Yeah I saw a post about Neil Gaiman again. Goddamn it.

One idea they presented was breaking down the themes and feelings for a key piece, find references far and wide for each of these disparate elements and then search for ways to combine and evoke the essence of these things in new ways. You can't replace that whole craft by shopping for some slop.

I've heard similar from sign painters. A lot of the know-how is about leverage and physics and using your shoulders. Long brushes to stabilize lines etc.

heheh I like pulling nice curves towards my -- (pulled offstage by hook)

If you get lucky and sign away the ownership of your work, you will get access to a marketing department that also tells you to make your own commercials for free. What do *they* do you might ask? Great question — they repost your commercials. Sometimes they even pay to BOOST your commercials.