Juggling work, family, and art

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I love guest speaking at an art school, comic or animation convention or some other event where their are young, eager artists "trying to make it" in the industry.  There is so much passion, love, and STRESS in that crowd that you can cut it with a knife.  And I remember being there so vividly.  Part of me still feels like i should be in the crowd asking the questions during the Q and A, not answering them.  (HA- I'm still a Qer, not an Aer, in my mind.)  But, experience- and years- have given me SOME answers for people and I want to give them, since I have asked so many questions in my lifetime.  ONE of the questions I think I enjoy- but I feel semi-unqualified to answer- almost ALWAYS gets asked by someone that is about to graduate, or more likely, has been in the working world for a few years: "How do you juggle a family/ wife with your work and climbing the ladder in a competitive job/studio?"   That question gets me every time.  (BTW, its usually asked by a guy.  A guy who you can tell is either newly married or engaged, or has just had his first child.  That's not sexist, its just what I've noticed.)   I have to take a deep breath and think about which version of answer am I going to use.  I have a few, depending on the amount of time I have for Q and A.  One, is short but inspirational.  Two, is a bit more realistic and speaks to competition and the need to feed your passion but that family if most important, and Third (which I almost never use) is THE TRUTH- its HARD.  Its near impossible!  Run away, don't become an artist, love your wife and children and grow old with them with a smile of contentment on your face because you work a 9 to 5 job selling insurance and making a livable wage!  Well, you can see why I don't use that one.  

Why its a hard answer is because I'm simultaneously the worst person to answer it- and the best.   Because, I've lived it and continue to juggle those balls every day.  Some days, with more success than others.  

To prove my point (and scare me more than you) I'm going to list out everything I have going on in my life as of now.  First, my day job is as head of character design (for the last three years) for the TV series "Superbook" for CBN.  That's full time/ 40 hours a week, but I work from home which give me "flexibility" to pick kids up from school when they are sick, drive them to cheerleading practice a couple times a week, get gas for my wife's car, grocery shop, you name it.  Besides those things, once a week I write and draw a webcomic called Outnumbered(comic.com), I 'run' a Patreon page where I do a sketch of the week among other posts,  I have a Feature film (live action and 2d animation combo, believe it or not) that I am developing and may have some seed funding soon, do a weekly podcast with my twin brother called The Bancroft Brothers Animation Podcast (its on iTunes),  just signed a publishing deal to illustrate 2 VeggieTales kids books, working with a buddy on an APP video game, just recently became "Artist in Resident" for Lipscomb University (in Nashville) to help them develop an animation program (yay!), I am president of TaughtByAPro.com that is my online art instruction website, and my partner and I are putting on our first LIVE Lecture Event next month here in Nashville, TN.  Throw in that I do art school and comic book convention lecture visits from time to time and I have a loving wife, 4 girls, three (female) dogs and it gets crazy hectic around here!   Still, I love it all and I KNOW I am very blessed by each opportunity.  (Some, I just need to learn to say "no" to.)  

In the past, I have had some serious problems in my marriage because I was TOO passionate and TOO committed to climbing the ladder at Disney.  I remember my wife saying (especially earlier in our marriage) "that I love art more than her".  That stings to this day, but she was right.  The Bible speaks that where your time is is where your heart is.  (Paraphrasing here).  That wisdom is something I think about all the time.  My wife is my biggest supporter and is incredibly understanding.  I've learned that its up to ME to not push that understanding too far.   That's when I start saying "no" to things.  (By the way, I'm at that point- and a little beyond- right now.)  Believe it or not, most of everything I've outlined above is scheduled and not all of it overlaps so its a little more "doable" (on paper anyway) than it looks.  Still, there's very little margin there.  

The point is, I've screwed up and over committed.  I've obsessed with "competing with the other guys/gals at work" so I gave more and more time to the job.  I've told a client way too short of a deadline to "win them over" and had to kill myself and stay up all night only to turn in mediocre work.  Time is tough for an artist.  We ALL don't understand it, can't control it and can't judge it!  Learn from that and either find someone that IS good at it to work with (my wife has always served as my unofficial manager and accountant) or GET better at it yourself.  In both cases, you will get better at it. Planning, forethought of possible problems that can arise, and saying "no" to some things are the three keys to having a more livable life.  Those are really just suggestions, in the end, the ANSWERS change daily.  That's why I can't tell you how to make everything in your life work.  Its part of growing up and its part of getting more experienced (you WILL get a better idea of how long a piece of art takes) too.  The goal is to keep an eye on it all times and consider how your life/workload affects the ones around you.  Opportunities will always arise but judge which ones you can commit to carefully.  Its important to stick to commitments but more important is to not hurt the ones you love.  I'm talking to myself right now too.  
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PrisonerOnEarth's avatar
Thanks for this great journal. I'm amazed at how many different things you're juggling!