There are a few things that I've found are a requirement for me to do anything worthwhile while working, and one thing that I've been TRYING to find time for so that I can keep working for a long time to come.  Coffee is essentially the only fuel that seems to power my creative engine without having any real side effects.  I've tried those energy drinks, and still drink them from time to time, however they usually make my heart race in a bad way, and I can't seem to unwind for HOURS afterwards.  So coffee really helps to keep my juices flowing, keep my eyes open, and energize me.  Now if I could figure out how to fit more water into my diet....I'd probably be a lot healthier.

Lunch.  Or dinner, or breakfast or snacks.  I like to eat, it's been an issue my whole life.  However once I started creeping up on 30, and ever since I've passed that age, I've realized I need to curtail the amount of food I'm intaking.  However I really don't function well without food to keep me focused.  That leads right into the whole exercise thing.  I've been trying to find time on a regular basis to keep up some sort of consistent exercises schedule, eliptical machine, situps, pushups etc.....I did really great for a couple weeks, but the last 5 or 6 days have been terrible.  Which sort of defeated the progress I had made of getting back in something resembling good shape.  I've lost over 15lbs since January.  I've only got another 10 or so to be right at where I want and NEED to be for health reasons.  I think I'll get there eventually, but I want results being an impatient type of guy.  And waiting to get to where you want to be in life is one of the hardest things.

All of that stuff, ties directly into my art.  I think over the last year and a half, I sacrificed a lot of health, sleep and other things to get my skill set to a level where I felt I could A)make a living, and B) compete with all of the other talent out there.  I've done that, in some ways I'm actually further ahead of the curve than I thought I would be at this point.  I've had inquiries about various different commissions and work that I really don't even have a portfolio for.  The most recent of which was a matte painting job for a seemingly well financed  independent film company.  I don't have any of that stuff in my portfolio right now.  Matte painting, concept art, digital painting, all things that I have wanted to really focus on, and to be truthful, that is probably where I will end up making a living 5-10 years from now, I just haven't had the time to pursue those.  It's been a struggle to maintain a certain level of income without working for 15 bucks an hour or less.  I think things are changing though.  I'm making progress, I have a steady amount of work for months to come yet.  I need to find time to work on some of these other skills that I know I can develop to a professional level though.  It is funny though that others see certain things in my work, and certain levels of potential, that I may not even know is there until they point it out to me. 

I'm not really sure what all this rambling accomplishes, other than to put my mind in order a bit, before I launch into the heavy workload part of my day here.  I've done a couple of things already this morning, but the real work is coming up here as I have 3 pages of Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel I want to get colored.  After I get some lunch, and a bit more coffee of course :D