April 2023 - Survived The Winter, Yet Again!
I lived! This winter felt short but was no less difficult. It helped that in the middle of it I got to travel down to the States to visit some friends and hike some mountains in the snow. It's hard fighting the blues when the weather doesn't permit me to go outside as often as I'd like, but I tried. Hopefully the spring will see me with renewed energy, especially now that I've been getting out for regular walks and can start biking everywhere.
Took a photo of these while out on one of my walks earlier this month. Happy to see them!
Projects
I'm still working diligently on Star Trip when I can between day job. The last big update chunk is 24 pages and I'm in the thick of completing the pencils. My fingers are crossed that I can get this updating publicly by May. That would be so rad...
Earthshine is experiencing the same thing, with me grabbing what time I can to work on it between my day job. Chapter 2 still needs to be edited, but I've already sketched out a bunch of illustrations for it. I hope to have that updating in May as well.
On my Patreon I've uploaded and queued a couple of Earthshine themed wallpapers. These are reworkings of old speed paints I did a couple of years ago as I was getting a sense for the setting of Book 1. If you want to get your hands on these you can subscribe at the $2 level.
I've also gotten back to sharing my sketchbooks with patrons at the $2 level. I've only got scanned sketchbooks since my digital sketchbooks have gone into disarray (I shan't elaborate). Only one scanned sketchbook post a month though because Phew! That was a lotta pages to digitize!
I'm returning to the Festival and Con circuit! I'm going to be at The Montreal Comic Arts Festival (MCAF) this May!! I'll have zines, stickers, mini comics, as well as some copies of Valor Volume 2 to offload so I can get a corner of my living room back lol. MCAF goes from May 26-28. It is free to attend and takes place outdoors along the beautiful commercial street of St Denis. I'll be tabling with a bunch of friends, such as: Ren Strapp, Fawnduu, Windy and Wallflower, and Fairylogue Press. Check all of them out and get hype!
Excited for their worlds to collide again!
Personal
I'm back to baking bread. April is the best month for my sourdough starter. The weather is perfect for it; not too hot, not too cold. April is also its birthday month so maybe the yeast can feel the festive vibes (she's 5 years old this year!). If anyone reading this is thinking of making their own sourdough, I recommend checking out The Perfect Loaf for some good tips and tricks on how to do that.
I came across this small musician called Sencha when I heard their single Blue Skies in a chillhop mix. Really beautiful stuff. They don't have a lot of music on Bandcamp, but if you have a couple of bucks and you've enjoyed Blue Skies as much as I did, maybe send some love their way? The next Bandcamp Friday is May 5th, which is a perfect time to support indie musicians!
With the weather getting warmer and sunnier I've gotten back into listening to Jean Michel Blais's album Aubades. It's definitely my favourite walking around the neighbourhood album, and every piece in there is a banger in its own way. You can also purchase Blais's music on Bandcamp.
I've also been listening to this acoustic guitar artist by the name of Wanderer's Trove. I gotta be honest, they are impossible to find outside of music streaming platforms (here is the Spotify link at least), and I don't know what's up with that. Their single, "The Wait Is Finally Over" was an instant fave of mine and was the song that drove me to search for them after I heard it on a PearFleur video.
I have another browser video game for y'all! Another friend of mine caught me on to this one called corru.observer, which was coded entirely on Neocities! Goddam! This sci-fi game has you, a mind spike user, delving into salvaged alien tech to gather information on its history. It's a very cool game with immersive writings and funky music. Though warning for people with photosensitivity, this game is full of flickering graphics and eyestraining colours.
This same friend also showed me The HTML Review. It's an annual journal of literature made to exist on the web and it is really cool! It really does have the vibe of a digital zine, which I feel like a lot of online spaces should return to as a move away from platforms. A lot of their submissions are really excellent but this one actually brought me to tears. I love art!!
She has risen!!
In My Orbit
My buddy Ren has released an awesome new sticker and print set for her letter tier on her Patreon! If you want to get your paws on this cool swag go support her!
My pal o mine Winter (of WindyWallflower) made a blog post about our trip down to the states and the mountain hiking experience with photos. I adore their photography, they really captured the beauty of those peaks.
My other pal o mine (who is the other half of WindyWallflower), Tas, has a cool new zine up for preorder featuring their fakemon regional project. It's so cool and full of really neat concepts based off of paleontology. If you want to read more about this project ahead of preordering a zine you can check out Tas's blog posts about it!
Speaking of WindyWallflower, if you're in Calgary this weekend my buds are exhibiting at the Calgary Expo! You can find them at table AP6020. They shouldn't be hard to miss since theirs is the one laden with cool swag.
My friends Isa and Meg over at Fairylogue Press have a new cute plush crow keychain available for pre-order in their shop that was designed by Isa. Go grab yourself one to accessorize for the season! Just because it's spring doesn't mean goth is dead. You should also check out their other stuff like their excellent enamel pins, patches, and plushes!
My old pal Suze Shore has new fine art peices available for purchase from their Hideaway Show Catalogue. Their soft scuptures are beautiful and so tactile. Go support a small fine artist today!
My buddy Catskullery has reopened her shop, so you can go get yourself some cool stickers and prints. Her art is beautiful and would look great hanging on your wall or stuck on your water bottle, sketchbook, or journal.
And last but not least! My other chum, Fawnduu, has a new Makeship campaign going for a plush of Dani, one of the main characters from her webcomic My Dragon Girlfriend. This plush is so cuddly and cute and honestly even if you don't know about My Dragon Girlfriend you should still consider getting one if you are just a fan of adorable plush dragons. She's also exhbiting this weekend at TCAF at table 2027, so if you're in Toronto consider stopping by and grabbing some of her excellent comics and stickers!
You can get this cool as hell sticker by supporting Ren on Patreon!
Welcome to the end of the newsletter! Have a little comic in celebration.
The world is full of big scary stuff but don't forget the little bits that make it worth living in.