I have no idea how to manage my days!

Have you ever felt that way?
I have on so many occasions that I have lost count.
It's not because I don't have a clue about time management. I am a virtual master of scheduling and
efficiency. I can plan the hell out of pretty much everything. I have read the theory of time management, I have read about how other artists manage their time and what they spend their working days doing so the problem lies somewhere else.

It lies in execution.
It lies in the fact that I am big fucking scaredy cat!

Too many times I sit down to do some networking or to approach new potential customers or I'll try to look for an agent that can represent me and I have no idea of how I'm supposed to do it. I'm always terrified of offending people, writing the wrong things in my e-mails, sounding unprofessional or any number of silly things like that. I sometimes also find myself stumped when it comes to actually finding new potential clients and markets where my art would fit in. I'm not a 3D modeler, I don't do programming or graphic design. Even though I work mostly digitally I'm pretty much and old fashioned illustrator. I like to do book covers, character designs, spot illustrations, concept art, band merchandise like stickers and t-shirt designs and so on, but I can't do animation and my style is not really a modern editorial style, it just doesn't fit in with what the market seems to be going for these days and it's really frustrating.

I didn't fit in at school, or among most people in general before. I've gotten a lot better at it now though on a personal level, but I'm still struggling in most other aspects of my life. Most of my problems I find to be based in fear. I'm terrified of failure, just the idea of not being able to achieve my goals is sometimes enough to stop me from even starting a project, or I'll start working but I won't let anyone know about it because I'm scared that people will ridicule my efforts. However because I'm stubborn I force myself to do things I'm scared of all of the time. It's exhausting, and I fret so much over my own failures and inadequacies that I have trouble sleeping at night.

The most frustrating part of it all is that I don't have an answer to my problem. At least not a definitive solution. The only thing I can do is suck it up and keep going no matter how scared I am at times. Nothing is going to happen if I just sit around moping. I read once that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to fight despite of it. So I guess that makes me courageous, and maybe thats all one needs when faced with adversity or ones own fears and inadequacies. A little bit of bravery, mental strength, and I'm sure that a little bit of naivety goes a long way too.

Any thoughts people?


Until next time
Anita K. Olsen

website:
www.anitaolsen.daportfolio.com

contact:
anitaolsen.illustration@gmail.com

Alien queen illustration

Yay, another illustration finished. I don't have any projects at the moment, and usually it drives me insane thinking about it. To be honest I'm obsessive..manic maybe even. I am fully capable of stressing myself to the brink of  a panic attack This time however I'm trying something different. I'm focusing on having fun, doing challenges and personal pieces. Which todays illustration is a clear indicator of. I did this one for the ImagineFX weekly forum challenge(number 292). 

This weeks challenge was actually based of my very own theme suggestion. I'm kind of taking that as a small personal victory. I like celebrating the small things ^^
The brief was to make a portrait of an alien queen. She had to be wearing some sort of crown and it had to be a full on portrait. So this is what I made:

P.S. Full view is recommended! 

(c) Anita K. Olsen

Until next time
Anita K. Olsen

Contact:

anitaolsen.illustration@gmail.com

website:

www.anitaolsen.daportfolio.com

Scarab tattoo illustration

I recently bought the newest anatomy special from ImagineFX, my all time favorite magazine. I flipped through it and got the intense urge to draw human anatomy. Specifically a part of the human anatomy that I almost never draw. The human back. Let me tell you it is so much harder to draw a good image of the human back than you would think. There are so many subtle muscles and angles that need to be taken into consideration. I needed a lot of reference to do a decent sketch of it.

Just drawing the human anatomy is a nice challenge in itself, but since I love a bit of flair of detail in my art I decided to create an egyptian scarab tattoo on the womans back. I also went for some sort of interesting hair-do as opposed to the loose natural hair I often do.

I actually like this image very much. The colors are nice ant the anatomy looks decent. The fact that you can't see the womans face is kind of intruiging to me. it leaves questions in the mind. Who is she? How old is she? Where does she come from?

(c) Anita K. Olsen

Well that's all for now, I'll try to make a new video for the Anita Illustrated vlog, something useful, but also fun.

Until next time
Anita K. Olsen

Contact:

e-mail: anitaolsen.illustration@gmail.com