It's the beginning of the year, and I wanted to plan out how I think my 2023 is going to go. Of course, things are going to come up, but this is the general idea of how I would love my year to pan out.
Finish my graphic novel this year
I have finished all my thumbnails and have sent them out for notes. This month, my hand is itching to start, but I’m trying to pace myself. Hopefully, with all the planning beforehand, the actual production of pages, which includes drawing, inking, and coloring, will come together smoothly.
Crowdfunding Campaign
I’m excited about finishing my book and holding it in my hands. When it's ready, I would love to create a crowdfunding campaign. Not only will it help with the financial aspects of book production, but it will also help build a community. I didn’t make a graphic novel; we did! I would love to have a brightly colored page at the back of the book with all the supporters' names listed below.
Rethinking Social media
2022 definitely took me for a spin. I wanted to post more about me making a book, the behind-the-scenes, the tutorials, and a diary of trying to figure it out with a full-time job. Then AI happened! I mean, it was already here, but it ramped up. Now, there is a fear of posting original content on social media with no guarantee that it is safe from AI scraping or people trying to bait artists into lawsuits. I really have to rethink my relationship with social media and posting my art.
Getting better at Drawing
An artist's work is never done. I would love to get better at color and be more adventurous. I want to draw more backgrounds. I love drawing portraits of people, but I want to draw these characters in giant spaces that tell more story. I want my characters to be crazy shapes, big, expressive, and loud. I need to stop trying to toe the line between realistic and pretty and make my own version of the Muppets! Muppets don’t look realistic, but that doesn’t stop them from having emotions, telling jokes, or connecting with people, and I would love to be in that mindset.
There is way more on my personal vision board, but this will do on the art side of it. I want to look back and see how much I got done, hopefully all of it! Thank you for being on this ride with me, and hopefully, there will be a lot of art to come.