We’re nearly at the half way point of the challenge now and are closing in on having 6 new illustrations to add to our portfolios (although, if you’re anything like me you’ll still be working on pieces 3 and 4 - I’m definitely glad I decided to introduce a break week next week to catch up!).
This week’s task
It’s no surprise that this week’s challenge is to complete portfolio illustrations number 5 and 6. However, you may remember in week 4 that I asked everyone to consider their working processes and write a little about each illustration as you progressed.
This week, before you start working on your next two illustrations, I’d like you to take a step back and examine your work flow and working processes.
For example:
- Does your research prior to starting an illustration bog you down or help expedite things?
- Does the order in which you do things make you more or less efficient?
- Do you labour over thumbnails to make them look pretty or use them purely to solve visual or compositional problems?
- Do you have to feel completely inspired and have your work space set up perfectly before you’re able to begin work or can you work anywhere at any time?
- Are you aware of and/or are you using the right tools for the job when you’re working either digitally or traditionally?
These are just a few questions to ask yourself when examining your work flow, but only you will know exactly how you work and where you could trim the fat or increase your work rate, so be honest with yourselves.
I’m not suggesting that you implement anything that would reduce the quality of the work, but simply trying to make us more efficient in the way we illustrate. The more efficient we are, the more commissions we can take on and the more commissions we take on, the more lucrative this career becomes.
When you’re posting your work for critique this week (and during next week’s break week) add a few words about your work flow too. You may find that another member of the community could offer some great tips and advice on how you could speed things up.
Ok, that’s it for week six - when we pick up for week 7 after the break week, we’ll be diving straight into branding and creating our portfolio websites (for which there will be tutorials on hand - see, I told you I needed the break week to catch up!!).
It’s also nearly time to send out another edition of the newsletter, so be sure to sign up (over there on the right at the top of the page) if you want to get the scoop on what goes on behind the scenes in putting together the 12 Week Challenge and zero2illo.
I’ll leave you with a quote about efficiency that made me chuckle this week:
“It is more than probable that the average man (or woman) could, with no injury to his health, increase his efficiency fifty percent.”
Walter Scott
Wishing you all a productive week
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I recently cleaned my work area and am finding it easier to be productive. A degree of organization is definitely as essential as any of the tools you use to create.