A musing of a beginner blogger/art business owner

[twedeenimbus]

One step at a time. One baby step at a time.

One brick at a time, the foundation is being built.

The Christmas Songbird series has a lot of potential. I could create more pages showcasing various species of songbirds in their native habitant across the United States with holiday themes. I have another coloring page series with supercells and tornadoes.

It's gradual. It will be for month, and it is okay, I reminded myself.

It is a quiet Saturday, and I am sitting next to open window. As the winds picks up and dust begins to blow, I am enjoying the warmth of of autumn desert air.

Little by little, it is okay to take it slow at the beginning. I suffered a major burnout when I moved to Nevada, and it was accumulation of years' worth of intense stress. I want flexibility, work-life balance, and joy. I just started my life over again, and it is okay. Art business takes time to grow. At least I finally got first two pages of Piper's TreeHouse to publish on October 31st, and it's a major milestone after just the first month.

I only have two Christmas Songbird pages, and I have three more lined up before Christmas. I have a plan for bundle sale too.

Comments

So happy for you. 😊

[jasonderoga86]

Your renewed ambition for your art business and your new life in Nevada is wonderful and I wish only the best for you! This reminds me of when I finally graduated from college in -- as luck would have it -- 2020 of all years. That year really tested my limits, mentally and physically. But the fact that I had graduated during arguably the worst year of my life so far, as well as the fact that I had finally accepted that my graphic novels didn't need validation, perfection, or fame and fortune was a big step for me. Prior to that year, the very thought of working on my comics was literally paralyzing -- I had to really force myself to draw because for some reason I was afraid of it, and burnout pretty much happened on every attempt. Even my collaborator, Nick Vollmer, had to help me find myself again in comics. My local bookstore, which carries my graphic novels, also reached a milestone of their own: 2020, despite Covid lockdowns, was actually their BEST YEAR in terms of sales. They actually made the most sales in the worst of years!

All of this, along with me adopting the Serenity Prayer, has allowed me to stare negativity in the face and say, "Not interested." Yes, life is definitely not all sugar and rainbows. But I can choose to either take it in stride or wallow in misery and anticipate more horrible things happening. As I take into account the significance of all the blessings and accomplishments I've achieved, I choose what feels best: following the light instead of the shadows.

Funny you should mention October 31st -- that's my birthday! 😆

Re: So happy for you. 😊

[twedeenimbus]

That's good! I had issues with ComicFury because I wasn't getting real good support, and I had some people make fun of my characters to the point I hated my characters. I didn't ask for criticism, and those aren't really constructive criticism anyway. It's hurtful. Also, it felt like my work had been ignored while others got lot of feedback. JM was one of my strongest supporters, and he's gone now.

In a few years, I had to deal with strained relationship and online drama on ComicFury, especially Discord. I dropped out of the OCT, and I'm relieved now. It turned out to be good choice to move away from ComicFury and forge my own path. I decided to put my comic behind paywall because I need to buy materials to make them. I love making traditional comics more than digital ones. I had been doing some digital comics, and it didn't really appeal to me much after a few years.

I just don't need drama.

I was consider erasing everything I had there, but I just didn't bother. I already had good things going at this point.

I'm thinking about joining Medium.

Re: So happy for you. 😊

[jasonderoga86]

The fact that you have forged your own path and left a hostile environment is a testament to your strength and tenacity to keep following your light. I had faced much trolling on another webcomic site, so I can relate to no longer feeling welcome in a community like that. It's a shame that there are so many people who get a kick out of trash-talking (and even threatening) others online using the shield that is the screen and the infamous "Anonymous" or "Guest" username. They think this makes them powerful, but in reality it couldn't be any more cowardly.

The loss of JM triggered so much unresolved grief for me, namely that of a very close uncle of mine who took his own life 2 years ago; the pain was still there even after the celebration of his life in early September of last year, I believe. I had to leave social media entirely for a time as a result. At the time, I had exiled myself from the CF forums permanently (Matt and I had been targeted in a sort of smear campaign, complete with hate PMs), but JM's passing compelled me to come back one more time to send my condolences. Afterwards, I left once again.

I find Medium to be quite informative, but I still have to be a little wary. As with any blog site, there are some posts there that reek of radicalization and extremism, and I don't need that in my life.

Re: So happy for you. 😊

[twedeenimbus]

While I had no idea how you and Matt ended up being targeted in smear campaign, but I can understand how that feels.

I just joined Medium, but that's good point to be aware.

https://medium.com/@twedeenimbus/creating-traditional-comics-in-age-of-digital-art-d95b86a38602

Here's opinion piece I wrote.

Re: So happy for you. 😊

[jasonderoga86]

Congrats on signing up and writing an opinion piece so fast! I'm currently following you on Medium.

Re: So happy for you. 😊

[twedeenimbus]

Thanks!

[a_natural_beauty]

I'm glad things are looking up for you! You deserve it! Sometimes starting over is a good thing, it gives you perspective! One of my favorite sayings is to take it one day at a time. I'm proud of you. :)