In The Trenches Episode 04: Foreign Affairs

Working as an artist in the entertainment industry can be a challenge. It's a competitive field that requires skill, dedication, and a willingness to be flexible with your time. But what if you possess all these traits and still find yourself on the outside?

In this episode, Zach and Dylan sit down with Isra Alvarez Carrion (Spain), Markella Stavropoulou (Greece), and Chris Bjors (Sweden) to get an idea of what challenges face artists outside of the United States trying to work their way in.

As always, let us know what you think and be sure to check out all our guest's portfolio before you leave!

Markella: http://m-stavropoulou.wix.com/concept-art
Isra: http://isracarrion.com/
Chris: http://chrisbjors.blogspot.com/

In the Trenches Episode .03: Time Management

Getting serious about making a career out of art undoubtedly will require some lifestyle changes. How do you manage time between studying and improving with work and the demands of everyday life? In this episode, Dylan, Grant and Zach discuss time management with guests Anthony Benedetto and Jayson Miller. We get into Anthony's inspiring background and how it influenced his art career.

Check out Tony's work at http://www.anthonymbenedetto.com/, and Jay's at http://jaysonmiller.com/.

Book resources on time management:
Eat That Frog

How to be a Productivity Ninja

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind.

In the Trenches Episode .02: Internships

Internships can be an invaluable for getting the professional working experience necessary for making the jump into making art full-time. But is it absolutely necessary, and what can you expect from one? In this episode we discuss our personal experiences with guests Jon, Crystal, and Alex. Uniquely, all six of us interned at the same studio. We hope you will enjoy the conversation and gain some insight into the realities of interning. Thanks for listening!

You can find our friend's spectacular work at,

Alex Week, http://www.alexandrajweeks.com/

Crystal Sully, http://digitallyuntamed.com

Jon Baker, http://www.jabillustration.com/portfoilo/

Make sure to check out these links we mentioned in the talk!

Dave and Dan "Getting through the middle" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iz653PVsOA

Daarken's story: http://daarken.com/blog/2012/06/06/starving-artist-no-really/

In the Trenches Episode .01: Working Relationships

Hello everyone and welcome to the first episode of In the Trenches. When discussing what sort of topics we might want to focus on for these chats, one of the earliest ideas revolved around networking. It's a term that gets tossed around pretty frequently in the art world and is usually highlighted as one of the more import factors when trying to find work.

But what is it? How does it help you? And where do you start? Zach, Dylan and Grant had a chance to sit down and speak with one of our good friends and colleague Raul Ramos in an effort to answer some of these questions.

Enjoy!

Welcome!

Art friends around the world, anyone who may stumble across this blog in search of answers in the battle to make your passion your livelihood; we hope this place we be a resource and a refuge for you- as we are all in the stages of that same battle too! Each of us is a visual artist in the beginnings of our careers and though we find a lot of advice from people who are well established we felt there didn't seem to be a lot coming from others in our position. We've certainly come a long way from being students or hobbyists but we aren't quite where we want to be yet . Dylan, Grant, and I will be posting the core of the content but we plan on inviting guests with experience and perspective on the path to becoming a professional artist. Thanks for looking and feel free to share your thoughts along the way but most of all, good luck in your own journey!

Dylan Pierpont,

Grant Griffin,

Zachary Madere.