I've actually done very little in terms of portfolio pieces. I feel as though I'm being pulled in several different directions and I haven't quite had the time to sit down and really work on them. The one time I did I started an oil painting thinking they were water solluble... turns out they weren't and I've no paint thinner. I felt brilliant. However! I like the painting, just waiting until I acquire some paint thinner before I finish it. I have many many plans for projects in the works. My next project is going to be some sort of inking or etching of my friend's cat. (She already knows about it, so it's not a super secret surprise.)
In the meantime I'm reaching out and trying to connect with other artists and designers. So far Google+ has been beneficial for this. I find it important to connect with other artists of all types, to always be expanding your horizons, to challenge your own visions through the eyes of another. If you can see how another artists sees the world, it can profoundly affect how you see the world, and how that is affected in your work. It's also just nice to have other people on a similar page, so that when I start geeking about whatever super sexy font I just came across I don't get too many weird looks. Or maybe I do.
The other thing I've been focusing on is photoshop tutorials. I found a neat website that has a bunch of different tutorials that I really like. So far I've gone through two, and I'm pretty keen on the techniques, if not the results themselves. It's just awesome learning new techniques, and finding resources that teach me more in one tutorial, than I ever learned in any classroom. Anything that will make me a better artist and designer and gives my portfolio a punch is a win in my book.
Also, clients. Generating them, to be specific. It's part of why I'm blogging, why I'm active in an artistic sort of way on G+, twitter, and facebook. I suppose the next step is stepping up my portfolio, building a website, and emailing the giant list of contacts I've got. I've talked to a few other designers and it seems that as a freelancer generating clients is the most difficult thing, especially if you don't already have a somewhat consistent base. To do this, all day, every day is my dream. To have my own office (at home or otherwise), to work for myself, set my own hours, and create fantastic, mind bending design for fun and profit. That's what I want, but I can't do it without clients. They are the bread and butter of this business, and without them nothing gets done.
There's a half dozen other things I wanted to mention, but I think most of them can wait for their own post, as this one is getting to be a bit of a ramble.
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