Another Blast From the Past!

Yes, I know, I promised in my last post I wouldn't show any more old work. Once again, I have broken this promise by posting the above image. I'm sorry to do this, but in re-inventing myself as a freelancer, I have been thinking back to all the ways I used to "market" myself. I used to use this as a business card, but it was not a piece I created from scratch. It was an illustration from a paying gig. Here's the story:

This drawing was done as a coloring book illustration for a local soda-pop manufacturer who was  trying to market a new rasberry-lime soda called RAZCAL. They hired me to design their mascot, the "Razcal Rabbit", and I did a ton of artwork for them. They were sure this product was a winner, and I was sure I was designing an icon that would take its place alongside Tony the Tiger in branding history.

Unfortunately/predictably, the company went bust. Apparently, the soda biz is a tougher nut to crack than it seems.

I post this to demonstrate that even in disappointing situations, there is sometimes a silver lining. Even though the company went belly-up, they did pay me (very well) for the work I did, and they even made a ventriloquist dummy of the character (If you know me, you will know what a major event this was in my life). Also, I used the above illustration as a calling card for a few years (I wrote my contact info on the blank canvas in red ink). It always got a good response, and I even got animation work in Hollywood from it.

Although I did it over 20 years ago, I still think it holds up. As someone who finds fault with the things I did 10 minutes ago, that says something.

The point of today's blog? I'm not sure there is one, unless it's that you can learn and profit(at least emotionally, but financially is better) from every job you do.

Next time, I promise, I'll try, back to hilarity!