A constant hunt for the greatest potential out there. The internet is very handy as most people in terms of agents and publishers and design groups etc etc have a presence on it, it's just a case of going through and finding people who are suitable to aproach.

I've been doing a bit of research into how to make things more suitable for the web, and how to promote my site a bit. A very useful article on this topic courtesey of science-art.com http://www.science-art.com/news/2005nl2p1.asp give a number of useful illustration specific pointers on how to achieve better search engine placement. Looks like i'm going to be pretty busy for quite a while before i even pick up a pen to write a shopping list let alone a cartoon!

My first full day of being "bona-fide" and an official freelancer couldn't have started off on a better footing. I've written a long list of objectives that need to be achieved in various capacities, starting off with ammending any discrepencies within my website, then getting on the rollercoaster bandwagon of self promotion. I signed up with the Brighton Flash Developers group (a google group dedicated specifically for Flash Professionals in the Brighton area), and found several places looking specifically for illustrators. All good stuff. This was enhanced by the finding of an old friend that I'd lost contact with some 20 years ago, and getting news from my agent that a new childrens book will be soon winging its way to me to draw. I finally sent a load of new illustrations off to my agent aswell to update my portfolio there as it's long overdue a major overhaul. This evening is the inaugural meeting of Cartoon County in its new bedsit too. What a day.

Morning, noon and night - Finally got the games section up and running which is excellent news as there's a lot of stuff there. I went and had a chat with my old art director who gave me some excellent pointers on how things should and shouldn't look, read, be named etc etc, so hopefully all the work will pay dividends in the end.

*phew*

Also finished off a couple of magazine illustrations for Rob Cubbon and the latest issue of Refined. These are always a great pleasure to do, as they're predomenantly extraordinarily bizarre. Head on over to the "Other Art" section to check them out, or if you're feeling wild, i've posted them in my blog too!

Morning - Well the work's trickling in which is ace! A couple of jobs lined up in the next week or so from established clients. I've also been having some great feedback on the new site design from other illustrators on the yahoo illustration group. It's really satisfying to know that all your hardwork is being appreciated by others.

In the meantime i've been going through all the video games i've worked on over the years, creating a portfolio of screenshots, both in-dev and in-game to show off. This will be super handy for creating new opportunities within the more digital side of artwork creation and I can't wait to get them up and online. My present battle is with making a suitable CV that really shows me off nicely - I suspect it's the same issue everyone has, but eeeeh, it's tricky. And after the horiffic storms yesterday, the sun's well and truely out, and there's a surfable wave down the coast. Oh well, quite literally "back to the drawing board!"

Morning - Just recieved stuff in the post from the Brighton Illustrators Group, and Cartoon County, a brace of august societies based in East Sussex with the aim of promoting illustration and cartooning. I've been meaning to become a member of BIG for ages, so this is good motivation. Just tweaking a few bits and pieces on the site so that I can write to various people, publications, agencies, and so on and so forth and generate some serious work!

Main thought occupying my mind is how I can arrange to go trekking in Nepal in November with my friend Fata. I'm thinking the best way to allow myself to do this is by taking photos of Kathmandu, and Namche Bazaar et al and making drawings from them to publish in travel guides and mountaineering books. Must find a publisher who's game!

Morning - It's about time to get jiggy with the lightbox function, this could be sucsessful. I hope it's not too complicated. Luckily i've got a soundtrack provided by Beatallica to keep me going. A covers band of Beatles songs, sung in the style of Metallica... Here goes....

Lunchtime - WOO! I got it working. I've absolutly no idea how that happened, but I do feel exceedingly clever all of a sudden.

After much deliberation, i've decided that the time is right to become properly freelance instead of battling with a regular job and spending my evenings on the illustration work. So, what better way to get things rolling than with a snazzy new website.

This version is hopefully going to be even posher than the last. I'm going to be using a new method for showing illustrations, a java application called lightbox. There's a tutorial or two online which should show me what needs doing, so with any luck i'll get it up and running nicely. I mean - seriously - what on earth could go wrong....

Other news as it arrives.