Studio

CINCINNATI, OH - 

"Walls of Cincinnati," a show of new monoprints and serigraphs by Billiter Studio, 
opens May 27th from 6-10pm at frameshop, 1317 Main Street.

On Final Friday the walls of frameshop will be adorned with the beautiful façades of our Queen City. “The Walls of Cincinnati: Monoprints and Serigraphs” by James Billiter Studio features articulate, illustrated renderings of Cincinnati’s landmarks. These landmark art prints are a combination of monoprint originals featuring watercolor dyes as well as affordable handprinted, limited-edition screen prints. Frameshop will be complimenting these elaborate art prints with exquisite and unique framing using a variety of heritage materials. Aside from the framed originals, a variety of frame-ready screenprints will be available, ranging in prices from $10 to $50.

For more information visit the event page https://www.facebook.com/events/279904965679057/

Four Color Screenprinting Techniques

This is Aaron Kent's, the owner of Cincinnati's DIY Printing, approach to four color printing:
Yellow first, straight from Magenta, adding 20% transparent extender base Cyan, adding 30% trans 80% trans, with black
Prefers a halftone of 35 frequency for 230 mesh screen

I have been going at it this way, I add 50% transparent extender base to magenta and cyan. I heard that if your image is blue or green in overall tonality, print cyan third — if it's warmer or redder, print magenta third. I tried to print yellow first once — but it was hard to register second color through the yellow mesh.

I've been also preferring 30-35 dpi, I think I printed a smaller 8x10 print at 50dpi. I think a 50dpi on a 18x24 print would be very inconsistent.

Angles of colors:
Cyan 80 degrees
Yellow 105 degrees
Magenta 20 degrees
Black 50 degrees

I don't start at 45 degrees because it creates angles the eye can pickup.

Mold making for ceramic tiles

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-supplies/ceramic-molds/making-multiples-cavity-molds-for-handmade-ceramic-tiles/

I am intrigued with using ceramic tiles as plates for printmaking. For instance, blind embossing or calliography

Online Resources for Woodblock Carving

Working on a new project where I am carving artwork that could be potentially used on a letterpress printer later.

It looks like it is best to used 3/8" mahogany, poplar, ash, birch, apple or cherry plywood with an AA grade. Softer woods like pine and cypress could also work, but will break down over time.

https://letterpresscommons.com/wood-cut/

http://www.briarpress.org/25767

The Gift of Giving!

I want to thank ALL OF YOU for the tremendous support this year! I am proud that my artwork has helped raise donations...

Posted by James Billiter Studio on Friday, December 25, 2015

One answer on how to charge your clients

Question from a young designer I just got a freelance opportunity to do some book publications for a local business and wanted to see if I could get some insight on how to charge them appropriately. I'm not sure if I should charge then hourly or a flat rate. If you have any suggestions that would be great!

My response

There are a lot of different thoughts about this. For instance, long term you could set up price levels for different sizes of clients: like $10 for desperate pro-bonos, $20 for non-profits and small businesses, $40 for freelance clients and $80 for design agency freelance (typically they would turn around and re-bill your work fro $100-$150 to their clients).

But most of the time I come up with an estimate number and share that with my client. I arrive at that number by guessing the amount of hours it might take and multiplay that by the appropriate hourly rate:

8 hours of work X $10/hr = $80

Thinking in the clients shoes I would raise to $100 per edition if they have plenty of money.

And my word of caution with publications: sometimes there are rounds of copy revisions so I would build that into your initial estimate. With that in mind, you could charge them hourly for the first and second editions, then based upon the amount of time spent and your hourly rate, arrive at a flat fee for all future editions. Your first edition may take longest due to setting up a new template — therefore keep track of time per task and phase of work to accurately capture your labor.

All these rates are purely subjective and you can create your own based upon your perceived worth. Lastly, I've heard a theory that you should come up with a price for your design and if you lose more than 50% of the client requests who come to you then reevaluate your prices lower until hit a sweet spot of staying busy within your market.

Home relief printing

Finding some tips for printing at home! http://www.stencilrevolution.com/tutorials/how-to-make-relief-prints/ http://weareoca.com/fine_art/relief-printing-at-home-hints-and-tips/

The Cincinnati Recreation Commission worked with the Cincinnati Reds to create neighborhood activities during the 2015 All Star Game weekend. I've been working with the Madisonville Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation on public art projects — we thought this would be a great opportunity to create a neighbor-made mural showing off our neighborhood pride!

Madisonville Bramble Park Mural Process Video from James Billiter Studio on Vimeo.

CincyInk: Minimural process video

I wanted to share a behind-the-scenes process of how I created my illustration for the Cincy Ink project. I illustrated the final stanza of the poem: "Sing the Queen City, Say Home, Coast the long cut, Cross that Bridge."

