Hi! I hope everyone is doing ok, despite the state of the world just now.

So I’m going to be honest, I’m not really making a lot of money these days. I’m ok, but I feel like I’ve just been keeping my head above water. Nothing is really growing. And well, I’m 29 and my thirties are just around the corner.


Returning to retail. Hopefully.

I’m looking for retail jobs again. Of course, I don’t really want to, but I need more stability, so unless I get some miraculous art job offer its back to retail I go. Thankfully, I’m not in a bad situation so I can afford to be a bit picky and try to find something that suits me. In the past, I made the mistake of taking the first job that got back to me and ended up in a really shit position and only got half my pay. Tbh that’s why I’ve avoided retail for so long. If I could get a part time job that’s close by, I’d still be able to work on my art, keep going with my art career and my little etsy store. Though I’d be useless at a fast-paced coffee or restaurant/takeaway place so that eats into my options quite a lot.


Commissions

Getting a job like that could take a while and I’ll still need to support myself until then. I’ve been getting slower with art rather than faster but I feel like I’ve been improving and developing more patience, so I don’t think that’s a bad thing. But I’ll be upgrading my prices to reflect that. I’ve been timing myself more and on a lot of occasions I’ve been charging below the minimum wage for the uk. Woops. Btw I don’t want anyone who’s commissioned me recently to feel bad as this is completely my fault for not noticing sooner.

I’ll be changing the way I take commissions as well. As I want to practice and do personal/portfolio work more. When I take a few slots, I feel like I need to get them done as soon as I can. I tell myself I can work on other stuff later, and then I don’t, or just get scraps of unsatisfactory work done before I feel I have to take on more commissions.
So I’ll try just opening one or two smaller slots at a time to work on in-between personal projects. I’ll see how that goes and if I can balance things better that way. I’m not crazy about waiting lists, so I’m afraid you’ll have to keep an eye out for commission posts if you want one! But I’ll probably have a heads up post a few days before so folk can have a think about what they want before committing to buy one. If I manage to get a part time job I likely won’t be able to take on commissions. That’s partly why I don’t want to take on waiting lists.

To begin with I’d like to start with some small traditional “wing its” and see about opening more complex commissions later.


Personal work

I’m planning on making a small zine project, with the theme of fantasy birds and bird hybrids. I’m still figuring out the best way to do it, but its exciting to think about! That little fairy harpy was to do with it.
I’ve been using my little a6 sketchbook a lot and it’s a habit I want to keep up. A quiet hour or two evening sessions of just getting some ideas out. I treated myself to a hot press etchr sketchbook so I can add some watercolour or postercolour as well.

Anyway sorry, that was probably a lot to read!