When I started doing commissions in 2010 I had all the time in the world to paint, but very few commissions. Eventually I started working full time at my game store and did the commission work on my days off. This worked well enough for me. The fact that I love to paint meant that I didn't mind spending my "free" time on it. Still, things were going to have to change eventually.
Over the past four years I've realized how much I love painting. The fact that I could continue doing commission work even though it limited the amount of time I had to hang out with friends, take trips, or even just get outside showed me that. What that means to me is that maybe this is what I should be doing while I can do it.
So, starting February 1, I will be devoting all of my time to commission painting work. I believe that it's time to make the move. I have a lot of repeat business from a number of clients (you all know who you are) and I'll be spending a lot more time looking for new ones. One of the luxuries of my old schedule was that I didn't actually need to look for work. It tended to show up when needed. On the other hand I know I've lost some jobs because I didn't have the capacity to get all of the work done in a short enough time span. As I expect to be tripling the amount of time I spend painting that should not be an issue.
At the moment I have all of the work that I'm likely to be able to complete before the end of January, but once February comes I'll be taking all of the work I can get. If you've been thinking about asking about my services, please do so. I'd love to chat with you about it.