Balancing 2 Creative Jobs 👩🏽‍💻🎨

Making a Change, For a While

For the past little while, my days have looked a bit different, and I wanted to share with you what’s been going on in my life. 

If you know something about my background, it's that before turning to printmaking, I’ve been working in the animation industry for quite a while, and that I’m an animator and an illustrator by profession. 

I'm currently working full time as an animator on a fun and secret project. It's a potential return to the animation industry after spending the last couple of years focused almost entirely on my printmaking business.

As I work on this fun, yet demanding project, I try to find the right balance. I knew that I will keep making prints, no matter what, because that’s what I love to do. 

I find that I have to push myself more than I thought. Sometimes after a long day of work in another creative field, you might feel that the creative juice is gone. Or sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day to do it all. 

The Difference Between Printmaking and Animation

After eight hours of animation, I still find myself wanting to spend time carving, printing, or making something of my own. Not every evening. Some days I'm simply too tired. But when I have the energy, I turn my animation desk into my printmaking space.

What's interesting is that these two jobs exercise different creative muscles, and different ways of expression.

Animation is collaborative. You're part of a team, helping bring someone else's vision to life. There are deadlines, meetings, feedback, and plenty of problem solving. This job is being done entirely in front of a computer (at least in 3D animation). The creative part focuses on motion, and using animation tell a story.

Printmaking, on the other hand, is much quieter. I work for myself, and on my own vision. Every decision is mine, from the first sketch to the final print. It's slower, more personal and could be seen as more lonely. It’s handmade, tactile, and away from screens. This often is a welcome contrast after a busy day in front of the computer.

Can Balance Exist?

For a while I wondered if doing one creative job would leave me with nothing left for another. Instead, I've found that they feed different parts of my creativity.

The biggest challenge isn't inspiration. It's time.

I've had to accept that I can't create at the same pace I could before. Some evenings I make real progress. Other evenings, resting is the best I can do (:
Another form of "sacrifice" is prioritizing creative time over social activities. I know I have to bank some time on my weekends dedicated to making art for myself. This could be hard, especially in summer time, but necessary for me!

Sometimes creativity isn't about having endless hours to make art. It's about finding small pockets of time and protecting them.

My shop has been closed for a while as I'm finding this new balance, but is soon to be back with new stuff (: