Rejected!

Thank you for the interest you have expressed in our art position. We were very fortunate to review your recent application. However, at this time, we are pursuing other candidates based on the best match with the requirements of the job. Please check back to our website www."_____".com. We are frequently adding positions that may be of relevance to you and your background. Once again, we appreciate your interest in "_____". We wish you continued success in your search and the development of your career.

Sincerely, "_____" Recruiting

Yay! I finally received my first official rejection email/letter after sending out 19 resume and sample art submissions to various companies for a new full-time creative position -- that I've been applying to since the first week of April. Breaking into a new industry isn't easy, that's for sure. Some of the companies I applied to would likely be excellent experiences in understanding the development pipeline, but may not prove to have long-term creative interest for me (...for various reasons) and therefore great for short-term contract opportunities. A few job openings (less than 5) were actually referred to me by people that either currently work at the companies that I applied to, or know people who do so that's hopefully a plus. Only about 30 more submissions to go and then maybe a decent nibble like in this example. :)

Meanwhile, I'm updating my website with new art including an unofficial re-launch at the end of this month (always takes longer than I plan to debug and update while I multi-task on other items: job-hunting, networking, developing projects, etc.) with additional section updates throughout the month of May. At this time, the main art sections I'm creating include:
- Concept Art
- Illustration
- Sequential Art
- Sketches

with a quad of information sections:
- Homepage/brief introduction
- Resume
- About Me
- Resource Links

I've also been contacting people that I've worked with in the past to let them know that I'm available for freelance or local in-house contract work developing concept art and/or children's book illustration.

However, I'm avoiding web design and development like the plague -- it literally makes me ill. Hmm...maybe that's why it's taking so long to get my website updated...ha. And maybe that's why these two snippets in the Eric Canette interview from the Character Design blog, had me in complete agreement:

"...From Peter Chung I learned to not work on projects that don’t inspire me; projects that don’t do anything to make me want to jump out of bed, drive an hour into work, jockey a drafting table, day in and day out. It does nothing for the soul."

and

"...Also, always, ALWAYS think long term. For example, sure you could probably do a job that will pay ridiculously well financially, but if all is causes you is stress loss of sleep, then I don’t know how much that will do for you when all it just takes away from your mental health you know? Those are the things you need to consider before taking on projects. But the reality is, when you’re first starting out, you may not have that luxury, but once you’re e in there, once you have some notches on your belt, I believe it’s worth considering the points that I’ve just mentioned."

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Some rough preliminary sketches of an illustration that I'm working on, called "Buried Treasure". Final image size should be about 14" x 20".

Thumbnails.

Initial layout rough.