2009 has been the biggest year of my life so far with some big decisions made, finally taking some action, the life changing arrival of my beautiful daughter and the realisation that sometimes working towards your goals means working on something else entirely.

The start of a new year is always a great time for reflection so without further ado, 2009 was the year that…

…I launched zero2illo

…I had a digital painting tutorial featured on PSDtuts

…I had my first published work

…I became a father

…My illustration style finally fell into place

…I was interviewed by the best illustration podcaster (in my opinion) of 2009

…We hit the road again

…I realised that working towards your goals sometimes means working on something else entirely.

This last point needs a little more explanation as it’s an important one because it was a bitter, but very necessary pill to swallow.

Sometimes, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to fit everything in and over the last six months this has become very apparent and something had to give. Illustration is my passion but I just haven’t have the time to put in to it to start making it pay.

With the responsibilities that come with being a husband and father, I had to priortise the businesses that we already had up and running as they were the main income source for our family. I wrestled with the fact that I had started to gain a small following on the zero2illo blog, that I had contacted other illustrators to request interviews with them, that I had been interviewed for something that I wasn’t able to give more of my time and attention to and that I had finally started to make some progress with my work.

It was so hard to let go but I know it’s temporary and it’s not as though I don’t enjoy the other work I currently get paid for (graphic design), I just didn’t want to let people down.

But then I realised something - by focusing my time and effort on our other businesses, we were building up passive income streams, setting up marketing channels, streamlining our services and getting our house in order…all of which means that in a month or two, I will be able to focus on my illustration career and this blog more than I ever have before and because of the time we have put into the other businesses, my wife will also have time to help me with this blog and my portfolio site (which is going to make a huge difference as she is a one woman dynamo when it comes to business and marketing!)

Temporarily loosening the grip on my illustration aspirations has been really hard but I now know that it was the right decision and that makes me more determined than ever to make 2010 a big year for illustration.

I’d like to thanks everyone for sticking with me while I get things sorted out and for all of the support and comments throughout 2009, believe me, they really do mean so much to me.

Wishing you all a successful and profitable New Year of Illustration,

Jonathan