Happy New Year 2023!
Hello friends! It is officially 2023 - can you believe it?
Here in Arizona, we’ve had SO much rain the past few days. Personally, I love overcast and rainy days. Because they’re so uncommon in Arizona, I’ve always considered gloomy days like this to be a good omen. So four days of straight rain to ring in the new year seems like a very good omen, indeed.
Speaking of Arizona, here is an illustration I made for a client recently. They wanted a holiday card themed after Tempe, Arizona. (Arizona isn’t exactly a winter wonderland, but we do have some very pretty lights!)
I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling very refreshed and energized for this coming year. I’ve done a lot of reading and thinking about goals the past couple of weeks. Specifically, I’ve done a lot of reading about how habits and processes support goals. So that’s what I’m going to focus on this year.
For example, my overarching goal in 2023 is to advance my career as a professional, full-time illustrator. That’s a nice-sounding goal, but it isn’t very specific is it? So here are some specific things that I’m planning to do to move closer towards that goal:
Do some hardcore networking at the SCBWI conference in February. Meet as many people as possible and make some new KidLit friends. Immerse myself in the publishing industry.
Send out my query emails! I was slacking on query emails in 2021 and 2022 out of fear of rejection. Not this year! This year, I’m actively seeking failure. Because a failure means you tried. And you definitely won’t succeed if you didn’t even bother to try in the first place.
Complete illustrations for the second Junior Rangers Investigative Club book. I learned so much during the first book, and I excited to apply all that new experience to the second book.
Create a 2023 year sketchbook. I love when artists put together a sketchbook every year. It’s such a great way to visualize the progress you’ve made over time. I’m committing to putting together my first one this year. I’ll be sharing the progress over time on this blog. Speaking of…
Write 52 blog posts. One blog post per week. This year, I’m turning away from social media in favor of long-form, meaningful communication. Blog posts and newsletters. I want to thank you for reading this blog post; I can’t tell you how excited I am to have you along on this journey with me.
And that’s the general idea of what I’ve got planned!
Do you have plans or goals for 2023? Let me know what they are! I’d love to have a discussion about it.
Wishing you a wonderful new year.
Bailey Vidler