09 December, 2011 I've decided this week to add a little structure into my freelancing routine. Sure, the idea of getting up whenever you want to sounds great but the problem is that I often end up working into the early hours, meaning that I burn out quite quickly and keep having to take week-long breaks every month to recharge. As I'm sure many other freelancers and even those with huge Uni schedules will agree, going hell-for-leather all the time is not ultimately very good for productivity and seems to result in more unplanned days wasted on the Xbox in a fed-up grump than massive piles of completed work. So, with the aim of ensuring that the time I spend drawing is most effectively put to use, my new 'rules' are these - I have to start working at 9:30am and I have to stop working at 5:30pm. Obviously there are times when deadlines and such will mean I have to work until it's just done, but I have a rather large and not very enjoyable project on at the moment and I'm hoping that giving myself plenty of hours off each night will keep me fresh and stop me from running dry, creatively. So far it seems to be working, though it's probably a 'shift' that I'll have to constantly adjust based on what I'm doing at that time.   I have to admit, the most fun-sapping experiences I've had so far have been with the clients who for some logic-defying reason commission you to draw in a style they have in mind rather than what you actually have in your portfolio. It's akin to hiring Slayer and then expecting them to produce a Lady Gaga album - it just wouldn't happen, although in that particular circumstance I would have a strange desire to hear the results, oddly enough. The worst is when you get comments back on a piece of artwork saying that "It's good, but it's a little too (insert a key recognisable feature of your style)". This happened with a sample I drew this summer featuring a scene of cows racing down a street that was packed with detail and fully-coloured in my style; the response I got back was that they really liked it but they were wondering if I could do something a little less digital-looking and drawn without lines. Now, I don't know if you've perused my portfolio at all, dear visitor, but you only have to glance across the thumbnails to instantly wonder why the hell these people were interested in commissioning someone who's work seemingly exemplifies exactly the look that they didn't want? Worse still, they'd waited until I'd spent several days completing this fairly difficult double-page spread to inform me that they were looking for something a little less.... well, me. Understandably, it's a tad annoying when your time gets wasted in such a way, especially considering I didn't even get paid for the sample. In other news, I sadly missed the boat a little this month as I had an idea for a new 'Advent Calendar' style daily art project that I think would be really cool but which, unfortunately, chose to evade that part of my brain that presents you ideas until the last day of November. So, with a choice of either sticking myself with a very time-consuming project over the busiest period I've had as a freelancer or putting it off for a whole 12 months when I can put more time and preperation into it I, for once, chose the sensible option and saved my sanity for another year. I'm a little disappointed it will have to wait until December 2012 but if you're going to do it all, better to do it right, yes? Previous