What kind of art do you want to make?
Thoughts on getting paid to make art.
Before I get into my topic for today, here’s a new drawing of some turtles…
Why did I draw turtles? [Shrugs] ‘cause I felt like it.
Full disclosure… illustration is not my full time job. I do freelance as an illustrator (shameless plug: hit me up if you have a project you would want to work with me on), but I also have a “day job” as a UX designer.
And I create this newsletter and my other one that come out on a regular basis, which are both a lot of work.
But I’ve gone through large chunks of time without a paying illustration job. It can sometimes get you down and make you question whether you should keep going after that kind of work.
Any kind of freelance work, really, can have some dry spells. I’m not going to talk about marketing here and give advice on how to sell yourself or your service. Everyone is different and I’m definitely not the one to be giving that kind of advice.
What I do want to get into, though, is the mindset to have during a dry spell.
I’m, generally, a bit of a pessimist and find that my brain naturally wants to go into the worst case scenarios so I have to actively fight against that. Questioning myself is something I’ve struggled with my entire life.
If you’re similar, or even if you just find yourself there occasionally, this is the only way I’ve found that works for me to get out of it…
Make something.
It doesn’t even have to be something great. Experiment. If it’s art, push yourself and your style. If you’re between freelance gigs, think of it as a gift to practice and try new ways of doing things.
Here’s another tip I’ve learned recently. If your goal is to get freelance work, make something that would resemble the type of work you want to be paid for.
If you want to get paid to draw comic book covers, draw some comic book covers.
If you want to get paid for character design, create some characters.
When you get in that mindset of creating the kinds of work you want to be paid for and you do it all the time, it makes it so much easier when the opportunities do come around.
And if you find yourself in a spot where you just don’t have any ideas and don’t know what to draw, my suggestion is to just draw some turtles.
Thanks for reading! If you want to see more of my artwork/sketches/ramblings, follow me on X and here on Substack Notes. And if you really want to support me, I have a store!
Also, if you’re into political cartoons, I have another newsletter called Political Nomad with a new comic every Thursday.
Have a great week!
-Brad