Liar, liar, Sparky's pants are on fire.

I have a confession to make. It could be shocking, you may want to hug your latte for comfort. Ready? Here goes:

I am not a full time Illustrator. I don’t earn my entire living as a freelance illustrator.

There, I said it. It’s out in the open. I feel terrible having duped you this long, but I feel that honesty is best.

So now you probably want to know who I work for and what I do all day. Okay. I’ll reveal more secrets. Do you need more soy milk first? Do you want to cuddle with something soft?

I hate to dispel the myth that it’s possible to earn a living just as an illustrator. However, I feel some responsibility as someone who writes a blog (and contributes to another) promoting the idea of a fun, freewheelin’ freelance art career.

I need to explain. Can you handle a little preface?

A long time ago (the mid-90s), I was a receptionist at an investment bank. Jenni and I had our first baby toddling around our one-bedroom apartment in Phoenix (free roaches!). I didn’t really want to be answering phones for S.C. Johnson (great company, by the way). I wanted to be making animated films.

At the time, Fox Animation was only two blocks away from the bank. Don Bluth and friends were making a little film called Anastasia. I wanted to work there so bad. I ached to work there. I had a little bit of talent and a pretty crappy portfolio and absolutely no animation experience whatsoever.

It didn’t stop me from applying every three months for two years. Anastasia was on VHS before I even saw the reception area of the studio.

In the meantime, the former CEO of the bank called me at work and told me he was starting a sign company. He wanted to know if I knew any graphic designers. Without taking a second to think, I said, “Well, I know me.”

Two weeks later, I was a graphic designer. I even created the company logo. No experience. Zilch. We’ll call it on-the-job training and leave it at that.

Even while Jenni and I celebrated with burgers and fries, I knew I still wanted more. I wanted to be an animator. I decided to invest in some equipment to make a film. I figured that I would at least do it on my own even if I couldn’t get hired somewhere.

Long story short, I entered the film in some New York festivals and got a small amount of recognition. I got online and commiserated with other animation people. I even had an actual demo reel, which I sent to some studios.

One day I got The Call. Interviewing over the phone, I won myself a spot at Nickelodeon. Small wrinkle in that the job was on the other side of the country and started in two weeks, but need you ask if we figured that one out? Of course we did.

Where is this going? There is a point, and it has something to do with perseverance, but not completely. Hang on.

In the years since, I’ve acquired tons of new skills in the different positions I’ve held. Digital animation, Flash ActionScripting, video editing, compositing, spreadsheet creation, database management, document scanning, presentation building, complex audio/video setups, budgeting, sales, marketing, interviewing, truck driving… there’s more.

What does any of that have to do with my earlier confession  anyway?

So I don’t illustrate full time. I don’t earn my living entirely as an illustrator. However, I do work from my home, independently, running my own business. Unfortunately, illustration doesn’t always keep us in cookies. I have to do other things. Thankfully, all of those things are things I like doing (because why else would I do them?). Some of these things include:

• Animation
• Graphic Design
• Consulting
• Speaking/Workshops
• Alpaca Farm management
• Product sales (t-shirts, mugs, prints)

There’s that saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” I hate that saying. I think that saying is for the dabblers and hobbyists who jump from one thing to another without ever mastering any of them. Still bugs me.

There’s also the idea that you should do one thing well and stick to it. Okay, I get that. You’re going to make more money just as a web designer working with small bistro businesses than a web designer/graphic designer/business card maker to anyone who asks. It’s a target market thing. Ask my new friend Naomi.

Here’s the thing; If you’re going to throw around trite phrases like that “Jack” one, you better have the cajones to back it up. In other words, it’s clever, but if you’re working your ass off for The Man and hating your life then it’s best if you just keep quiet.

You may have heard a thing or two about some economic troubles the world is having lately. I try and stay away from the news, but I think I saw it mentioned.

If you’re going to make a go of your own thing, especially if the economy doesn’t support that thing, you better have another thing. It’s a don’t-have-all-your-eggs-in-one-basket sort of idea.

If you’re going to make a go of something (especially an art thing for god’s sake), you have to:

Know what you want

Don’t think you kinda wanna someday. You have to really want it.

Be willing to take a few risks

So the killer dream job you always wanted is in… Zimbabwe. Well, that’s kind of inconvenient and hard, but my only question is are you packed? If you’re not willing to handle a calculated risk, then I guess you don’t want your thing.

Persevere

So you have to shovel shit while you work on your thing. Fine. Don’t stop your thing to master shit-shoveling. Keep doing your thing. Keep doing your thing. Keep doing your thing. Keep doing your thing.

One day you’ll be doing your thing in a big way and you’ll look back on that huge pile of shit and smile.

My dreams are much bigger than that animator job now. Been there, done that. They have to be, right? So I’ll be trying to remember those three points I just mentioned and getting help from people who know more than I do about what I want to be doing. I’ll be shoveling some shit (literally and figuratively). I’m going to get discouraged at some point. I’ll get mad, I’ll f*** it up a few times, but I’m sure I’ll get there. I’ve done it before on a smaller scale, so why not?

You can do it, too. Whatever it is… yep. You can if you really want to. You just have to work at it. Hard.

I hope I didn’t mess you up too badly with that whole not-a-full-time-illustrator thing. I was just having a go. But that’s why you read me, isn’t it?

Share