New Website! New Directions!

In case you haven't noticed, the website got a new look! I'd been meaning to redo the site for the longest time and finally sat down and worked on it all day. It's been a while since it first launched and my limited knowledge showed, but I think now it's fresh and reflects my current tastes a lot more.

Growth! It's a thing!

The business has been going through a lot of growth lately as I move everything more towards what I want it to be now that I've got experience. So what does that mean?

• I will be phasing out certain jewelry and product. 
• Switching from 11x17 prints to 8x10
• Not as many conventions
• More galleries
• More sketchbook art
• Splitting the blog into two categories: News and personal blogs. 

I loved making jewelry but the effort to make everything was exhausting and I was starting to feel like I had too much product all over the place. So I'm cutting it down to just the ones that do well or that I really like (If there's a certain piece you like, let me know!)

It's more of a cost thing with the prints. 11x17 prints are expensive to buy unless you buy a bunch in bulk and I have too many designs to do that. It's cheaper and easier for me to do 8x10 which means more will be available and I can actually sell them online!

With conventions, I happened to start at a weird time. Suddenly everyone was getting flooded with conventions so I had a lot of options but now it's too saturated and I'm realizing that I'm not getting the return I want to for the stress that I'm experiencing. I love them, but I think I like attending them more. So I'm sticking to only a few I know I can do well at and isn't out of the way for me.

Galleries were always my main goal and with the art scene growing in town, I got very lucky. I get to do exhibits and galleries with Lubbock-Con and now I'm organizing Star Comics galleries. I even have a few other group exhibits I am participating in outside of that. That's also what pushed me away from conventions. I have to be focusing on all the galleries I'm in!

Sketchbook art is kinda a given. I need to practice more and I like experimenting at a smaller size than I'm use to. The more I do it, the better I'm getting.

And last, the blog. I stopped doing as many Vlogs on Youtube because of the time it took to edit, but I still want to share my personal life and experiences and thoughts. I also left Tumblr because I got tired of the format and the fight for Likes and Reblogs. So since this is my website and in part, what I'm selling is myself, I decided to host my own blog here. Posts that are just news and events and updates of that sort will be on the News page and personal posts will be on the Blog page.

We're planning on moving to Seattle next year so I wanted to log our time prepping for that, some of my personal struggles and thoughts, rants, and things I love, but didn't want to bog down the actual business news so this works best!

Lots of changes but I think this will be good. I need a routine and this helps my art and business further.

Thanks again everyone for sticking around and supporting me!

-Sam <3

2017.

Holiday season was a whirlwind that I'm barely coming down from. I completely overextended myself in October and paid the price for that (mental exhaustion is a thing, folks) and then the holiday season finished me off. This was followed by birthdays and Valentine's Day and dog sitting (plus we got a new puppy and Almond joined Obedience School) and I'm essentially drained but mending. Long story short: sorry for the absence.

But I haven't completely been out of the game. I've been working on things.

So one of my goals for this year was to focus more on galleries. I love cons but they're hit and miss right now as the industry goes through a shift and I'm still kinda trying to figure out what's best for my business before I do a bunch. I will be at Lubbock-Con this year though, but that'll probably be my only one. I pretty much barely broke even on Hub City Comic Con and figured I'd lay off cons a bit after that.

We will be at Staple 2017 but only as attendees! I love that show so no matter what, we're going.

With that said, galleries give me a lot of freedom to paint what I want and let me shake my wrists out, so to speak. I don't have to worry about what sales and if anything is cost effective or how many I can reproduce. It's a one and done and I can spend a lot of time on something and not feel bad.

We started the year off with a Bad Luck Gallery at Star Books & Comics for my birthday (January Friday the 13th. Lucky me!) and for it not being on the First Friday Art Trail, the house was packed! I'm so happy so many people were able to come out for it and it shows that as long as you have something interesting, people will come.

That gallery actually got extended to the end of February so if you haven't checked it out, go!

March I may be speaking at the Lubbock-Con Artist Workshop covering the business aspect of art. So conventions, galleries, online stores, etc. It's the side that rarely gets discussed but is extremely helpful for anyone who ever wants to get into art professionally or even just on the First Friday Art Trail. So if you want to get the details, go to Lubbock-Con's Facebook page and find the event there.

April! Ladies Night 3rd Anniversary! Can you believe we've gotten to do 3 years of Ladies Nights? That's nuts. We're finalizing the date now but we have a neat artist lined up that I've featured before so I'm excited to see what she can bring to Ladies Night! Keep an eye out on my Facebook for the official date announcement and event!

Also, big shout out to Star Comics for always letting me run crazy events and being super supportive. Best people ever. Seriously, I could not do any of the stuff I do without them being willing to partner up with me.

May is Lubbock-Con! Feel free to refer back to said Facebook page for details!

And then June 2nd, there's a little movie you might have heard coming out. Wonder Woman? Yeah, we're doing an artist collective gallery for that! We'll have about 20 different artists all submitting pieces dedicated to the Amazonian herself. It'll be on the First Friday Art Trail so go see it! I promise it'll be cool as hell.

There's a few more things in the works, but that's all for now. If you have commissions with me, Sorry!! I'm getting back into the swing of things and am working on getting them sorted. My projector that I use to blow up my sketches also went on the fritz but I'm working on it!

I'm also looking into getting my Inktober works in a sketchbook and as soon as all my inventory is replenished, the Etsy store will be back up with all those.

Thank you again to everyone that's stuck by me and liked my work and just been completely supportive.

