FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Tshirts that are on sale at a shirt-a-day site are around $10-12 depending on the site – but they’re only available for 24 hours! Follow me on Instagram or Twitter for updates of when any of my designs have been accepted for print at one of those sites.
Yes! Feel free to send pics to my Facebook page, or you can email them here: swanstardesigns [a] gmail dot com (I wrote it like that so dirty little spam bots don’t crash my inbox!).
Also, the amount of time I get to spend on my artwork is very limited, and I’ve already got dozens of ideas that I want to get started on, so its unlikely I’ll be able to fit it in.
Seriously, though, would you work for free??? This question is really stupid – don’t ever ask it!
Sorry, I really don’t have any magic answers. I’m still amazed that I’ve even sold one item. I get lots of rejections, but I’ve persevered and luckily some designs have been picked up.
The only point I will say, is if you don’t try you’ll never succeed!
Keep an eye on the shirt-a-day blogs, artwork sites, and follow lots of other tshirt designers… there is always something to learn.
Also keep an eye on my YouTube Channel as I’ll likely be creating some tutorials soon!
I use Illustrator or Photoshop (or both), and I have a Cintiq 27HD. I’m mainly self-taught, although I have done an Illustrator course. I’ve watched a lot of tutorials, and picked up tips and tricks everywhere.
My method isn’t very exact. When I come up with an idea I create a folder on my ‘puter and gather loads of reference pictures. Then I just jump right in and start drawing it straight in Illustrator. Sometimes I’ll start with a pen sketch in a notepad, but only just to jot down the main idea.
For screen printing each colour needs one screen. And screens cost money! The shirt-a-day sites keep their colour limit to between 4-6, sometimes more sometimes less.
There are some clever methods you can use to give the illusion that more colours were used, but the real trick is just making a design work with a limited palette.
Yes, that’s true. They use a different printing method, which allows the full spectrum of colours to be printed. Sometimes I’ll amend a design to use gradients and more colours, but generally I’ll just leave the artwork as it was originally designed for a shirt-a-day site, otherwise its like making a design twice!
Sorry, I really don’t have the time. Besides, I’m still learning myself!