Resolutions

It's that time again...
Can you believe how quickly 2014 went?

As is tradition around these parts, at the end of a year I take a look back at the previous 12 months and see where I went wrong.
But I'm not going to do that this time.
I think that when I looked back at 2013, I was too focused on the negatives. Not that it was all positive or anything, but I didn't balance it right. But I think perhaps that is an important point I want to make here. The 'me' of 12 months ago is quite a different beast from the person I am today.

Rather than looking back at what 2014 entailed, the new me is all about looking ridiculously positively at what 2015 could have in store. This IS a subject I have talked about recently, but I have a few more solid plans in place now that I would love to share with you all.

But first, here are some things that are going to change in 2015-

1. No longer will I be a slave to self-promotion, new audience reaching, platform building, crowd pleasing. It is my aim to not be obsessed with hit counts and all of that stuff anymore. I'm just going to do my thing and if people like it, awesome! It's kinda like Field of Dreams, but it's more a case of 'If you draw it, they MIGHT look at it. But it's really okay if they don't.'
2. I'm going to not be so fooled by internet fads like Twitter and such. I just don't get Twitter and I don't think it is necessary for me and what I want to achieve. So I'm making a conscious effort to cut out that unnecessary stuff. So, yep, I'm a Twitter Quitter, once again.
3. 2015 is about creating narratives. I've produced a lot of single pieces in the past number of years that don't really tell a story or would be considered part of a written piece. That will change. 
4. Generally speaking, my art is going to become self-indulgent. I won't be catering to any particular audience or trying to please a certain client. I will be creating art that I want and in a way that gives me artistic pleasure. I think this may be the best way to make art, actually.
5. I will be more prolific than ever, because I will be immersed in my own little Realms of Faerie world.
6. This blog will remain essentially the same, but I'm going to try and make it more personal, filled with things from my daily life. Because my art is my life and permeates all that I do.

 So the things that I want to specifically create are still open to change, but these are a few things I definitely want to do-

• I want to produce at least 100 pages of The Circle this year. I might need to create a website for all of those pages, and I wouldn't mind printing a book up once the first arc is completed. I might try and do this with crowdfunding, or I might even approach a publisher.
• I want to write and illustrate a single, stand alone illustrated short story every month. These might take the form of a 'further adventures of...' sort of thing featuring characters from The Circle or some such. These might also take the form of a children's book every now and then.
• I have a love of gaming and comic character sheets. You know the ones, with all of the vital statistics and a cool shot of the character. Yep, I want to do some of them too. I'm trying to format a template that I'm happy with still, but look for them to start appearing in the near future.
• lots of stuff on toned paper!
• more sculpting!!
• more painting!!!

2015 is going to be a really busy year, but I also think it is going to be satisfying and full of happy art making. So this is my pledge to you, dear reader-

I am going to produce as much art that I think is cool and is as close a representation to what I want and like in stories and art that I possibly can in the year 2015. All of it will be free and made for the pure love of what I am doing. It will all be made by me, for nobody really except for me and my crazy whims. But it will be lovingly shared with anybody that wants to look at it. I will create the art and words only for their own sake, not for popularity, money or anything like that. I have stories to tell and pictures to draw and 2015 is the year that they come to life.

So the next post here is going to be the beginning of the new phase of my artistic life. I'm pretty darn excited by it, I can tell you.
See you then.