Yesterday I was dropping of lil' Ro at his daycare and saw one of my old books from my old gig as a staff illustrator laying slightly tattered on the floor. It made me flash back to a time when I was happily drawing in my little cubicle, with my knick knacks in place, and money funneling weekly into my 401k and the stability of it all made me feel panicky. I miss having a full-time job sometimes. Just showing up and ticking down a list of fun projects was nice, clock out at 4:30...done. I didn't have to market myself, or pound the pavement for new work, it just showed up on my desk. This freelance stuff is fun, and exciting, but the unknown sometimes creeps in and scares the heck out of me. I also miss having co-workers to chat with or ask questions or advice.
I also noticed how differently I draw now. I still love the soft look of the watercolors in Painter. Maybe I'll do some experimenting again when my deadlines slow down some.
On a side note, I mentioned to Ro's teacher that I illustrated that book (I didn't mention the 5 others on the bookshelf..) This morning, Ro's teacher gave me a sharpie to sign her book. I felt like a total dork, a very flattered dork though. :)
Hey there! Don't know how I missed this post. You should ALWAYS sign your work. I've never had your 'full-time' gig experience as an illustrator so I can only imagine. I can relate to the fear though and much of the other things you stated. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteHA! It's funny, you and I have something like 1 million ways to communicate. Thanks for the blog comment today! You should enter the TDAC contest! Or at least submit a recipe...it was so much more fun than I expected and now I am addicted to the concept.
ReplyDeleteoh man, I have so much to do, yet I was pouring over the recipes trying to get ideas for TDAC!
ReplyDeleteThat's really sweet! I would have done the same thing in that teacher's shoes. Everyone knows a signed copy is a totally great thing.
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