Know thyself.

One thing that has been floating in the ether in my brain lately is where I see myself heading. I think some illustrators are lucky; they know exactly where they fit in, or they just fall into working on something they really enjoy and that’s what directs their career. Having that foresight or ability to find their niche is such a good thing– really valuable when you think about it. But maybe you’re like me; you consider yourself a jack of all trades, and you can’t quite figure out where you fit.

My good friend Frank and I discussed our ideas of the ‘rules’ for being an illustrator: and we both agreed that while there are a lot of other important rules, the top one could be ‘Know thyself.’ For a while I was trying to work out where my weaknesses were graphically, stylistically– but that was sort of putting the cart before the horse. Without knowing who to show my work to and where I could feel comfortable, I’ve felt a lot of maybes as to where I could fit in– I could see it, but how could my potential clients? The thing I’ve heard lately has been: “You have a great style. You just need to figure out what you want to do and then pursue it.” So I guess it’s actually more obvious than I thought. Hence this hastily scrawled flow-chart, cementing a lot of things I knew in my head.

I find this indecision really troublesome, but indicative of how I’ve always been– fish or cut bait was the resounding mantra my parents often gave me. And when I actually dissect how my personal work comes about, I realize it’s less about thought and more about bizarre imagery, strange juxtapositions, which leads to a unique kind of language that I’m not sure is so easily translated. Which leads me to noticing a disconnect between my editorial work and my personal work– and I think this may be where one of my problems lie. I could see other peoples’ work collected into a book, both personal and editorial– but mine? It seems less that way. And maybe this means branching out from editorial is important.

Not that this post has really gained me any answers– but it has made me consider more heavily what I want to do. I may not know the hows of accomplishing what I want to do, but I think it’s a good starting point. If you’re at all like me, I would advise you to think about what really engages you and where you do and don’t see yourself. Knowing yourself– your capabilities, limitations, goals and the like– is just as important as developing a style, learning business practices, and promoting your work– after all, how can you start to promote yourself if you don’t know who you are and why you are doing what you do? Of course things change but you need a framework to start, and a sense of focus so you can actually attack the markets you’re interested in.

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Good news: In the coming few weeks we will be attempting here at the Trade Secrets HQ to overhaul the blog– along with a bit of a format change. It’ll be truly awesome, I assure you. So keep your eyes on the lookout!