Ever Play Blind Man's Bluff? It's harder than tag. When you play tag the strategy is simple: pick one person and then hound them until you tag them. Game over. Blind-man's Bluff is like tag only you wear a blindfold and then stumble around (blindly) trying to catch one of the other players. You're turning one way because you think you hear someone then you go the other way because you may have felt someone else wooshing by in another direction. You know they're right there staying just out of your reach. Eventually, when playing this game as a kid, I'd get frustrated and cheat a bit. Or a lot. Peeking not only got me out of being the blind man (I really hate activities where you have to run anyway) but kept me from tripping over stuff. Most of my friend's yards had knobbly tree roots in them.... But I digress.
Becoming a licensed artist has been lot like blind-man's bluff for me. For a while now, a long while, I've been stumbling this way and that way hoping I'll hit something. Have a portfolio of over 300 images that are suitable for licensing. I do. Create collections out of those images that would be suitable for product design. Did that. Have a website. I have one. Be sure your website gives a prospective company or agent access to those images within 30 seconds. It only takes nine. And so on and so forth.
I am thinking about peeking in the form of a licensing coach. If for no other reason to hear someone who knows what they are talking about tell me, "No, your art is not licensable, give up and get a secretary job." or "Yes, your art is marketable, but you need to do this, this and this, to get anywhere."
