I am alive, I feel like I am running a long run without knowing where's the finishing line - the term running as something that I like to do, but extremely exhausting. That's my rough resemblance of what I am doing right now, for months since I decided to go freelance full-time.
So the month of June were about : keeping up with Freepik task, completing 2 longer-timeline projects and taking new online classes at the same time. All before the month of Syawal, during a tough fasting period when coffee wasn't in the picture.
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I actually subscribed to Skillshare early in June and took their offer of 3 months premium with only $0.99. A really great offer considering there are a lot of classes that I actually want to take for quite sometime. My current favorites are : Editorial Illustration by Mikey Burton, Pattern Design by Elizabeth Olwen, Pottery Class - Basic by Helen Levi, Freelancing for Creatives by Margot Harrington.
Major thing I learned from these several classes I take : Keep a sketch book, doodle and sketch everyday ; your inspiration, daily scribbles, reference, visual journal, visual quotes, everything. I saw both Mikey Burton amd Elizabeth Olwen's sketch books and felt so inspired. I tried for the first month and I saw a huge difference in my working process. Freepik tasks are much easier and faster to complete if I spend at least 2-3 hours researching & sketching the previous night. It's like a planning before the actual illustrating process, and it helps a lot. I can't wait to share some of my contents later in different post :)
I did take some classes with the famous doodler : Jon Burgerman and the web-comic cartoonist : Sarah Anderson, but I found their classes pretty basic. I saved a long list of classes to take in these 3 months, hope I can finish them all !
So if you want to try Skillshare class for 3 months, I can share my referral code, just click on this link and try your 3-months premium. It's totally worth it!
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I completed 4 tasks (40 illustrations) during the month of June. I finally succeeded in following their initial requirement of 10 illustrations per week. A very productive month of Ramadhan !
My favorites are : the smoothies vectors, bakery and 4th of July themed items.
There are links in my facebook page if you are interested in downloading these free vectors :
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On the new I'm a Backpacker series - Travelogue :
I can't reveal which book series I'm currently working on yet until it is published - probably after July. My most proudest achievement in this project is : I completed 25 illustrations of buildings + landmarks in the country and a huge visual map of the country ! Now I'm working on the second task of the project with around 31 illustrations to go, gambattee ~ !
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On secret project with secret client :
The project that currently being put on hold for this festive season. I've been working on the pre-planning process for 3 weeks by now =,=
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On Lejen Komik travelogue contest :
I thought I should just send the visual travelogue that I've been doing for my Tokiyo trip. They are currently short-listing the group. Not quite sure how good I did with the contest because I actually just sent what I have during that time. Well, anyhow, who knows ?
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Huaa I terasa sungguh with that sketchbook tip. Really really want to go back to sketching and journaling etc tapiiii *insert beribu alasan here*. :P
ReplyDeleteI actually ordered sketchbooks long ago dari US (only because I had an Amazon voucher to spend) but my brother-in-law is only coming back to Malaysia this month (inshaAllah. Hopefully) so lama betul nak dapat my precious books.
If you don't minf sharing the referral code Azreen, would you please email me at aneesahsatriyaATgmailDOTcom? :D I've been into an Adobe AfterEffects course kat Udemy but having trouble consistently doing the lessons due to *insert more excuses here*.......
:) Well done on your Ramadan streak mashaAllah. Always appreciate your sharings and reflections.
DeleteWell you should! I never thought the daily sketching practice improves my working process. And my sketch book can work as my on-going portfolio as well when I'm meeting clients or future bosses, because it is so live and raw. They really like to see the process.
I sent the referral code to your email. Try the 3-months Premium for only 0.99$ ! There are A LOT of fun and useful classes that I really like compared to Udemy and Coursera that I use to take. Those were all a bit nerdy kot. But these classes in Skillshare provide a lot of useful knowledge for a freelancer like me. Or you :D
Thanks for still reading my rarely-updated blog <3
Hope you had a really nice Eid celebration.
Hi, Nice blog
ReplyDeleteReading your story about working as a freelance graphic designer at freepik
makes me interested to join too. But I'm still have a side job too, so its important to me to know how many vectors that you do in a week? Or a month? And are you becoming a contributor at freepik
? Or join freepik
with exclusive agreement?
Thakyou.
Hello,
DeleteI applied as their designer - joined with exclusive agreement, and got in.
I suggest you to apply as a contributor if you are still working full-time, because as their designer, you will need to submit minimum of 10 designs every week and personally based on my experience, those 10 illustrations take most of my time. Roughly around 40 illustrations per month.
But as a contributor, you will have the flexibility to share things according to your time and effort.
Good luck in you application !
:)