Thursday 5 May 2011

Time to Draw


Is being self-employed ruining my creative potential?

I just drew the image above. It took me about ninety minutes. No reason, no mulling it over, I just picked up the stylus and let my hand put down what it wanted. It's been a while.

Sometimes I need to remind myself it's all still there, ready to be used. The reason why I don't do this kind of thing very often is simply that I don't allow myself to. Somewhere along the line I was programmed to see anything that was ultimately not going to pay the gas bill, or the shopping, or the astronomical cost of running the car, as bad, a waste of time that could be better spent on promoting myself or writing 'the book'. My self employed dream has become a bit of a nightmare. If I can't take the time and the pleasure to draw nice little concept doodles, how can I afford the time to do the same with my writing. This is something I need to address before it's too late.

I hate to admit it, but I think, that whilst self employment has offered a great many freedoms and benefits over the years I think the security of a salary in this current climate would be a good idea, though it would need to be a job that allows me enough spare time to sit down and appreciate the simple pleasure of being creative. Is that too much to ask for?