Pod Cast Question - 3 Point Perspective

jdubz

I've been thinking about this for the better part of a year and I feel as though my answer is kind of cheesy, but it's to make a positive impact. I've worked a LOT of different types of jobs; I've done food service, construction, higher-end sales, IT management, QA testing, operations manager with quite a few employees under me and currently a business owner. Most of the time, you're just a spoke in a wheel, and yeah you can make an impact locally within your circle of influence, but more often than not that circle is relative limited.

I think I'd like my kids to look at what I do and feel like they can do anything they want in life. I don't want them to feel like the path is narrow. I want them to feel they have creative rights to their own lives. But more than that, I want to be GOOD at it. I want to deliver great products that make people happy and be paid well for it. I don't like the idea that people have this impression that artists don't make money or that you might as well wait tables but you die on the sword for your craft. I want be part of the reason that people elevate what an artist, designer or illustrator is worth and help other artists value their work to that same level.

I don't completely know what that looks like. I think I'd like, based on my work experience, to have my hand in a lot of jars: do my own projects, make my own books and comics, sell my own products, freelance and teach. The details are forthcoming I guess

danielerossi

I have a few dreams that were always floating about in my head:

to write and draw my own syndicated comic strip and/or graphic novels. Currently, the latter is happening. Maybe eventually get a tv special or movie. I guess I want to be the next Charles M. Schulz! I’m not looking for fame though, just want to share my stories and humour and be able to make a living out of it. Ok, maybe I want to be a little famous But not to the point where I can’t live a normal, regular life.
publish a monthly comic strip magazine much like Archie comics and The Phoenix (in the UK) with different stories every month. I’ve thought of featuring other artists as well. I’ve had this dream for a while now and just realized that I never thought of what to name the magazine!

Whitney Simms

Hi @Will-Terry . I just want to paint stationary designs. Just paint trendy things like ginger jars, perfume, and maybe an animal or two. Not to mention in the hot color pallets. And really just magically send them to a company and they do all the graphic design work and of course produce and sell the products. And some fabric designs for baby clothes or kids linens.

At some point in my life maybe my brain will settle down for stories. That sounds dreamy too. But for now, I just want to paint pancake recipes. Maybe a cool book?

deborah Haagenson

@Will-Terry My situation might be a little bit different. I won't need to make any money necessarily, but I have my business license, domain name and an instagram account, so when I feel I'm ready I will start marketing myself. I might like to have an agent at some point too. I have written a picture book to self publish and have just started working on the thumbnails. As far as the type of work I would like to do, I would say that to begin with anything that comes my way and later on when I can be more picky I'll decide. I might also like to take on photoshop side jobs, maybe as a colorist or something?

Will Terry

@Jane-Smith I don't think you have to have children' - just a love of telling stories!

deborah Haagenson

@NessIllustration congratulations on your achievements! I would love to be where you are with this - You're living my dream!

deborah Haagenson

@demotlj I love your dream! I got lost in the thought of talking a walk in the English Countryside.

jfeuer

Thank you for this question, @will-terry-art . I'm a new member and have been thinking about my intentions before officially joining the forums.

I'd definitely like to see my memoir of working in Japanese gardens in a visual format. Graphic novel, shorter stories or 'essay manga'-type technical introductions to the topic of Japanese gardening.

I want to learn to draw better to **communicate my story. That's what pulls me. **If I get better at drawing, the rest will follow. I hope to create without anxiety, without fear of not meeting someone else's expectations.

Yes to Japanese Garden themed postcards, stationary, prints, etc once I have my story out of the system! Tangible products make me proud. Illustrating magazine articles, creating still lives with textile art, that'd be wonderful, too.

Pamela Fraley

@Will-Terry I want to write and illustrate my own YA or middle grade fiction. I have an idea for a graphic novel too. My husband’s business makes the bulk of our income, so I don’t need to make money. I just want to be able to better tell my own stories. I think I’d like illustrating book covers for other people too.

kittytreets

@Will-Terry

Writer - Illustrator - Game Designer

Having the time and funds to enjoy working on the covers, characters, and chapter art for the young adult book(s) I’m writing would be amazing. I would then love to turn my world, characters, an art style into a tabletop roleplaying game with game books and miniatures. That would give me the fun of geeking out with readers and players online and at conventions. I would love to see my characters represented in cosplay form!

Thanks for this fun question, and I love the podcast.

