MARCSCHEFF

ILLUSTRATION

Aaron Miller, and Mark Winters. On the podcast we discuss Illuxcon, how to manage your time as an artist, and how different factors like time and money affect how much you put into a piece. It was very interesting for me to hear these different perspectives from other freelance and salaried artists.

In the end, I think it comes down to choosing your path. If you can step back and distinguish what kind of work it takes to feed your soul, as separate from your bank account, then at each decision point you can simply measure against that. If you’re freelance, and your schedule is open, and a job comes along and it pays $100, but it’s the work you love, and will look great in your portfolio, there’s no reason not to take it and kick ass on it. Obviously if you’re getting $3,000 jobs you love, you won’t take it, but if you’re getting $3,000 jobs that you hate, then the temptation to turn away from your path and take the money is strong.

You simply have to decide what you’re willing to do to enjoy every minute of every day. It probably means some late nights and weeks, it probably means spending time working for money, an equal amount of time on work you love, and sleep the rest. That might mean walking away from the fancy job and big paycheck. If you can do these things, then in time, the work you love will also be the work you get paid for. I know from experience that this is a) not an easy call to make and b) the best one I ever did.

(the image to the right is from Scott Daly’s blog via Bud Caddell)