What to do when you're NOT working as a freelance artist

   When working as a freelance designer, there are times when you're swamped with work, and times when nothing is coming in. In times with little or no work to do, there are always creative and artistic things that you can do to keep yourself busy and further your artistic skillset. The things that I always do in between freelancing work is sketching and challenges, collaboration work, commission work, and making art for myself and people I know. Below I will outline what exactly I do, why I believe that it works for keeping myself busy and to keep my creativity moving.

     Something I personally do when I'm not working on a specific project is do drawing or sketching exercises with things like past Inktober challenges, mashup sketches, or any other artsy challenges I know of. These help me a lot in keeping myself feeling creative and making new art so I don't hit a block.

     Going back to the idea of mashups, collaboration work is also another thing that can help in staying creative while also feeling like you are working on a team. I have done collaboration art pieces before, and I love doing it. I love getting to work with other artists and get their input and opinion on things, and working together to make a finished art piece.

     There are so many great things about collaborating on an art piece with someone else, or multiple other people. When working with other people, you will gain more insight into the piece and can put multiple visions for the piece into one. You also get some really great insight into the mind of another artist, which in turn can bring about new ideas in your mind. Seeing the work of others alongside yours can make for great inspiration as well.

     I also like to do commission works for individuals when not working on a project. I have a separate social media account for my art where people can request specific things for me to draw, paint, or make for them. This is another thing that helps me stay creative and stay busy. Commissions are also another way to make money while not working on freelance projects, especially if you are consistently doing them while you are not working on other things.

     A lot of the time when I am at home with nothing to work on, I will make art for myself, my home, or my friends. There is something very gratifying about making something for yourself or someone you know. I like to make small gifts or do something fun for my friends.

     Another thing about making work for other people or doing commissions is that this can bring about new freelance clients. I have personally seen this happen, especially when doing commission work. One thing I always ask commission clients to do is if they post the piece on social media to tag me, or my art page, and use any hashtags relevant to the art that I used when posting the work online. This helps people that follow certain hashtags be more likely to see your work and possibly come to you for future work.

     All in all, freelancing as an artist is hit or miss with the workload, but there are always so many things you can be doing in between work to keep yourself busy and not stifle your creativity.