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Writer's pictureAndy Catling

The Commission

Updated: Mar 7, 2020


It’s always great to hear about a new illustration commission… sorry, potential commission. Eggs, after all are not chickens so there is no point in counting them. Unless you want to make an omelette in which case counting eggs makes sense so go ahead but…ummmmm I don’t remember the illustration commission having much to do with eggs so I think I’ve become a little lost.

90770_Boo_a_Bog_cover

Boo-a-bog Cover Illustration: Inspired the publisher to contact me.


Back to the point. I was informed of a potential commission from a well known publisher. The project sounded great and I wanted to do it but wait, what about the other projects? You mean the other 3 projects that I’m working on giving me no time to take on a fourth? Yes, that’s right. Those projects. Bum! It’s always the way.


You stack up a bunch of projects and then a real dinger comes along and there is no room. What do you do? Say yes and slowly watch your life fall apart?Once I would have said a big NO to it due to a full schedule but I have since learned of the fickle nature of book publishing. Projects slide and slip and fall down holes never to be seen again.


Somehow I would shoe-horn that project even if I had to beg, plead and blub to get those publishers to move some of their deadlines. A big YES and time to burn some graphite!


TheMonster

So, did I learn anything from this experience?

Ummmm… no.

I have no idea why I didn’t get the project, that comes down to the editors and author and their preferences. If I had got the project then I may have learned something about the foolhardy scheduling of an optomistic idiot. However, since I didn’t learn that then I will be shoe-horning my schedule again.



Sample Illustration sent to the commissioning publisher



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