Issue 38: Fresh Art, Fresh Hair
Anti-censorship actions, August events, and more!
Hello hello, friends and good folk!
I’m so glad it’s August— because that means we’re one step closer to fall here by me!! 😆 I’m so ready, y’all 🥲
It’s been another busy couple of weeks, with several deadlines happening all at once, but it’s a kind of chaos that I’m grateful to have because it means I’m doing fun and cool things with fun and cool people 🥰
Oh yeah— I got a hair cut! And it’s a mullet, no less!
This was my first cut since 2021, and I’m loving it! I love how shaggy it is and how it lets my waves curl up a bit more without having to do much at all. And I had almost forgotten what a short shower felt like, it’s so wonderful to be back to them 🥲 But my favorite part is not having my long-ass hair get stuck in my armpits anymore 😂
Shout-out to Lillian at Hairrari for doing such a great job and for wearing a mask during my visit! Now I can concentrate on my work better lol
Speaking of work, it feels like I might need to update my profile illustration soon 🤔 My partner proposed that I just slap a new hair style on top of the current one like a sticker, and I’m not gonna lie, that idea absolutely delighted me! 😂
ANTI-CENSORSHIP ACTIONS
Art by GreedyGulo
If you’re not part of the indie comics or indie game worlds, you may not have heard yet that there’s some pretty terrible people making our lives harder, especially for our NSFW and queer content creators. They’re doing this by harassing payment processors to stop allowing payment transactions purchasing adult content and queer/trans content, and payment processors have been all too eager to comply with a very small minority of people being vocal about their bigotry.
The payment processors have in turn begun to pressure a comics stronghold— itch(.)io — into banning adult and queer content. While I don’t love itch’s response, the bulk of the blame is owed to the payment processors and these little fascist shitlords who think they have the right to control everyone around them.
Payment processors (think Stripe, PayPal, etc.) are unfortunately essential to online businesses— there currently really aren’t any viable, sustainable alternatives for artists to accept payment at this point, and since pretty much all online payments go through these same processors, this is something that impacts artists of many industries all over the world on multiple sites beyond just itch.
In plainer language: this isn’t something we can get around by just moving our businesses to another website.
This issue isn’t just an artists’ issue either— the people interested in banning adult content are the same ones who think other groups of people shouldn’t exist, migrate, or have rights, so fighting back at every junction is critical. Luckily, we also have numbers on our side!
Check out our official statement page to see how you can help creators around the world fight back, even if you’re not an artist yourself. We have scripts in multiple languages, contact information, and other ways you can support your favorite artists on there. We even have a really cool, one-click button option to email all of our protest targets at once!
IN THE STUDIO
In lighter news, I finished this piece sooner rather than later after all lol!
I had to send some samples of my work over to the ALA team to be featured on their website, and since this one was so close to being done, I figured it would be nice to finish this and include it. So here we are! 😁
Even though I think I need to improve my use of light and shadows, I’m still pretty pleased with how this turned out— all the greens being so similar were stressing me out a bit, but I kept gradually tweaking them until they felt much better. I dono when shades of cyan became one of my favorite colors to use in my work, but I’m enjoying it!
And because I personally always enjoy seeing a work in its different stages, here’s a look at them side by side:
AUGUST EVENTS + ONGOINGS
On August 21, I’ll be presenting a workshop for Co-op members called Alt Text for Comics, where I’ll walk folks through how to create and share accessibility tools like alt text and transcripts for, well, comics! I’m excited to talk about this subject because I’m passionate about accessibility in general and also because I know a lot of people would like to provide access to their work (who doesn’t want more readers, right?) but feel intimidated by starting or scared they’re gonna do it wrong.
To help work through that feeling, I’ve got exercises we’ll do together and examples to share using my own art and comics, as well as different ways to approach creating alt text and tips on incorporating it into your workflow.
Time to Make Your Comic! is also still going on strong this month! We’re still meeting every Monday night at 7-8:30 PM ET to make comics together for an hour then share our progress for 30 minutes. I’ve absolutely adored every single minute of these sessions— I love seeing everyone’s work, and I have laughed SO hard at everyone’s super funny jokes and goofing off. It’s been a delight! 🥰
While I’m looking forward to getting a lil down time next month, I’m also gonna miss all these get-togethers, and I definitely can see us reviving TTMYC in the future 💖 If you’re a member, I hope you’ll be able to join us (or watch the recording of the Alt Text one after!), and if you’re a comics creator who’s not yet a member, I hope you’ll join us in the Co-op!
SOLIDARITY ACTIONS
Art by Kan Pham
It’s been too long since I last shared some links on how to support folks dealing with the atrocities the US government is directly complicit in. Here are some places to check out and consider contributing to if you have the funds to do so!
You can help folks in Sudan facing what is currently the largest hunger and displacement crisis being inflicted in the world right now by donating to Khartoum Kitchen Aid, which helps to provide food and medicine to the many people who need it.
You can also help folks in Palestine being forced through the ongoing genocide by donating to the Sameer Project, which is a donations-based aid initiative for Gaza led by Palestinians.
You can also contribute eSIMs through the Co-op’s eSIMs for Gaza campaign!
CO-OP NEWS
In light of how much work is involved for all of the committees I participate on in the Co-op, I’ve made the decision to step down from the Newsletter Committee! I resigned on July 30th, and I gotta say, while I’ll miss being part of the team to help bring the news to our members there, I’m also feeling lighter with just two committees now.
It’ll also be nice to just have to focus on this one newsletter for my own work here with y’all 🥰
So moving forward, fellow Co-op members, you’ll find me still as Chair of the Events Committee and member of the NIF Committee, particularly the Promo Team! (Oh wait, I forgot that I’ll still be doing Co-op newsletters through Promo Team! So you’ll still see me there throughout the year 😂)
RECENT READS + FAVORITES
I gotta confess, I didn’t really have a lot of time to read these last couple of weeks, and I actually only just started this super cute comic from Angela Hsieh, who is, as Kody Okamoto put it, my ALA sibling! lol
And here are some of my favorite things from the past few weeks:
Eating: fresh cherries, as well as a very tasty strawberry donut from Dun-well Doughnuts
Watching: rewatching Sinners and all the Jurassic Park movies (a summer tradition 😌✨)
Listening: the Mullet Anthem 😂 (came across this gem while looking for reference photos to share with my hair stylist lol)
Using: illustrated greeting cards from Rachel Corcoran across the pond!
Doing: Time to Make Your Comic! It’s been so much fun!
How about you? What have been some of your favorite things lately?
Hope this week is kind to you 💖 Thanks for reading!
