I've just completed my first week as a full time artist! 17 days ago I announced that I was leaving my job to pursue a full time creative career. Since then the time has flown by, mostly in good ways!
As soon as I made the decision and set on the path, things just seemed to start clicking into place. Within a couple hours of posting my full time creator announcement, @kommienezuspadt saw the post and gave me a call. He was just getting ready for a meeting with his EOS DETROIT team and asked me to email him a few samples of my recent art to show. A couple hours later I had my first freelance client in the bag as a new artistic contributor to the team!
It really is a dream scenario. Establishing an income stream immediately takes a substantial burden off the savings I had earmarked for this leap of faith. Having @kommienezuspadt as my first Art Director is a great comfort. Being new to the world of freelance work it's wonderful to build my skills and confidence working for someone I already know and trust. And the available workload looks to be substantial and challenging, but still allow me to pursue my own endeavors and establishing other clients and revenue streams as well. Wins all around. If you're reading this Lars, I can't thank you enough for the opportunity!
Within a few days of giving my two weeks notice at work, the Covid vaccine also became available to me through my workplace... and thankfully they didn't hold a grudge and allowed me to partake even though I was on my way out the door! I was very happy to have that checked off my "to do" list prior to leaping into the great unknown of self employment as well.
The vaccine did knock me on my ass for a couple days, as I was also muddling through my last few days of work and tackling the beginnings of my first EOS DETROIT assignment, so that was one helluva week. By last Monday I was feeling better, finished my day job, and finished my first batch of freelance illustrations! And... I was quite exhausted.
I gave myself the next few days to recuperate, but threw myself another challenge. Once I didn't have any pressing work at all, I made a fresh go at eliminating my soda addiction from my diet. Cutting all that caffeine and sugar cold turkey is tough but I knew that going in. Those few days I pretty much felt like I had the flu and gave myself license to do nothing but read and sleep.
Cue the last couple days where I've begun to explore just what my new life will be like! I have a long way to go to shape the routines and structure and find out what works best for me, but I really want to focus on my health, learning and developing my skills, and of course achieving my artistic goals!
I've spent more hours in the last couple days working on "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." than I have in a long while. While I don't have a set goal in mind and paying clients will take priority, I do hope to have this first issue finally completed to my satisfaction in the next 4 months or so. In the interim I'll also be building out all my infrastructure... website, "legacy" social media, crowdfunding, etc. It's both daunting and exhilarating to think about.
Since every post needs a good picture, here's a peek at what's on my iPad this evening as I work on "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." pencils. I've themed the title of this post to the image of Julie developing here!
As I was working on this my brain was screaming "Unleash the fury!!!" at me in its worst Tom Green impersonation. It was a prominent enough neurological tic that I think I'm going to have to succumb and put Road Trip on in the background as I continue working on these pencils. 😆
If you've been following me long enough this scene might look familiar from when I showed its first rendition. A version of it even graces the convention banner I had when I exhibited at the Baltimore Comic Con in 2019. I am so much happier with the quality I'm putting out now, as I've really been studying and am attacking these pages with a new mindset and greater dedication. I'm really looking forward to releasing this first issue for real as I always intended it to be.
So as I head into week two in this strange new world... I'm eager to furiously unleash some productivity... and make sure I never have to go back to a day job again! That's a hell of a motivator.
Thanks for reading my "blaaagh!" I hope you all are doing well and channeling your inner fury in a positive way as well!
-Bryan "the Imp" Imhoff
Follow me for more behind the scenes looks at the creation of "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." Your votes help support its production! Also look for limited edition digital artwork for sale on NFTShowroom.com
