Inkpunks

Last year I saw a tweet by Irene Gallo promoting the Illustration Masters Class and it put a little hook in me that I couldn’t shake. I had been thinking about ways to level up my art making and this resonated in an intriguing way.

But that was last year, and while I *talked* about going to the workshop, it was still sort of an idyllic, safely-in-the-future idea.

It is no longer safely-in-the-future. There are only a few seats left. Am I doing this or not?? “Intriguing” quickly became downright terrifying.  Only a week long, the IMC does not require nearly the time and money that other workshops do. But still, it made me pause. What would this mean for my partner and child? Can we manage this?

Don Pizzaro, Myke Cole, and Wendy Wagner have all recently blogged about ways to improve your craft WITHOUT going to workshops, and those posts resonate with me. I’m a bit of a homebody. To a very large degree I learn and experience the world through my laptop. Therefore, it is MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE for me to think of using a small self-selected community to get feed-back from, or working through my bad habits from the safety of home, or using online (and local) resources to improve my craft… SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE than the thought of flying to a campus across the country and putting myself into a group of strangers. (Little introverted wires in my brain keep zapping me with momentary panic at the thought of it). (Also, a higher degree of nervousness about sucking… That too.)

There are quite a few non-workshop things I could do that would be very valuable for my artistic progression. They are relatively easy and cost efficient while still providing valuable experience… But, see… I’ve had that list of easy cost-efficient things in mind for a while now and I have yet to implement them. I think this might be a point where I need to face the uncomfortable and scary in order move on.

Last night, my partner and I talked about the details of me attending the IMC. We looked at the account, we looked at the calendar. Everything was lined up, I was good to go.

But I still found myself unable to click the “pay now” button that would reserve one of those last spots for me. Several times this morning I had all the info lined up and ready, only to shut the laptop and walk away.  Fretting. (Yes, embarrassing.  But I’m probably not the only one who’s ever done this.)

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Well, I just clicked the button. Between starting this post and finishing it I registered for the Illustration Master Class. Ironically, once I actually clicked the button, the jitters went away.

Now, I am just relieved and exited 🙂
(Well, until it comes time to start shipping my art supplies cross country. There are probably still plenty of jitters to be had.)

Anyhow, more details to come about what sort of training and experiences happen at the IMC, but for now a teaser: Daniel Dos Santos at work. IMC instructor and seriously amazing illustrator:

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Illustration Master Class, IMC, introverts