🦹🏽‍♂️📝 94: Supernotes

And breaking down this illustrator’s job.

☕️ The thing I try to do here is to write a short note about closing the gap between our taste and our daily practice. Then once a week, I write a more substantial note. This used to be called “Weekly Tasting,” a play on words on the tagline, but also for people who only sign up for the weekly notes, it’s a ‘taste’ of the daily offering. I’ve thought of a better name, so from now in ‘Weekly Tastings” are called: “Supernotes.”

The Super Note is divided into two parts, the notes part similar to the daily notes, and the super part, which is well SUPER! And only available to SUPER subscribers (paid) for obvious reasons.

And that’s why I’m changing the name, to make things more obvious, especially for new folk (Non-Subscribers)

So if you’re a new folk, this one’s for you!

PS: Thank you to all you Subscribers and Super Subscribers who support this newsletter. You’ve given me this job, and I love the job I do for you!

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📝 Today’s Note: My Work

I imagine there are millions of working illustrators on our little planet. And each has a particular way of working, and that’s what makes getting into this job of being a freelance illustrator bit of a challenge, it’s not a particular job, in fact, it’s more like a nuanced business. We might all look like people who can draw with Instagram accounts, but our processes and how we look at work are wildly different!

This is how I break down how I spend my studio time, or at least how I try to spend my studio time. I’m not saying you should do it like me, and even my process is ever-evolving, but this is how I think about it now.

30% of the time is spent doing client work

20% of the time is a Drawing Practice, That is the practice of looking at things and finding ways to represent them in 2D space.

20% of the time is spent reading. Reading is probably the most leverage you can get in any job you do, so test you can think of reading this newsletter as part of your job if it’s making you better at your job. (And if you disagree, fight me!)

20% of my time is spent on business activities, from the genuinely mundane (which is actually a relaxing break from drawing and illustrating) to more proactive activities to develop the future of my illustration practice.

10% Writing. Writing goes hand in hand with reading and is a process of internalizing and integrating the knowledge that I’m consuming and developing applications for the knowledge. Otherwise, reading is just entertainment. Writing this makes me better at my work. And that’s helped by the fact I’m doing it in front of respectable folk such as yourself.

📝 Do List item:

Are you aware of the time you spend on the various aspects of your job? How might having this kind of self-awareness help you?

✏️ Divide your workday/week into 5 to 7 categories, and estimate how long you spend in each. Are there ways you would like to adjust the ratios?

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And if you’re a Super Subscriber, keep reading!

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🦹🏽‍♂️📝 Today’s Supernote: An illustrator’s process unpacked.

I describe what each of the components of my work entails and how they synergize with each other.