A week of highs and lows
Newsletter changes
Hey!
I hope your last week was good and that you were able to finish what you needed to do💚. Over here, it’s been a week of highs and lows.
Let’s start with the highs: I created new reels for Instagram and TikTok, worked on illustrations for a new project, and managed to edit and post a new video on YouTube where I talked about my favorite art books.
As for the lows, I’ve been doubting whether I can really make a living as an illustrator 🫠. To be honest, I haven’t gotten much work in the past year - possibly because I haven’t focused enough on marketing and client prospecting.
The good thing is, I feel more confident in my drawing skills after lots of practice. Still, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether I should take a part-time job or go back to being a full-time UI designer (that was my previous career) and keep illustration as a side hobby.
But then I think, if I do that, I might lose some of what I’ve built up in illustration so far. Also, the exhaustion of a 9 to 5 job might leave me with less energy to illustrate. I probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with everything I do now (illustrating, creating social media content, studying, making YouTube videos, and reaching out to clients).
Thinking about all this, I’ve been analyzing ways to make at least some income as an illustrator. I’ve also reviewed the amount of work I do and decided to reduce the frequency of content I post on social media. Posting daily is unsustainable for me as I value quality over quantity and don’t have a team to help me keep my accounts active.
With that in mind, I’m going to restructure this newsletter a bit and remove the tips section. I’ll still share tips, but more casually throughout the newsletter. I’ve felt pressured to always include three tips, and sometimes I don’t have three to share. And I created that pressure, so I could remove it (🤯).
Honestly, I even considered stopping the weekly newsletter altogether, but I still want to share my challenges and knowledge here every week. I’ll also start a monthly recap of what happened during the month in a newsletter form.
Another decision I’ve made is to introduce a paid subscription option, which for now will simply be a way to support me if you’d like. There won’t be any exclusive content for subscribers yet, but when I have something to offer, I’ll let you know.
And lastly, I’m going to change the day the newsletter goes out. Currently, it’s published on Saturdays, but starting with this newsletter, I’ll be sending it out on Mondays.
Fantasy Art Club ✨
It was so fun drawing bats and learning more about their anatomy. I hope you enjoyed drawing them too! Here are my sketches:
For next week’s theme, I’ve chosen potions. So here are some references for you to follow.
Have a great week! 💚
See you!