So much to do - so little time!

My Christmas vacation time is rapidly coming to a close - we'll start back to schooling stuff next week (ish). We always start back light at first.

There are a million things I'd like to do with my remaining days - walls to paint, pictures to draw, books to read, messes to conquer...oh well. I can't do it all - in fact, I will have time for very little of it. But, I did pick up a couple of used books from Barnes & Noble online that have helped me take a few steps toward an illustration business, starting with a focus on small projects like greeting cards.

I had high hopes for this book - sounds perfect. However, only some of the information has been helpful. I like the personal profiles of some of the illustrators. But, a lot of it seems like "common sense" and I don't really benefit from the drawing and painting how-to's.

This book about the freelance biz has been very insightful. This is the aspect of illustration that frightens me most - I'm not naturally a business person, but I've gotten a lot of great things to think about and act upon from reading this one.

Anyway, I don't think I will have a good grasp on how and when I can make any progress toward my illustration goals until summer - after we've settled in with the new baby and I have time off of schooling to even think about the future. It's hard to think past spring at the moment.

Career Path - Plan B...and Other Things

I've recently discovered sites like iFreelance and have browsed some of their illustration jobs for potential shots at getting some experience under my belt. As I looked at the descriptions and deadlines, it occurred to me that I might need to rethink my book illustration plans. The few listings that were of any interest to me had 4-6 month deadlines. Those projects would most certainly be disrupted by things like giving birth to baby #4 and adding a newborn to our menagerie.

Since my other kids were getting older and more independent, I was working toward illustration knowing that I would have access to "time" more than I used to. So, realistically, I don't think I could attempt a book project for a while.

Being a children's book illustrator is my ultimate goal. But I started to think that, in the meantime, a good area to focus on a gain experience might be with greeting cards. I don't know how many people out there do that (I'd love to hear about the pros and cons from anyone with experience - what do people charge for such projects?). I was a little discouraged to think that my illustration plans would be pushed back, but this strikes me as a lot more do-able.

So, I think that's what I'll research at the moment - provided our computer doesn't die. It's behaving worse than dial-up at the moment so I'm a little concerned. I made CD back-ups of all my photos that I stored on this thing last night (just in case). If I suddenly disappear for a little period of time, then it's because I threw the computer out the window.

As for the picture above, it's just one from the sketchbook from about a year ago. I may have posted it before, but I don't remember. It doesn't have anything to do with the topic - I just don't like to post without a picture on an illustration blog. Perhaps these could be characters for some sort of greeting cards...who knows?