New Year’s Resolutions

I’ve done it again: Another soft relaunch of my website. In the end, not much has changed. But of course it took me a few months to realize that that’s okay. I’ve simplified things a bit, changed the way the portfolio works and I’ve even added a couple of new pieces to it. But this post isn’t really about what I’ve done, but rather about what I plan on doing.

Goals

The main, long-term goal of course is: I want to make a living as a freelance illustrator. I have been drawing and designing things for a couple of years now and making enough money to get by. But so far I haven’t made enough to feel comfortable and I haven’t really done much that I’m very proud of (which isn’t to say I haven’t worked with some great folks on interesting projects, but it’s time for me to take the reigns).

There are many short-term goals that work toward my main goal. Things like making some more new pieces, gathering a mailing list, creating and sending promos of some sort, networking, etc. Or to put it more simply: I need to do the leg work! I plan on finally using this space to chronicle my process and my progress. I hope that it might also be helpful for others as surely there are others struggling with the things I’m struggling with.

Challenges

My biggest problem is easily my internet-aided procrastination. I want to make the internet work for me for a change and this means knowing when to disconnect, too. Even if nobody reads this thing, committing myself to keeping a log of my progress here will turn ‘the internet’ into a watch-dog of sorts, an entity that I need to update and prove myself to. This may sound weird, but it’s probably a healthier position than how things have been for the last few years.

My second biggest problem is my low self-confidence or self-doubt. This is something I’ve just been trying to force myself to get over. It’s not helping anything. Anyway, people generally genuinely enjoy illustration/cartoons/comics/seeing people follow their creative impulses and i need to remember that if I enjoy and am committed to what I’m doing, others will be as well. So basically: I’ve just gotta do it.

In Conclusion

So my new years resolution is to do it and try and do it right. I’m trying to get everything in order to start 2010 off right and keep it going strong. I’ll be updating this space with my progress and the things I learn along the way (in addition to other, probably less dry subjects). And if you notice I haven’t updated in a while, please tell me to get my act together. Thanks.