Friday Thoughts (Ep. 52) (Patreon)

Hi hello and salutations, my delightful patrons, another very happy Friday to you!

It's sunny and 80 here in Seattle, Washington, on the warmer side for this city, and oh boy does it have me feeling like summer. This autumn lovin' lady is dreaming of sitting in a hammock on a beach drinking a rummy beverage. Are any of you doing that, or have plans of doing that? Let me dreeeeam through youuu.

You can probably tell I've been a touch overwhelmed the past month or so. Well I'm happy to report that this week was a lovely respite from that. I really feel like I got to catch up on so many things, work ahead on others, and revitalize my creative energies. I'm feeling good, in control, and at peace this week. Want to hear and see a bit about it? Let's do it!

Redmond Postdoc Pop-Up!

Last Saturday Zach and I got a last minute opportunity to vend at a brewery community market in Redmond, a small city to the east of Seattle. Actually, the person who organized it took my card at my West Elm Pop-Up last week and contacted me right away! See how these opportunities grow on each other?

The weather was gorgeous, the drive across the water was beautiful, and there were so many other lovely vendors set up selling art, jewelry, dog treats, henna art, everything. Unfortunately it ended up being not very lucrative at all, I only earned $150, and some vendors only sold one thing. Not many people came to look at this little market, and even less people bought something. 

Zach and I didn't mind, we just drank a beer, drew, read, and made a little money while we relaxed. It just reminded me that sometimes your profits really depend on the venue and event, rather than if you're art has value or not. I made $150 with the exact same set up that made $1000 at another event. Ain't no thang.

Commissions, customs, portraits!

With no big impending markets until September I was able to dig in and finish some of the custom portrait orders I received last week. The process of making portraits (including communication with the customer) gets easier with every time around, to the point that most of them are very relaxing now.

I thought you all might like to see one of the reference images I get from the customers next to the final portraits, since I usually only share the finals.

For reference, most of these take around 2.5 hours to complete, including email correspondence time with the customer, and cost between $90-$120 depending on how many subjects/elements are in the portrait.

A watercolor portrait of a sweet kitty with no eyes.

I love! Drawing people! With tattoos!

A new fave: A witchy inspired portrait of the customer's daughter!

Digitizing Inktobers!

I also gave myself some time this week to finally digitize some old old traditional pieces. I plan to make them into prints and other goods, and sell them at the autumn and winter markets and conventions.

Ahh this kind of project is so relaxing. It's like coloring in a coloring book. Very little thinking, just drawing over an existing piece on Procreate. Ahhh...

Noissue Paper Packaging

Remember the custom tissue paper that Noissue sent me last week? Part of the deal was that I would tag the company in an Instagram post and story once I received the paper, so this week I did just that! I finally figured out how I wanted to nicely wrap my t-shirt orders in the paper (by folding and re-folding again and again until I found a way that I liked) and designed this CUTE little leaf sticker that I think fits perfectly with it! I am LOVING how this wrapping style looks. I hope my customers are overjoyed to open their package to find this little tissue paper branding experience.

So I'm technically an "influencer" on Instagram (haha wow) and especially since sharing this Noissue collab I've had a big influx of these kind of 'offers'. It's exciting to have people be interested in my 'brand', especially if it's from a company that relates to me or is something I support. But most of these opportunities have nothing to do with me, or end up being more work than what they're worth. 

Like a random glasses company offering a free pair of glasses in exchange for me making three posts about them on my Instagram. 

1. I don't wear glasses and glasses have nothing to do with the Ragonia brand.

2. Posts take lots of time and energy, and my time is worth more than the cost of a pair of glasses.

Basically I'm reminding myself to say NO to things that present themselves like opportunities, but actually don't benefit me at all. No, I don't want to advertise your music track 'Bandana' just because I made a bandana one. BYE.

Same to you, patrons! Keep a good head on your shoulders and ask yourself if the opportunities presented to you are good for you or just for the company asking. Your time and energy is VALUABLE!

Speaking of which! 

I also took some time this week to do some bookkeeping (recording my sales, income, and expenses in Google Sheets.) While I was thinking about money, Zach showed me this awesome tool people were sharing on Twitter to calculate your hourly rates as a freelance artist/creator/anything!

Seriously, if you're having trouble calculating your wages for freelance clients, custom portraits, or something similar, try this calculator!

It comes from this wonderful twitter thread about freelance rates.

My calculated rate came to at least $50 an hour. That made me happy because that's what I was intuitively quoting to clients, and that's close to what I'm charging for my custom portraits! 

We're gettin there, folks! Do you have any helpful resources like this to share? Drop them in the comments to help out a friend!

Buzz Cut Baby!

As a bonus this week I wanted to share my hair growth progress! It's been exactly two months since I shaved all my hair off. I loved how it looked buzzed, but I'm having too much fun watching the growth process, and I'm excited for that cute curly pixie cut length. (If anyone's curious, I've buzzed the sides and backs 2-3 times to keep it neat while the top grows. I'd say I'm due for another side trim now.)

Now, some questions for YOU!

Okay before I head out I have a few more things to ask/tell you guys! 

1. Close Friend's Instagram Stories!

I've seen a few people do this on Patreon and I wanted to see if you'd be interested! There's a function on Instagram to have a list of "Close Friends", and then only those on the list have access to "Close Friends" stories. Kind of like Lens here on Patreon, but through Instagram instead. I was thinking of adding an Instagram "Close Friends" option as a perk for the $2 tier and up here on Patreon. I would share extra process and casual day-to-day illustrator things on the Close Friends stories, assuming you all would be more interested in that! What do you think, would you be interested in patrons only Close Friends stories? Or maybe a patrons only Instagram chat group? Let me know in the comments!

2. Style Arty Business article!

Next week is the week for our monthly Arty Business article, and it's on the oft-asked topic of Style Development! I was talking about how I was going to combine Branding and Style into one topic, but I think those topics are different enough to separate to two guides. I have some ideas of what to discuss. But I'd love to know if you have any specific questions about this topic. Please leave your art style questions in the comments and I'll be sure to address them in the article!

3. Sage Patron Thank You Cards!

I wanted to all new Sage patrons for this month know that I'll be mailing out your Thank You cards + stickers at the beginning of August, following your first payment! As far as I understand, Patreon doesn't charge you until the first of the month, which is why I wait until after that first payment to mail out the goodies. I hope that makes sense, and I hope none of you thought I forgot you! (Ooh, but if I did please let me know)

Okay budsies, that's all for this week! Thank you all for your support, comments, friendship, and absolute loveliness. 

Treat yourself a little bit this weekend! Treat yourself to a yummy summery drink, a nap on the beach/in a hammock, a walk in the park, or to a nice morning of yoga. You deserve it. 

xoxo

Ragon