Cheers,

Jodi aka kittytreets

Jonas Zavacky

Love reading others dreams here!

Honestly i think about this 24/7. There isnt single day where i question what it is what i want to do, sometimes I will change my opinion in a matter of hours. Feels like i am stuck in this loop forever.

With that being said I am atleast certain what kind of type of art i would like to create..and that is, something that will inspire people, make them feel something beautiful. I would like to create the type of stuff i was inspired by as a young boy. I would like to pull them into worlds and stories where they can breathe or the opposite - gasp.

This isnt dependent on medium. I love comics, I love illustration, I love animation. In my dream world I would love to do all that, but also have a life besides that. Although certainly animation is a medium where the wildest dreams happen, just the real world life often isnt exactly there .

Oh well I am bound to explore till the end of my life. But it is exciting as well. Thanks for asking

MissMushy

Am all over the map. My dream has always been to make a living from doing something creative. But that's a bit vague. Now I am semi-retired, having 'done my time' in really boring 9 to 5 jobs, I dream of being able to write stories and draw illustrations. I never had kids but now I have two little granddaughters (via my stepdaughter) and there is nothing sweeter than hearing 'Grandma!' across the room. That idea of writing children's books has become more front and centre these days.

MissMushy

@Jane-Smith lots of famous kids books authors didn't have kids Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, P.L. Travers - not a prerequisite

ArtofAleksey

I currently work retail, and have for a while, and the company stores have been closed for a few weeks now. This has given me time to think about the various projects I would like to do and hope to accomplish. My ideal illustration career would revolve around making my own comics.

I have several ideas for comics I’d like to make. Some are abstract and some are wholesome. What I’d really like to do is adapt some russian fairy tales I grew up with into comics. They were really influential on me and I’d like to share them with others. I just have to do some soul searching and really figure out what about those stories made me feel the way I did and what messages I want my comics to have.

After listening to the comiclab podcast I picture some of them being webcomics. I would be both writer and illustrator.

Wen Sylvestre

@Will-Terry Hi Will, Not sure if you still need input? But I love this question, it's always nice to dream! I'm still in the early stage of learning the craft. My dream is to write and illustrate children's books and create designs for kids products like toys and things to decorate their room with. I love to help create a magical place for them to explore and to escape to. And have fun in as well! I love when kids roll over the floor, laughing their socks off.

I keep thinking about this question because it feels like everything has changed. If this profession is harder to break into I need to I need to rethink my dreams to help me stay open to whatever pursuing this ends up looking like. But am I being too negative? I am spending more time drawing because it keeps me sane, but I want to be realistic. Are all the pros here ok getting work? I think I'm going to focus on social media rather than getting published.

NessIllustration

@carolinedrawing Every publisher I work with has successfully transitioned to work from home and it's going smoothly. I'm currently working on books that will be out next year or even 2022, so it's the long game and it's still on track. I know it can be scary to get into a profession that's harder to break into. But there ARE people who are doing this for a living... so why not us?

I'll always remember the words I overheard from an animation teacher when I went to my art school's open doors day, before enrolling. I wasn't sure yet if I wanted to take the plunge and was scared about going into arts. The kid in front of me was with his parents and the dad grumpily and suspiciously asked the teacher "Are there a lot of jobs in this field?". The teacher replied "Some. But your kid doesn't need a lot of jobs.. he just needs the one job, doesn't he?" This really stuck with me and convinced me to go for it. Yes it's hard, and most people who try fail because they have no idea how to go about it. If you are smart about this and approach it in a practical way (make a great portfolio, get experience, get an agent, etc) then there's no reason you wouldn't succeed. There ARE openings, and it's up to you to decide if you want to do what it takes to grab them. I'm a prime example of this - I'm not special, I'm not the best illustrator in the world. Just a girl with a plan

EliaMurrayArt

@NessIllustration what an amazing quote! I'm putting that in my back pocket. I just need the one job

@NessIllustration What a great story, thank you!
One of the only assignments I have completed is my business plan for the svs 'Making money in illustration' class series, where I wrote that my advantage was that while I am average in illustration skills, I'm great at budgeting so cut my costs enough to have a chance to learn. I showed my husband and daughter to try to get them to understand that I didn't want to lead them on and that in five years i might get a job. They weren't too amused by this And then everything changed, especially when I think of freelance work as a small business...
Thanks for always bringing such a steady and positive perspective to this forum.

burvantill

@NessIllustration WELL SAID!