*blows cobwebs off of website* Hey folks, I know it’s been a while since I last updated. There was a lot of life stuff that prevented that, but Midnight Menagerie is now officially out of hiatus. The biggest setback was the fact that I lost access to my scanner, so I had no way of turning my paper pages digital, but I have finally figured out a workaround, so new pages will be updated soon. In the meantime, please enjoy the continuation of special guest comic Kaiju, by Will Boute.
I have some unfortunate news everyone. Due to circumstances beyond my control I’m going to have to suspend all activity on Bwillett Comics. I can’t really get into the reasons why, but I’ve had to shut down all my work and prepare to pack it away until further notice. I’m not giving up or quitting, and this isn’t because of me being depressed or hopeless. This goes beyond what I feel and has more to do with what is going on with my life. As soon as I can resume any kind of work, I will. The only exception, for the time being because I may lose access to my computer as well will be updates on Tapastic because I already have several years of work completed and can easily update Midnight Menagerie with the old pages that original appeared on the official site.
I hope you keep checking back for new information so you can find out when I’ll be able to go back to work and I hope that you Patrons will continue your contributions on Patreon. I know it’s asking a lot because there won’t be new content for a while, but right now that money is vital. I really wish I could disclose more, but I really can’t, beyond some of the worse scenarios you are imagining are probably true. Look at your contributions as an investment, and as soon as things cool off and become normal, you will be greatly rewarded for you kindness and trust, assuming everything goes well.
This also applies to people I have been planning collaborations and commissions with. All that has to be canceled for now, and I am truly sorry. If there was any way to avoid this situation, I promise, I would do everything in my power to keep it going. But at this point, I can’t.
I’ll update you guys as soon as I can and thank you again for all your love and support.
Hey my tender lumplings, I am back from NDK for my final Artist Alley table for a while. For those who may have missed my Deviant Journal on the subject, I have decided to take a hiatus from cons for a while in order to rest and get my fire back for working on my art. I love cons and artist alleys, but they also require stupid amounts of time, energy and money, and right now I’m much more interested in growing as an artist. I’ve also decided that I’m no longer doing fan art for sale unless it’s a commission. Doing fan art for sale is frustrating because not only am I working on someone elses’ characters and ideas, there isn’t a guarantee it will sell. Do a series everyone does and you’ll be competing with your fellow artists who have very similar art. Do a series that isn’t in fashion anymore or hasn’t gotten popular yet and you’re stuck with tons of merchandise. And inevitably, you’ll have someone ask if you have ___ series art, which of course you don’t because you don’t have time and energy to do art from every series and character ever. Lots of love and respect to the artists who do that stuff, but that isn’t my end game. My end game is for MY work to sell and my selfish little dream to one day see people cosplaying as my characters.
NDK this year was a little rocky in general because of a lot of problems getting around downtown and other snafus. Because the con is also held during Labor Day weekend, there is the annual Taste of Colorado as well as a series of Rockies games, and downtown was a zoo. Because of allergies I have to eat at home, so I spent almost as much time in traffic as I did actually at the convention. The staff at the con is still the best ever, with the best Artist Alley head and the nicest security, but until NDK isn’t during Labor Day weekend, I am not dealing with that headache. This is no reflection on the con or the con staff, just more my frustration with Denver and being able to traverse faster by foot than car, when a car is necessary to maneuver stuff for a con.
The convention itself was awesome as always. There were loads of great cosplays (alas I didn’t get more photos because I was way more drained than previous years and thus couldn’t get anyone’s photo who wasn’t literally at my table) and some of the sweetest, most darling people coming up to say hi and talk to me. I got to see my con family and catch up with all my homies from the Artist Alley as well as friends I typically only see during NDK. Also, I was completely on top of the world after hosting my panel ‘So You Want to be a Manga-ka, Too?’ I had probably three hours of sleep the night before and a really disastrous Friday (I had forgotten boxes of merchandise and setup stuff, my new display wasn’t working, which made me super late and had to set up while Artist Alley was already open, it was UGLY…) I was basically surviving Saturday on pure caffeine and willpower until the panel. The energy from the crowd gave me LIFE and I got tons of great questions from people and a good time was had by all. Sunday started out slow but by the afternoon traffic and sales picked up and I actually sold out of a great deal of my merchandise. I’m sad that it will be a while until I see everyone again, but I really do need the time off. This year has been especially hard on me as an artist, and I need to not have any pressure for a while to remember why exactly I love sharing my dumb stories and stupid characters to begin with. Part of the reason I’m not updating this week is due to that. I need rest…… Otherwise, thanks again everyone! Regular updates return next week darlings!
