An artist career is one that cannot be charted or replicated – it has its own flow. As I sat down to draw today I remembered deciding years ago to reduce my daily drawings to weekly. I was nervous that it would impact my income and that I would lose the audience I had worked so hard to build. Stopping was necessary though – I needed to complete Pashmina.
I went from producing a finished illustration 4-5 times a week to once a week. I posted older images to keep connecting with people, but as Pashmina took my focus I reduced those posts as well. Now I find myself unconcerned with this irregularity. My career has flowed into new territory.
No longer do I attempt to create daily illustrations – often times I sacrificed the quality of the image for quantity. Pashmina is done and I’ve begun thumbnailing my second book, Jukebox. It demands my focus as well. I may not be creating illustrations every day, but I am creating daily. The opportunity to create longer narratives – to make books – is one I’ve dreamt of since I was little. Both disciplines are worthwhile – but for now, my heart is in comics. I will be traveling throughout the year to promote Pashmina – in April I’ll be at the Cleveland Museum of Art and in Juneau for the Alaska Mini Con. The opportunities to create illustrations in addition to my other projects and travel will be minimal.
But somedays, like today, I miss my daily drawings. So I stop. I draw. And I continue to follow the flow.
