“You’ll be able to chaperone the school trip since you don’t work.”

“You’re home all week, maybe you could help with Friday’s meeting?”

“You just draw all day, how can you be tired?!”

It’s not always easy convincing others that you’re actually working just as hard as they are when you’re a freelance artist or creative. And for women (and some men!), freelance jobs still come in addition to child care and housework.

Some of the tasks involved in my work are:

• cold-emailing art directors to offer my services, and creating mailers that will potentially catch their eye

• answering requests for quotes on a variety of illustration jobs, which is lengthy, tedious, and is often met with silence

• reading briefs and researching whatever subject I have to draw

• taking high quality photographs of the subjects and places I will be painting

• sketching several versions for each brief I receive, so that the client has options

• drawing and painting the illustration, which can take between 10 and 30 hours

• updating my social media and website daily so that clients may find my work

• managing my stock of cards and prints

• managing sales and shipping from my online shop

• accounting and tax preparation

• taking continuing education courses

• staying abreast of the latest changes in Photoshop and other image editing and manipulation software

• keeping an eye on companies and businesses who use my illustrations without permission, and going through prolonged legal battles

• and most importantly, CHASING CLIENTS after almost every job, because they don’t think illustration is a service worth paying for either, apparently (and this is a big problem for many illustrators / creatives)

So I’m not just drawing all day long. Being a freelance artist means I have to problem-solve, address client concerns and complaints, fundraise on platforms like Patreon or Kickstarter, and often use my diplomatic skills to deal with clients who think I’m just… drawing all day long.