Did 2011 seem ridiculously long and trudging to anyone else? Like a muddy walk uphill? Both ways? It’s silly, I know, but I feel such a huge sense of relief that it’s finally 2012. I am awash in the newness of the year. Giddy, even!

I spent the whole of December trying to better myself, preparing for all the things I want to accomplish this year, and reviewing other artists’ accounts of how they finally broke into a full-time art career. Heeding their advice, I’ve been working out a gameplan of all the things I need to do this year to make my goals a reality. So what are my goals? I’ve tried to keep it simpler than past lists and am focusing on these five:

1. Create and submit a new portfolio to at least fifty publishing companies.
2. Add at least thirty new illustrations to my gallery.
3. Get my work featured in at least three magazines.
4. Get at least five good publishing and/or licensing contracts.
5. Quit my dayjob and go full-time as an illustrator and crafter.

There is, of course, much work to do in order to achieve these things but I’m excited and feeling more motivated than I have in… well, ever!

As mentioned in a previous post, I love EMG Magazine‘s monthly themes and I’ve decided to create my own monthly word-prompts for an extra bit of inspiration; I figured it might give me some ideas for content and illustrations when I’m staring blankly at my screen, wondering what to write or draw next…

So, the theme for January (as picked by The Random Word Generator) is “Crown”- and here are a couple of sketches it’s already inspired. I still haven’t chosen which one to clean up and ink but I’ll post the finished illustration later this month.

Oh, and if anyone decides to follow along with these monthly themes/prompts, please let me know! I’d love to see how you interpret them!

~Dalliann

Filed in Goals, Monthly Theme, Sketches, Word Prompts on Sunday, January 1, 2012 · No Comments »