What’s the Deal With Freelance?

For the past few months, I’ve been freelancing as a character designer for a show in early development at an anim studio. It’s my first job after graduating this past May, so I don’t have any other experiences to compare this to. I’m the sole character designer, so I’m responsible for designing all main characters, expression sheets for each character, establishing show style, special poses, etc. This is a show in development, not active production.

The timeline seems very slow. Each week, I address last week’s notes with new designs, and additionally send in a big lineup of cleaned, colored designs for one or two characters. Then, I usually have to wait a week before hearing feedback from execs and creators on the work. I address it and the process repeats. Is this normal? Are we not expected to move at a full-time pace? I’m wondering if I should be turning in more work, but I’m usually prevented from moving into the next phase while waiting for notes. I’m worried that I’m underperforming, but the team tells me they love what I’m doing.

I’m just wondering what to expect from future freelance gigs. Is it always a more part-time pace? Are stretches of waiting typical? I had this vision of needing to pump out 8-pt turns daily, but it’s far from the truth. Appreciate any insight, especially from fellow character designers.