Getting back to a bit of the toons

Just a quickie post today so this blog doesn't go completely ignored while I keep trying to heal up from my leg injury. I'm pretty pleased I was able to do a little SOMETHING over the past week and a half, even though in perspective I feel like a slacker. First it was really tough to concentrate with the med's and I was just so tired from the surgeries, but slowly I'm starting to be able to concentrate better and I was able to get some writing done. Still I'm taking a break from projects for clients and taking the time to start working on a new novel idea I've had. I don't want to put too much stress on myself with having to meet strict deadlines because I still get really tired and don't want to make promises I couldn't keep.

I've been wanting to do more art, but since I'm literally laying down on my back the whole day it's tough to get the right angle and control with a clipboard on my lap. I'm hoping soon I'll either get a little better at that or find a way to set up a better working condition. So until then I'm just doing some cartoons and I've just finished two outline sketches for a couple projects. One is an idea for a Pink Hair for Cancer campaign at a hair salon where women are encouraged to put pink streaks in their hair to help the cause. That actually sounds really fun and I wish I could do that. The other is an idea for a font that one awesome musician, Ali Heyer, came up with and she wanted a memorable cartoon character to go with it. The font is called Presto Magic, hence the title there. :)

So verrrry slowly but surely I'm trying to get some stuff done and I've been working on some other sketches for one of my art buds who I was joking around with while in the hospital and I owe him some drawings, and I'm doing some thank you cards for all of the wonderful doctors and nurses who helped me insurmountably these past weeks and are continuing to do so in the upcoming months. Hope all is well with you and do what makes you happy!

Sorry for the lapse, life decided to issue me a big kick in the gut...

hey guys, sorry to leave this blog a bit in the dust but some crazy other drama is going on right now in my running related world. i was hit by a car last Thursday and it was pretty nasty, i literally thought i would lose the leg; and i have been laid up in the hospital since then. needless to say i've had to step back from doing much of anything now, so nothing new to really report in regards to writing and art. i'm trying to get some sketches done, but it's slow going between all that's going on and the medicine. you can read more about what's going on at my Fitness Stop blog if you're interested. i'll try to get some new stuff up soon, but right now most of my focus is on getting better and holding onto the hope that one day i will be able to run again.
Cait*

Celebrity Inspired Cartoon to Offer You Some Laughs and Inspiration

Today's little cartoon may look like I'm only taking a shallow jab at poor Briney Spears, but if you take a look at the full card found at PigSpigot you will see I actually turned it into a little motivational, inspirational type of greeting to be passed along to get you through a tough time...so that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Yes, it is hard not to fall into the whole media frenzy around juicy celebrity gossip, and Britney Spears sure gave us plenty to talk about...and it is still ongoing; but one can't help but root for the poor girl. She sure has come a long way and does deserve respect for the comeback that she has had and is still currently in progress; hopefully her days of odd and bizarre behavior are behind her, but if not I'm sure there will be plenty more cartoons making the rounds! Hope you all are doing well, but if you need a pick me up, go ahead and send yourself this very card and remember things could in fact be worse. ;)

Burlesque Show in Pencils

Here's the pencil drawing I've been working on yesterday and today; I've been on a bit of a pencil kick I suppose. I really like doing cartoon type designs with the pens and markers but sometimes I have fun trying my had at something a little more realistic. I get a bit more stressed out when I do these, so I like to mix it up with the cartoons where I'm not so uptight about getting everything 'just right.' I don't know about other artists but I get going and then reach a certain point in the piece where I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out and then get afraid that I'm going to mess it all up! For this one I am pleased with the face, that's always the hardest part, but I need to still work on better shading/blending...ugh. And upon further inspection I'm not all that jazzed about the eyes; they don't quite pop...but oh well. It is what it is...and one more thing I would like to add, "I hate blasted theater curtains!" Those were annoying with all the wrinkles and such...hehe. Well, back to work for me. :)

Cheers!

