The Life Pursuit: San Smith

Ask San: Art and Finance related questions

I've been getting a lot of art related questions on my formspring and in person lately... along with a lot of money related questions. It's been almost a year since I made my last "Ask San: Art related questions" post, so I figured it was time to update it! Here are my most frequently asked questions and comments about art, money and my career - some I've already answered on my formspring but I elaborated on the responses here. Hope this is helpful! 

Working for yourself and Finance related questions

1. How did you start working for yourself? 
   
   The short version of how I quit my job and started working for myself: I paid off all my credit cards the first year I started working towards this goal, and and then for the next two years I started saving money while building up a portfolio. While I did this, I had a full time job and I usually worked 50+ hours a week at it. After a long day at work, I'd come home and work on freelance in the evenings and on the weekends. Eventually I had enough work completed and money saved that I felt comfortable enough to put in my two weeks notice. I left my job in February and I had 6 months worth of income saved just in case things went horribly wrong. Truthfully, I wish I had saved more, but I don't think I could have handled the stress of what I was doing for another 6 months or year... Preparing to quit your job to work for yourself isn't always fun or easy, but it is completely do-able. You just have to figure out an exit plan that works with your goals and your current life situation.
    
2. What do you do about health insurance or your 401k?!
   
   I still have Health Insurance! I have an inexpensive medical plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia. I did have dental coverage through my boyfriend's company, but he just recently changed jobs 2 weeks ago so now I'm looking for a new dental plan. When I quit my job, I never intended on going with out health insurance. I made sure my monthly budget included paying for that! As for my 401k, I haven't been adding to it since I left my last job 6 months ago. However, I do plan on doing that once I have a better grasp on what my income will be.
    
3. You are so lucky to be working at home! (or) Do you like working at home alone?
   
   I don't like to complain or talk about the negative aspects of it online, but there are just as many bad points as there are good ones about working for yourself. The good: there are the perks of being able to decide when you will take a day off without asking for permission... if you accidentally sleep in nobody is going to fire you (unless you are on a tight deadline! eeek). The bad: there is the issue of being lonely... I'm a people person, and working from home alone can be very hard sometimes. The nice side of being lonely during work hours is that you become eager to keep in touch with your loved ones even when it isn't convenient. The downside is sometimes you are too busy with work to see them, so you can end up being alone a lot. Also, sometimes work just doesn't come in! Which is the worst - it can be so frustrating to want work and have no paying projects coming through. When this happens I try to find other things to keep busy on and make money with, which can be challenging and make me miss the constant flow of work that came steady employment. And to be honest, work has been slow the past month and half so I'm probably going to get a part time job for a bit. I'm looking forward to a small consistant paycheck and having a job where I can visit with people. It'll be a refreshing change and probably help with my creativity!

Etsy shop updates!

All prints are on sale!

I decided to mark all prints $2-$5 off for the end of the summer! Go check out the new prices and pick up a print or two :) I wont be listing new prints until it gets closer to December, so once they sell out they are gone for a while! 

Handmade hair clips!

I've also listed hair clips based on the ones I like to wear! There were more for sale at one point... but before I could announce about it people bought them! So now there is only one of each flower left, and super limited quantities of the handmade strawberries. I don't know when I will be making more of these - so if you want one hurry and get them! I love wearing hair clips like these - I think they add a lot to my outfits and make me feel good. I hope everyone who buys one feels the same way!

Visit my etsy shop here:

www.etsy.com/shop/sansmith

Things I love Thursday

It is a small list this week + there is a lot of stuff I want to buy at the moment... Enjoy!

Pictured above: Power puff Girls & Dexter's Laboratory DVDs  |  Galaxy Leggings  |  Great Wave Leggings  |  Purple hair dye  |  Bjork Post Shirt  |  Mini cake pan  |  Colorful sneakers by Saucony

 Random notes of goodness 

- Some sad but good news - I found out today I didn't make it into the fashion show I mentioned. It was actually the first email I read this morning which kinda bummed me out for 30 minutes, but then I realized I this was actually not that bad! Now my trip to LA will probably be a lot less stressful, and I can do something different with my hair if I want to! I was wanting to put purple streaks in my hair, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to change my appearance in case I was accepted. Worries are gone! :D 

- The Scott Pilgrim video game! Holy crap this is hard. But I'm getting better at it... I love all the little animated sprites that are on the internet right now:

 

 

- Speaking of Scott Pilgrim - I was on Edgar Wright's flickr with my friend Jaclyn and Tony!! I had a super fan girl moment of squeeling in my office when I saw it online. 

