Category Archives: Career Progress Tracker

2009 was the year that…

Written on January 5, 2010 by Jonathan in Career Progress Tracker, General News
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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

Week In Review & The Week Ahead: 31st Aug - 6th Sep

Written on September 1, 2009 by Jonathan in Career Progress Tracker
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Blimey, it’s already September - where did the last 2 months go?

Still busy with the day job (Graphic Design is my bread & butter while I’m working towards my illustration goal) along with taking a more active role in the site my wife and I run called ‘Location Independent’ which focuses on breaking free from convention and being able to live and work from anywhere you choose.

I wrote a post a while ago about our Location Independent lifestyle and will be mentioning it more on this blog as the months go by as it’s an interesting option to consider for other aspiring and working illustrators out there.

I also came to the realisation this week that I’ve fallen in to bad habits again with the amount of time focussing on what other illustrators are doing - both looking at their work and questioning my own abilities (something I’m sure all you other aspiring illustrators are familiar with).

My aim for this blog is to try and share with readers a practical and successful route to becoming a full time illustrator and in order to do that, I have to reach that goal myself so that I can authentically share with you what has and hasn’t worked.

With limited time at the moment for my illustration goals due to other commitments, I need to make every minute count. My daughter is now 8 weeks old and things are starting to get a little easier with routines starting to be established, so it’s time to get things back on track and make this work.

Week In Review

With the imminent release of ‘The Big Book Of Contemporary Illustration‘ featuring 4 of my illustrations, it’s important that my portfolio site is looking ship shape. Who knows who might see my work in the book and what it might lead to, so I need to make sure everything is looking how I want it to and also that it reflects the current style of work I do and equally importantly, the type of work I’d like to be doing.

I’ve almost finished the collage illustration for ‘The Barn Owl’ and have planned out the next piece in my set of 12 British Birds - ‘The Swan’.

I also fired off a few emails to other illustrators that I’d like to interview for the blog.

The Week Ahead

  • Tie up all of the loose ends on my portfolio site - including adding the Barn Owl illustration once completed (currently have a placeholder up there at present with just the sketch).
  • Refine the sketch and start work on the collage illustration for ‘ The Swan’.
  • Gather more info for the zero2illo post I’m putting together on ‘Passive Income From Illustration’.

I have a few new resources that I’d like to share with you but am saving them for a resources round up post later in the week, but I did want to share this inspirational post about the amazing Bernie Fuchs from the amazing blog ‘Todays Inspiration‘.

Finally, I always like to include some art on these posts - so here’s the collage illustration for my new (soon to launch) web store…

Month In Review & The Week Ahead 10th-16th August

Written on August 9, 2009 by Jonathan in Career Progress Tracker
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Wow, can’t believe it’s been 5 weeks since my daughter was born and I last posted on the blog - it’s been a hectic time taking care of a newborn and being swamped with design work.

Enough about that though, it’s time to get back into the saddle and crack on with my illustration journey.

Month In Review

This month has pretty much been filled with the shock and awe of becoming a new dad, changing nappies, soothing all the crying (well, trying to!), rocking my little girl to sleep and enjoying lots of lovely cuddles.

I had started a new collage illustration the week Mali was born and so far I have completed the background - a night time scene this time which was really fun to do, trying to come up with interesting ways to represent the moon and stars.

Here is a pic of the composition sketch and how the finished background looks so far…

The Week Ahead

  • Finish the barn owl collage
  • Start work on the next collage in my ‘12 British Birds’ series - ‘The Swan’
  • Put together a new post based on all of the resources I’ve been storing up over the past month
  • Hopefully hear back from the illustrator who will be the feature of the next interview - he’s been away on holiday and is due to be getting back to me with answers to the interview questions next week. As soon as I hear back from him, I will reveal who he is!!!

Going From zero2illo: Lessons Learned So Far (Part 2)

Written on July 2, 2009 by Jonathan in Career Progress Tracker, Challenges & Hurdles, General News, Marketing & Self Promotion, The Business of Illustration, Tools & Resources
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Following on from Part 1 of lessons I’ve learned since embarking on this journey from full time Graphic Designer to full-time Illustrator, lets dive straight into Part 2:

5: Ask Questions

It’s easy to be intimidated by those illustrators whose work and careers you admire - thinking that they wouldn’t give you, a lowly aspiring illustrator, the time of day.

Don’t let this put you off - all of the established illustrators I have approached so far have been warm, friendly and only too happy to answer my questions. Some of the illustrators I’ve approached have also been kind enough to give me a thorough critique of my work too.

Not everyone will be super helpful and you may find, as I have, that on social networking sites like Twitter, Illustrators sometimes band together and can be a little cliquey - but don’t let this put you off, for all those people I’ve encountered I’ve also connected with 10 times as many illustrators that are only too happy to share their experience.

(NOTE: Asking questions is great, but be sure to give back too - platforms like Twitter shouldn’t be just about what you can get. Sharing the tips and experience that you’ve gathered on your journey with other aspiring illustrators is just as important.)

Remember, it’s also always a nice ego boost when someone likes your work and values your opinion enough to contact you for advice - your email may just make their day!

My First Published Work

Written on June 22, 2009 by Jonathan in Career Progress Tracker, The Business of Illustration
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This September 4 of my illustrations will be featured in a new book by author Martin Dawber called ‘Big Book Of Contemporary Illustration’.

This is something that has been in the pipeline for a while now, but have only just heard from the author when the official release date will be.

Website addresses will be featured along side each illustrators work, so it will be interesting to see if the exposure results in any commissions - I’ll be sure to keep you updated.

You may be interested to know that I was approached to be featured in the book after the authors researchers found my work on Illustration Friday, having illustrated one of their weekly topics.

Taking part in weekly challenges like those on Illustration Friday is not only fun, a great way to practice and create new portfolio pieces - you also never know who else is watching!

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