February Chat

In this month’s issue:

• Worry Woes

• Portfolio Focus Areas

• February Color Inspiration

• Lego Mural Update

I can’t believe it’s February. This month will see me returning to Austria later in the month.

I’ve been going through an intense period of self doubt at the moment. I didn’t know if I wanted to share because I don’t want people to feel sorry for me, but I also thought it might be worth sharing that there are difficult moments too. I have also been picking up on the feeling that a lot of people are just unsure right now and we’re not all alone.

I’ve had a slower period with art work and I’m worried about if I’ll be able to get enough work in to make ends meet. I think I’m going through my first adjustment spell of relying solely on art income. It is a huge adjustment to go from a stable job with a guaranteed paycheck to not being totally sure what will come in next and just having hope that it is going to work out. It doesn’t help that I am intense worrier who likes to be in control of everything.

When these moments come, I’ve been trying to cope by reminding myself that I’ve set aside two years to give this whole illustrator career a try and to ride it out. I’ve also been looking towards my portfolio to see how I can improve some of my work to make it more attractive to potential clients. I usually feel better when I feel like I am doing something proactive so this seems like a good place to direct my energy.

And lastly, I’ve been making sure I am getting out enough, visiting friends, walking the dogs and just taking a break from it all.

Portfolio Focus Areas

While working towards improving my portfolio, I have been working on the following things based on my own work. I think some of these might be more specific to me, but have a little gander at the kind of work you’re making and see if there are any places where you might be able to grab onto these thoughts and bring some of these ideas into your own portfolio improvement areas.

More character variety: This is probably a bit of an obvious one, but we all gravitate towards certain things that we like more than others. My characters tend to be mostly female. I have been working towards adding some more boys to my portfolio. Part of making this more fun for me is finding some fun hairstyles. I asked myself why I tend to prefer drawing girls and it’s mostly the fun hair so I am looking for ways to make the boy hair fun for myself too.

Formatting: I’ve been switching from a portrait layout to a landscape layout. This is so it reads more like a picture book spread. It’s an adjustment for me because I like to focus on height when I make art for no real reason other than I liked that. It’s been a good challenge to think with more width. I think it’s opened things up to show more of a story with a little extra space on each side.

Reworking old pieces: I’ve been looking at some older work with new eyes. Just thinking about how can I add more to this original piece has helped me find new inspiration and allowed for development of some new things. I’ve included some of the updated pieces to show how I’ve taken some past pieces and brought new life into them. It’s also “easier” since the idea is already there. You’re just adding more to the world.

February Color Inspiration

I haven’t shared out any color inspiration in the last few newsletters so I thought I would share a bit this month to add a little injection of inspiration. Give one of these a try and see what comes out! I love a bit of color experimentation, especially with combinations that I might not usually select.

Lettering and Signs

I celebrated my birthday this month, it was on the 27th if you’re curious. I’m an aloof, daydreamy Aquarius.

I wasn’t sure what to ask for as a birthday present so instead I suggested my family take me to the sign museum in Cincinnati. I’m kind of obsessed with time and people giving you their time is truly a special gift. I had a great time, learned a lot about signage and just enjoyed looking at all the lettering and manufacturing techniques for signs over the years. I thought you all might enjoy seeing some of my favorites and who knows, maybe they spark some inspiration. I hear neon is in again too.

Lego Mural Update

Im sure you’ve seen on social media, but if you did miss it, here’s the promised Lego mural photos! It is up and I am so proud and excited that it’s there. I feel truly lucky that I got to work on this!

First Makers Market

I’ve decided to attend my first ever makers market. An artsy friend of mine will also join so I hope it will be a fun day. I will admit that I am somewhat nervous. I get the jitters whenever I try something new and am not totally sure how it will go. The positive is that it has given me the chance to experiment with painting again. I used to paint with acrylic paints a lot in high school to make home decor stuff for my mom mostly. It’s been nice to get back to that and to have a break away from the iPad. I don’t think I’ll ever use acrylic for children’s book projects, but it’s nice doing something artistic that isn’t for work.

Have a great month everyone!