Sing the Queen City, Say Home: Mini Mural process video for CincyInk from James Billiter Studio on Vimeo.

A look back at 2014 — what an incredible year!

I am so proud of the creative output from last year — the true reward for creative work is more creative work. It was nice to see personal projects and sharing my vision lead to more opportunities. Now if I could only find more hours in a day!

James Billiter Studio: 2014, a year of creative output from James Billiter Studio on Vimeo.

Thinking of 2015

As this year comes to a close, I'm thinking of what I want to do next year.

Geometric Series
In a style similar to my steamboat, depict architecture and other things using simple shapes.

Cincinnati Heritage
I can continue to capture Cincy landmarks and historical curiosities or I could focus on a couple areas of interest:
Hannaford and Hake — document the combined histories of two of Cincy's most profound architects.
Ghost breweries — document Cincy's brewing history by illustrating the existing buildings, creating replica signs and bottles, another product being a documentary and a guide booklet with driving tour.

Surreal advertisements
Could I combine images to make new meanings — playfully poking fun at marketing and advertising

Birds of Ohio
Combining my interest of birding with illustration,


Ecosystem
Get back to my nature roots. Explore our local ecosystem, observe the relationships of flora and fauna.

I could get looser and more gestural, embracing more hand created techniques, to create something more "arty" and less design-based. Could I use cyanotypes during field studies? Natural inks and pigments?

Could I take screen printing beyond the 2D? Create a sculptural forest?

Could one room celebrate life, and the end of the exhibit shows the effects of non-sustainable activity?

Art meets Commerce

I wanted to create a post that shows transparency of my pricing and process, but also to show buyers of art the amount of time, effort and materials that go into a piece, but also to talk with other artists on how they should approach their work. I come from a design background — I would consider design as communication, and this communication is often done by a designer (artist/creative/problem solver, etc) on behalf of a third party (client) to inform an audience of their service/event/product. As an artist, I feel art is more of an expression of an individual, and it is up to that individual to include and/or communicate with (or not to) their audience.

I am a little exhausted of being treated by some as a mystical resource, creativity is naturally bubbling out of a designer or artist, so if it would be coming out anyway why should one pay for it? BUT, I will also say that due to my enthusiasm and creativity, and willingness to help others, I have also allowed myself to be undervalued in the past.


Think of yourself as a business
There are elements of my creative process I love, and there are elements that I do not need to do. Sometimes these obligatory "chores," lets say packaging art by buying crystal clear and backing each piece with board, become a bit monotonous and if I have a carrot like being paid it make the time I spend doing it much less tedious. 1, it makes sure that these obligations do not become a burden and time-consuming money pit that force me to be a starving artist and 2. if I build these costs into my art, then someday I could pay another person a fair wage to do them.

Salaries
The first thing I wanted to target was my ideal salary. Due to some discretion, I will not go into details but it looks something like this: what is our ideal income? This should include money for living, healthcare, saving for retirement, and I always roughly 40-50% will go to taxes (from what I experienced as a freelancer a long time ago). Also factor in vacation time, and also, worse case scenario, less hours per week expected due to slow work or illness. What if you can only work 25-30 hours per week?

Income required / (Hours per week x 48-52 weeks per year) then x 2 to factor taxes

I came up with $75 per hour for design work. This would enable my lifestyle with the amount of hours I would say could be a slow week. Plus, it works out to about half of what a design firm would charge a client per hour of my time.

So, here are the current rates that I charge myself when creating work:
Design for client (ulitising my 20 years of experience to solve problems and help a client communicate to their audience, a.k.a. creating the big idea): $75
Making art/self-expression/creative play (developing artwork and stretching my abilities, but still using my mind/creativity, which should be my #1 resource and should set me apart from others): $35
Techinical Skills (using technical expertise to ensure design/artwork can be produced with the determined medium): $20
Production/Retail/Errands/Chores (anything that I am not an expert at, AND, are jobs and skills I could eventually pay an employee to do): $10 (I am hoping someday minimum wage will be this rate, until then I will day that).


Example In Use
So, here are some numbers for a gig poster that I just created:

CREATION: 7 hours = $245
– Creating design in computer
– Handdrawing a keyline element

SEPARATIONS: 2 hours = $40
– using my technical skills to separate film for screenprinting

PRINTING: 6 hours = $60

BACK END: 2.5 hours = $25
– signing and numbering: .5 hour
– retail: 2 hours
(this does not include selling over longer period of time or packaging each item for retail)

MATERIAL COSTS:
Paper = $25 (bought in bulk to save money)
Ink = $30
Films = $10


Total Costs = $435
I will be using 35 pieces of paper targeting 30 good prints.
Of which, 10 prints will be given to band.

