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.

My present...

My birthday present to myself this year was a book I've been wanting to get for a little while. I'm sure that many of you in the illustration world have already seen it, but I was happy to finally be able to pick up a copy. It's "Play Pen" by Martin Salisbury.

I really enjoyed his earlier book on the craft and business of illustration. This one profiles the work of several contemporary illustrators. Most of the artists are from various countries in Europe with a few from Asian countries, the Americas, Australia, and Iran.

I haven't read all the profiles yet, but I've flipped through all of the illustrations (I'm a visual person after all). I'm particularly interested in the fact that much of the work shown is influenced by the different places and cultural histories that the artist was raised in and, therefore, are different from what I'm used to.

That said, while browsing it did appear that many of the artists shown had styles and/or color palettes that were quite similar to each other. You'd think in a world full of creative people, a little more variety might be represented. A couple even had me scratching my head, wondering how they made the cut. Perhaps I will better understand their selection once I've read about them.

But, of course, art is subjective. And, if I ever write a book like this, then I'm sure my choices would show my own personal bias. Still, I'm delighted - and inspired - by the majority of the work shown in this book.