Rollercoaster of Freelance!!!! ARGH!

[BonnieSimz]

Alright, I asked for it. I make my own hours, I work odd times of the night and in my slippers doing illustration - work that I love and stay a home with my 1 year old! BUT, my goooodness! This rollercoaster is tough! I've only been doing the fulltime freelance thing for a year and it's taught me a lot. Like to never count on anything until it's deposited in a checking account.

Microsoft was the first client that bailed on me this year. I was supposed to start a contract in January that was on hold and then fizzled out. (fiscal year budgets and all). Then, I got this great gig doing 2 textbooks and before I can even do 5 pages of work, the art director comes to me and says his boss changed his mind and now wants more realistic renderings done in traditional media. I work in Illustrator, so my work is not right for this. I still get some compensation for the 5 illustrations I have done, but it's not gonna pay my mortgage.

Why couldn't they have figured this out earlier?
So that is on hold or cancelled now.

It's just been a frustrating year so far. I know it may seem petty to complain, but I would love for something to work out for me soon.

How do you cope with the ups and downs of this lifestyle? Not looking for pity, just good advice or a swift kick to the a$$.





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[uncle carbunkle]

i laugh a lot. and drink beer.

go for bike rides...contemplate not coming back...

::Don't call me Foreman, for I am your Boss::

[idaho]

I find that sex, drugs and rock-n-roll work pretty well. Oh, don't forget beer!!!

-Idaho
'You want it when? Ok, no problem. Excuse me while I pull the magic wand out of my ass!'

[paulrandfan]

working restaurants for quick $$

'To Design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit; it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse.' --Paul Rand

[greyghost]

Well, it IS tough. I agree. But it is still nicer than being employed.

I am NOT good with creating illustrations in Illustrator. But maybe you need to carve your own niche? What about illustrating children's books? Can you sell some illustrations to Photodisk and others? Can you do cartoony illustrations of people, and sell those? Sometimes newspapers or magazines have need of a good illustration, but they need on that is original and THEIRS. Get your name out there. Introduce yourself. Show off. Being on your own takes confidence and sureness, and the more confident you are, the more confident people feel about hiring you.

I'm impressed you almost had a contract with Microsoft. That's awesome - you'll be fine if you can get Microsoft to even look at you (I doubt they would me).

I'm good at designing publications, and making sharp, classy upscale ads. I actually have a name in the Tampa Bay area now (and of course, once that happened - I moved to Georgia and have to start over! How dumb is that???). People are introduced to me and they go 'you're ----? Wow - now I have a face to the name, you did a great job on such and such.' It happened again just yesterday when I had a meeting in Tampa. It's nice to be known in a place that big! But it took three years of self-employment to get there, and three years prior of working for corporations where I knew which clients I wanted to target and who I knew, liked my work before.

You know if you went back to work, with a one year old, you would still be struggling. That child care cost for babies is prohibitive, and you'd not have time to cook nice meals on the cheap, most people wind up ordering out or in, which adds up fast.

Hang in there! :)

when it comes to certain clients, remind yourself:
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

I'm an ARTIST, not a MAGICIAN!