Art by Marta Kitka
Art mentors can supercharge your career and teach you the tricks and shortcuts you need to hit the ground running. But how do you convince someone to take you on as a mentee? This week Jake Parker, Lee White, and Will Terry discuss the perfect way to approach a potential mentor from a pro artist’s perspective. They also discuss email templates that you can use when reaching out to new potential mentors!
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SHOW LINKS
VIDEO OF THE MINIONS PACKING AND SHIPPING
PODCAST ART GALLERY (AND SHOWNOTES!)
JOIN THE EMAIL LIST FOR UPCOMING ARENA CHALLENGES
INTRO
The guys are back! While we get a consistent episode every other week, Jake, Lee, and Will record a bunch at a time and then take a break.
Will’s Kickstarter finished! Check it out here:
It takes a lot of work to build up your Kickstarter but Indiegogo will accept any Kickstarter that is fully funded. Keep your eyes peeled for a Kickstarter recap episode from Will eventually!
Lee has been painting a lot, trying new things, experimenting, and preparing new techniques for his latest SVSLearn class:
Jake finished his Kickstarter and delivered all his books. Link below! Jake says this is the easiest Kickstarter project he has ever done.
VIDEO OF THE MINIONS PACKING AND SHIPPING
Jake’s whole family helps in shipping and fulfillment. Now that this is off his plate, he is focusing on Inktober. The three Inktober demos are available here:
Let’s get into it!
MENTORING
How to be mentored, how to find a mentor and how to have a mentor.
This is an email Will received:
My name is _____ and I am currently a student at _____ in NYC. I’m in my senior year and one of the classes starting this August is a mentoring class that requires me to contact an illustrator to seek advice from them. I have not gotten all the details yet but as the semester progresses our mentor has to follow along and critique our project as it progresses. I am registered with SVSLearn.com. I know you’re busy, don’t feel obligated -- the class does not include payment to mentors, I ask because I am interested in book cover illustration. I went back to school in my late 40s so I am not a traditional age student. I hope to be a working illustrator some day.
That’s what it was essentially. It got Will thinking about the mentors that he has had in his life. Being a mentor to someone is a huge ask. Will has agreed to mentor the individual who emailed him. He is likely opening himself up to a lot more requests. There was something about this request that he felt he should agree, though he usually turns them down. He also feels like when he was a student, he asked for a lot of help from other illustrators. He wants to give back in this instance. Sometimes you need a good match between the mentor and the mentee.
Why is this one a good match? Will felt that because the mentee was in his late 40’s, there was a connection there because they are of a similar age.
JAKE AND LEE’S MENTORS
Did they have mentors along the way?
Yes and no. Lee would have loved for a teacher to come to him and ask him what he wanted to accomplish and then start from there. A lot of teachers start from where they are, not from where the student wants to go. If someone wants to do really dark work and the mentor does children’s books, sometimes the mentor can try and make the mentee like them. Lee knew a grad student who did really high-key light work, and every time he showed it the professors told him it needed more contrast. It wasn’t his style, but they tried to make him do it. You should start where the student wants to go and develop a map from there.
Most students, who are young, don’t even consider that they might be asking the absolutely wrong person to mentor them.
Jake’s mentorships usually involved a kind of exchange of some sort -- either he was working for them, or he was paying them to mentor him. This is outside of school. Jake has been mentored by William Joyce, whom he worked with on an animated film. All along the way he got to see his creative process and his creative decisions and his work ethic, as well as some composition stuff, but nothing super stylistic. He didn’t really have a formal mentorship but he developed a friendship with him, which is where most of his mentorship has happened over the years -- he learns from friends who are older than him, younger than him, or even the same age. They swap tips and advice all the time. It’s great to find these lateral mentorships in which you can help out your friends and receive help from them.
Will didn’t have any formal mentors. He started by calling his teachers and asked if he could go over and just ask them questions about what to do next, after graduating. He chose three teachers to bug and started marketing his work and would ask his questions to those teachers, including stuff about pricing work and how to answer client questions. He took the lead on making them his mentors without really asking them formally to be his mentor, and to this day they are friends. There is a lot more focus put on having mentors these days.
Will has ten things that he thinks people should look for in a mentor.
HOW DO YOU FIND A MENTOR?
What do you think about paying for a mentor?
Money talks. It doesn’t have to be a ton, but it shows that you’re serious about what you are wanting. It doesn’t even have to be financial, doing assistant work is even worthwhile.
There is a way you can sort of weasel your way into a person’s life for free. You really have to tread lightly and slow. Don’t be scary to the person you are asking, do not over-ask. Be tactful and aware of proper etiquette. Asking small questions and being very grateful/polite and brief can be a really great way to build a mentor/mentee relationship. If you ask for advice, show them the improvement to your work and send your results and appreciation. It always makes people feel good to hear a thank you.
