INPUT ARTICLE: Article: With every listen, new insights and observations should occur to you. If on the first listen you focused on lyrics or melody, try to stretch yourself to notice something different the next time and the time after. The album took a lot longer to make than it will take to listen to it, so try and respect the effort of the artists and appreciate the complexity. Try to bring the music with you as you go about your day. Let it play while you're working out or doing chores around the house. You may notice things when it's on in the background that you didn't notice when you were intently listening - music is funny that way! To best qualify your assessment of the music, do a quick internet search for musical terms and then try to incorporate them into your review when applicable. Here are a few examples of musical terms that could show up in a review: Beat (the regular rhythmic pattern of the music) Crescendo (growing or becoming louder) Harmony (the simultaneous sounding of two or more notes, as in a vocal harmony) Tempo (the speed the music is played) Describe how the music makes you feel, whether the album flows from song to song or if it sounds like each song stands on its own. Jot down any poignant or super catchy lyrics. Use these insights later, when you're adding detail to your review. If an instrument gets featured more than others, or if the guitar riffs are especially prolific, make a note. Identify your favorite songs and lyrics and the ones that seem to be the most catchy or emotional.

SUMMARY: Listen to the album multiple times. Listen in different places at different times. Familiarize yourself with musical terms. Write your initial reactions down. Notice what stands out.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: In order to be paid for your work as a professional illustrator you will need to go through the, often challenging, process of finding work. While you are searching for paid work, it may be valuable to do unpaid jobs which will help you build up for portfolio. If you wish to be paid for your work, try contacting anyone you know in the business of publishing or editing books to see if they can help point you in the right direction. You can also contact a publishing company by phone or letter; in doing this, you may get a chance to have your portfolio considered. You are likely to be rejected many times, so be persistent! This may be via phone or email, or it may be in person. Regardless, this is the time to agree upon deadlines, any special requirements of the author, your timetable and availability, or any other questions you might have. You will repeat this step many times throughout the process. You will need to show the author/s and publishers samples of what you have so far in order to agree that it is moving in the right direction. When you finally do find someone in need of your services, they will give you either one or many options of different novels and books. You must, of course, read a draft or if the story is a reprint read the original book previous to the reprint. You may be lucky enough to have the opportunity do a cover or dust-jacket design. You must make sure you thoroughly understand the plot and its characters; remember their emotions are expressed through your art. If you have agreed that you enjoy the story, and that you would like to illustrate it, you should meet with the author to discuss and agree upon a number of things such as: the cover (and whether or not you will illustrate it), which pages should be illustrated, what kind of media you will use (i.e. what kind of illustrations you are going to make), etc. After you've met with the author and agreed on the details, you will need to sign a contract that specifies all the details of your agreement with the publishing company and/or author. Make sure the contract includes pertinent information such as when you should be finished and how much you should be paid. Make sure to get a copy of the contract which includes the signatures of all involved parties and the date it was signed. How this step proceeds depends on how you, as an artist, prefer to work. Some illustrators like to begin with making some pencil sketches of the ideas they have in their head, comparing them and getting feedback from friends and family. While others just free draw. However you do it, you need to start coming up with a solid idea of what each character will look like, and what the style of the illustrations will be. Your method for illustrating may be completely different, and that is OK. If you are successfully creating illustrations, there is no reason to try to change anything. Once you have come up with a sketch that fits with the guidelines of the publisher (these will be different for every publisher, and probably every job), you will need to come up with rough sketches for each required page that you will review with the author/publishers. Sometimes it can be hard to receive feedback from others, especially if it is critical; however, you should try not to take this personally. They only want the book to be as good as it can be. Based on the feedback of the authors you should do your best to revise them so that all parties can be happy with the end product. Be sure that the illustrations will fit the dimensions of the book! If you draw the image too big, parts of the image will be missing from the book, and the effect may not be the same. After what is likely to be several rounds of feedback on your work, you will be able to complete a final illustration. You will then send these to the publisher, where the sketches and the story will be put together to create the final product!
Summary: Find a job. Meet with the art director. Read drafts. Meet with the author. Sign a contract. Begin the process of illustration. Refine your drawings. Revise your illustrations. Finish your illustrations.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Get a wire coat hanger and shape it into a ring. The easiest way to do this would be to slide it over a 5-gallon (18.5-L) bucket. Pull the hanger off of the bucket when you are done. Use some pliers to untwist the wire at the top of the hanger. Open up the hanger; you will be stringing the flowers onto the hanger, then twisting it back together. Leave the hook intact; do not cut the hanger. Purchase a bunch of fake flowers with wired stems; they must have wired stems or the next step won't work. Use wire cutters to cut the flowers so that the stems are 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13cm) long. If there are any leaves on the cut stems, be sure to pull those off too. Large flowers, such as roses or peonies work the best for this. How many flowers you buy depends on how big they are and how full you want the wreath to be. You are not attaching these to the hanger just yet. Instead, twist the flower stem into a loop about halfway down. When you are done, you'll have a flower with a short stem that has a loop at the bottom. Repeat this step for all of your flowers. Use a skewer or knitting needle to form the loops. They need to be small enough to slide onto the hanger. The wreath should be full enough so that the flowers don't slide around. You can fit more flowers by rotating the flowers around the wreath in a spiral rather than stacking them together. Do not cover the twisted part of the coat hanger, or you won't be able to reassemble it. Move the flowers aside if needed, then twist the wires back together like they used to be. Once your wreath is reassembled, hang it up somewhere using the hook. You can reuse this wreath base simply by untwisting it, pulling off the old flowers, then adding new ones.

SUMMARY:
Bend a wire coat hanger into a ring. Untwist the hanger, but leave the hook intact. Cut fake flowers into 4 to 5-inch (10 to 13-cm) lengths. Twist the stems into small loops for stringing onto the hanger. String the flowers onto the wire hanger. Re-twist the coat hanger, then hang the wreath up using the hook.