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Starting a new chapter of my art career

idk if the planets are aligning or something, astrology readers lmk

01 Sep • This will only take you 8 minutes

The final third of the year is upon us, and my objective is to slow things down as much as possible. It’s the time of year that goes so extremely fast, but I’m really enjoying life right now. I want to savor it.

In addition to increasing my newsletter frequency to 2x/mo (ish), I started a blog. It updates on Mondays. Some of the blog updates are just shorter versions of these newsletters, but I intend to write posts about conventions, tips on marketing your work as a creative, and anything else I rant and rave at my cat about when it comes to being a self employed comic artist. I hope people find it helpful, or maybe even interesting! But also if you don’t, that’s ok. I’m doing it for me, to become more comfortable “publishing” my “writing” and “being confident in my expertise” or whatever. And in doing all this, I hope to slow down, observe, savor.

I wrote about FlameCon, and I have an upcoming post about the last ever XOXO, so go check out my blog and enjoy!

Rose City Comic Con 2024

Hometown con! Rose City is back again, and this time I get to sit with some cool friends :) I’ll be sitting with En at J-29, which is one of the corner booths in Pride Alley. Rose City is this weekend, Sept 6-8.

On Saturday, I will be participating in Wacom’s Cintiq Showdown at 12:15, where I will be drawing live for your entertainment. Then immediately after, catch me on a panel with Oni Press (Queer Comics: Telling Personal Stories) at 2:45. If you try to see me at my table on Saturday early-to-mid afternoon, I will not be there! En will be there to cover me, so be nice to them 🌷🌼🌻

After Rose City, I’ll be at Portland Zine Symposium on Sunday, Sept 22 at PSU. If the cost of a RCCC badge is too steep, come see me at this show! It’s free, and they will have different tablers on Saturday vs Sunday, so make sure you go both days and support your fave local indie artists.

icymi: Amira in Buff World is out now!

For the 18+ tiers on Patreon, the sweaty romp in a gym shower, starring the dirtbag van lifer herself, Amira Miles, is available in its entirety now!

Available for Horn Dog tiers and up, issue 1 of Amira the Van Life C*nt, “Amira in Buff World” is a 24 page NSFW comic. For fans of Love Lies Bleeding. And fisting. Read now on Patreon or Substar.

Wayne (on Threadless!)

It’s my Threadless, and I’m allowed to post whatever I want to it. Here’s the first ever The Shepherd’s Sword merch. More boobs on T-shirts, that’s what I say.

The Shepherd’s Sword

Jo and Robin are two lil sweeties :) Don’t worry, Shep and Wayne will show up soon to provide marriage counseling. New updates of The Shepherd’s Sword are posted every Friday , but you can read ahead on Patreon! 

Find all the ways to read The Shepherd’s Sword for free here! (PS: I have a secret project for this series in the works…)

What else did I do this month, hmm…

Okay so I started working at a print shop. I told you last month I was keeping my new side gig secret, but it’s making me so happy I have to share. After not having a job outside of the house since January 2019, I’ve become increasingly more strange and diabolical. I’m not meant to look at screen all day, I’m meant to have a beautiful bike commute and participate in society by printing off drag queen flyers for people in my community. It’s freaking awesome, dude.

I think part of this whole beautiful process of life is trying new things and then moving on to the next thing, and then sometimes circling back to the first thing after some time away and years of experience. It’s the right time for me to have this job. I don’t think I would have valued it appropriately at any other point in my career journey. There’s maybe a shadow of others expectations (maybe echoes of my younger, naive self) that wants to try to cloud my joy at having found work outside of the house that I find fulfilling, the kind of mean spirit that says, “aha, see, so you’ve failed, you have an income stream that isn’t just a direct result of your self employment” which is so lmao, lol.

In fact, it’s quite common for professional career artists to have this kind of job, whether it’s at a print shop, bookstore, school, community center, cafe, public studio, or whatever. Call me crazy, but it’s good to say hi to humans with your human form and participate in society, I think. Some people do this with hobbies, sports, or other group activities, not related to their job. But for me, this is how I’m getting my human interactions in, and it seems to be working so far.

It’s a relief to have this job and have it be so chill and rewarding. It will only serve me as I continue to make comics. It will refuel my inspiration, support my inventory orders, keep me grounded, and connect me with my city, which is something for which I have been HUNGRY for the past couple years. Maybe I’ll start seeming more cool at conventions with all this socializing practice I’ll be getting in on the job lol

Anyway, placing all the burden of your finances on your artistic output isn’t the only way to be. There’s so much more out there. May we all find our healthy balances. Amen.

Here’s some sweet treats for you to check out: