IF: journey

mixed media collage: assignment was night traveling in eastern europe

Illustration Friday (IF): 

 a weekly drawing challenge sponsored by Illustration Age, where every Friday a new topic is posted and illustrators from around the globe have one week to come up with their own unique interpretation and share it on the IF home page.

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Off and on, over the years, I have participated in this creative illustration challenge. I would do it every week if I had 48+ hrs. in the day.  

IF has always been a touchstone for me, it gave me a opportunity to be creative. I would participate when I was in-between projects or generally at ~ sea creatively, which would accurately describe my current state.  

So when the IF email popped up in my inbox this morning, with the topic of JOURNEY; 

it felt like a sign.  

I am on a journey, a journey of self discovery and new direction.  I am taking stock to see which and where I go next, how to proceed, especially in the area of occupation, since I was a stay-at-home mom/artist who now needs to support herself and her girls, this is a tricky topic.

One possible career 'trajectory' that has recently been surfacing again and again 

when I ponder said future is:

illustrator.  

Yes, even as I write it I feel a quickening.  

Now this is not a new desire, I have wanted to be an illustrator since I was a little girl, soaking up the riches of Richard Scarry, Margaret Wise Brown, Maurice Bernard Sendak, Garth Williams, Beatrix Potter and Joan Walsh Anglund (click on her name to go to the world of Joan Walsh Anglund :) to name a few.  

I spent hours racing through the halls and riding the elevators of the Plaza Hotel with Hilary Knight's Eloise, and days accompaning Dare Wright's Lonely Doll, Little Bear and Mr. Bear on their many adventures.

As I got older I realized that illustrations weren't only in books,and  I wanted to follow in the foot steps of Sandra Boyton, Sara Anderson or better yet, Lily Pulitzer, designing bold and colorful fabrics with her name hidden in every pattern - a creative puzzle of sorts.

My love of illustration has never waned, however it was damped by the foreboding reality of how impossible it is to become a financially successful illustrator. I took many an illustration course in New York, only to hear that your success is basically based on the chance that your portfolio lands on the top of the art director's desk the day she/he is looking for your particular style . . . it was grim.  

So I decided to make myself stand out from the sea of submissions by creating a name for myself in other creative fields, which I did, which I have, so . . .   

Now I don't believe that the destiny of being a financially solvent illustrator has changed, however I have changed and I have learned much, so . . .  

For now I am going to let this idea of illustrating percolate more, as I take some much needed time to assess.  But I do believe it was providence that I received this IF prompt today,  as it reminded me of a journey that I wish to take, a path that I long to follow.  

Happy Friday & peace . . . .