A different time, a different approach: Character Toy design...

The Rattle-Gland...

Hi Peoples and welcome to a new year. Hell of a start to 2011... and my heart and thoughts go out to the people of this rugged land during these incredibly testing environmental disasters. Floods, fires, now Cyclones... I pray for no more grief. Stay safe all... and remember what is truly important; our lives and the lives of those we hold dear. Never give up. Ever.

The pieces seen here are from my first ever Freelance contract with a Toy manufacturer based in Holland. The art was never picked up and for the hours spent the pay wasn't brilliant, but it gave me my first taste of working a contract as a sole trader. Terrifying, but wonderfully freeing all at the same time. I have learnt many things and for that experience I am truly thankful :)

The Vahgeist...

If the last few months of unemployment has taught me anything (in fact if the events of my entire Life have taught me anything) it is this: to never, ever, give up. It's true that terrible things happen all the time. As people we live in a world that is brimming with trends, ideas, events and circumstances that seek to be the undoing of us. We lose jobs, loved ones, our faculties, property... we suffer at the hand of Nature and at the hand of each other and often the worst part is we cannot control these circumstances or comprehend why they have happened... and it is easy to despair in the fact that its all so much greater than we feel we could ever be.

Don't give up. When times are tough your true measure of spirit comes from how you choose to respond; from choosing to get up again. When Krome Studios collapsed, part of me was released back into the Wild... while the other part (not in equal measure), the institutionalised part, longed for the safety of the 'known quantity', however intense the environment had become.

Facing joblessness is not easy; it gnaws at your self worth, undermines your confidence if you let it and places extreme stress on relationships... the urge to provide is there, but when the market isn't friendly, you have to weather the storm and somehow overcome. Don't give up :) The one thing you can control is your tenacity of spirit. Never give up... there is always a way forward, however wildly departed from the norm it may feel. We all have within us the Spirit to overcome; for ourselves and in many cases to show others the way. We can do it in our own time and in our own way, what matters is we refuse to quit.

The Elkspell...

Within the ever tightening noose of Games development instability in Australia, options are few and come with their own tricky set of circumstances. I immediately went into the Freelance scene, not by choice at all... but let me tell you it has made me a better artist. I'm more driven, focused and determined now than ever before. Time management counts for so much on every job and I'm now occupying this headspace in which dicipline and professionalism are paramount. Indeed they are 9/10ths of the freelance game.

My first freelance endeavours didn't really go anywhere, but I'm not going to give up... there is a reason for everything and I believe that this precarious situation that I face (and many, many others out there) is the push out the door needed to realise our own potentials. Don't give up, never give up.. do what you can, try new things. Help others to keep going... and good things will find you...

Contract work is stable for me right now until October, but beyond that already there are things set in motion that offer far greater rewards than I've previously received... and I'll have the time to nuture them. More from me next month ;)


Listen to the Soul: remember always what is most important, and never compromise on it. Defend that like a Savage.....
J S Pullen