Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spectrum 17

I just received word yesterday that my work has been accepted to Spectrum 17. I'm thrilled and extremely honored by this, and it will be a long few weeks waiting to find out which piece(s) will be in the book. Congrats to all who made it, and all who entered!

For a little back-story, Spectrum is important to me not just on a professional level, but on a personal level. I've told the story a few times. My granddad (who loved sci-fi novels, D&D, etc.) bought me a copy of Spectrum when I was a teenager, and that act turned out to be the single biggest turning point in my artistic focus; I had always wanted to be an artist, but until reading that book, I didn't realize I had such a passion for fantastic art. Exactly 10 years later, I got to tell him the good news that one of my pieces had been accepted to Spectrum 15, just before he passed away. So the publication itself brings back good memories of growing up, and serves as a reminder of things coming full circle.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Getting it Together

I've been thinking about giving this blog more of a 'for up and coming artists' twist for a while now. I have a short list of topics to cover, but I keep coming back to time management, partially because it's something I've gotten much better about over the years, and partially because I feel I still have so much room to grow there.

Two weeks ago an old friend was shot and killed. It was an epic event that ground all gears to a halt among my circle of friends, as everyone mourned and put together an absolutely unforgettable wake and funeral, and we all supported each other.

While it was great that the tragedy brought so many people together, I couldn't help but notice how badly my art schedule was suffering. Two weeks is a VERY long time, especially in the illustration world. Normally I could have 1 or 2 finished pieces in that span, even with my full-time day job to contend with, but instead I've got a backlog, and nothing to show for that time.

So I'm determined not to let it overwhelm me in March! Here's my step-by-step plan for getting back in action:

Step 1. Purchase several cans of strong coffee. I drink Cafe Du Monde original New Orleans Coffee & Chicory because it's cheap, strong and awesome.
Step 2. Give updates to all clients, even if they're small updates. One of the worst feelings in the world for a client is thinking their illustrator has fallen off the face of the earth.
Step 3. Make a to-do list, and prioritize it. Know it like a mantra: The portfolio pieces I didn't get to do last month CAN and WILL still happen. I WILL get everything done.
Step 4. Update my @#$%# blog. I'll let you know if all this works.

I'll write more about time management later... when I have more time. Ha.

As a side note, I found one of my character illos for Dragon #384 on the Wizards site: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drcact/20100219