“ENOUGH?”

The $20,000,000 Beverly Hills pool... Is it enough?

by Lon Levin

So you want to be a creative person? A writer, artist, actor, architect or musician? It’s not an easy path and without great drive you may not reach your goal. However, I think the bigger question is how much success is enough for you?

I remember I conversation I had with my father back in the early 70’s. I was still in school and like most people my age I had a healthy mistrust in our government. Nixon was president, there were riots in the streets of Los Angeles, and the Viet Nam war raged on.

My father was a very prominent and successful entertainment executive.When the subject of how much did I think was a good salary I said my goal was to make $100,000 a year. That would be enough for me to feel happy. My father laughed and told me “Good luck!”

After I graduated I started my journey as a freelance illustrator. I made around $8000 my first year in business. To say I was dissapointed would be a huge understatement. The next year wasn’t much better. My dreams of making big money started to fade into a harsh reality. I couldn’t support myself or my wife-to-be. I had to be practical.

My step-dad offered a lifeline, I could come to work for him in the building business where my design skills would be an asset and I could learn how to run a construction job from the ground up. And I was soon to learn that was literal. My first job was to water proof concrete block walls which would end up one day being walls to a condo garage. It was over 90 degrees in San Diego the day I started. There was no one else working the site except my step-brother, Craig. He handed me a traditional mop and a bucket of a thick, black tar-like substance and said “Let’s do it brother!” After a few months into the job I had learned how to lay slabs with rebar, install plumbing, run a cut off saw and assist with rough carpentry. I also learned I had enough of the building business and not enough of being an artist.

Almost daily I gave myself illustration assignments to create a new portfolio. It felt like forever that I worked in construction and sales of 156 condominiums. On a year to the date of my first day on the job I quit. It would take me another three years of odd jobs, learning art direction at night and creating a killer portfolio I got a job that would change my life forever. I was hired as an art director for 20th Century Fox’s theatrical division. I thought this is good enough...for now.

To make a long story short I spent the next 20 years climbing the ladder of jobs until I was head of an art department for Warner Bros. Worldwide Entertainment and I was making well over the $100,000. Oddly enough it wasn’t enough. After all, I was trained to be an illustrator. I decided I had reached the point where I needed to pursue what meant something to me regardless of the finances.

For the next ten years I followed my desire to illustrate children’s books, learn social media, create a daily cartoon and paint. I didn’t make much money but I was happy with the journey.

Something still gnawed at me. I was happy doing what I was doing but I wasn’t really making a impact on anyone’s life but my own. That’s when the idea for a newsletter called The Illustrators Journal took form. It started small, I got a few illustrators to talk with me about their artist’s journey. Soon I was doing four issues a year then six. I was helping others learn how other artists had become successful I had found my purpose...It was enough.

It makes me recall a saying by Socrates. “Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.”