November 10, 2006
How article

a recent article for HOW Magazine
"Draw Your own Conclusion -five tips for kick-starting your own freelance illustration career" (August 2006, pdf 1.6 mg)

Posted by kerismith at November 10, 2006 11:37 AM
Comments

i love that you share your wisdom!

i have a little form letter that i send to the occasional college kid who asks me the questions that your essay answers. i am always as helpful as i can be but i might forward yours from now on. it has illustrations after all.

thx!

Posted by: rama on November 27, 2006 09:22 PM

thanks for this!! itīs fantastic and very useful
(visit my blog please!)A kiss from Buenos Aires

Posted by: Maria Elina on November 22, 2006 09:34 AM

I love your characters! So charming.

Posted by: deb on November 19, 2006 07:23 PM

read it. glad i did. found it very helpful. i'm excited to try it. :)

Posted by: cola on November 14, 2006 07:36 PM

it's funny, just today i was beginning the hard work of figuring out new ways of generating work for myself (i'm a costume designer). thanks for the great suggestions and insight. it's such a relief to learn that you're not alone in dealing with hard times, procastinating, self doubt, etc. cheers!

Posted by: reva Quam on November 13, 2006 09:23 PM

itīs a great article and the illustration is also very good

Posted by: rui vitorino santos on November 13, 2006 02:05 PM

Excellent article. Thanks!

Posted by: michele melcher on November 13, 2006 12:41 PM

"We feel inadequate because we're comparing ourselves to the rest of the world."

This is right on the mark, and as you said, leads to procrastination. Love that you've outlined these steps to overcoming it. Seems so simple when written out by someone else you'd think I could learn to do this myself. ha ha

Posted by: Donna on November 13, 2006 11:16 AM

I love articles like this because the underlying dynamic can be applied to any career field. Thanks for reminding my why I do what I do. :)

Posted by: cat on November 12, 2006 03:38 PM

Funny you should use the example of "don't say you want to get a job at The New Yorker by next week. " I recently read an interview with Adam Gopnik (of New Yorker fame) who said that when he first started out as a writer (coming from Canada too) he and his wife would walk the 50 blocks from their apartment to the New Yorker offices where he would drop off his "Talk of the Town" piece. It would get returned to him with corrections. After doing this for SIX years he went on to finally write his first published piece for them. Perseverance?!!!

Posted by: Nina on November 12, 2006 11:36 AM

Loved your article! Your work is an inspiration and brings joy to the heart :o)

Posted by: Geninne on November 11, 2006 10:48 PM

This is great! You inspire me.

Posted by: kristine on November 11, 2006 10:16 PM

Thank you so much for posting this! I am trying to prop my friend up to take this step because she is so talented! She just doesn't know where to begin.

Posted by: krista on November 11, 2006 09:20 PM

I have enjoyed all you recent collaging and "scribbles", but was starting to wonder if you had completely stopped illustrating in your established style. Thank you for posting this illustration and article. Am enjoying it :-)

Posted by: nadine on November 11, 2006 05:58 PM

Great article! (as usual)

Posted by: natascha on November 11, 2006 05:41 PM

Thank you very much for the article! :)

Posted by: Sage on November 11, 2006 04:41 AM

You have been my "creative saving grace" for the past year. Countless times I have thought about making the break from a coporate world to lead a more creative life and pursue my artistic passions...and your website/blog/writing/illustrations inspire me to make that move (in small strides, of course!). Did you always know that illustration was your "thing" or did you ever consider other careers before embarking on all that you have accomplished?

Posted by: Ali on November 11, 2006 12:42 AM

Excellent article (and love the illos!)

Though I have still never done a mail-out in my career (all my jobs have been via web and email) I really prefer your approach of doing more personal mailings in small batches. One of the reasons I just could never get my act together and do a mailing is because I would just become overwhelmed with the countless number of companies that I would have to research and send out, if I decided to invest in say, 500 postcards. Because I'd have to mail out every single postcard if I wanted to get my money's worth, now wouldn't I?

If I ever do finally mail out samples, I am using your wonderful (and fun!) suggestion.

Posted by: patricia on November 10, 2006 10:32 PM

Keri, the Hitchhiker Team came by today to write about your blog efforts.

You can read about it here: http://hgttb.blogspot.com/2006/11/wish-jar-keri-smith.html

Keep up the good work!

Posted by: Steve Sherlock on November 10, 2006 10:19 PM

Hey! Thanks for sharing!
and hurray for you getting a good article into HOW... no doubt your own promo work is working. :-)

Posted by: desmene on November 10, 2006 09:35 PM

Thanks for this, it's useful for other work than illustration too. I've missed your wish jar stuff, and this article hit the mark - it's great.

Posted by: Anja on November 10, 2006 05:07 PM

Thank you for posting this article, Keri. So much great advice in so small a space! I especially need to work on the "release attachment to outcome" step.

Posted by: Angela Rockett on November 10, 2006 12:35 PM
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