2012 was a terrible year. Besides two deaths in the family, and dealing with extended-family drug problems, I had a lot of promising career outlooks fall through. Every month things got crappier, to the point where it affected my outlook on my art-making ability. And this meant a lot of staring at paper or the screen, trying to start something and then deleting it, etc. Eventually it meant I wasn't even doing that, and just staying away from the pen and pencil altogether.
But I've now gotten another 'day' job and finally moved out of the parent's house after college. While this means I have less time to do art, it also means I now have a little room dedicated to art-making (I'm looking forward to hanging up some whiteboards and corkboards on the wall soon to cultivate more creativity). It's helped things.
I've been able to do art a bit more consistently now - especially the main project that was intimidating me for so long: Mayflower. I want it to be exactly what I've been envisioning, but it never felt like I could get there last year. In the last month, I feel like I'm getting a little closer, at least. Enough time has passed since the the worst of last year that my brain now throws a few encouraging thoughts at me from time to time.
Mayflower: The Seeker did not win that contest that I posted about last time in my journal. We got REALLY close. In fact, we actually DID get in the top 5 who would win grant money. But then oddly enough, a few of our votes were disqualified after the contest ended and we fell from 4th to 6th place, leaving space for a team who paid for their votes, and a team who magically got votes after the contest ended, and even more oddly, had team members who were involved in the running of the contest itself. As one might imagine, me and my friend, Mike, who's doing all the programming, were not happy campers.
The positive note though? Since we didn't pay for out votes - we saw that we had managed to scrounge together a huge heap of earnest, kickass support from people, like the person reading this right now. That's really encouraging! So The Seeker is still quietly being toiled on at the moment, despite our loss and lack of resources. Expect more on that front in the future!
Until then you'll have to deal with Mayflower the comic! I've been planning this universe for 3 and a half years now, and now the first story within it is finally becoming a reality. I'll be posting preview pages in the coming weeks on my DeviantArt and this blog, and I hope to have a printed and digital copy for sale in April, when I'll begin setting up shop at a few nearby comic conventions. I hope I'll have your support in this new venture, or better yet, I hope Mayflower will earn your support.
More to come...