435/20 = $21.75 per poster

BUUUT, let's say I don't sell the whole run. OR I need to sell this in a store where I get only 60% of the final price. I would say our final price should be:

An even $30 for a 4-color print.

Once you do this for yourself a few times, it will become second nature and pricing will be easy. Getting a livable wage from my art adds to my enjoyment and it allows my art to be a sustainable entity that allows me to continue creating without being poor.

I am lucky I can divide these costs by a quantity of posters — now when you see a painting valued $200 - $1000 at the local coffee house you know why!

Naturally Cincy: a collection of my nature work

 I've been very busy producing a lot of work. Printmaking and illustrating, inspired by all my outdoor interests. My work will be at Park + Vine through May 25.

  My Artist Statement: I am a lifelong Cincinnatian who was reared on family camping trips into the Great Outdoors. I cherished these trips into Nature where life was simpler and more elemental. But as a city slicker there is a divide between my everyday life and the mystery of the Natural world.

Over the past several years I find myself often spending time outside and have reconnected with Nature. Through hiking, cycling, running and rowing I observe plants and animals. With child-like wonder I take in these new experiences compelled to unravel these mysteries — I find myself inspired. 

Along my bike commutes I see the sun rise over our majestic Ohio River valley and glow golden as it sets in the west. The light sparkes and dances along our hillsides. I can’t capture these moments with a camera so I replicate their beauty in my landscapes.

 As a boy I was captivated by the work of Charley Harper, I found his style based upon elementary forms delightful and inventive. As I have gotten older the work of Harper, along with John Ruthven and John James Audubon have inspired me as a designer and illustrator and this new collection of animal artwork that I have observed in nature.

Between our City Parks, the nature preserves and our great river ecosystems we are blessed with an abundance of Nature around us. I want my work to inspire all of us to appreciate these Natural resources and for us to celebrate conservation on this 45th anniversary of Earth Day.

My favorite places to visit:
Cincinnati City Parks: Ault Park, Burnett Woods, Caldwell Nature Preserve Eden Park, French Park, Mount Airy Forest and Otto Armleter Park.
Cincinnati Nature Center
South 80 Trails
Valley View Nature Preserve Little Miami Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy’s Red Bird Hollow


Creative Pursuits: James Billiter—Naturally Cincy by Adam Sievering
As an outdoor enthusiast who has spent the last decade sharing his talent at LPK, Senior Designer James Billiter experiences the duality of city life and the great outdoors on a daily basis. His upcoming art exhibit, Naturally Cincy, explores the symbiotic relationship between his work and time spent outside, illuminating nature’s extraordinary ability to feed creativity and nurture the imagination—right here in Cincinnati.

James’ connection to nature stems from camping trips during childhood. “I cherished these trips into nature where life was simpler and more elemental,” he says. “But as a city slicker, there’s a divide between my everyday life and the mystery of the natural world.”

He helps bring these two worlds together by riding his bike to work, channeling daily inspiration from natural surroundings in the Ohio River valley. When he’s not commuting or intimately involved with Creative Suite at his desk, it’s a safe bet he’s spending his time outdoors.

“Through hiking, cycling, running and rowing, I can reconnect with nature,” he says. “I observe animals and sometimes wonder what really distinguishes their daily lives from my own. I take in these new experiences, compelled to unravel these mysteries. I find myself inspired.”

In addition to drawing inspiration from nature, James highlights its therapeutic value.

“I’m kind of a workaholic, so when I’m outside it helps me cleanse and detox. It’s like a retreat from my daily stresses. Instead of multitasking, I find myself focused on nothing but what I’m experiencing in that moment. It’s a form of active meditation,” he says.

Naturally Cincy is a culmination of these experiences, celebrating the beauty of Cincinnati’s parks, nature preserves and river ecosystems with a range of illustrative styles inspired by the works of Charley Harper, John Ruthven and John James Audubon.

“The exhibit is a combination of realistic portraits and playful illustrations,” he explains. “I wanted it to be accessible to anyone.”

“Even more so,” he adds, “I want my work to inspire all of us to appreciate the abundance of nature around us and celebrate conservation on the 45th anniversary of Earth Day.”

Naturally Cincy opens Saturday, April 26th and runs until Sunday, May 25th at Park + Vine (1202 Main St, Cincinnati, OH 45202).

Crank Up Cincy: Bike Poster Show

2 years ago I submitted a few posters to this event, and this year I am happy to announce that I am helping organize the event!

We are gathering Cincy artists and designers who have created rad bike posters and putting them on display during Bike Month (May) at Coffee Emporium.






BikeArt Poster Show 2012 from CinéCinnati on Vimeo.


#crankupcincy  #bikeposters