When there is no investment, there is no appreciation. Will turns down paid mentorships because there is too much obligation. Does the money taint the advice that you would give?
Lee doesn’t think so -- he was an Adobe mentor for a year and while it was underpaid, it helped him take it more seriously than he would have otherwise.
Jake agrees that accepting money forces you into an obligation. It introduces stress to your life. If you are on the hook though, you might provide a certain level of consistency that might not be there otherwise. Jake has taken on assistants/apprentices and is happy to give feedback in return. A lot of mentorship depends on your life circumstances and your personality.
Will knows some guys who do paid mentorships and whose students really enjoy and have grown from it. He also knows of some mentorships that didn’t work out as much. Will is hesitant because he is concerned about how much value he would be providing for the money.
There is a common assignment in art schools that involves asking a working artist a bunch of interview questions. Will, Jake, and Lee all have developed FAQs to make sure that those questions are answered.
There are a couple of people that Jake will give advice to if they email him, this is usually people who have worked for him or have taken live classes from him, or are Patrons on Patreon. He is more willing to give help to people who are trying to do their part first.
If you’re a pro teaching, tell people what brands of tools you are using because viewers will ask a lot about this.
This is Will’s email guidelines if he were to reach out to an illustrator today:
Start with humility. Don’t be demanding! “I know that you’re probably too busy to do this”. Give the person an easy out.
“I know your work and have been following your career for ____ amount of time. I think you would be perfect to mentor me because… Here’s why: ______ I cannot pay you what your time is worth but I am hoping you could spend some time with me to help a fellow artist.”
Further examples: I’m willing to take and be extremely grateful for whatever you can give me. I’m not the one setting the parameters of this relationship. I am hoping you can answer some questions that I cannot get the answers to elsewhere. I am hoping you can critique a picture or two.
A lot of it has to do with tone. Being purely transactional can be a turnoff because it’s just another job.
Jake has an email template that he uses.
It’s the win-win proposition. Offer to do something for them, don’t ask them what they want because it can put pressure on them. Ask if you can do a specific thing for them.
IE: “Could I post an instagram post for you daily on your account? This will boost engagement.” How could a professional illustrator say no?
Even if you say they don’t owe you anything, they will feel like they do owe you.
“I have a problem with x, I think you are the right person to help me solve it -- here are [three solutions]. Which is the best way?”
Give them one of three options to choose for advice to keep stakes low. They might very likely go out of their way to help you.
Once they do help you, return a few days later and show them the finished product. Give gratitude and thanks!
Over the course of a month or so you may have gotten a future mentor on your side. If there is a friendship forming you could ask if they would be willing to formalise the mentorship.
You have to be good at asking. Don’t ask a question that has an answer that is a semester long. Specific answers that are geared towards the mentor are really fun to answer.
10 REASONS WHY YOU COULD BENEFIT FROM HAVING A MENTOR
You can gain information and knowledge
A Mentor can give you vision for your personal improvement
They can stimulate your personal and professional growth.They can ask questions of you that you would never ask yourself.
They can encourage you and help keep you going.Will prefers to be more of a coach when he is mentoring. Positivity helps!
They can be disciplinarians.They can set boundaries that you might not be willing or able to set for yourself, they can keep you accountable to goals and plans.
They can be sounding boards.
Mentees can get unfiltered feedback from mentors on ideas.
Mentors are trusted advisors.You need someone you can trust and you need to find the right person. Based on the homework you have done on their career, there should be a degree of trust already. You want to be told the hard truth.
Mentors can be connectors.Mentors have passed Will a lot of work that they couldn’t fit into their schedule.
Mentors can teach you shortcuts.You can avoid making the same mistakes that they did.
Mentors are often free, which makes them priceless.There isn’t a definitive answer on if mentors are better free or paid.
Lee’s technique on getting to your mentor: there has to be someone who is doing what you want to do that is also teaching. Signing up for their class is the easiest way to get a mentorship. A lot of teachers will stay after class to discuss questions with students.
PODCAST ART GALLERY (AND SHOWNOTES!)
Come join us in doing Critique Arena! It’s a great portfolio opportunity and you get the chance to be critiqued by Jake, Lee, and Will. Winners get a paid gig and links to your social media on all our channels!
Sign up for our Email List HERE for details on upcoming Critique Arenas!
LINKS
Jake Parker: mrjakeparker.com. Instagram: @jakeparker, Youtube: JakeParker44
Will Terry: willterry.com. Instagram: @willterryart, Youtube: WillTerryArt
Lee White: leewhiteillustration.com. Instagram: @leewhiteillo
Daniel Tu: danieltu.co.
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