Spring finally

I know I know, yet another photo of flowers on the internet. I can't help it - my crab apple trees knock my socks off every spring, and every spring I take the same photograph! It only lasts a week, so it makes the viewing even more special.

Having My Cake

My assignment was canceled, the one I just posted with all the sketches. This happens sometimes, the direction changed at the last moment and a photo was more appropriate than an illustration. So this gave me a chance to catch up on other projects.

But here's the dilemma - the projects are fun and I enjoy them, but they are not profitable enough to pay the rent. Do I continue with them and not spend time marketing for the more profitable jobs that I enjoy less and risk falling behind with my finances?

In other words, can I have my cake and eat it, too? My brain seems to have taken off somewhere, on vacation?, out to lunch?, ...and is not at all helpful in this matter.

More Sketches

Here are three more sketches that I submitted for my current job for Minnestota Medicine Magazine using a template background for the magazine. The one that was favored was the vintage clip art doctor holding the vintage encyclopedia brain - but I will be substituting the photo of an actual neurologist mentioned in the article as a key figure in the history of neurology within the state of Minnesota. This will be Photoshop fun!

P.S. In the second sketch, I utilized two preliminary comps (the metallic head and the very cute neurons) I downloaded from iStockphoto, a great source for photo and illustration stock at very reasonable prices.

Brainy Assignment

I'm on a brainy assignment, a cover for Minnesota Medicine that features an article about neurology and it's history relating to Minnesota. Here's one of the sketches I came up with, using the idea of the sense organs that neurology encompasses and an antique brain illustration. It's difficult to submit pencil sketches for a collage idea, so I sometimes just use the collage material in a loose fashion, if I can find it.