I am very happy to interview the well-known Toronto, Canada based illustrator Charlene Chua. She is someone that I have kept my eye on over the past several years, and I am a big fan of hers. A couple of the things that impress me about Charlene are her clearly defined style(s) and her ability to promote herself so successfully; landing a steady flow of assignments is not an easy task in today’s competitive illustration market.

Dave Hile: Hi Charlene. Could you give me a brief summary of your background? How did you end up making a living as a working illustrator?

Charlene Chua: Hi Dave! Thanks for including me in your lovely interview series!

 

I started work over 10 years ago back in Singapore. My first job was at a company that produced CD-ROMs and later, websites. I started out illustrating and designing screens for CD-ROM content and later moved on to designing websites. Later, I got a job as an interactive producer and interactive project manager.

 

I originally wanted to be an illustrator but there were no schools for it in Singapore, and my family could not afford to send me overseas to study. At the time there were no grants for that kind of thing, either. I more or less forgot about it until I met my future husband, who encouraged me to make a go at illustration. It was tough giving up my job and a stable income, although by that point I was quite tired of the office routine.

 

I took to drawing comics for no-name independent companies that offered little or no pay. In retrospect it was not the best idea, but it did get me back into the groove of drawing (I’d stopped drawing for about 3 years at that point). Eventually I started to get a trickle of illustration jobs, and after some time I had enough work to support myself through such projects.

DH: I can relate. When I started illustrating back in the early ‘80’s it took me about 3 years to move beyond living hand to mouth. Like you, I had a steady gig at an advertising agency, which I gave up to go out on my own. And I was married with a newborn! I made my mistakes too, but like with you, perseverance paid off.

I’m interested in how you work. When handed an assignment, do you prefer being given a defined set of project guidelines by your client or would you rather work under less structured parameters?

CC: I tend to prefer working with some sort of framework in mind. Perhaps it’s my character, or perhaps it’s because I like to think of myself as a problem solver, but I find it very difficult to work without any guidelines. It’s not like I like things to be spelled out to the nth degree before I can work, but I prefer having something to aim at. It’s all well and good to create a pretty picture for oneself, but I feel that a piece made for someone else has to live up to certain expectations and fulfill certain functions, and I need to know what those are, otherwise I start getting suspicious that someone isn’t telling me the whole story.

DH: I agree. Communicating the client’s intent IS what illustration is all about. The great thing is that we get to use our own illustrative sensibilities to fulfill that goal. Moving on…

While your work is executed in Illustrator and Photoshop, you work in both a tighter vector style, as well as a looser, more hand rendered look you call “Ink Style”. How do you decide which style to use for a commercial project?

CC: Right now the vector-based style is the predominant style. The ink style is still pretty much a work-in-progress. I do enjoy working in it and I hope eventually I get more jobs that ask to be finished in that manner. But as of now I think it’s still finding it’s place in the world, so I don’t actively suggest it to clients over the other style.

 

DH: I see. I think it’s a pretty cool style, so I hope you flesh it out more and offer it as a commercial option.

So you mention that your Ink style is something you are working on, which brings me to my next question: When you sit down to draw for pleasure, what are some examples of your inspiration? Are they different than for your commercial work?

CC: It’s sadly becoming a rarer and rarer thing for me to sit down and do a piece of art just for myself. Usually I have something to work on and after a day of drawing, rendering and conceptualizing, the last thing I want to do is draw more.

 

A lot of my personal work these days are just sketches in my sketchbook. Sometimes they are concepts that explore ideas I have, other times they are just random images of whatever comes to mind.

 

Some examples from my blog:

http://blog.charlenechua.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/crow.jpg

http://blog.charlenechua.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/seated-348×500.jpg

http://blog.charlenechua.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/koi-goddess.jpg

DH: I can definitely relate. I literally went about 20 years without doing any art other than assignment work. Then a few years ago I went out and bought an easel and set up a painting studio in my basement. I got into it for a while, but it drove my poor wife Claudia nuts. Every time I would finish a painting and hang it up in our house, I’d later take it down, gesso over it and start another painting. Out of the 4 or 5 paintings I did, I only have one that still remains.

As I mention in my intro, you have successfully stayed very busy in a tough business. Share a bit about how you market yourself. What’s been most successful, and have you ever used an illustrator’s rep (a professional art representative who promotes several illustrators and takes a percentage of their assignment profits)?

CC: A rep represented me some years ago but I decided that it wasn’t for me and I left.

 

I market myself in the usual manner – postcards, e-newsletters, and emails to previous clients. Most of the time people just say that they found my website, saw my work and contacted me. To be honest I dislike sending postcards. I think they get tossed out most of the time and that it’s a huge waste of resources. E-newsletters are sort of better that way although everyone is sending them now and they don’t do very much in helping you stand out from the crowd.

DH: So for you it seems as though word of mouth is as effective as anything. That speaks a lot about your talent.

Now let’s talk about some of the projects that are meaningful to you. What have been some of your most rewarding jobs, and conversely, your least favorite projects (if you can express it without naming names)?

