Your Next Big Break Could Come From This One Simple Shift

Want to Be Featured, Collected, Celebrated? Act Like You’re Already There.

You ever sit around waiting for your dream project to show up at your door, panting, desperate, begging you to create for them? Yeah, me neither.

And yet, we trick ourselves into thinking that if we wait long enough, think about it hard enough, manifest just right, then—poof!—someone important will magically realize we exist.

But, the person behind your dream project? Not a mind reader.

That’s why I believe in the Fantasy Commission Gig—where you don’t sit around hoping to be discovered. You create like you’ve already been hired. Want to make art for a publication, a brand, a collector or gallery? Don’t wait for them to find you. Make the work now. Show them why they should have been paying attention all along.

My Fantasy Commission Gig

I created this collage in an editorial style because, my fantasy commission is The New York Times Magazine (gotta think big!). My first task was imagining an article that was close to me and I could create art from something deeply personal.

My son has faced struggles in school, and it’s made me think a lot about how the U.S. public school system supports—or sometimes struggles to support—the students who need it most. Schools are designed to be places of growth, creativity, and opportunity, but too often, the realities don’t quite match the promise.

This collage captures how I envisioned the article—not just about what’s missing, but about the complexity of education today. The contrast between structure and absence, between expectation and reality, is something I wanted to explore visually, because sometimes, an image can say what an article alone cannot.

So, How Do You Work on Your Gig?

1. Pick Your Fantasy Gig Like It’s Already Yours: Who or what truly excites you? A major magazine, a gallery, a brand, a collector? Pick someone you’d love to work for—or better yet, an opportunity you wish existed—and claim it as your own. This isn’t about wishful thinking; it’s about setting your creative direction with intention.

2. Research Like You’re On Their Payroll: Study their aesthetic, tone, and storytelling. What kind of work do they commission? What themes do they explore? If it’s a publication, what conversations are they having? Your job is to align without copying—to create something that feels like a perfect fit, but with your unmistakable voice.

3. Create Like The Deadline is Next Friday: No waiting for “someday.” Set a deadline and make the work. If you’re imagining an editorial piece for The New York Times Magazine, make a collage that fits their style. If you want a collector to notice you, create the kind of work they’d be drawn to. Act as if the job is already in motion.

4. Show It Off Like It’s a Published Piece: Mock it up. Write a caption as if it’s a real commission. Share it in your portfolio, on social media, in newsletters—wherever your dream client might stumble upon it. Confidence is key. If you present it as a serious, finished piece, people will take it seriously.

5. Keep Going Until They Notice—Or Until Someone Else Does: Maybe your dream opportunity never knocks. Maybe one even better does. The point is, you’re building proof of what you can do. You’re shaping your artistic identity and attracting the kind of work that aligns with you. And when the right opportunity comes, you won’t be hoping you’re ready—you will be.

No commission needed—just your vision, your work, and the guts to put it out there.

Lisa xx