Today I spent the day at the art desk. I haven't done a pencil drawing for a while and I had had an idea for one floating around in my head for some time. I had been thinking about this image and wanting to get something down on paper but was busy with one writing job or task; so when I got some time today I busted out the pencils. Anyways, here is what evolved and I think I kind of like how the lady turned out; a bit creepy, what I was going for although I wish I would have done a better job with the wrinkles around the mouth, eyes, and overall so she would look a bit older. Oh well, what's done is done; and when I had originally thought about it I was going to put her on top of a painted background but I decided to do a pencil background for now and maybe attach her to a painting later if I wanted to. I just wanted to finish something today, and I will call myself out for being a lazy/slacker artist today because the background is quite lacking. Oh well, if I decide to come back to her later I'll just do the painting thing. But for today at least here is my drawing...Cheer! :)

Starting out in freelance writing? Avoid the content mill trap

Breaking into the freelance writing business is tough; if you don't have a clue about what you are doing or any connections to speak of it can be like finding yourself stuck amid an epic sea and you don't even have the island of Lost to at least build a shack on. I know that was my experience, and still has been the case up until this point; the truth is that I am still new to this whole writing scene and while I've always loved words, how to get them in print and visible is no small feat.

Well, perhaps that is not wholly true especially in these times when anyone can have a blog (these very words are a testament to that) and the growing market for content mill articles is abundant. Because so much business has shifted to online venues and with page hits and rankings being more important sometimes than actual content, the work of keywords and SEO has run amok. That's why writing online for such outlets is a far cry from traditional print; there is a place and a reason for his content and it is still necessary but I am just pointing out that it is in fact different.

What is sad and what I will come out and say is bad is that what these kinds of articles or web content has bred is the perfect environment for all of these content mill sites dangling pitifully low wages in front of anyone who can write a coherent sentence and sprinkle in the right words here and there. The poor souls then are stuck in a similar situation to an overworked mule horse who never quite can reach that carrot; busting your but for $5 an article and netting an income on par with a high school senior working as a perky Jamba Juice pusher is not fun.

I think spreading the word that there are far greener pastures is the first thing to do and from there those that are comfortable working for those lower rates are more than welcomed to continue on that path. Yet for those that are striving to achieve something more they can have the information and then go on to break into the business. I think it is hard for anyone to dive into a new niche or market if they have no idea where to start, and if the first wave of information they get is telling them one thing and they don't know any differently that only perpetuates the cycle. I was completely overwhelmed with first trying to muddle my own way into writing and there are plenty of places and sites screaming to hire you but they are really only looking for someone to string together their specific words and aren't willing to pay for quality, even if what you end up writing is.

So hopefully if anyone reading this is new to freelance writing or are stuck in the content mill merry go round I hope this posts on how to break into freelance writing 'the old fashioned way' will help. Yes it still will take time and it won't be easy but the rewards will be better; here the author Carol Tice proves you don't have to have majored in journalism to make it and you can get your foot in the door by writing for local daily papers, the alternative press, and go out to nearby business and non profit organizations that need content. This can be newsletters as well as for their own websites; the fact that the online world is a burgeoning market can still work to our advantage and you can get some copywriting credits without having to work for beans. From there you can progress and move onto 'bigger' things; but like she says you are still going to be making more than $5 here and there.

I guess I'll make my own hours

Well today I woke up at a freakishly early hour and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up, got in a run and pounded out some freelance writing work in the wee hours of the morning. Well, that's all good and fine in terms of getting my productivity on but now it's barely late afternoon and I'm dragging...very tired. I have horrible sleep problems and for whatever reason wake up literally in hour and a half increments throughout the entire night. I can be down in the sack for hours but never really wake up refreshed and then I often have the ongoing problem with not being able to shut off that brain at night; thinking of an article I want to write, an email to send, a picture to draw. I like that, but it sure makes for odd sleeping habits.

That is one thing I like about being a writer, I am able to set my own schedule. So if that does mean getting up before 4am and then petering out by the late old hour of 3pm so be it. I guess it all will even out in the end...