Weeks 4, 5 & 6 of the 12 Week Challenge

Lists - check
Business plan - check
Now it's time for some artwork!

The goals for weeks 4,5 & 6 was to create 2 pieces of art each week. I didn't get nearly as much work done as I'd hoped to, but I like what I have so it balances out.

I had a lot of art on my 'to do' list, but what I focused on in these weeks was a character group I've name the 'Ittles'. With the ultimate goal of licensing, I wanted to first make a character sheet for each one and then make patterns, and objects to mix with them to create sets.

I don't know what the norm is for a character sheet, but I decided to make four standard views of each character: front view, side view, back view and suprised.
So without further blathering... on to the art... (are you happy now Michelle?)







There are plenty of character sheets to go and one little guy that's not even on the line work page yet, still I'd be happy to hear what you all think about what I've got so far.

Week 3 of the 12 Week Challenge (in retrospect)

I'm still catching up with my posting, so here's what week 3 entailed.

The task was to define your business type and start your marketing strategy. As I've freelanced in the past, I already have my business type so I focused on the next task which ultimately begins with two lists.

The first list consists of 10 art directors/companies that you will submit your art to at the end of the challenge. List two is the 6 portfolio pieces you plan to make.

With the shear number of ideas and interests I have, I've found every step of this challenge to be truly a challenge. My initial list of companies consisted mostly of children's book publishers -- as I tend to think most of my work could be a good fit for that genre. My plan was overturned though after listening to Tara Reed's interview on the zero2illo.com blog. I can't say that it's unusual for me to change my mind - but listening made me realize that my mindset about my work is much closer to a fit for licensing than standard book illos.

So with my paradigm shift hovering in the foreground I decided that list #1 needed to be completely redone. There are a ton of new options and venues to explore and in all honesty I think that list #1 may take me the full 12 weeks to accumulate.

As for list 2 here's what I posted:

Oddballs (character design & image set)
Chubs & Grubs (character design & image set)
'What I Want To Be' Trees (scene/possibly sequential illustration)
Holiday Dragons (character designs & image set)
set of Art Nouveau floral motifs (embroidery design)
series of editorial illustrations featuring high heeled shoes


I mentioned previously that I tend to change my mind 'just a bit' so I'm pretty curious myself to see if I hold true to this list in the coming weeks.

Week 2 of the 12 Week Challenge (in retrospect)

When it comes to the 12 week challenge, the word challenge definitely isn't for show. In week 2, participants are requested to make an OGSM for their business.

An OGSM is a one page summary that lists the Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Measures of your business.

Here's my understanding of the categories:

Objective: What exactly are you trying to achieve? Think long term here.

Goals: List 3 or 4 ways you can achieve your objective.

Strategies: Take each goal and break it down - these are your strategies.

Measures: What can you do to make sure your are progressing? Are you closer to your objective?

I'm being rather simplistic with the explanations here, but for anyone wishing to create their own I encourage you to visit the zero2illo blog and read the in depth description.

Without further ado, here's what I came up with. *disclaimer* I reserve the right to modify this at any time...ha! You didn't think I would actually make up my mind, did you? *disclaimer*