Dear Reader,
I’ve been rather busy this last week with giveaways and preperations for an auction and 3 other jobs and another job inquiry.
Today I woke up with my head literally spinning and I wonder if it might have something to do with all the stuff I’m juggling at once. My back also started acting up and the spinning head could be due to that but then again back pain and stress go hand in hand for me.
Knowing when things are a bit too much is really hard as a freelancer. I must admit it still is hit and miss for me.
When I get an inquiry for a job, I always think: „hmm it should be possible to squeeze one more thing in…“ but I forget the emails, the invoices, the social media, in short the overhead that come with all these jobs.
And maybe you’re wondering haven’t you been doing this for ages and does one need several jobs at once? Well the scope of a job always varies and there is often time where I‘m blocked waiting for feedback inbetween…
So I’m thinking, among these roughly 5000 newsletter subscribers, is there some one who has this figured out? :D
You other freelancers out there, how do you do it? Do you calculate extra time for overhead and the right amount of jobs? Is there a formula out there that I don’t know about? I’d love to hear about your solutions!
I would like to add that it’s not really the workload, more the amount of switching and keeping track of all the subtasks that I stuggle with. Here is some of the stuf that took up my time :D
Sent out 4 sketchbooks with an original sketch inside today! <3
3 sketchbooks for the instagram raffle winners and 1 sketchbook that I gave away on my Patreon Discord (Every Patron automatically should get access to the Discord). The Discord winner could choose the sketch they liked best, as a thank you for their support <3 .
D was chosen. Which one do you like best?
I still have a bunch of these sketchbooks. I think might make it a monthly thing( for a while) to give away 1 (including a sketch) on my Patreon Discord.
Some of my discord members came up with a secret santa like original art trade which is also just beginning looking forward to recieving and sending out some art <3
Original Auktion is LIVE!
If you’re interested in getting this Original,painted in Gouache you can head over here!
The auction is hosted @3dtotal who, have developed an auction platform to allow artists to sell traditional artwork in the hope it will create a flexible stream of income for them at a time when they need it most.
This is really great, due to the impact of AI on artist's professional opportunities...
I have been invited to be one of the first to test out this new service, and I’m excited to see how it goes! | AD
WEEKLY PRACTICE
Okay while I was rather unhappy with last weeks 5, this week I flowed with this practice and LOVE the results! Profiles are such fun and a great practice for characterdesign since they show the proportions far better than from any other view . I will definatly return to do some more profiles in this weelky practice.
Here are some of yours<3
artsygud, eema.daisken, clau_sketchbook, christinatiersch
This weeks practice will be Lizards: references
Will you participate again this week? :D
If so tag me on Instagram. I will share some in my stories and here <3 #schmoescosyartclub
Love,
Schmoe <3
I'm now following advice (maybe from Oliver Burkeman's 4000 weeks) to focus on no more than three projects at a time. I have a list of about a dozen I want to work on, but I have to complete a project for another to become one of the three. It has helped with the overwhelm, but I confess to waking at 5am this morning because my brain is buzzing with book deadlines!
They are all so cute and lively but C is my favourite!
I tend to overload my plate too, all the time. (Currently doing it right now, haha.) The only advice I can give is something that I learned in project management: try keeping an Excel diary of tasks for a specific project (like a commission), and always note down the blocks of hours that you spent on it -- including all that pesky overhead. At the end, you'll have a rough estimate of how many hours the next similar project will take...it's soooo much more than one thinks, haha! Helps me make informed decisions though when life is already busy and the temptation is there to add 'just one more thing'... xD
The reality, too, is that sometimes there are crazy-busy seasons, and then calmer seasons. It's hard making sure the crazy seasons don't last too long or you'll never get the chance to recover!