Hello, everyone!

We’re coming to the end of 2016, and it’s been a bit of a weird year, eh? I mean, I personally don’t have a whole lot of negativity towards 2016 like I know a lot of you do (I see the memes on Twitter pretty much daily), but there have been some big memorable moments in general, and I’d like to briefly go over a few, if I may. Not to mention also talk about what’s coming in 2017.

So first off, it’s been a little over a year since I finished my first Year of Creative Habits project. I remember when I was in the middle of it and I was occasionally writing about success, and whether or not I would know when I’ve found it. Since then, I’ve been bringing in a little money every month thanks to my subscribers over on Patreon, as well as doing freelance work for some friends of mine. I’m gaining experience in a few different mediums, and I feel that I have a pretty large portfolio of varied artwork.

I don’t feel that I’m quite “there” yet, where I’m making enough money to pay all of my bills and alleviate any debts that I have, or that I’ve really found my style and I’m confident in my abilities, but I may never really reach that when my life is over. Those are kind of my end goals that will always keep me working. I guess if I truly felt successful every day, then I’d likely lose that motivation that drives me forward. There’s always a project to work on, and there hasn’t been a day in a very long time where I felt truly lost at what challenge to take on next.

Speaking of which, something like a year ago I had an interview with a social worker about opportunities as far as being an artist is concerned. She gave me a phone number for a co-worker of hers who could likely help me move forward with this career choice. I’ve met with her once more since and she reminded me that I still should call that number and get some help, however… I still haven’t. It’s been like a year or so since that initial conversation, and I still have the information package and the papers on my breakfast nook to the left of me, and I don’t want anything to do with it. I haven’t once felt like I needed help, or that I was lost in any way.

I’m going to do this on my own. I feel that I have the knowledge and tools at my disposal to continue being successful. I’ll continue to gain followers, to meet new and interesting people, I will continue to build my portfolio, I will finish this comic, and…

I will finish this second Year of Creative Habits project spanning all of 2017.

2017 will be the year of photography for me. I’m shopping around for a nice camera (something decent for around $300 I think), and even with the one I currently have that’s built into my tablet, I’m going to start taking photographs on January 1st and sharing them with the world right here on my blog. I expect it’ll be just like my 2014/15 YOCH project where I’ll fumble around and try to find my rhythm in the early days, and by the end it’ll be like night and day. I need to try and remember that I should expect it to be rough to start, and things will come naturally towards the end.

I also figure learning about photography and everything that goes along with it will help me immeasurably when I take that experience and incorporate it into my artwork. Expect lots of talk about positioning, color correction, depth of field, exposure, and perspective. As well as continuing to get better at writing and story telling.

There’s going to be a lot of pressure on me to do a good job with this and complete this year long project, so I’m going to need all the support I can get. I hope that the fans I have can occasionally comment or share my work. It goes a ridiculously long ways towards keeping me motivated, and making sure that some of my stuff gets out there. The web is a super massive place, and it’s extremely difficult to get noticed these days.

I often remind myself that if I continue to do good work, people will notice. It’s happened enough times in the past few years that I know this is true. Sometimes it’s by chance, sometimes it’s because you’re doing something that’s relevant in the moment, and other times it’s just plain luck.

What are your plans for 2017? I hope everyone finds something creative and challenging that they can work on. With money, fame, politics, and war being on the top of everyone’s mind all the time, a world with lots more people being creative is a fantastic thing!