-Sam <3

Goals and Patreon

With con season over, I've talked to a few people a lot about where I want my art to go and things I've always wanted to do. I wanted to be more organized and structured with it, wanted to take classes to better my skills, wanted to get out of my comfort zone. October 1st is the first step towards that.

TL;DR I'm starting a Patreon pls support thx

First, here's a breakdown of the goals I want to set:

• More sketchbook collections (or maybe merge both and get them professionally bound because that would be cool and professional)
• Switch jewelry and brooches to acrylic laser cut
• At least a painting a month
• Livestreams!
• Speedpaint/process videos
• More commissions
• More galleries
• Maybe make one more art event to get exposure to artists. Like a sidewalk art exhibit or something
• Might be cutting down on conventions to work on more art
• More prints!
• Switch to either having mainly 8x11 or 11x17 prints and instead of 4x6 prints, switching to postcards only
• Filling up a sketchbook with actual ideas and drawings

Now some of these are attainable. So far I only have maybe 3 conventions for next year and two of them aren't confirmed. That'll give me more time to do local events and grow things. I'm talking with the lovely ladies at Lubbock-Con about the art scene and how to grow it so another event is probably also possible. And I've been looking at places to do acrylic charms and pieces, that just takes money.

Actually, pretty much all of it is attainable, I just have to be strict and rehaul a lot of things. But something that I figured out might actually help is a Patreon.

Which is why I made one. Yep.

I've seen a lot of artists and Youtubers use it successful and it's kinda been something I've been on the fence about because of the ol' self-doubt. But any support is better than nothing and I think it's something that can help me grow.

So October 1st, we're launching a Patreon!

I tried to think of rewards that were doable for me as well as incentive to get people to join.

• So basic donations will get you access to a Patreon only blog where I'll post sketches and works in progresses and probably post animal pictures.
• $5 gives you a discount code to my Etsy shop, PDF scans of my sketches, early access to any videos, and an invite to a drawing practice livestream where we'll work on a technique together.
• $10 gets you a bigger discount code, early access previews to finished paintings and illustrations, a monthly Q&A livestream, you can vote for what painting I do next, and get a copy of one of my sketchbook collections!
• $20 you get a Patreon exclusive postcard with a letter, a second sketchbook collection, and a free item from my Etsy shop
• $40 allows you a monthly portrait sketch request! You can request a sketch/lineart/quick ink portrait of one of favorite characters or an idea and I'll send it to you in a PDF. It's limited to only 10 spots but it's a pretty good deal.
• $65 is basically a monthly 5x7 full colored commission portrait. Same idea as the tier before where you give me a character or idea and I'll do a full commission of it. I'll scan it to you and also ship you the physical copy! This one is limited to only 5 spots.

And everything is basically an accrual so the higher donation tiers get everything the lower tier does. So say you choose $20 a month, you'll get all the rewards from that tier plus the $10, $5, and $1 rewards. Which is a good amount of stuff.

But this lets me paint more, share my art process, get more practice with the requests, while also allowing me to pay my bills and upgrade from cheap paint and dollar brushes. There's also Patreon goals like if I hit $100 a month, I can do bi-weekly videos. $200 let's me make a print of each monthly painting, more sketchbook collections, and switching to those acrylic charms. $400 (which is a long ways off but omg if I can achieve it) would be weekly videos, being able to buy a nice printer to make my own prints, and a monthly sketchbook of all the sketches and art I did for that month.

For now, I'm just hoping I get supporters but it's nice to have goals and I'm excited.

So October 1st, go here and check out my Patreon! If you'd be so kind as to support it, it would mean the world. I've got some other big life changes hopefully in the works. Life changes are good. They keep me on my toes.

I'll go back to my painting cave now. Deadlines approaching sooooon

-Sam <3

#Workcomics Vol.1!

I believe it was almost a month and a half ago when we got the harebrained idea to turn my daily work doodling into an actual thing. A book! A comic book?An art book? Well, all of those combined. We looked at different printers and figured out how we wanted it to look, how much it would cost, what size was it going to be? Well, I'm proud to see, it worked out. #Workcomics Vol.1 is here and in my hands and I'm so so happy

Isn't it cute?! (And the paper is so nice, like omg) And its the color of the actual post-it notes! Not only that, we kept all the creases and folds and tiny cat teeth mark the originals had to authenticate that yes, these were really post-it notes and yes, my cats really like to steal them.

These may be the only run of Vol.1 so they are limited in quantity and over all, just limited edition. Vol. 1 covers from April to June from when I first started it to about when we started getting the book ready for print.

The front cover is actually the very first #Workcomic I ever did and the back is brought to you by Lubbock's very own Star Comics who were gracious enough to sponsor the book so we could get it made. They've been so so so supportive of all my weird ideas and projects (like wanting to start a Ladies Night then wanting to make a baby comic book) so I'm incredibly grateful to them. Thanks, guys!

The books will be available to purchase online September 1st on my Etsy shop when it goes live again and they'll be $10. If you are in Lubbock this weekend, I will have copies at my booth for Hub City Comic Con so you can get them in person! And first! We are limited to roughly 45 copies so get them while you can!

And to celebrate the release, on September 1st I want you to do your own #Workcomic. Doodle at work (don't get in trouble though) either on some paper or a post-it note and hashtag it #Workcomics so I can see. You can tag me on Twitter @Raico13 or Instagram @ Raicodoll. It's like an art day!

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me and this book! And now, back to prepping for the convention!

-Sam <3