Well we’ve come to the end of the road for first decade in the 2000’s. I remember when you were just a really bad new year’s party and everyone was afraid their computers were going to crash minutes after you were born. It’s been real. We’ve had some good times, like college. We’ve had some bad times, like right out of college.

Overall though it’s been a pretty damn eventful decade for me. I got married to my lovely wife. I became a full time freelance illustrator and have kept at it for five years strong. I published a comic with one of my best friends and made another that I’m damn proud of with another friend. Bought a house and got two bulldogs.

Looking ahead there are some things I’d like to have happen career wise in 2010. I know some of them won’t happen but if I can at least get a ball rolling on them that would be great.

1. Buy a Cintiq- I really am anxious to convert more of my process to digital. I will always draw on paper, there’s no debate on that, but I think having a Cintiq would really speed the process up on certain projects and allow for other projects to get some face time. I also think having a Cintiq lends itself well to new programs such as Manga Studio and Sketchbook Pro that I’d like to start working in.

2. New Clients- While 2008 and 2009 were hardly banner years for me financially, I am happy to say I did expand my client list. Maybe the jobs were not as expensive as I’d would have liked them to be but getting more work out there to different people is always a good thing. Overall I feel fortunate with my situation as this past year really opened my eyes on how bad things can be in the world of commercial art. Onward and Upward has become my new motto.

3. Update my Identity- In the next year or so I’d like to change up my branding and identity. Brent Schoonover Illustration works well for now but I think I would benefit more by changing the profile a little. With personal projects, or as Hollywood loves to call them intellectual properties, in place that I’d like to move forward with in different outlets, I think it would be smart to create more of a studio approach to my identity. I have an idea for a full face lift that would be a major overhaul. We’ll see if 2010 is the year to do it.

4. Write- In early 2009 I finished writing my first script for a single issue comic that will soon be released. It really gave me confidence that I could do more. After rereading The New Frontier and also the graphic novel adaptation of Parker, Darwyn Cooke has inspired me to try and create my own books. I have always had a list of ideas that for what ever reason I have never bothered to pursue because I felt I was just the artist, and that was my only job. I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some great friends and I will work with them again, but I think it’s important for me to explore creating my own work, even if the results are horrible. I have an idea for a forty or so page comic that I think is pretty cool. So my plan is to start it in early 2010 and try to get to the art stage by the end of the year. Maybe even farther, we’ll see.

5. The Big Leagues- Confession time. In 2009 I had the chance to do some samples for one of the bigger comic companies. I worked hard on them and thought I had it nailed. I turned them in and was sadly rejected. It stung pretty bad and I felt like I had dropped a touch down pass. In the coming year I plan on working on samples to show I can work for the big guys. I feel I’m ready. I love doing comics and it has always been a dream to work for a major publisher. It won’t break my heart if I never get a long run on a title or anything like that. Even if it’s only a single issue or something that I can just put away and at least I can say I did it.

There are plenty more things I’d like to do and that’s not even counting the non artistic resolutions such as getting in better shape, work on the house (especially the basement), and maybe take that wife of mine on a non-comic related trip outside Minnesota. I’m going to do my best to put these on the top of the list.

If some of them don’t work out, then so be it. There’s always 2011.

Happy New Year Everyone.

Brent