Becca Hillburn

My Birthday and HS art stasis- Patreon Newsletter March 19th (Patreon)

Published:

2023-03-20 02:49:09

Imported:

2026-10

Tags:

backer newsletter backer update patreon newsletter patreon update

Content

Hey Artnerds!

Today is my birthday! At some point, I'd like to go on a swamp boat tour and see the Louisiana irises to celebrate, but today we celebrated in a small way with some tasty food, delicious cake, and bubble tea. I'm winding down my evening by writing to yall and painting a commission that has brought me much joy.

A Gusty Day

Yesterday we tabled at the Old Luling Fete. Right off River Road and right by the Mississippi River, Saturday was a gloomy, overcast day that sprinkled off and on. The constant wind off the river was worse than the cold and the rain. As a paper artist who mostly sells books, prints, and originals, the obstacles weather presents are often a challenge for me, and I've been finding ways of dealing with it. The wind was so bad that even the people who make handmade wooden signs struggled to fight the wind. We ended up with a very different setup than what we would normally do, and although we wanted to use our tent walls to help create some shelter from the weather, the walls wouldn't fit the tents they had.

If you're selling books, you HAVE to have them up so people can see them. It helps to have one open, so people can see what kind of books you have from a distance. If you sell coloring books, its helpful to have a demo copy out with a few different coloring materials. If you're selling art- original, prints, or postcards, a gridwall- either retail grids or cages, is a must. Art sells best when it's up, it's easier to envision it on your walls. It doesn't hurt to have a print rack for customers to flip through either. If you're at a bigger show, bigger banners with bigger art can be really helpful- especially at outdoor shows. And the more you can customize your pop up space, the better.

Here's my setup from the Destrehan Fall Fest to illustrate a setup I'm fairly happy with.

And here's my Old Luling Fete setup.

Bad weather. Settling on the display. You'd think the Old Luling Fete would've been a total wash. But it wasn't! The other vendors? All very talented, and all very nice. The organizers? Caring, considerate people open to feedback and criticism on how to improve the show. And the food? Not only did they feed us, but it was delicious! Shrimp and grits, prime rib crostini, jambalaya. And while there was music, it was on the other side of the building- just loud enough to hear and dance to, but not intrusive at all. Had the weather been beautiful, the Old Luling Fete would've been a knock outta the park.

Am I doing the Old Luling Fete next year? You bet. Joseph crunched the numbers, and hour by hour, I made more at the Old Luling Fete than the Destrehan Fall Fest. And while you can't control the weather, good table companions, great hosts, and tasty food are all good incentives.

High school Reunions

Do any of yall sorta dread running into people you knew from high school at conventions and craft fairs? Moving back to Louisiana, I'd wanted to reconnect with old friends, sure, but a part of me kinda dreads the possibility of seeing someone at a show that I knew way back when.

Yall need to know three things about me from high school.

I was PAINFULLY into anime at a time when like nobody was really into anime.

I was remedial AT BEST at drawing.

I drew comics on a daily basis, but didn't share them online, and didn't really even share them amongst my friends.

Here's an example of my old art, for reference:

It's happened a few times: at a Mechacon, at an MTAC, and at the Old Luling Fete. It's always someone I just barely knew at all, a friend of a friend or a friend of an ex. And it's never just random kismet that we happened to be at the same show, and they happened into my booth and remembered me. They recognized me and made a beeline.

The exchanges by now are predictable. They fall into one variation of three:

"Oh, you're still doing...this?"

"You look EXACTLY the same, and you were drawing this stuff then too!"

"You're still into that anime stuff?"

I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they mean well, but it's a little disheartening, mainly because they never really look at what I'm doing. They've beelined to my table, but don't pick up a single book and flip through it. They don't flip through the prints. Don't look at the originals. It quickly becomes about how much THEY have changed and all the things they've done, and I barely get a chance to talk about what I've been up to, let alone talk about my own journey.

And I mean, I kinda get it? Sometimes it's nice to get approval from someone you used to know, it's nice to hear how much you've grown and changed. When you didn't like who you were back then, it's really nice to hear that you aren't that person anymore.

My Art Journey

Comics and anime-inspired art has been a There and Back Again sort of story for me. While I guess to an outsider it looks like I've just stood still, I've dabbled with loads of different art styles, lived in two other states, hold a terminal degree, have drawn hundreds of comic pages, and have done all sorts of work besides what they see when they quickly glance across my table. When you know how many things I've tried, how many times I've failed, and how many times I've had to start from scratch, yeah, it IS cool that I'm still doing this thing that I've loved since I was a young teenager. Because fate sure has had other plans for me.

Of course, I wish I had gone further. I wish I had more to show for all that time. I wish I could swing a bigger bat, leave a bigger impact, had the ability to make a bigger difference in my own life and the lives of people like me. It wasn't for lack of trying. But I also know there are thousands of other creatives like me who feel exactly the same. Creative careers are victims of survivorship bias. People assume you're only worth knowing if they've already heard of you.

At this point, these feelings are on ME. I'm probably projecting. I'm the one who sees no change, no movement, no improvement when I look at myself through their eyes. But I also wish they took the time to actually look and listen before laying their own life stories out for my approval.

And for the record, I never went to any of my high school reunions. They always forget to invite me and I'm good with being forgotten.

Your Art Journey

I wanted to share with yall for a couple reasons. I wanted to ask do you experience high school art stasis, and how you handle it if so. Because I realize this is a missed opportunity to talk up my art and maybe reconnect. But I also wanted to share this for those who have dealt with it or similar and also don't know how to deal with it.

New to the Public:

Saturday, Little Mushroom Girl- Watercolor Art & Chat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFoNxSc02i0&t=1s (watercolor, watercolor tutorial, watercolor painting, watercolor art

Tuesday Weird, Wild, and Wonderful- Watercolor Brushes from Ali Express: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUrZmn4Z35A (watercolor brushes, watercolor supplies)