- Hula hooping and fun exercises - Yesterday I was watching a tiny bit of TV while working and a really interesting fitness instructor came on and recommended some great exercises! I took notes and tried them out yesterday and today, and I really like how they make me feel stronger. I think maybe its using muscles that my light yoga and hula hooping doesn't use! That and its always fun to amp up the hooping - I really want to get a smaller hoop soon and try to learn tricks. Hooray for fun exercising.

- Hair bow buns - my friend Krysti posted pictures of her trying this out today, and I realized I don't think I ever shared pictures of my hair bow bun last month! I really like it and want to try to do it more when it cools down outside - right now its a little too humid and it looks funny after a few hours. It is a nice alternative to a sloppy bun like I normally wear around the house. Here is where I learned how to do it!

- Working on the post I hope to share tomorrow! I can't wait to post my ideas on making your own Ramona Flower's costume, plus links to buy subspace purses I've made and other Ramona goodies! I hope everyone enjoyes it as much as I do :D

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Art update: Star Wars - A New Hope Wedding poster

So a while back my friend Ginny contacted me about a wedding illustration commission: She said she wanted 11x17 posters featuring herself, her husband to be and their two cats in Las Vegas for Save the Dates... all while mimicking the Star Wars: A New Hope classic posters. 

Of course I said YES! What a fun idea! That and I've always wanted to draw this poster - I tried once for a college project but had some difficulty with the poses and gave up... Here was finally another excuse to take a swing again! :)

I actually finished up the illustration a few weeks ago but was holding off on posting about it until Ginny created the Save the Dates and mailed them to her guests. (I didn't want to spoil the surprise!) Now that her guests finally know what it looks like, I figured it's ok to post the concept work and final design.

 

Left: Paper doodles trying to get a feel for the poses and placement for certain things...

Right: Refining the concept sketch digitally. The background changed significantly on the final based on Ginny's requests, the ring became more realistic and the cats a little fatter ;) 

And here is the final artwork! This was a little harder than most of my commissions because the poster I was mimicking was very different from my drawing style... Plus - I swear the background really kicked my butt... I have never been to Las Vegas before and I had to look up tons and tons of photos to figure out what her background request actually looked like. Ginny specifically asked that the beam of the Luxor to go through the ring like the poster/light saber - and I never did find a reference photo that matched up with what I wanted... I eventually had to mix a ton of views together to meet the background needs and then I digitally painted on top of them to keep it as realistic as possible. Hopefully it really looks like that view of Vegas! Maybe next time I'll use this as an excuse to fly to Vegas and visit her for reference photos ;) I think my favorite parts to draw were the dress folds, cats and oddly - the shine on the rock. I don't know why - just found that part fun! 

For a more close up look at the faces, cats and what not:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanasaurus/4904217503/

And here is what Ginny designed for the Save the Dates! Didn't it turn out cute?! What do you think? :) I was so pumped to find out this morning that my artwork and her Save the Date were featured on Offbeat Bride - go check out the post!

Also, for those interested in hiring me to do illustrations for their weddings, websites, personal profiles, etc.: I'll be completely open in September and would love to hear from you! (Here is a link to my portfolio) Send me an email at san(at)san-smith.com and we can chat about your project idea!

Photo update: 6% DOKIDOKI Fashion show in LA!

So a couple of weeks ago, my friend Michelle mentioned on twitter that her party planning company Bubble Punch was helping host a contest for 6% DokiDoki's upcoming fashion show in LA, and that four winners would be selected to model their clothes as well as receive some 6% Dokidoki items! I love that brand's style, and I jokingly replied that I'd totally enter if I lived in the area... 

Well after several tweets back and forth of friends encouraging me to enter anyways, I actually gave it some real thought. I realized I had a ton of unused Delta skymiles, and could technically fly out there for free and stay with Michelle! I went ahead and bought a plane ticket in hopes that I win, and I figure if I don't I'll just visit with Michelle and check out the event with everyone else :) Either way, I'm sure it will be a blast and hopefully wont be too hard on my wallet!

In order to enter, I had to send them a head shot, full body shot, my age and measurements along with a personal statement on why I'd like to model for 6% Dokidoki. I've never modeled before, so I didn't have headshots on hand... I ended up having my boyfriend Chris help me with the photos and I decided to try taking shots with my hair down and up. For variety, I sent in one of each (headshot: hair down, full body shot: hair up!)... more pictures behind the "read more" link!