I’ve been getting a few queries via comments and via e-mail about when I’ll be posting step three on how to make stereograms. Some people are nice about it, and some are a little (okay, a lot) more demanding. I got an e-mail once that practically yelled at me to get on with the next step.

I’m not quite sure what the rush is. Certainly, I’m in no rush. No one pays me to write my tutorials, so there’s really no incentive for me to put aside doing my commissioned work, which barely pays my rent as it is. I give away my tips and tricks, my hard won trade secrets free of charge, and I don’t really expect much beyond a thank you or continued readership.

I suspect people are able to take what they’ve learned here and use it to earn some extra change here and there, and I don’t mind that, really. But if it somehow takes away from my own bread and butter—either because I spend more time on it than I can afford to or because the people benefiting from my shared knowledge become serious competition in my line of work somehow—then I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s giving away any advantage I may have in my workplace, but at the same time it’s providing a better understanding about how I work and perhaps helping those new to the craft.

H.E. once told me that the really great and true professionals are those willing to share what they’ve learned—if you go up to them and ask for advice, they actually give it to you, and the advice is meaningful and of some great good; they don’t do as some people do, which is keep their knowledge secret so that no one else can benefit and end up being the competition. H.E. ought to know, as he has been mentored by some household names.

So his proclamation really struck me, and I wanted to be one of those people, the ones who share. I’ve been a newbie and in some ways still consider myself one. I’ve approached people and asked them how they do what they do, whether it had to do with illustration, design, or what resources they use for either. The good ones respond in great detail. The others don’t bother responding at all, as if the one thing they knew how to do was a secret recipe handed down from generation to generation, which must be jealously guarded for all time.

That’s why I write the tutorials. That’s why, when people write me asking what font I use or what stock photo site I use, I tell them.

I don’t do it because I owe it to anybody. I don’t do it out of obligation. I’m not required to share my knowledge, so I don’t like feeling forced to do it. I don’t mind people asking me when I’ll write step three on how to make stereograms. I mind people yelling at me because I haven’t done it yet.

I’ll get to it one day, I promise. I just don’t want to feel like I’m being held at gunpoint while I’m doing it.

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