Sunday Mailbag

Q: Do you sometimes work on more than one project at a time ? I find it difficult to complete one job, knowing there is another job waiting. Even worse when the DEADLINES are the same !!

A: Absolutely. I am almost always working on more than one job at a time.

Every job has stages, and in between each stage is usually some form of client review and approval to move on to the next stage. This is a process that can take some time. Once I reach that end of a stage point on a job, everything grinds to a halt as I wait for feedback. That’s when I grab up the other job and get going on that one. Some stages take less time than others, so I might do pencils for two or even three jobs in a day, when later it will take a full day or a few days to do the final illustration on each job. As a freelancer you never want to be staring at a blank drawing board… even if it means your life is not as stress free as you’d like.

It does get complicated when the deadlines are the same on two or more jobs. I try to never let that happen if I can help it. When I take on a job I check my calendar to see if I have a deadline already on the due date. If I am not too booked up, I will move the easier of the two jobs up a day or two so I get one done a little early and the other on time. If things are tight I will ask the client if they can give me an extra day or two due to my schedule. If they can’t, I accept the job anyway if I am sure I can get it done, then I may call the other client to see if their deadline is flexible. If their’s is also not, then I just bite the bullet and squash two deadlines at once… then I have a cocktail.

Thanks again to Mynderd Vosloo from Stellenbosch, South Africa for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here. I’m running low!!!