Pilot and personal projects
Side A: Piloting a project.
I’m starting a 100 Day project, together with thousands of creatives around the world in 3 DAYS!
Instead of killing myself by trying to do 100 complete illustrations in 100 days, I’m aiming to reduce the load and do 26. One for each letter of the alphabet.
And instead of starting with the letter A and working through it… I’m starting with a pilot set of 3 - 4 illustrations. That means for the first 2 weeks I’ll be working on a series of illustrations in combination to create a pilot set. And once that’s complete I will use the same process to create one illustration at a time.
The benefits of starting with a pilot:
This way I’ll have a clear point of reference for what I want the set to look like.
I’ll also be able to refine and articulate my constraints through the process of creating the pilot set.
I’ll be able to refine my process into something repeatable, and plan a realistic schedule
I will be able to identify problem areas and pivot or abandon the project altogether if the problems are too insurmountable.
I learned this idea of piloting a project from Tom Frose’s style class
Side B: Too Many Projects?
Let’s talk about doing too much ..
Are you doing too much? Not enough?
Too much of what?
When I’m writing this newsletter, posting on socials, developing my illustration technique and style, and documenting the process, I’m actually working on multiple aspects of my illustration business at once.
I’m engaging the community that I feel so fortunate to be a part of.
I’m promoting my work and work ethic to people who might hire me.
I’m refining and upgrading the product that I’m offering.
And I’m not actually spending any more time than when I started doing this “work”, I’m actually spending less time to produce more.
Calling it a project, just clarifies the work I’m doing into specific goals. It’s doing the thinking upfront, so when I show up at the studio I don’t go… hmm, what shall I do today?