REPRODUCTION PROCESSES

Except where a studio has a blockmaking business associated with it, or where it is required to arrange for the production of the blocks as well as the drawings, a studio is not greatly concerned with the actual business of reproduction. But so much of the cost and the success of blockmaking is governed by factors over which the studio alone has control that, in the interests of both the client and the studio, certain technical considerations have to be taken account of. The cost of blocks is determined by the process and the superficial area; but there is a minimum charge for any block, however small it may be. Consequently, a considerable saving can be effected by having several small separate drawings reproduced in one single block and separated later.

Another point which must be observed is to keep the processes as simple as possible, consistent with obtaining a satisfactory result. This point is of special importance to the free-lance artist who, not having the technical experience of the studio manager to guide her,

may give a client a drawing which can only be reproduced by an expensive combination block, or which requires deep etching, or some other more costly process. An inexperienced free-lance can soon involve a client in much needless expense, to her own eventual undoing.

The importance of working to exact scale has been mentioned, and it will only be necessary to add that if a drawing is oversize it may mean extra charges at the blockmakers in cutting, or even in remaking a block.

Clients usually have at least one man, for example, the sales manager, who knows the rudiments of blockmaking, and has a general knowledge of the technical requirements of advertising. The bigger concerns, of course, employ an advertising manager who is either something of an expert himself or has an assistant who is. Clients are therefore usually themselves able to arrange for the blocks to be made and the copy or "message" written, and it is not very often that the artist is expected to do this work.

Those who are concerned with the "bread-and-butter" work of a fashion studio will find that in the slack periods it is a common practice to have "stock" figures roughed out on standard size boards, which are then ready to be completed at the shortest notice with any garment when the inevitable rush order comes in. The free-lance artist may make good use of this hint. If a few "stock" drawings are kept available she need not be taken by surprise by the demand of a client for half-a-dozen sketches by to-morrow!

FREE-LANCING

There comes a time in the career of almost every studio artist when the idea of embarking on the adventurous free-lance seas becomes overpowering. In taking this step the security and considerable assistance which the studio affords are lost. But against this security, the ambitious artist feels the restrictions and limitations necessarily imposed by the studio hold her back from better things, and perhaps prevent her getting to that place at the top of the ladder to which she aspires. Furthermore, when an artist realizes that

she has become a leader in her profession, that she has in fact "arrived," and knows that the sketches, for which, on a fixed salary basis, she is getting perhaps a matter of shillings are being sold for several guineas, it is very natural that she should conclude that she would do better to undertake the work direct. As to the morality of that argument, enough has been said in Chapter II: but the artist contemplating free-lance work must not overlook certain other considerations.

First, there is the problem of getting work, and of completing it satisfactorily without a studio's aid. An artist contemplating free-lancing should have no illusion as to her real capabilities. A good "rep" and studio manager have made many a successful artist, and when their support is withdrawn the artist is likely to find that quite a lot of her "success" goes with it. Another point to remember is that the studio provides a good deal of service in going to and fro with sketches to clients, parcelling up the drawings and so on. If the artist has not only to do her own "repping," but be at the beck and call of clients, and possibly kept waiting for long periods for appointments, a good proportion of her time is likely to be very unprofitably employed. The artist must also realize that as a free-lance there is no one to stand between her and the client when things go wrong. The fact that free-lance artists are generally paid less than a studio would be for comparable work does not mean that a lower standard is accepted. On the contrary, better work is expected of them, and clients are apt to be more fussy than they would be in dealing with a big studio.

The various methods of getting work have already been explained in some detail. The important thing for an artist setting out to free-lance is to have at least one regular client in view. In the course of her studio work, every artist makes friends amongst fashion advertisers, editors, and so on, some one of whom may like her work well enough to give a definite promise of work. Without some such dependable client in view an artist would be most unwise to leave a good studio except to go to a better one.

Fashion Drawing Sections

Part-1 Part-2 Part-3 Part-4