I’m going to be MIA and away from the keyboard from July 14 to July 20 or 21. Family is going to be visiting.
I WILL, however, be at the Toledo Comic Arts Festival this Saturday!
The event is at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library’s Main Branch in downtown Toledo, from 10 am to 4 or 5 pm. I will also be participating in a quick draw event at 3, competing against other artists to see *who can be the best*!
If you can make it to Toledo Comic Arts Fest, I hope to see you there! If not, I’ll be back online after the 20th.
Webcomics and newsletter updates will continue as normal, though!
That’s all for now. Thank you for your understanding!
So the Be Excellent Festival of Games happened on Saturday. How did it go?
Well…it was quiet for the first half of the day. It didn’t pick up until the second half. In talking with the other vendors, it made me wonder what the staff’s strategy was to get the word out about this event. This wasn’t the first show I visited that lacked attendees but charged $80 per vendor table.
For context, Genghis Con in Cleveland opened for applications and happens in December this year. They’re charging $70 for a full table and regularly turn out 4 to 5 times the attendance that Be Excellent Does.
Now, I know this is Be Excellent’s second year as a convention. And this is “post-pandemic.” But it does make me wonder about the longevity of some shows, especially local ones.
So there’s the issue of smaller attendance numbers. But there’s also my body.
The day after Be Excellent, I lost my voice for half of the day and was too worn out to do much of anything. This is very different from before. I used to be able to do three or four conventions in a month and, while rough, I still was ok.
Now? I’m pooped after one event that had no customers until 3 hours into the show.
I think it’s time I start to phase out of doing conventions.
Whether that means taking up a “day job,” or putting more eggs in online sales, commissions, gallery shows, etc – I need to stop doing conventions. It’s funny because pre-pandemic, I had serious thoughts of retiring from cons. Now, I think it’s time to start acting on that plan.
I’m going to be sad about this for a bit. Because conventions were a big part of how I made an income pre-pandemic. But the world has changed, so I need to do the same.
I’m still going to the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Fest and the Free RPG Day event. And if I get into Genghis Con, I will honor that. But I need to respect my body more.
Speaking of Ann Arbor, you can find me this upcoming weekend – June 15 and 16 – at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival! I still have Caticorn prints and lots of stickers and books available, so be sure to stop by my table.
I still had fun at the Be Excellent Festival! It helped that my roommate and buddy Alex was with me. And also I saw a lot of friends and hung out with some very cool neighboring vendors. Would I do it again next year? Probably not. I need to be kinder to my energy.
I have original pages from the production of webcomics available for sale!
There are a TON of pages available. I’ve been making webcomics since 2013, so production pages include:
The Case of the Wendigo
Thoughtful Dinosaur
Validation
Tiny Unicorn
The Legend of Jamie Roberts
Johnson & Sir
and Seeing Him!
The pages from these webcomics are now available in the Spring Cleaning Sale! These pages are USA-only, but to make up for it, shipping is free for all original art. All sales will help replace the broken equipment I have.
The Spring Cleaning Sale is open UNTIL MAY 6. But if you want something particular, snag it while you can – once these are sold, they’re gone forever. Payments are processed at the end of the campaign, so there’s no stress.
I’m highlighting products and pages during the sale, so stay tuned for updates!
Broke? Share the campaign far and wide with your friends! Sharing is caring and helps more than you know.
Recently, I gave my studio a makeover. (A video about that will drop on YouTube this Friday, too, if you want to watch it!) After that, I decided to go through storage for its own refresh!
I’ve been making comics and art as a pro since 2013. This means I have a LOT…like, a LOT…of original pieces and extra stock taking up space. It’s time to clear it out and make room for new, exciting projects!
But remember that once any of these are sold, they’re gone forever.
So if you see something you like, nab it while you can. This campaign is “all or nothing,” which means your payment processes at the end of the campaign.
“So wait,” I can hear you asking, “if this is all or nothing, what are you raising funds for?”
Since I’ve been making comics for a while, a lot of my tools need upgrading. In particular, I plan to raise funding for a backup external hard drive (to back up my work), a second monitor to make live streaming easier, a scanner, and a label printer ( to replace the printer/scanner machine that broke). All of these will help in making and shipping new work out faster.
If you want the first notification when the sale goes live, then sign up for the email newsletter! Newsletter peeps get first alerts (and also exclusive comics).
Today at 6 pm EST, feel free to lurk while I work on cat art for a new Crowdfundr AND draw more comics.
I’m running a Crowdfundr campaign for CATS: The Sketchbook, a collection of cat sketches I drew during Inktober last year. You can check out the campaign, but it’s not live until Friday. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter to get the first notice of when it opens!
To read my genderqueer pirate adventure comic, The Legend of Jamie Roberts, you can read the free version online, or you have the option to get the print version of volume 1 with remastered art and behind-the-scenes content like sketches and bonus comics. Volume 2 is coming to my online shop soon, I promise!
That’s all for now. Thank you for watching and for your support!
