Commission: "Food Chain"

Throughout this past year I've declined dozens of requests about freelance gigs this year, and learning to say “no – thank you” is a recurring skill I am constantly in need of practicing. This on account of shifting into high gear for most of the year as full-time faculty for the first time ever in my academic career. SO once again I have empathy with the average Beginning Drawing student who juggles other classes, perhaps employment and not to mention a life, say, friends, family and maybe even a relationship into the mix. So on a functional + practical level it's a simple matter of time management to maintain healthy boundaries. While I normally rebuff many of the monthly queries on account of folks just simply not understanding that getting a logo for your business is on the same level as hiring an contractor to build your store, or an electrician to wire it, or plumber to install fixtures, or any number of other services you would hire a professional to do. In other words, they get sticker shock over estimates on how much it’ll cost. Arguably the artwork represents the public face and is the literal symbol of an establishment or product, and the value of that should be commiserate with what it’s worth. Unfortunately the proliferation of crowdsourced logo design (Fiverr, 99designs et al) has accelerated the race to the financial bottom so that it’s even more of a challenge these days to convince people to support the arts in a meaningful (ie monetary/living income) way – nevermind recommending students pursue a career path in the arts. Traditionally the higher-end client gigs aid in enabling a couplefew passion projects to happen, like for a friend or favorite cause, in my case advocating for literacy. 

All that being said every once in a while comes along a case where you just feel how much of a rare privilege it can be to bring someone else's vision into reality - a chance to draw what they're seeing inside themselves. And it's also for both a friend and a real good cause too. So it's real important to allow yourself the time to take those opportunities when and if they ever do come along.

Because struggling to realize your own vision is challenging enough of a task let alone taking on another's imagery, and that stress can be a serious creativity-killer, and not having a handle on the logistics means opening the door to a lot of frustration and resentment. Having to stare down the barrel - of an ink cartridge - and force yourself to that's when the difference between a Fine Artist versus a Commercial Artist is, er, well... literally drawn. And answering those hard questions when you're all alone looking at the clock, the calendar and your conscience, wondering how and why you find yourself in this situation again, under deadline, and under so much pressure. Maybe that's one main reason why I continually finding myself relating to Beginning Drawing students who routinely back themselves up into a corner when it comes time to produce another piece for the critique that's now only a few hours away.

While it’s the never ending hustle that really wears one down, the logistics of juggling multiple freelance projects while working a 9-5 job that can ultimately smother what remains of the creative spirit. And it hammers home yet again how much of the secret of success is so often simple perseverance – oftentimes over the years I’ve looked around and wondered what the heck happened to all of the artists I’ve known, where did they all go, and why did they stop making art? So much of it is a matter of endurance, and that I'm still here on account of being to stubborn, or stupid, or selfish (usually a custom blend). And it means real humbleness to having something of a skill that someone else sees as special, and honor implied when asked to make art for something besides yourself.

PS: A note that this is one of many archived draft posts I'm slowly revising if still applicable. Since I'm slightly ahead of the curve when it comes to new output for both the newspaper and Ink & Snow, I can remember to look at the list of mothballed musings and update 'em accordingly. So this one was originally written at the end of 2022, but still checks out, which can be alternately reaffirming and/or thoroughly depressing (or both).