Personal work?
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- doggydoggdog
Do you make personal work that you don't make money from? Like zines or paintings or woodworking?
How much time do you spend on it in a week?
Do you do it for the love or something to do or hope it will someday make money for you?
- utopian1
Yes I do...about 20 hours a week I spend on these personal projects. I love time to think and create projects for the passion and for the fantasy/dream that one day these projects will eventually make enough money, so that I never have to do client work again. I'm also tired of being told to "make the logo bigger" or to fill up the unused negative space with Yuri photos.
- Peter0
Lots of DIY projects.
Some functional, some ornamental.
90% for myself. To make my (or the immediate family) more comfortable, or to learn something new.
10% because someone else needed something.If it transitions to something I could charge for that's cool.
If not I still have what I set out to do.- I sew! I just wore a black, long sleeve gown I made last year to a christmas party. That was fun.shellie
- shellie2
I'm working on a children's puppet show, shot in a sitcom format. I'm currently finishing up my 10 scripts but my season arc planning is done. Then start building my puppets and mini sets. I'm scheduled to shoot throughout April. I don't necessarily care if I make money from it. But, there is a pathway to revenue if it picks up or I sell it. That's not my main motivation, though. I just like making puppets. I think I have something to say. I'm excited to see this project through for at least one season and I'll probably release it on youtube and vimeo.
- martinadolfsson0
I'm developing an app together with another artist, we've been beta testing for the last two weeks with some really good results.
I've been working mostly by myself as a photographer for almost 15 years so it's really exciting and interesting to develop a project together with someone else.
- formed0
Photography and video...but the goal is to get enough experience to be able to do more with my business (so far it's working well)
- Nutter0
Yeah I'm doing the "create a image a day" thing and posting them on instagram/my website/spamming here on qbn. I had two main goals: try new things and become faster at working.
So I switch style after every three images, and though I can spend as much time I like thinking about what to do, when I sit down in front of the computer I must create the image in 10 minutes.
I've created more varied things the last 11 months than ever before, some ideas turn out nice, though most could use more refinement.
https://www.instagram.com/morten…
http://build-destroy.com/project…- Would love if I at some point could make money from it, but I doubt it. At least its nice to show in job interviews.Nutter
- It's 'an'. Create an image a day.set
- The project title is within quotation marks so why can't it be "create a image a day"? It's his title.microkorg
- The beauty of free will is that it gives everyone the chance to be an idiot, if they so desire.set
- Ah ok set, thanks I'll remember thatNutter
- Nutter, take the occasional image and make a limited edition Tshirt/print. do it through a POD shop so there's no $ up frontGnash
- Nice work Nutter...set
- Yeah thats a good idea Gnash, I've seen the insanly good beeple got a webstore with his daily images: https://society6.com…Nutter
- ^ worth a shot. lot's of your stuff would translate well to that medium.Gnash
- face_melter0
I do my personal illustration work as relaxation and a creative antidote to my professional work - very rarely do I touch 3D outside of the office and only then as a tool to make assets, rather than the basis of an image.
Architectural visuals are created purely by rote and once you reach a certain level it rapidly loses its creative spark and becomes a mechanical process, for me at least - a series of technical problems to be solved. I have very little interest in looking at other arch-viz work as it all bores me fucking silly apart from a small number of studios (Mir, for example). I much prefer to look at things on fffffffffffound or various crazy tumblr image blogs and take inspiration from those than some piece of photo-realistic HDRI'd-to-fuck nonsense by Peter Guthrie.
As much as I would like to, I can't go buck-wild with my job because of myopic architects so I pour that energy/frustration into my illustration work and occasional photography. Making money is a bonus but never my reason for doing things - I set up a redbubble shop for the b/w prints I have showed here but whether I promote it or make it a 'thing' I haven't decided yet - having the option is nice though.
- since19791
All of my work is personal to me.
- ApeRobot0
Music.
Getting money out of it now and then.
Mostly a hobby/passion.
I consider it "work".
- kona2
Every day I draw a new picture on my two oldest son's lunch bags. I've found it keeps my mind fresh and imaginative. They take about 15-20 minutes each but since I've started I feel like I sketch, doodle, ideate, and illustrate better in my real job.
I also will paint with the kids and illustrate stuff on my own.
You definitely have to do it to stay sane. It's a release ya know.
- the lunch bag thing -- that's really cute.shellie
- I do this too...it's a great way to chat to my kid when they get back from school...see_thru
- Pics! We want to see those sketches!nocomply
- https://scontent.xx.…kona
- https://scontent.xx.…kona
- https://scontent.xx.…kona
- https://scontent.xx.…kona
- https://scontent.xx.…kona
- hope those work...kona
- They are lovely, thanks for showing themNutter
- Engels0
Coding is like cooking to me, I like to find interesting recipes in books and then either invite up to 20 friends for tasting after I mastered them, or I create an instructable with better pictures and explanation. For my next project I am working on a fusion between Nerikomi and Ravioli. My current lovechild is my bread basket:
- see_thru0
I'm messing with illustration and drawing...don't really know what to do with it - I know I'd love to be doing more but family / job takes up all my time.
- Chimp2
I started this a while ago. Been thinking of re-starting it
http://quetehizofeliz.com/I was also thinking of doing some more stupid sketches like these
- Really like your site there - I'd consider including some sort of lazy loading, for desktop browsers, at least.
Good work!detritus
- Really like your site there - I'd consider including some sort of lazy loading, for desktop browsers, at least.
- dopepope3
I definitely do personal work. It keeps me sane. And motivated. And busy. It's where I do most of my exploration. But it's been a struggle to manage the time to do it because paid jobs always take priority. The personal stuff always gets me the paid stuff tho, so it's important.
- Miguex0
I do a lot of personal work for research/ learning but most importantly to attract clients in whatever industry I want to find work in.
I have heard from people that posting personal work on your portfolio is not a good thing, but in my experience it has helped me show what can I do for specific clients, when I show it to them mostly point and say "I want something like that".
This way helps me work on projects I'm interested in too.
- nocomply0
I do personal work, but only as it interests me. That means it happens sporadically, or sometimes not for long periods at all. My personal work isn't closely tied to what I do professionally, but that's what makes it fun and engaging.
Last year I was working on some Raspberry Pi projects/programs for a few months, but never really finished.
This year I've spent what little free time I have playing music. That's not "personal work," per se, but I think has been good for me in a different way.
I can't do it all, so I gotta pick and choose.
- kona4
I designed a site for my dad a few years back when his company that he worked at for 35+ years shut down and let him go.
I think I was more devastated than he was. I seriously didn't know what he was going to do or how he was going to find work.
Anywho, he had me design a site for him so he could continue doing his thing for his customers because there was a need.
I designed a comp and sent it over. He loved it.
A week later when I went back home to visit he had printed out my comp and had it hanging on the fridge right next to my nephews chicken scratch colorings. I laughed so damn hard. Like I was a kid again and he was proud to hang up my work.
That's probably the most rewarding bit of personal work I've ever done. He never made more than what, median class income and in less than 3 years was well into six figures per year.
- maybe this should have gone in the blog. I was just reading through here and it popped into my mind.kona
- :)Gnash
- great story man!Miguex
- +1 nice story :)Bennn
- whats his job?Bennn
- Great story! just curious is the website still up?martinadolfsson
- what a fantastic story dude...reminds me of my dad as well :) post the site bro! would love to see it!exador1
- <3!BrokenHD