March Comic Artists Forum at the AADL

March Comics Art Forum at the Ann Arbor Downtown Library

If you happen to be in the A2 area this weekend, I’ll be giving a talk on How to Run a Successful Kickstarter for your Manga this Sunday March 3 1PM-3PM at the Fourth Floor of the Ann Arbor Downtown Library. (Also applicable to comics and other projects, really!)

It’s a pretty cool, laid back crowd. Should be fun. Say hello if you’re stopping by!

SIDENOTE: I’ve been totally preparing for this talk all week. And since I’m an anxious public speaker I decided to listen to this book, Nerve: Poise Under Pressure, Serenity Under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool. It’s about how people keep calm under pressure (like public speaking) and it’s just AMAZEBALLS! I had so much fun listening to the audiobook. I highly recommend picking it up if you’re into non-fiction stuff like me.

Accidental Creative podcasts

The Accidental Creative Podcast

I’ve been listening to The Accidental Creative podcasts for the past few weeks and really enjoying the productivity tips and strategies Todd Henry shares in his audio posts and interviews with some pretty cool people like Seth Godin. In today’s busy and demanding world, creative people have to be brilliant, prolific and healthy to survive in the long-term but pursuing all three of those feels incredibly difficult!

There’s a ton of great info in his archives and I’m already eager to check out all the other books he recommends, too!

2012 Review – 2013 Resolutions

Whew!

What a year, guys.

Here are just the highlights from 2012:
– created, crowdfunded and published my first book! (and people don’t seem to hate it! ^_~)
– Met Dan Harmon at the Community art gallery show which I participated in
– Started getting more serious freelance work for some reason. (I suspect it’s because of the new site design. Simpler, less intimidating.)
– Got interviewed and reviewed a few times

I’m so so happy I’ve been able to accomplish much of what I’ve set out to do and even though I stopped short of getting the books into physical stores (I ran out of energy from the move to Michigan.) It’s something I’m definitely planning for the second one.

For 2013, I’m stepping it up.
– Pursue art practice more aggressively (Take classes, and undertake regular creative challenges.) I want to level up constantly and create even better work in the immediate future.
– Write and start producing Polterguys Vol. 2 (Here we go again!)
– Blog regularly
– Come up with creative ideas and side projects. (I’m purposely keeping this vague because I already have a few in the burner. I just need time to execute. 😀

I’m pretty excited for this. I hope you are, too?

Wanna share some projects you’re proud to have been a part of last year? What about your goals for this year? Please share them below! I’d love to hear from you.

New Year, New Style and a Valentine for you

*dusts off blog*

Happy new year and Happy Valentines, guys! First off, my apologies for the lack of updates since January. Recently, I’ve started getting buried in freelance work which has been good for me and the bills but hasn’t been good for 1)blogging and updates and 2) finishing up the Vol. 1 PDF I’ve been teasing since November. That’s completely my fault but I’m in unfamiliar waters and just learning as I go. I’m the hardest on myself on matters like these but I’m resolved to organize my time better and make room for what’s important. Mainly – you guys! Thanks for your patience!

I generally like blogging and having a voice on the web but lately, it’s felt so much like a “chore I have to do.” It sits on on my To-Do list grumpily uncrossed for weeks and whenever I actually sit down to do it, I distract myself like crazy. So, I’m changing it up a little.

I’m going “Seth Godin” style with short but sincere posts coming to you every week. My hope is to keep up with a consistent schedule and also share moments, thoughts and habits I feel have helped me either become the artist I am now or continue to help me with my work (organization, creativity, productivity, writing, drawing) If you already follow me on tumblr and twitter, there might be some overlaps over what I actually share but I promise I’ll go into some more detail here.

I haven’t forgotten about the Kickstarter series! In fact, that’s my topic for my upcoming Comics Art Forum talk at the Ann Arbor Downtown Library next month. That’s motivation enough for me to work on it so stay tuned!

Polterguys is now a Featured Comic on MangaMagazine

I’ve already mentioned before how much I appreciated MangaMagazine’s contributions to the growing local manga industry and I thought their site would be another great community to introduce my work to. So, I started uploading comic pages and illustrations a few months earlier and have been updating there consistently.

I’m very happy to announce they have invited me to be a Featured user on their site!