It’s that time of year again, 2018 is wrapping up and I’m here to write an insight into how my year went. Summary; a lot of ups and downs that have made me a better person.
Now to be honest, I only really accomplished half of these, one is in the works and another was frankly a joke;
- I got a new job! After working in food service for over a year and a half I got a job working as a Supervisor at a well known health and beauty retailer. Besides illustration I love makeup and skincare, so I was chuffed when I was offered the job. My hours are more regular and it’s contracted, a blessing.
- Now this year was my year for freelance; straight at the beginning of the year I got my work on the front cover of The Portland Mercury and Counterpoint Magazine. I later was commissioned through PPC to help illustrate a map by the American Alliance of Museums of the Downtown metropolitan area of Phoenix. I was commissioned to illustrate several page spreads for Standart Magazine. Around the summer I was commissioned by The Skinny, SCOOP Magazine, Brio magazine and surprisingly The Daily Telegraph! (not once, but twice!) and from September onwards I’ve become regularly commissioned by Shield GEO Services to illustrate articles for their online blog and newsletter.
- I’m still living at home with my parents, but fingers crossed by next Christmas I will have a place with my other half.
- I failed miserably at this last aim, I’ve been overworked and exhausted and never given myself time off to recover. It’s been a busy year both in freelance and my day job, and I’m glad of how far I’ve come in just a handful of months, but ya girl has had to take some well needed time off over the holidays to feel like a human again. Hopefully by 2019 I will feel a lot more refreshed!
(A few images of the commissioned pieces I’ve made for clients).
Professionally my year has been great, a lot of growth. But mentally I’ve dealt with a lot; in January I lost one of my dogs unexpectedly - we knew for a while her time was coming to an end but the decision to let her finally go was last minute. Luckily I’ve never had to deal with loss so close to home in the 23 years I’ve lived. It hurt a lot as expected. In July it was the opposite and I lost another, and it hurt like a bitch knowing for a full damn week when her time was coming to an end.
On a more lighter note, because we lost two it meant our last dog was alone, and she hadn’t been on her own since the day we took her in. A few days after we got another doggo, Ben - or Ben Kenobi as I call him as we figured out he was born on the 4th May. He’s a handful, currently 8 months old and is bigger than our 5 year old. But he’s helped, a lot.
(From top left, Lassie, Ben, Patch and Bess, my kids).
On a more positive note, I made a big discovery this year and that was the Apple Pencil. In August I gave in and bought myself an upgraded Ipad (not a pro, just the latest 2018 edition) and the pencil. I was weary at first, didn’t know what to think when other creatives were raving about it. But now I can’t be without it. I use it now for all of my rough work because it allows me to be wherever I want to be. I could be sat on the sofa after being at work all day, chilling with a cuppa and sketching out ideas for a client. Best thing I’ve ever bought.
A Top nine post for my Instagram, and 7/9 of these were all done on the ipad! Crazy!
- Keep grabbing those freelance gigs, work hard and keep experimenting!
- Have my own place where I can separate my job from the bedroom.
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