Yesterday’s post of advice from the point of view of an illustrator got me thinking about what it would be like to be a freelance illustrator. It’s easy to romanticize that kind of life (the ~bohemian artist~ ideal) when you’re not stuck in the hustle and grind of the day-to-day.

It’s also easy to overlook the fact that it takes YEARS to get good at what you do. The smart ones of us start early. The dumb ones of us take 9 years into an office career to realize that administration is slowly killing our souls. (Ahem.)

One of the things that brought me great joy during a dark winter a few years ago was inking postcard-sized illuminated letters. I would work on these in my little studio apartment after dinner, sketching and erasing and painting with india ink.

The final product was more polished in my memory (that’s the problem with doing things in the real world–they never quite live up to your own expectations) but I’m still fairly happy with them. I realize in retrospect that there’s merit in using art supplies the way they were designed to be used. For instance, I used ink like watercolor. It probably would have worked better if I had used actual watercolor.

Overall I still like the idea. I’d love to explore what might happen if we ask the question “What if Edward Gorey did illuminated letters?” The combination of gothic style with Medieval symbolism could be really fun.

I’ve been plotting to break out my art supplies again, to get some ink under my fingernails. I dragged my work table out from storage and set it up in my bedroom, so I have dedicated space for projects. Tomorrow I’ll be stopping by an art supply store for better pencils and some inking pens and possibly a tiny kit of watercolors.

Art supply stores are dangerously full of possibilities. We’ll see what awaits on the other side.