Year of the Rabbit - January's Riso Subscription Print (Patreon)

This year I was asked by Giant Robot, the Los Angeles based gallery and shop, to make a Year of the Rabbit piece for their Annual Lunar New Year show. So I decided to use it as this month's Patreon print as well! This one was printed in Kelly Green, Fluorescent Orange and Yellow. These will be going out this weekend or early next week, if you paid on January 1st you'll be receiving this and the new witchcook print in the mail soon! Please make sure your address is correct. 

I wanted to make a piece about looking forward to the year ahead, but at the same time I'm feeling a little apprehensive about the next year. I'm letting it wash over me instead of running towards it, basically.

There are a lot of unknowns for this year and I'm trying to keep an open mind. I'm ready to just continue on and try and keep my passions for drawing and fantasy art close to my heart. Remembering why I love what I do is a big part of me being able to sit down and work every day, this patreon helps keep my most precious goals in mind. 

I've been seeing friends for lunch lately, just creating spontaneous dates so we can catch up, talk about art, and share our year's goals. A lot of friends I talk to are worried about AI, the animation industry, the comics/publishing industry and the state of making work for social media and how bleak all that feels. I can't understate the anxiety artists are feeling right now, making work has never felt so pointless, especially with the stakes so high in the US right now. Here in the US, it feels like if we stop working for a week we could lose everything and go into crushing debt, but at the same time it's really difficult to continue month after month without breaks or a renewed passion for art making. I find that my friends just want to remember why they make art in the first place- it feels like something has been lost and we're all on the hunt to retrace our steps and find our missing spirit. 

After a lot of talking about what we could change and what we actually have control over, I usually mention patreon and how good it's been for me to reconnect with drawing personal work regularly. Drawing personal work for myself and for people who are here to enjoy my work and want to support me has completely changed my life. The more personal work I make, the more freedom I feel and then the more jobs/opportunities I have that represent the way I want to draw, not how I draw for corporations. This space has been truly path altering for me, and I think it can be for other artists too, but I hesitate to push it on anyone because I know it can be overwhelming.

What I usually tell my friends is: your patreon doesn't have to be the best thing in the world, it doesn't have to be a full piece or Riso print like I do, it can be the smallest sketch of a drawing every month, it can be a little paragraph about your favorite things- and you don't have to charge a lot, you can start with whatever tiers and prices you feel comfortable with. Start with the easiest thing you can muster each month and then add on to it once you find a rhythm. A lot of my advice, sharing what worked for me, is to start small and work towards a goal, but don't overwhelm yourself. 

I follow many patreons. Some of them send me prints and stickers, some of them send me a drawing in my email, some of them post movie reviews, and some of them don't post at all. I adore all of them and am thrilled to be able to spread some of the love that I receive from my patrons around to others through pledges. Many artist friends don't believe anyone wants to see their art- which, fine, there are always haters, don't kid yourself. But there are lovers too, don't rob them of your work. Curating a space for people who like your art is wonderful, it feels safe and it's a great confidence builder. Setting and meeting external deadlines for people who actively want to see the behind the scenes of your work is a wonderful thing. It's completely changed my portfolio and completely changed the way I look at a blank photoshop canvas. I'm thrilled with the experiments I get to do, rather than terrified by the stakes. 

Anyway, my advice to all artists is to make monthly art for people who want to see it. It doesn't have to be through patreon, there are several other sites out there now like Kofi and substack (still learning about substack)! Making regular personal art with an external deadline to share it made a massive difference in my approach to art making for a living, I highly recommend it to anyone else struggling with the same feelings. 

This year I'm letting my choices stay fluid, not committing to anything before i'm ready- but ready for whatever comes my way. The winding nasturtiums are my path, the rabbit is my heart and the hat is my imagination. 

Here's the breakdown for the Riso parts of this piece- I ended up only editing it once after it was printed, which can be rare for me!! I knew the orange gradient on the nasturtiums was going to be tricky and once it came out I nixed it. I have nasturtiums in my yard and I love them so much, I wanted to be true to their solid pop of green. 

And here's a peak at how I make my layers for Riso! Basically one layer for each opacity under separate ink groups in photoshop. All set to multiply, except for white, which I add on top of all layers (I used white for the nasturtium leaf inside details).

Thanks so much everyone, really thankful I can share this with you here, thanks for encouraging me to do my best and share what I love. <3 nat