Working On Commissioned Drawings
Tuesday September 12, 2006
So, I finally got to work on the commission that I've been putting of for months. I figured out that I was never going to have a 'free' week to do it, and I just have to fit it in among the chaos. Part of the problem is that I REALLY want to do a good job of this one, and because it's watercolor and a compex image, I was having horrors over it. One mistake and hours of work goes down the tubes.
There's also all the other stuff competing for my attention - the half-written website tutorials, the Tarot deck idea, and a wall-size drawing that I want to undertake. I wonder how full-time professionals manage it, when they have umpteen design jobs or drawing commissions on the go, some finished, some starting... how do you keep enthused about a piece you've mentally completed, that just has some finishing-off to go, when you've a new, exciting idea going off in the back of our mind?
Comments
Dear Helen - I have been teaching art both at our local community college and our local art store (part time) as well as producing pictures for three gift shops here in town (just “picked up” a shop in Austin, TX). When I am really “clicking” along is when I treat my work like cooking a big meal! Many pots of the stove and go from one to another, tend to each, let it “simmer” and allow my self plenty of “waiting list” time for commissions which is currently 2 months from order to delivery. Mine are pictures only 2″x3″ inches for the MOST part so that makes it much easier! Since we are women who can usually “multi-task” to the max this method works quite well for me!!! Hope this might help you a bit!
Hi, other Helen! Great analogy. Actually my family would laugh at that because usually I loathe cooking (normal food, that is… I like it when I can get creative with spices or have time to bake something exotic.)
Certainly this analogy is a lot more positive than the one that I’ve been using - I feel like one of those circus plate-spinners, and I’m currently keeping a whole set of Royal Albert whizzing around - barely!
best
Helen
Prioritize! Decide to clean up the backlog, and work on one project at a time… Resist the urge to do the fun exciting ones till you get rid of those ones hanging around for ages, like the drawing for your sister…. and forget the tarot thing