It’s been a little over a year since I decided that I wanted to make illustration into my job.
Self Promotion & Social Media
Looking back over 2017, I was happy to note that I’ve made progress in certain areas. Despite being innately reticent about showing my work, I bit the bullet and put my paintings online. I now use Instagram, Bahance and this website. I also started making YouTube videos to document what I’m up to, and to help my work reach a wider audience. So far, I have 17 followers on Instagram, and I’ve had a couple of lovely comments, which have been very inspirational for me. Although this might not sound like much to some, I’m proud of this because I’m further than I was last year.
YouTube
On YouTube, I have 18 subscribers and my videos have been viewed over 500 times. While that might not sound like a lot over the course of one year, I’m still happy because it’s better than what I had before, which was none. However, I’ve only made 7 videos, working out to approximately one every 7 weeks. Considering my aim was to make one video a week, it’s pretty obvious that I have to get a move on with video production in 2018!
I have finished a lot of paintings, some of which were used to advertise local produce. This helped me add a little to my portfolio, but most of my work has been self-directed, with self-initiated projects forming the bulk of what I do. Whilst this offers a lot of freedom to explore, it doesn’t help pay the bills.
A Happy Chance
One wonderful thing to happen this year was that I was contacted by a company who asked me to write for them because they found this blog. Although I had started the blog as a platform to showcase my illustration, I love writing too, and was very happy to take on the work. It’s become my first paid freelance commission.
The writing has been ongoing for three months, and it has been great fun. The company came with a clear idea of prices, which has also helped me gauge how much to charge. Writing is definitely something I want to feed into what I do (the blog is called ottiliascribbles for a reason!), and I think this is great motivation for what I have achieve in 2018.
Room for Improvement
I started an Etsy Shop this year, with the dream of creating a passive income stream which would essentially manage itself. Some people are very good at this, and make a lot of money through offering printable planners, stickers and worksheets on Etsy. However, these people add a lot of items, and make them very practical. In contrast, I only added two and they did not fit a particular niche. There have been no downloads to –date, leading me to think that I might have more luck with physical items rather than digital ones. An area I want to explore in 2018 is making high-quality prints to sell in my shop. Another is to write and illustrate my own children’s book, but more on that later…
My Thoughts for the New Year
I like the Japanese phrase keizoku wa chikara nari, or “perseverance is strength.” I think this is really true, and something which I am making my motto for 2018. Perseverance really does pay off when you’re a freelancer. I am certain that I can make my freelance aims reality through more hard work, perseverance and constantly challenging myself to be better than I am.