October was a Rough One (Patreon)

Hey Artnerds,

October was a pretty awful month- Basil passed over the rainbow bridge just three days in, and if you know me at all, you know how much Basil meant to me.

If you have ever had the pleasure of loving a small mammal, the joy of a member of Rodentia taking a particular shine to you, then you know how I feel right now, and how much I miss my drawing buddy. For the past three years, almost every video I recorded had Basil on or around me at some point- in my lap, on my shoulder, or sitting on the chair behind me. He made it possible for me to get up during some of my worst Sjogren's flare-ups, and his passing has left a hole in my heart.

You don't have to 'get it'- some people are just not animal people, and some people are icked out by small mammals, just know that he meant the world to me, and that there's always a hole left when a beloved pet passes.

I'm sharing this because a lot of you DO get it- you have pet hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, ratties, and you know how bright they shine, despite their short lives.

In happier news:

Little Artists wrapped up with 35 inked illustrations. I've already shared the sketchbook and printables with Patrons. If you're interested in me releasing a spiral-bound coloring book on nicer quality paper, please let me know!

Some Sketches:

These aren't official, just something along the lines of my Louisiana foods series.

Louisiana Book Festival:

We spent the first Saturday of November at the Louisiana Book Festival!

Lilliputian Living Les Petits Plaisirs de la Vie was a guest of the Louisiana Book Festival, and I guess that means I was a guest too!

This isn't my first time as a guest of the Louisiana Book Festival- a few years ago, I was a guest with 7" Kara Volume 2 as well. Since that experience left something to be desired, I was hesitant to apply again, but decided that if we could sell some books, it'd be worth giving it another shot.

We purchased a mini-exhibitor booth (really, it's the size of a free library comic con table) for $375 so that we could have the space and opportunity to sell 7" Kara Volume 1 and 2 and Lilliputian Living The Compendium of Miniature Life and Les Petits Plaisirs de la Vie. When you're a guest of the festival, Cavilier Books handles the sale of the book that you're guesting for, but having an exhibitor booth allows us to hand-sell books as well as items like art prints, and allows us to provide some personality and the elevator pitch.

Unfortunately, the Louisiana Book Festival is a one-day show from 9am-4pm, and outdoors, so it's a rather short show with a high energy cost given the cost of the exhibitor booth. We had to set up that morning, rather than the night before, which made it necessary also to rent a hotel room, adding to the costs.

While I am somewhat satisfied with the amount of sales (this year has been absolutely terrible for me, business wise, so this is just keeping with the trend), the cost of an exhibitor space and the necessity of the hotel, as well as the wear and tear on my body makes it hard to justify the trip, especially since both Livingston Comic Con and Terrebonne Comic Con are free to table at and I tend to have better sales.

The Louisiana Book Festival was not a total loss, though! I had the opportunity to be on a panel with other neurodivergent (ASD, ADHD) creators to discuss how we approach creativity and creation.

Making Comics & Zines Class

I also taught a class in November on making zines and minicomics! If you're a Patron, I've shared the presentation with you. Zines and comics can be a wonderful way to introduce creative writing, illustration, and self-publishing to students!

Linesheet and working on wholesale by setting up a Faire account:

One of my goals for this year was to start getting my books and art prints into local shops, and to do that, I needed a linesheet! With Joseph's help, we put one together this summer and sent it out to a couple local shops, but have not heard back, so it's time to move on to STAGE TWO of this process- setting up and populating a Faire wholesale account.

Pop Up Shop at Needle & Thread Sewing Academy

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I've been working on creating fabric patterns for a local sewing school here in St Charles Parish. The goal is to offer these designs to anyone interested. The school is working with several area artists and a manufacturer to produce these swatches, but unfortunately there's been a delay in production, and thus, my pop up event has been postponed, but we're trying to figure out new dates.

Recently released videos you may have missed:

Daiso Art Supplies & Stationery Haul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9quHbqrdug

The Secret Pen that Makes Fountain Pen Ink Come Alive- Sailor Hocoro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik4FV33NOVE&t=10s

Trying Out Colorverse Fountain Pen Inks & Their Shuttle Nib: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KleqXBSN1yU&t=53s

Super Easy Ink and Wash Tutorial! Ink and Paint Autumn Leaves and Pumpkins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE6_7ri6nlI&t=4s

I Spent $$$ on Weird Japanese Nibs so You Don't Have To: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8mcCEKOcG0