Back From Hiatus (Patreon)

I have started writing so many Patreon updates during the hiatus only to abandon them because they got too long, I became too busy, or migraines stole days.  So to combat that, I'm going to keep this one simple.

A Scrapped Project:

In early February, I was contacted by a member of the Jambalaya Festival committee about doing their poster for 2023.    I was excited by the possibility- I've been trying to make my mark as a Louisiana artist for over a decade, and doing a poster for a festival would be a great opportunity.  Of course, I figured I was one of probably many artists submitting pitches, but I was happy to just be up for consideration.

They asked me come by with some sketches, and while they didn't like any of my cartoonier art, I fortunately brought a variety of originals with me, including some more realistic pieces.  I also had some excellent ideas, and two seemed to appeal to the people I talked to.  I also asked about how they were considering proposals, and found that they were only considering one other artist, and were leaning away from working with him.  So my chances sounded pretty promising.

Jambalaya Recipe Comic Poster:

One of the ideas they liked and wanted to see a sketch for was a Recipe Comic poster design that could double as a postcard.  This idea would require a lot of work (they were clear about not wanting spot color), but I really liked it and thought it would be a nice departure from their normal poster design.

Jambalaya State Poster

While this design wasn't quite as out there, I really liked it and was excited to move forward with it.  This is the design the person I corresponded with selected.

We went back and forth with suggestions and corrections-this went on for about a month- switched out sponsors, added details to the sketch.   They requested I do a color version.  At this point, we hadn't signed anything conclusive- all corrections were made to make my pitch more appealing to the Jambalaya Festival Committee.

Unfortunately for me, another committee member had already talked to another artist, and I guess they decided to go with that person.  They were supposed to get back to me with either an agreement for another year's poster, or payment for the work done, but I haven't heard from them since.

I guess I need to poke them about payment since they agreed to pay me for my time with the sketches and color comps, but honestly?  I'd almost rather they not, as that would allow me to finish up the illustration to my own taste and offer it as a print.

This was a pretty big blow, but fortunately, another commission opportunity came up that I was also very excited about, so it hasn't hurt as badly as it might have in the past.  I will say that this happens to me A LOT- people are very excited about my work, things seem like they're going well, and then someone else appears who's way shinier than I can be, and the rug is pulled.  However, I feel like I've become more resilient over the years to this sort of thing- I don't love self-employment, and I really would love to work with more people, but self-employment- conventions, teaching- gives me flexibility that illustration exclusive freelance can't offer.  I'm fortunate that this is more an ego blow than a huge financial downfall, but losing such a great opportunity to attract a larger audience and find future paying illustration work is a shame.

I wanted to tell yall about this because I thought some of yall might have gone through something similar, and it might be nice to know you aren't alone.  I have been rug pulled by publishers, editors, businesses, individuals, and schools and all I can say is don't just give away the good stuff.  Don't give them unfettered access to your presentations and lesson plans (read only), to your outlines for book pitches, or the .psd's to your sketches.

Finished Watercolors:

All that Jambalaya Festival back and forth took up A LOT of time, but I still made time to do a little painting.

I recorded the process and hope to share them as tutorials soon!

Watercolor Studies:

Working on the Kickstarter Campaign:

Sometimes on Patreon I like to talk about problems I'm struggling with because sometimes my solutions might help another artist, or someone may have had an experience similar and may be able to offer some insight or advice.  I used to do that frequently on the blog, and it can be a bit difficult to write about because writing about failure is challenging.  It can be embarrassing and means admitting a struggle or a weakness that others might not be aware of, and sometimes being vulnerable as an artist really does open us up to attack.  And sometimes, it sounds like I'm just complaining, when that isn't my intention at all.  And as an ADHD artist, I feel like there's just always something I'm struggling with.

Most of yall know that a couple years ago, we had a Kickstarter to print Volume 2.  We were able to get the second volume laid out and sent off to the printer reasonably quickly, and got Volume 2, 1, and even a perfect bound printing of Lilliputian Living out to backers by that Christmas.  I worked on the charm designs and got the files sent out to Zap, and then just kinda stalled out while life happened around me.

In the words of the immortal William Murderface Murderface

"I ain’t gonna do stuff give a bro a breakWhy is stuff so hard?"

(By the way, this is the song I play when it's night and I'm out of spoons and I still have work to get done.  It doesn't solve the problem, but it makes me laugh and sometimes that's what you need).

It's not that I didn't try.  I'd pick things up and pick at them.  I went back and forth with Zap for a while, and after about a year, the charms came in.  I painted 10 designs for postcards and ordered them, HATED how they printed and painted 10 more designs for postcards.  Ordered those, liked them better and got them packed, but not sent out.  I really felt like I was just kinda paddling water and not really making much progress, and grew tired of feeling guilty.

After a lot of deliberation, I finally decided to eat my pride and ask Joseph to manage the rest of the project.  I really struggled with the logistics- emailing people and checking mailing addresses, memorizing the numbers needed for fulfillment, managing my time. I'm able actually to make the things, but the organization of it was something I just kept struggling with, and any time a natural disaster or family emergency reared its head, I was immediately knocked off track again.

Joseph's pretty great at project management- as a software developer, he often manages several projects simultaneously.  And while he's been helping me all along the way, I needed to eat my pride and free myself up to focus on working on fulfilling the rest of the Kickstarter rather than struggling with guilt and organization.

The more I talk to other artists with ADHD, the more I find that many of us rely on a partner- be it a romantic partner, a parent, a sibling, a good friend- to help with the logistics.  Considering how many artists identify as having ADHD, I wish this was more openly discussed.  A lot of the media out there is very bootstrappy still- a single artist juggling it all.  And while I'm sure some artists can do that, or form collectives and hire a manager, or find an agent, or work for a studio, I know there are also a lot of artists who aren't able to do it all, and feel like they're failures for not being able to.

Early Access:

It Came from AliExpress: 48 Half Pan Mystery Palette- Student Grade Showdown: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-it-79377155

Brea Reese Watercolor Kit Review & Fieldtest- Student Grade Showdown: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-kit-79365340

KingArt Pro Watercolor Half Pans VS KingArt Studio Watercolor Pan Set: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-pro-79359994

Miya Travel Palette Unbox & Swatch- Student Grade Showdown & Art Supply Redemption: https://www.patreon.com/posts/miya-travel-art-79359594

Early Access: Drawing The Head & Face+ Recommended Artbooks- Drawing Class: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-79296588

New to the Public:

Saturday, Feb 21st: Back from My Youtube Hiatus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh7YXujqeSo

Tues, Feb 28th: Tackling Art Challenges and Leveling Up Your Art- Art Vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB4uEy8fYVc&t=10s

Saturday, March 4th: Finished Sketchbook Tour Lilliputian Living Art Challenge 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLvzTW7sdMU

Favorite Shorts:

Let's Make a Mini Watercolor Palette: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VaOAbxtoOM8

Painting Some Mushrooms in Watercolor: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OZ-mMS48PwQ

Peeling Masking Fluid: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dGt7uv86Wms

Painting More Watercolor Mushrooms: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pXSPLI8IomA

Painting More Mushrooms: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xF204Mtlgak