Well guys, thanks for all the kind words. From posting these same pictures on a different forum, I actually got my first commissioned portrait. It looks like my "hourly return" with drawing will be a little higher than with knives, but not too much. I'm thinking about cutting back from about 25 knives a year to 6 or 8 super nice ones and focusing a bit more on artwork. I'd love to get into scrimshaw or especially engraving, but I've got more hobbies than I've got time for. I think engraving may be in my future, but I'm going to try to delay that as long as I can.
I'm a bit concerned that whatever reputation as a knifemaker I may have developed may eventually simply fade away if I cut my production that much. On the flipside, perhaps the artwork will lend my knifemaking a bit more credibility. What do y'all think?