12-05-2014, 10:02 AM
Needing less money is great. Earning less money is not.
I noticed your dA rates were maxed at 22US for "full" character work. That would be 20 full character designs a month or 1 finished design every 1.5 days to hit $400/month!! Also within this period, you need to do marketing and promotion, carry on with your own art study, and then fit in University as well. Perhaps you want a social life, and do some exercise as well? I think it will be practically impossible to do this at those rates.
I don't know how often you get commissions nor how quick you are, but I think you will need to raise your rates if you don't want to be working like a dog to get to your monthly goal, assuming you can find that much work in the first place.
So yep I suppose your assessment is fair enough: do what you need to get your income up, and use the remaining time to work on your own stuff. Somewhere amongst all this you have to fit in your University work.
It will still be hectic as hell even with increased rates, so you have to get over your tendency for procrastination and develop some really efficient discipline in order for the balance to work. Freelancers do not generally have the luxury of being lax and lazy. We have to be more efficient than the studio artist counterpart and much more efficient than your average uni student.
Not every project you will be offered, especially starting out, will fill you with 100% fulfillment. You will probably be asked to do some stuff you really aren't inspired by. The question then becomes one of money and time over desire. You don't want your freelance to become a string of jobs that you hate, because well this isn't an improvement over the dreaded desk job, and it can taint your motivation for doing art.
I don't mean to sound so negative of course, I FULLY support your ambitions, just be realistic and organised and reevaluate your path and your instincts frequently. :) GOOD LUCK!!!
Oh also for freelance, I recommend signing up for a year with ArtPact (29 bucks) for some good info on contracts and reviews on companies and their terms.
I noticed your dA rates were maxed at 22US for "full" character work. That would be 20 full character designs a month or 1 finished design every 1.5 days to hit $400/month!! Also within this period, you need to do marketing and promotion, carry on with your own art study, and then fit in University as well. Perhaps you want a social life, and do some exercise as well? I think it will be practically impossible to do this at those rates.
I don't know how often you get commissions nor how quick you are, but I think you will need to raise your rates if you don't want to be working like a dog to get to your monthly goal, assuming you can find that much work in the first place.
So yep I suppose your assessment is fair enough: do what you need to get your income up, and use the remaining time to work on your own stuff. Somewhere amongst all this you have to fit in your University work.
It will still be hectic as hell even with increased rates, so you have to get over your tendency for procrastination and develop some really efficient discipline in order for the balance to work. Freelancers do not generally have the luxury of being lax and lazy. We have to be more efficient than the studio artist counterpart and much more efficient than your average uni student.
Not every project you will be offered, especially starting out, will fill you with 100% fulfillment. You will probably be asked to do some stuff you really aren't inspired by. The question then becomes one of money and time over desire. You don't want your freelance to become a string of jobs that you hate, because well this isn't an improvement over the dreaded desk job, and it can taint your motivation for doing art.
I don't mean to sound so negative of course, I FULLY support your ambitions, just be realistic and organised and reevaluate your path and your instincts frequently. :) GOOD LUCK!!!
Oh also for freelance, I recommend signing up for a year with ArtPact (29 bucks) for some good info on contracts and reviews on companies and their terms.