Happy April!
Hello, friends, and happy April!
Not gonna lie, I'm in a slight state of shock at the fact that it's actually April now-- we're starting the SECOND QUARTER of the year today! Denial might be the word I'm looking for lol.
I hope April isn't being too hard on your allergies this year, if you have them, btw!
I want to take a moment and say thank you to everyone who recently signed up for the newsletter, and thank you to everyone who's been around for a while, too! I really appreciate y'all being here, and I'm so glad to have a space where I can share my work with you in a more connected way than through the dictations of social media algorithms. Thank you, all!
March Reflections
March was all about continuing to reflect on the portfolio review I received from Maite Leon and contemplating all the ways I would like to improve on and move forward with my work. (New subscribers, if you'd like more context, feel free to read March's archive, but you should be able to follow along today even if you don't!) I spent a lot of time these last few weeks dedicating myself to studying, updating my portfolio and website, researching marketing, and, as you know, shutting down my Instagram page.
It's been a lot of work, but I'm feeling deeply satisfied and relieved at this change. I've already felt less stressed, more focused, and more capable than the last 12 months combined lol.
I think it helps a lot, too, that I've been participating more in the Cartoonist Cooperative and seeing a positive and almost immediate impact from my contributions there. Getting that kind of feedback about the ideas I have and implement has been so rewarding, and I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be working with a collective of like minded artists all intent on community building and improving working conditions for cartoonists.
My social anxiety is still very much a thing, but getting more experience working collaboratively has been a wonderful antidote to some of that, and seeing that my work has been meaningful and directly helpful to many has made me so happy.
In the Studio
Most of my art-making energy has been put toward all the admin work these last few weeks, which is design of a different kind lol: updating and simplifying my portfolio (check it out and lemme know what you think!), making spreadsheets to track my marketing approach, researching, and so on.
My art-art ventures last month were primarily about making some farewell Instagram graphics, creating graphics for the Co-op's newsletter to use, and, in my downtime, working on a couple of crib quilts for some new friends coming into the world soon! (K and M, this is a surprise for other M, so if you see this, no you didn't! lol)
Here's what I made for the farewell post on Instagram:
I made this on a whim, wanting something more than just a text-based goodbye note, and wanting to leave behind something fresh that indicates what my work is more currently about. I was pretty pleased with the results! I've been enjoying working with these bright colors lately, especially the cyan.
I'm trying to give myself more permission to explore and experiment with things in my art, and I've always been drawn to textiles. I've been considering finally incorporating them into my work-- think of how cool it would be to see fat disabled appliquéd quilts! Or a comic made entirely of fabric!
It's so exciting to think of these new possibilities with my work, and I'm looking forward to sharing them here with you as I try them out!
I've also been trying to find ways to play with simplification and color more, and I had fun creating these images for the Co-op members-only newsletter of the mascots Inkling and Nibford:
A lot of what I'll be doing the next few weeks is studying and practicing making editorial work to include more of in my portfolio. I'm still going to make comics, but I need some income from this kind of work, too, and I want to improve my skills and beef up my portfolio a bit more before I reach out to art directors.
The quilts I've been making are for my friend and her expected twin babies coming soon, and I decided to go with a scrappy approach. I really like scrap quilts in general, and I wanted to make something my friend wouldn't feel too precious about using with babies and all their mess lol.
I'm also planning on making a quilt for her older kiddo once these are completed, for her birthday later this year. I'll be piecing that one together into a more involved design since she's older now, and I'm excited to give her something that will hopefully age well with her.
I'm hoping to have more art to share with you next month! I'll be studying a lot, though, so it may not happen the way I'd like it to lol. By the time I've been reaching the end of each day and have time to make art, my brain has been so fried that I just look at funny cats and pretty art and quilts til I fall asleep lol.
Who knows, maybe spring weather will give me a boost! heh heh
UM Campaign
I am SO excited for this comic by the amazing artist buttercup, and I had to share the campaign for it with y'all!! They just reached 100% of their goal yesterday, and I'm so glad we'll be getting this in print!
I love that they worked with Jamila Rowser, Steenz, and Radiator Comics to make this come true, too-- such a phenomenal team of creators and indie publisher!
"UM is a magical girl comic about Eugenée, a Black, nonbinary, aspiring birth-worker who finds themself mixed up in a millennia-old conflict between the powers that be and a faction of cosmic, shamanic midwives. UM Vol.1 is intended for readers 18+.
UM is an ongoing webcomic, updated most Saturdays at https://um.the-comic.org. buttercup mixes mysticism, superhero tropes, and slice-of-life drama into a compelling narrative. With UM , buttercup seeks to craft a text with the essence of the storied history of resistance within the African Diaspora against global imperialism using imaginative play and science-fantasy as a liberation praxis, and a foundation for realizing Black continuity into the distant future."
Today is the LAST DAY to back the campaign, so be sure to check it out soon if you want to snag your own copy of it! Oh, and check out this great interview between buttercup and Broken Frontier if you get a chance 👀
Comics Read in March
My brain was so fried this last month, it could barely read comics, y'all, that's how you KNOW how tired I've been lately 😂 Here are the very few I did read in March, though, and I can't recommend enough that you head over to Black Josei Press and pick up a copy of The Gift and Gladiolus Magazine! So wonderful!
- Something's Wrong with Us, Vol. 18
- The Gift
- Barn Owl
Minis + Micros Online:
- Mama Is Going to Nap for Twenty Minutes
- Even Stars Have Travel Buddies
- because
- But My Dragon Is Cool as Hell???
- Crab Comic (you want the sound on for this one, trust me)
- You've lost tulip-planting privileges.
- Have You Not Heard of Like. Food Delivery Services
- Dog Domestication, Cat Domestication
- Morgana and Oz Season 3 Will Be a Romantic Comedy about Tommy and Rory
- This Is Why Sex ED Is Important (content warning for sexual harassment, including from family members)
Recent Favorites
Here are some of my recent favorites!
- visiting the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with my partner
- I completely forgot to mention this earlier, but True Detective: Night Country!! SO GOOD omg
- my lungs finally healing after getting sick in January lol
- sunnier days, magnolia blossoms, and our neighborhood flock of house sparrows stopping by more often
- this beautiful, cozy fabric collection called Hibernation from Tilda that I plan to make a quilt for myself with
What have you been loving lately? 💖
See You Next Time!
Well, that's all for today! Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful April 💖 I'll talk to you soon!
With love,
they/them