CC: Recently I had the opportunity to work with Mclaren McCann Toronto on a direct mailer for World Vision

(http://www.charlenechua.com/illustrations/worldvision1.html). The job included the illustration for the envelope as well as a little mask that was done with lenticular printing. I enjoyed working with the art director to bring the concept to life, and it was great to see the finished product.

 

With regards to least favorite projects, any project that ends with the client skipping out on payment is probably my least favorite project.

DH: Ouch! Has that happened very often, and if so, do you take legal action?

CC: It’s happened a few times, sadly.  I’ve never engaged a lawyer because the amounts were never big enough (in my opinion) to warrant it. In one case at least the client was in a different country and it would have just been too difficult. I send email reminders and try to follow up with such clients but sometimes things just don’t work out.

DH: Let’s move on to a new subject. Do you work from home or do you have a studio or office out-of-home? If at home what are the advantages, disadvantages?

CC: I have a small studio in my similarly small apartment. Working from home is fine for me; I don’t get distracted by the TV or bed. I find the idea of commuting to be a pain – it takes up time and energy. I get up in the morning, walk 10 steps to the studio and turn on the computer, go make coffee and wash up, and I can start my work. My routine is usually set so when I need a meal break I can go prepare a meal for myself and my husband (who also works from home), which tends to be healthier and cheaper than eating out.

 

I suppose the only disadvantage of a home studio for me is that sometimes I wonder if I spend too much time ‘at work’. It’s past 1am as I am writing this and I spent my whole Sunday working, and most of Saturday as well. When your office is your home, it’s a bit harder to enforce weekend breaks on yourself.

DH: When I first started out, I worked out of a small apartment my wife and I were living in. But after a few months I knew I needed an office away from home. I’d start watching news during lunch and before I’d know it I’d be scolding myself for watching some lame soap opera. You have a lot more discipline than I had.

Speaking of your schedule, between CharleneChua.com, your Illustrophile blog, your Sygnin work, your professional jobs, and your personal work you seem to have A LOT going on; how do you make time for it all? And do you have a life outside of work (which is a valid question for an illustrator)?

CC: Most of my time is spent working on the jobs that pay. When I have extra time, I work on my own stuff. Lately I’ve been contributing to a magazine that my husband writes for – it doesn’t pay but it lets me use the ink style in just about any way I please. I think that, when I need to be, I can be more efficient at managing my time than some people, so that’s how I seem to get more done.

 

My husband and I also like to joke that we are a boring couple, and in a sense that is true. Our lives for the most part involve work, playing video games, getting groceries and eating. We hang out with friends now and then, but apart from that we don’t do anything exciting. We’re also at the mercy of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) since neither of us drives, and that pretty much puts a stop to any ideas we may have for day trips and the like.

 

DH: One of the outlets for your work that we haven’t discussed is ETSY. You have quite a bit of your artwork for sale on there (http://www.etsy.com/shop/charlenechua).  Have you found much success in the independent retail sale of your work, and do you feel a different sense of accomplishment between getting paid for commissioned work than for personal sales?

CC: I’ve had some success with Etsy; I believe I have sold over 100 prints on it. But that’s been over a period of 3 years or so and I have not been marketing it so it’s a really relative success.

 

The things I sell on Etsy are small prints that I think people can buy without too much thought. I offer them for the odd fan that would like to show their support, and to make a little pocket money from the sales. I don’t consider them pieces of ‘art’. To me there is little difference in selling a print in a store or online. I did sell a few originals, which seemed kind of cool. It does feel a bit sadder; selling an original, since you know you can never get it back.

DH: You’ve already referenced the work you did for World Vision. Tell me how you got into the children’s market, and how much of your project work it comprises?

CC: Right now, the lion’s share of my work comes from educational publishers. I am usually contracted to produce work for grade school textbooks and workbooks.

 

I suppose I got into the children’s market because that’s how people saw me. I did not start out wanting to be a children’s illustrator. But clients saw a use for my work in children’s products, and well, strength builds on strength. Perhaps my work is also naturally inclined that way; it’s a suspicion I have but I can’t really tell for sure.

DH: You clearly have some big name clients under your belt (Dove, Google, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, National Geographic) as well as plenty of awards—so what do you want to do that you haven’t done yet and what are your long-term career goals?

CC: For awards, Commarts keeps eluding me, as well as the Society of Illustrators (NY). I may keep trying till I win at least once. Or I may just think it better to save my money.

 

I don’t really have any concrete long-term goals at the moment, which is probably quite horrifying to hear. I guess my medium term plans are to try and see if there are any options open to me that would allow me to continue illustrating yet provide some more stable, predictable form of income, since I doubt illustration alone will be able to see me through the next 30 or so years. That, and building up my portfolio with more ink and concept-driven work.

DH: Modesty aside, I think you have what it takes to make it for the long haul. My illustration career morphed into founding a graphic design studio and then into an advertising agency, so you never know what will happen – plans or no plans. I do hope that whatever you do, we will continue to see your work in editorial and advertising projects from around the world.

Thanks again for sharing with us, Charlene.

To see more of Charlene’s work please visit these sites:

http://www.charlenechua.com/

http://altpick.com/charlene

http://blog.charlenechua.com/

Tags: Charlene Chua, Hile Design, Illustrator, Toronto, Vector Drawing

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.