Here's a work-in-progress shot of the portrait I've been working on. It's 16x20 in pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes paper. Hopefully it's recognizable as Johnny Depp. I'm working from top to bottom to minimize the chance of smudging.

My lighting is not ideal, so it looks a bit darker than it really is.

Art Supplies!

I just had to mention this here, for any other artists looking for a good online source for supplies. Dick Blick Art Materials has the best selection and prices that I've found so far. I was able to buy a bunch of pastel pencils and Prismacolor markers that were priced at about 50% off of retail, and add a coupon code (advertised on their own main page) to save an additional amount, resulting in over 60% off my entire order.

www.dickblick.com

I'm not getting paid for saying this. Their site is fantastic!

Minor Progress

I've made a bit of progress so far this week. I've applied for several jobs on Guru and continued work on a large portrait I've been putting off for weeks. A small preview of this is to the left.

For those of you unfamiliar with freelancing sites like Guru.com or eLance.com, here's how they work. You create one of two profile types - a freelancer or an employer. Freelancers (like me) then search for jobs posted by employers that sound promising, and submit bids/proposals. (Some of these are usually included in a free membership, but you get access to more if you upgrade your profile.) Then you hope that out of the proposals submitted, yours is chosen. It's a risky process, and harder if you're new, but once you get a couple of completed jobs under your belt it becomes easier.

There are also different categories for you to create your profile under, and each one limits the types of jobs you can apply for. For example, with my Artist profile, I can't bid on Admin Support jobs, so I have to have two profiles to allow that.

Previously I did some transcription work through Guru (as I mentioned in my previous post), and once I had one successful job, was able to get more work from that same person.

So here's to hoping that one of these will pay off. Until then, I'll keep working on portfolio stuff!

One Week Down...

Okay, so my first week went slowly and was fairly unproductive. I did some studying, practiced some drawing, made up a daily schedule with my wife to help me keep on track, and signed up for three months of membership on Guru.com with profiles in both illustration/art and general office work. I figure if I'm having a hard time getting art jobs, I can do some Excel, data entry or transcription work. The latter requires a transcription foot pedal, which I used to own, but Nicole tells me I may have thrown out when I moved out of Roseville. Drat.

Anyway, there are a lot of potential art jobs on Guru, most of which require more of a portfolio than I have available. Time to create some samples of what I can do!

My New Job

So, for those of you who don't know yet, I quit my job. Today was my last day working in medical collections. I decided that it's time to start doing something I love, rather than just something that pays well.

As of today, I am a freelance artist. As I only have a few pieces in my portfolio, my first couple of weeks will probably be spent adding to it so I can get some work.

I plan to use this blog to keep track of my progress, whether it be posting finished pieces, or reporting on what I'm working on at the time.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully I won't be too boring.