I've been bad about Wayback Wednesday, I know. Hopefully I'll bank another couple of months to carry me through summer convention season. Things have been busy, and that's good, but it also gets in the way.
That said, here's today's installment. After Geauga Lake wrapped for the season, I tried freelancing for a couple of months. It didn't take. I didn't have the experience or the track record to make it work. A few years later, though, things obviously changed. But, until then, I found a job at The News-Herald, where I started off as a production artist. One of my co-workers there needed a caricature done of the owner of the Tylinter company in Mentor. (I think he was the owner. It's been a while. He may have just been a higher-up.) They were having a party, and it was to be his gift.
This is one of my first freelance assignments. I remember after the party, my friend said "His wife loved it. She said that she guessed it had cost a thousand dollars."
It hadn't. I'd charged $35. I was just starting out, didn't know what to charge, and priced what I thought was fair. I considered it a fancy amusement park caricature. Now, his wife was wrong about what I could have charged. I don't think this was a four-figure piece, but I probably could have charged more. It was a lesson in pricing. And trust me, if you want one now, it will cost you more.
But, I wasn't upset. I charged what I thought I should and got it. I was happy with that. And it was my first step on a journey that led me here to this studio. No looking back, only looking forward.