I did this for a children's magazine published by the LDS church. I'm also a member of the church, but that's not why they hired me for the article. That credit goes to Natalie Malan for sending a letter of recommendation to their art directors on my behalf (Thanks Natalie!). They hire a lot of very talented artists, so I'm honored to be included.
I learned some useful tidbits doing this, and I pass that knowledge on to you:
- If nobody complains about your unrealistic, made-up lighting, just run with it
- Bright pinkish-purple subtleties do not convert well into CMYK. Experts conclude that you have to paint the colors and values more carefully so they will convert correctly. I conclude that I'm going to avoid that end of the spectrum entirely next time.
- If the borders of your painting are boring enough, your art director will never notice that you didn't include bleed for the edge of the page
- If your wife has a baby due around the time your art is due, it's probably better to finish it early than to take a 3-week hiatus and then sloppily finish at the last second.