THE LAST UNICORN Hardcover is #2 on NYTimes Best Seller List!!!

This is incredible news! Art by my wife Renae De Liz, inks and colors by me! Published by IDW Publishing. Based on the novel by Peter S. Beagle.

Click HERE to see more art and information about The Last Unicorn comics and hardcover graphic novel!

How do you get a copy?

ORDER FROM US & GET ART TOO!!! This is a special, limited deal. You'll get a signed and personalized copy of The Last Unicorn hardcover, you can pick two penciled pages from the comic (11"x17" on bristol), and an original sketch by my wife Renae De Liz all for just $200. Please email me if you have questions or want to order!

CONLAN PRESS Order directly from Peter S. Beagle (the novelist/creator) and we get $1 per copy sold!! Plus you get it signed by Peter S. Beagle (we'd also be happy to sign if you mail to us with SASE. Email for details!) Go to Conlan Press>>>

COMIC BOOK STORES Help your local comic shop which helps our whole industry! Go to http://www.comicshoplocator.com/ to find your nearest store!

AMAZON: If you use this link http://amzn.to/f02Mk1 it will link to our Affiliate account for which we get just about a $1 per copy. But try to use one of the other options first because that benefits other people, too. But if Amazon is your only option, please use that link.

Or your local book store can likely order it. Borders or whatever you have.

Every order helps my wife and I in our careers and helps support an amazing, classic creation by Peter S. Beagle. If you do order, please let us know. We'd love to hear all about it!

Thanks so much for your support!!

~Ray

RayDillon.com | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | DeviantArt

The 5 Most Popular Pieces of My Art

I find it really interesting what pieces of my art have been the most viewed, downloaded, and used pieces of art. They've appeared on blogs and sites around the globe with 20,000 views or more. That's crazy!!!!! And weird pieces, too. I mean, Batman and Wolverine make sense, but that baby sketch painting and a mad scientist?







RayDillon.com | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | DeviantArt

The Caffeine Power Nap!

This is a real method I use all the time for the countless allnighters I have to pull for my overloaded work schedule and to take care of our baby who also never sleeps. Might not work for everyone, but it works for me. Obviously sleep is important for health and I'm not encouraging anyone to deprive themselves or anything like that (don't sue me if we all find out not sleeping kills you, it was your choice to try it), but being overloaded is a reality in everyone's lives and if you just can't help but miss sleep, you might give this a shot. I feel much better after!

"The Caffeine Nap is simple: you drink a cup of coffee and immediately take a 15-20 minute nap. Researchers found coffee helps clear your system of adenosine, a chemical which makes you sleepy. The combination of a cup of coffee with an immediate nap chaser provided the most alertness for the longest period of time in tests. The recommendation was to nap only 15 minutes, no more or less and you must sleep immediately after the coffee." - via http://www.sleepdex.org/caffeine-nap.htm

I'd like to add that for best results, stay hydrated. REALLY hydrated (which also helps keep you awake) and JUMP out of that bed/chair/floor/computer keyboard. If you jump up and get moving, get that blood going, your body and mind will feel much better much faster.

Let me know if it works for you! Good luck with your deadlines!! If we keep at it, we'll reach success and get away from the sleepless nights!

~Ray

RayDillon.com | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | DeviantArt

[VIDEO] Business of Art Vol. 1 by Massive Black

This is the trailer for a downloadable video series that will be very important to the art community. Business is never covered to any length or in such a direct way as this appears to be. Getting the entertainment business advice directly from an entertainment lawyer is fantastic! So, check out the trailer and got to http://www.ConceptArt.org and keep an eye out on the Downloads section for this to be released!



~Ray

RayDillon.com | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | DeviantArt

Will Smith Wisdom

One of my favorite inspirational/motivational videos ever. Such great advice!



QUOTES:

"Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity."

"Its unrealistic to flip a switch and a light comes on. Fortunately Edison didn't believe that. Its unrealistic to make a hollow metal tube and fly people over the ocean in it. The Wright brothers didn't think so."

"We grew up with the sense that where we were almost didn't matter, because we were becoming something greater."

Hey, you can even follow Will Smith Wisdom on Twitter! http://twitter.com/willswisdom

MAKE YOUR LIFE HAPPEN!

RayDillon.com | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | DeviantArt

Comics Art Career: A note about page rates

Hi, everyone-

Message boards are an excellent place to find countless threads on this subject, and most end with pretty good informations about what's "standard" in comics. What's gone before, what the highest rates are, what's considered entry-level, what is your time worth?

All that is fine information, but I think it's missing a key element.

What is a realistic amount to live on?
&
How much work will it be?
I think a lot of writer's with projects, and even a lot of publishing companies don't get this. They enforce monthly deadlines, but don't offer compensation to match. I think artists don't keep this in mind either. We ask, "What are industry standard rates?" not "What do I need to live?" and then we just go with what we can get.



For starting out, $75 is okay. But once you're established, and you have a family to take care of, that number becomes LOW. Think about it, $1,650 BEFORE taxes. That's around $1200 after taxes. That's not much to live on. Rent and groceries and you're done. And for full-time work, approximately 8 hours/day. That's about $9 an hour (not including the time for research, reading scripts, layouts, character designs--which are usually unpaid, paying for supplies, etc., etc). You can make that in fast-food. We're providing very specialized work. Without being money-hungry, WE need to determine the industry standard.

So, yeah, keep that stuff in mind. Who is your artist? Is he a single guy living in Kansas who can live pretty decent on $2,000, or a married guy with two kids living in New York who needs $5,000 a month to scrape by.

New artists (and old), please keep this in mind as you're forming your career. It's absolutely essential to be able to sustain it. Trust me, I'm still struggling with this stuff. Figure out your budget and if you can't get higher pencilling rates, try to find other ways to get to your budget mark each month, whether it be adding other skills (inking, coloring, etc.), moonlighting in other industries (film, video games, trading cards, etc.) or finding ways to do more work in your chosen area.

Oh, and just for the record, these are "Industry Standard" rates:

Entry Level: $25-$50
Mid-Level: $75-$100
Hardcore Pro: $125-$200
Superstar: $300-$1200
Ray Dillon: $5,000-$1 Million (includes inks, colors, letters, friendship, on-call assassin, lunch, dinner & a movie...)

Share your thoughts on this and feel free to ask questions.

Thanks for reading!

~Ray

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