#illustrationcareergoals

[dontdropthedoughnut]

23 March 2019 - My Impossible List

So here is my impossible list (I will try and organise it as much as possible)

Art Challenges 1. Complete Sketch Daily challenge for 31 days - the month of August 2. Complete Inktober 2019 - posted by Jake Parker 3. Complete the #100 Heads challenge - posted by Ahmed Aldoori 4. Complete the #500 Hands challenge - posted by Ahmed Aldoori 5. Complete a #drawthisinyourstyle challenge and post to Instagram 6. Complete the 25 Essential Expressions Challenge 7. Submit and illustrated recipe to They Draw & Cook 8. Create my own design for the Whittards of Chelsea Tea Caddy competition (But not submit - Holly Exley has opened up my eyes to the damage of “art competitions”)

Art Fairs to attend 1. ELCAF 2019 2. Thought Bubble Harrowgate 2019 3. Manchester Print Fair 2019 4. Bristol Comic & Zine Fair 2019 5. Brighton Illustration Fair 2019 6. London Illustration Fair 2019 7. Macc-Pow 2019 8. Manchester Animation Festival 2019 9. 2020 Bologna Children's Book Fair 10. Attend an art fair in the US

Personal Creative Challenges 1. Create my own zine / mini-comic 2. Create a short illustrated animation 3. Create my own OC 4. Take part in and complete Nanowrimo 2020 5. Write ridiculously bad and cringey fanfiction 6. Fill a t-shirt with iron on patches 7. Decorate a blank handbag 8. Follow a Bob Ross painting tutorial 9. Host a Bob Ross painting party 10. Be a part of hosting a local art fair

Art Business 1. Open up my own online store selling artwork 2. Design a logo and branding for myself 3. Design and print my own business cards / promotional material 3. Get my illustration website up and fully functional 4. Create a professional printed portfolio 5. Complete an illustrated commission 6. Publish a comic 7. Write and Illustrate my own children’s picture book 8. Take a photo of my illustrated children’s book on a shelf in a bookstore 9. Sell artwork at ELCAF 10. Sell artwork at Thought Bubble 11. Sell artwork at Bristol Comic & Zine Fair 12. Sell artwork at London Illustration Fair 13. Sell artwork at Brighton Illustration Fair 14. Exhibit at 2021 Bologna Children’s Book Fair 15. Exhibit at New Designers 2020 16. Be part in illustrating a digital game 17. Get an internship in the art industry 18. Apply and attend 3 interviews for work in an illustration agency

Art Fundamentals level-up 1. Learn the basics of colour theory 2. Learn the basics of perspective 3. Learn the basics of light and dark 4. Learn the basics of figure drawing 5. Learn how to draw faces

So this is my impossible list so far, I will keep it updated throughout on the items that I complete as well as new goals to be added.

[dontdropthedoughnut]

13 March 2019 - Start...

Trying to write the first post for a blog whilst writing a blog for the first time feels as awkward and stuck as trying to write the introduction for a school essay on a topic you don’t really know much about...I have no clue what to write. “Why am I starting this blog?” seems like a good place to begin. Well...I avidly watch many artist tutorial videos and vlogs on YouTube and one of my favourite video themes to watch is the personal journey so far from high school art class days to current professional status along with the mass of ‘draw my life’ videos so popular during 2013. I find these videos fascinating and will often have them playing in the background whilst drawing, but I need more – as in more detail. Due to time and how impossible it would be to do otherwise, artists often talk largely just about the significant points in their journey that made an impact. What I want to know is what specific drawing exercises did they tirelessly work away at to develop their skill in drawing characters effortlessly? Which books or websites did they follow to give them the foundation knowledge on use of colour? What resources did these artists use to help them navigate the business side of things? These topics may be covered in a separate video but always in a bullet point and brief style. Another thing I see is that whilst tutorial or advice videos that are aimed at beginners are very useful, they are usually done from the point of view of an experienced artist and sometimes a small step which would already feel natural to the artist and so would not in their opinion require explaining would be extremely useful for a first-time beginner to have more detail on. At the same time, I also see the catch 22 of this statement in that these advice videos can only be made when the artist has all this experience to give them their skill and wisdom.   So, the goal of this blog is to document the attempts and journey of myself in achieving that shining jewel of an art career but from a complete beginner’s point of view. It will document all the books I read, all the videos I watch, the websites I visit and the art exercises I do to get that step closer to the art dream. I don’t intend for this blog to the step by step how to manual on reaching that goal, because honestly I am so far on that beginner level I can advise no one but with the vast amounts of books, websites, videos and other resources available it does feel overwhelming on finding a place to start and I’m hoping that one day someone else can stumble onto this blog in the same position I am at and find it helpful.