Friday Thoughts (Ep. 3)

Happy Friday, Patrons And Friends! I hope you’ve had a happy, and satisfying week!

This week in art business has largely been working on the results of the portrait sale that I put out last week! I am so happy that I had seven orders from four different people, and I was reminded that I absolutely love doing portraits. I love getting to understand a someones personality, what makes them unique and interesting and beautiful. I absolutely adore the process of sketching, watercoloring, and final guache linework. Especially because always at the beginning the watercolors always look like they’re going to come out like pink ugly monsters, and then seeing them look beautiful at the end. At least I think they look beautiful.

Being an artist is such an emotional roller coaster. There is a constant battle of thinking the art looks terrible, then oh maybe this will look nice, then ugh this is crap, then oh wow I actually love this. At every step of the process this happens, and it can be really emotionally taxing. Right down to the literal agony of sending the final product to the client and feeling terrified that they will respond, “wow, I can’t believe people pay you to do this, I demand my money back.” Of course, typing that out I feel ridiculous, but the feelings still arise every time without fail. And then immediately after is the release of the satisfied customer. At least so far. I’ll let y’all know how it feels once I get a dissatisfied customer.

In addition to finishing and mailing my largest batch of commissions yet I finally made a set of stickers and small postcards to thank my clients for their purchases! Packaging really is something that is SO fun to me, I love dressing up a package to look fun and playful and professional.

See how fun!? Honestly one of my favorite parts of this business.

I also applied to my first convention this week: Geek Girl Con October 2018! Something I previously thought completely out of my league, now taking the first steps to achieving. I will find out in June if I’ve been accepted, and if so my close friend and artist Tori will be splitting a table. More on that later!

I have also continued work on my Drawing Home daily travelogue. I am 2/3 of the way there and I am completely ready to move on to a new project. Right now I am having trouble seeing the value of this project beyond forcing me to make and post art every day, getting me out and understanding my city, and finding my favorite color schemes. Well, um, thats pretty good value now that I think about it.

One last Art Thought:

When I first decided to pursue this business my mother told me she had made a list of all the things she wanted to accomplish someday for her own counseling business. Ten years later she found that list and discovered she had achieved all of those goals. Now, I haven’t accomplished all of my goals, not even close. But it has been interesting to slowly see the small things that I had planned for or hoped for slowly start to be achieved. Four months ago I was hoping to have more followers on my art account than on my personal, and this month I achieved that. Two months ago I hoped I could someday have my own printed stickers and cards to mail with my packaging, today I achieved that small goal. In January I thought it would be great but entirely impossible to table at a convention, and now I’ve officially applied to my first! It seems really overwhelming when you look at your goals to start, but it has been gratifying and inspiring to see them week by week being tackled. It may be contrite, but the idea that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step feels so deeply true this week. 

You don’t have to do everything at once. Just start. Do one thing. Then another. Then another. And keep going, and be proud of each step.

Okay!

NON-ART LIFE:

Swing dancing to a live band at Century Ballroom as encouraged by my lovely friend Tori.

Listening to the awesome Dungeons and Dragons Critical Roll podcast. I juuuust started a really great one called Creative Peptalk, with advice on being a successful artistic businessperson. Did you know wizards of the Coast, the creators of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering, is based outside of Seattle? Yeah I’m really proud of that.

Zach and I went to a pretty hardcore synth wave concert for two French bands called Jean Jean and Carpenter Brut. Hardcore. Nothing makes me feel more Seattle than sitting in a concert venue full of synthwave punks.

I continue to use Yoga with Adrienne videos almost daily, and have paid particular attention to stretching my wrists.

Okay I think that’s all I can wring out of this week! 

If you’d like to see more of my daily updates check out my instagram , see what I have for sale at my Etsy , or peep at my official portfolio!

I hope you have a lovely weekend, and as always thank you so so much for being my Patron. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you are interested in my life and art!

xoxo

Ragon