Tag: indie artists

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Halloween Ko-Fi Talk

I hope you can join me today from 1 pm to 3 pm EST on YouTube! I’m hosting a Ko-Fi talk with my writing friend Melanie and my comic buddy Ben Wright-Heuman.

What will we talk about in the livestream? Anything and everything from National Novel Writing Month to my recent switch to Ko-Fi!

That’s right – I switched away from Patreon, and went to Ko-Fi instead.

Why? Here’s the thing: I’ve been on Patreon since 2014, and Patreon support has helped fund over half of my comics. But they’ve been rolling out new features WITHOUT fixing the errors they have in their system. Like dropping pledges without warning to the patron OR the creator.

So I’m switching to Ko-Fi for a smoother, less glitchy experience.

Also, Ko-Fi has features that Patreon does not. Things like:

  • the ability to buy a coffee for your favorite creator,
  • giving JUST ONCE. (A monthly subscription is optional).
  • a shop feature!
  • a feature that lets you place a commission request from me!

(Seriously, how has Patreon not implemented those features?)

If you have any questions or concerns, this livestream is the best time to ask. So again, I’ll be streaming TODAY from 1 pm to 3 (ish) pm EST. Ask your questions over on YouTube.

If it’s not addressed in the livestream, I’ll write up a post to go in more depth about the switch. In the meantime, there are more details about rewards and what I’m trying to fund over on Ko-Fi.

Hope you can join us! Thank you for your support.

You. Are. Awesome.

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Johnson & Sir’s Future

johnson and sir book cover

Today I want to talk about the future of Johnson & Sir, the comic I made back in 2013 about 2 elf cops in Fantasyville.

I made this comic in a different time, with a different mindset. I primarily made this story as an inside joke between myself and close friends and family to parody cop shows and dynamics. Heck, it originally came about when one of my sisters and I made up satirical dialogue between two cop characters in the Jak and Daxter games – and the cops were corrupt in the original source material.

Is this a justification for why I made Johnson & Sir? Maybe.

What I DO know is that right now, in this point in history of 2020, the police system as a whole needs a complete overhaul. I feel like I don’t have to say why.

To profit off a comic about Fantasyville cops, even a parody of the institution of policing, seems to me in bad taste right now.

Also, over the last few years, Johnson & Sir just hasn’t sold very well at comic conventions or online. Johnson & Sir aren’t in my top 5 bestsellers list anymore, to be truthful.

So with these conditions (and a few others) in mind, I’ve taken down Johnson & Sir’s listing on my online store, as well as the listing for the original art from the production of it.

The website for Johnson & Sir is still live for now, but I have not monetized that site. The website may or may not be taken down. That decision still has yet to be made.

That said, I’m still sitting on 40+ copies of this book. I had ordered so many towards the start of this year because I thought comic conventions would still be a thing. NOT ANYMORE.

For now, these books will sit in storage, until such a point that I decide to list the book again for sale – with a disclaimer on the inside front cover.

If you have issues with this decision, I have a few things to say to you:

First, you’re allowed to be angry. But understand that I don’t have to babysit you while you sit in your anger. You are in charge of your emotions. You are responsible for what you feel. Figure out what to do for yourself.

Second, I’m not changing my mind about this decision.

Third, if you’re still wondering why I would even make this decision, go check out privtoprog on Instagram, or this list of books and podcasts to educate yourself. There are resources for you to learn. I am not here to be your teacher right now.

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

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Taking A Break From Livestreaming

I’m taking a short break from livestreaming.

Right now I have a LOT of work to catch up on (including behind-the-scenes stuff for Validation, NeverEnding, and The Legend of Jamie Roberts). After that…

Well, after that I want to run these streams differently.

For one thing, I’m going to bring the schedule down to doing one new stream a month.

For another thing, I’ll be doing giveaways during these monthly livestreams – I’m still sitting on a LOT of books and art.

Also, I want to do more than just drawing live. With convention season and workshops not being things for the foreseeable future, I would like to do more tutorial livestreams.

Just to spitball some ideas, these are the sorts of workshops, panels, etc I would be participating in during convention season. Let me know which of these topics you’d like me to talk about in next month’s livestream:

  • How to Make Webcomics
  • LGBTQ representation in comics
  • How to Make a Minicomic
  • Character Design That’s Awesome

In the meantime, I’ll be taking a break from posting online (stream or otherwise) until the week of July 15. But I’ll be in the comments…lurking…

Anyway – thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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Throwback Thursday – Phoenix

x-men phoenix marker and ink sketch from 2013

Today’s Throwback Thursday is going to reveal how much of an absolute hipster I am. Because here’s why I drew Phoenix from X-Men:

I’ve never read the comics that featured Phoenix. I only ever saw X-Men 3 for context for who Phoenix is. (And looking back on it, X-Men 3 wasn’t that good).

I drew Phoenix because of the aesthetic.

I wanted to play around with shadows and light on a superhero figure, and this sketch was the result. This was drawn back in 2013, so I’ve improved since then.

But yep – I’m a freakin’ hipster. Only hipsters would draw a character because they looked cool, not because of anything actually pertaining to the character.

So please forgive 2013 me.

Still, I wanted to share this so a) you could learn from my mistake, and b) because I’m actually pretty pleased with how this sketch came out.

If I ever do a redraw of this, I would change the character to someone whom I actually know and like.