Green Ink

If imitation is a form of flattery, what does that make...

Fri, 03 May 2013 17:10:51 -0700

If imitation is a form of flattery, what does that make bootlegging?
Someone saw this at a market in Bangkok.

I like trees, don’t you too?

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:40:52 -0700

I like trees, don’t you too?

groeneinkt: Well, this took too long. In case you’re...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:29:55 -0700

groeneinkt:

Well, this took too long.

In case you’re interested, this is the pencil work for a piece I started digitally. I drew it on semitransparent paper, with a print of the digital piece under it. It was supposed to come out gray, but the printer did something weird. The digital piece is in full colour and looks like, well my usual stuff. But this pink weirdness looks rather nice actually. So nice I’m probably going to end up messing about in photoshop with this drawing for a long time.

groeneinkt: I have no idea if this is going to work, but I’m...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:33:03 -0700

groeneinkt:

I have no idea if this is going to work, but I’m having fun working on this.

Drew 10 illustrations for a book in four days last week. Then I...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:40:08 -0700

Drew 10 illustrations for a book in four days last week. Then I caught up on some sleep. Needless to say, it’s been a busy time lately.

Posted some decidedly mediocre hourly comics over on my twitter...

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:06:00 -0800

Posted some decidedly mediocre hourly comics over on my twitter today.

Drawing these fireworks were just about the most fun I’ve...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:23:33 -0800

Drawing these fireworks were just about the most fun I’ve had in a week.

Made a little work in progress video with Vine. Ten points for...

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:22:26 -0800

Made a little work in progress video with Vine. Ten points for Gryffindor if you can tell what the song is.

littlechien: littlechien via richters richters: Winter...

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 23:56:19 -0800

littlechien:

littlechien via richters

richters:

Winter Foxes by Chuck Groenink

Possibly the most well received thing I’ve ever made. The society6 prints alone have paid for a fancy dinner.

groeneinkt: Great and small goblin.

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:21:00 -0800

groeneinkt:

Great and small goblin.

And then it was 2013. All I can say is, whew! Last year was a...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:50:00 -0800

And then it was 2013. All I can say is, whew! Last year was a year of ups and downs for me, or to use another tired old phrase, 2012 was about trying to stay afloat. There were plenty of good things, I illustrated several books and got to try out a bunch of things for them. It was nice to be able to diversify my ways of working. The picture book I had been working on since 2011, got finished and published. It also got a very warm welcome in those media that do bother to write about children’s books, so I’m happy about that. Hopefully there’ll be an English translation in its future too, as illustrating Dutch books is ever so slightly like being published on a different planet. Fortunately, I also got an agent last year and a picture book assignment with Simon & Schuster. Right now I’m hard at work finishing a sketch dummy for them, for my first big American book. So I’m entering 2013, eager to get to work and see what the year will bring. Though 2012 is still not over in some regards. I rather overestimated myself in terms of my workload, so there are still some unfinished things left to do. But I’m looking forward to sharing more drawings soon with all of you guys. It also goes without saying that it’s been wonderful to receive your support, and I’m very grateful for every message, note and reblog. I’ll keep my personal resolutions to myself, as those are mostly irrelevant here (unless you follow my instagram, in which case you’ll probably be subjected to them at some point), though I’ll undoubtedly post any good hiking pictures here as well.

Happy Boxing Day! Here in the US they think Christmas is just...

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 06:21:46 -0800

Happy Boxing Day! Here in the US they think Christmas is just one day, but as we all know Americans are clueless about a lot of things. So here’s to all of you enjoying the rest of the holiday however you want, wherever you are.

Tomorrow I’m flying out to upstate New York for the...

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 23:53:17 -0800

Tomorrow I’m flying out to upstate New York for the holidays. Hopefully my flight will be better than Santa’s here.
(From the book I illustrated a while ago)

Happy almost christmas!

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:25:15 -0800

Happy almost christmas!

Illustration for the cover of a book I did a little while ago...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 23:15:55 -0800

Illustration for the cover of a book I did a little while ago for Oxford University Press.

I'm guessing people find it insulting to be called a hobbyist rather than an artist. It's probably quite glamorous to consider yourself an artist. Anyway, it's a skill that people work hard to learn, and I'm convinced by the argument that people working for free (even those who don't consider themselves "good enough" to charge) undermine those who mean use these skills in their profession. The bread and baker analogy is good! I'll remember it.

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:19:00 -0800

Thanks, and anyone who is an actual illustrator knows it isn’t glamorous.
As for working for free; take it away Jessica Hische! http://shouldiworkforfree.com/
Also, don’t forget that amateur originally meant doing something out of love for it.

I thought I’d wade into this conversation, as it got my...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:11:41 -0800

I thought I’d wade into this conversation, as it got my dander up. There are several issues here that require a little untangling, but it seems to me that we have a confusion here about the concept of art.
First off though, when it comes to asking artists of any stripe to make something for free, please perform this little mental exercise first; replace the word ‘art’ with ‘loaf of bread’ and replace ‘artist’ with ‘baker’. Now do you think you can walk into a bakery and ask for a free loaf of bread?
It doesn’t quite seem like a viable business model.

Now you might say, ‘but we’re not talking about business, we’re dealing with art’. Yes, good for you, art isn’t like gross business. Please go tell your politicians to increase arts budgets, so artists don’t have to behave like businesses.

Because the fact of the matter is that artists, do have to make money.
That is artists who make art for a living.
Here the waters get a little muddy, as everybody likes to call themselves artists and because we live in a very inclusive culture where just about everything gets called art these days.
Not to mention the confusion, when people can blog everything they do and their professional work gets mixed in with things they do for their own amusement.
Or when professional artists do fan art.
Things were so much simpler back when we had very distinct high and low culture.

Personally I’ve always been very hesitant to call anything I do art. I prefer the word illustrator over artist, and I generally use drawing or illustration instead of art.
I also believe that art is anything you want to call art though, it all remains ridiculously subjective.

There are plenty of people who create great stuff simply for their own pleasure in their time off. Then there are illustrators who work 80 hours a week to meet deadlines.
You could call them all artists, and you could call what they make art.
But the problem is that the words get so vague then, that it can lead to the idea that all of it operates at the same level. That people who chose to pursue drawing as a job get seen as snobbish, simply for pointing out that it is demeaning to ask them to work for free. Because that is what drawing is to them; their job.
Nobody is entitled to the fruits of their labour for nothing (Never have I sounded more Randian) because for other people it isn’t a job.

This does not mean however that I’m simply in it for the money. I chose to become an illustrator, because it was something I loved doing. That doesn’t mean one can simply ask me to do something because ‘you know, you said you love to draw’.
Any professional artist has invested significant time and money to get where they are.
And if you like their work enough to ask them do make something specifically for you, it’s simply disrespectful to ignore that investment.

End of rant, I’m going to go back to drawing stuff for money.

By the way, this is also available. (Still with free shipping...

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 12:00:07 -0800

By the way, this is also available.
(Still with free shipping worldwide on everything!)

Here’s a new print I put in my store today. You can get...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:02:00 -0800

Here’s a new print I put in my store today. You can get it, and everything else over there, with free shipping this weekend. Just click here: http://society6.com/greenink

groeneinkt: Happy Krampus nacht everyone!

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:21:55 -0800

groeneinkt:

Happy Krampus nacht everyone!