Change of plans

Well, my grand plans to start this, my first day of full time freelancing with a productive bang have utterly failed. I woke up this morning with a burning throat, and feeling like some one had been beating me up with a baseball bat. The sore throat started yesterday, but has come into full swing today. And all that walking around the Convention Center yesterday didn't help. So I have spent most of the day in bed watching a Stargate marathon while sucking down copious amounts of water (that seem to do little good except sending me to the bathroom every half hour).

I have drug myself out of bed to try to get a little work done this evening. And hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. I will post pictures from Comic con tomorrow!

Deadlines are my friend

Over the last month and a half, I have learned a valuable lesson. Deadlines work.

I am a procrastinator by nature. If I don't have a solid deadline for something, it takes me forever to finish. If I have a long deadline, I still put it off until the last second. The last few weeks have been very busy for me. I have been working on several illustrations for a children's book, finishing some commissioned sculptures, while trying to get ready for the Doll and Teddy Expo, beginning a new picture book project, AND getting ready for the SCBWI LA conference (portfolio review, show, etc). About two weeks ago, I started to freak out. I couldn't see anyway that I was going to get everything done.

But here it is, and 90% of everything is done. The sculptures out the door, the illustrations completed, the picture book sketches done. My dolls for expo are 90% complete, and I suddenly I realize that I actually have 9 days to polish up my portfolio for SCBWI instead of a day or two as I feared.

The reason I was able to get everything done, is because I have some very serious deadlines, that were constantly on my mind. So, for the last seven weeks, I've been working my butt off, every evening, and on the weekends when I could. It was the fear of disappointing paying clients that put my procrastinating monster in her place. It was very tempting to watch marathons of CSI and Project Runaway in the evening... but those darn deadlines wouldn't let me.

I've also learned how important it is to set mini-deadlines. I might have several weeks to accomplish something, but if I tell my client that I will have this portion done by this day, and this by this day (and get paid at each point) that keeps me from putting things off until the last minute.
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Tomorrow is my last day of "work." Monday morning, I begin freelancing full time. I am very excited, and terrified. But I have faith that I can do it, and that God always provides.

Joined childrensillustrators.com

Well, yesterday I finally got a portfolio on www.childrensillustrators.com. The cost for a portfolio is $200/year. I did a lot of research before I signed up. There are other professional illustration sites, (like www.theIspot.com) but they are more expensive. This one is geared specifically for children's illustrators, which is really where my heart is. I thought I would give it a try for a year. If I don't get any work through them, then I won't renew for next year. But here is hoping! If you have had any experience with the site, good or bad, leave a comment!

A project on the tablet

I may be a little absent from the blogging world for the next couple of weeks as I work on some projects that are keeping me busy. The good news is, I'm busy with some very fun things. I'd love to give you a sneak peak...but you will just have to wait!

Fear

I've been thinking about fear a lot lately. I thought I was getting better at not letting my fears hold me back, but I've realized that I've still got a long way to go.

Tomorrow, I'm going to an oral surgeon to have three wisdom teeth removed. I couldn't have it done at the dentist office, because one of the teeth was too impacted. And why was that? Because I waited too long to go to the dentist. In addition to that, I have to get two root-canals, a crown, and additional cavities filled. Why? Not because my dental hygiene is all that bad, but because I knew I had problems...and waited to long to get them taken care of. Why? Because I was afraid.

I was afraid that things would be bad. Which is pretty ridiculous when you think about it. Of course things are going to be, the longer you wait, the worse it gets. But I let my fear control me and waited forever to get things taken care of, and now, they really are bad. A self fulfilling prophecy.

And now, as I embark on my artistic career, fear is getting me again. I thought I had mastered it when I decided to give my notice at work. See me? Aren't I brave? But now...fear is getting me again. Its time to look for work, to get some clients lined up, so when D-day comes and that steady paycheck is gone, I will already have work coming in.

But I'm having a really hard time. I'm spending a lot of time on job forums, looking at work, and yet I'm applying for hardly anything. Because I'm afraid I'm not up to the task, or I'm afraid that I won't actually get the work. Freelance job boards are a pretty completive market, some times you have 50 different designers bidding on the same job. So I don't bother.

See the problem with this? If I don't ask for any work, I won't get any. Plain and simple. So what if I only get 1 out of 10 contacts I make. I need to looking for those ten, so that I can score the one. But I have excuses aplenty. And I think its not only fear, but also pride. It sucks to get rejected.

So now, its time to just suck it up, ditch the excuses, and really start digging.

Trying to find my priorities

The last couple of days, I've been trying to figure out what is the best way to spend my time, what things should I be focused on, as far as marketing, production, etc. There are so many things I do, and want to do, some times it is hard to know where to spend my time.

So I thought I would put it down on paper. First I listed off the things right now that I am doing art wise. Then I rated them on a scale of 1-5 on the amount of money they typically can bring in. Then I rated them on how much I enjoyed doing each activity. This is what i looked like:

Activity Income Enjoyment
Art Dolls:
Illustration:
Web design:
Graphic design:
Original art:
Stuffed animals:
Prints, etc:

So sitting back and looking at it this way, it was quickly apparent the there is one thing that I really enjoy doing, and has the potential for bring in a decent amount of money at the same time: illustration. Web and Graphic design have good potential for bringing in money, but I really don't enjoy it as much as other things. But selling original art could bring in some money, and I really enjoy it. Looking at the list thusly, I ordered them by priority:

Illustration:
Original art:
Web design:
Graphic design:
Stuffed animals:
Art Dolls:
Prints, etc:

I still put web and graphic design high on the list, because lets be real, we must pay the bills, yes? BUT I can be selective on which projects I work on, which will increase the enjoyment factor.

This was really helpful for me. Now I know I need to spend much more time sending out promos to publishers, updating my illustration portfolio and such. In the last few months, the illustration side of the biz has been a little neglected. But no more!