im in the “fool’s springtime” thinking its going to get warmer next week, when in reality its going to be next month.
I’ve been slowly coming out of creative hibernation. the year ended on a melancholy note, with potential prospects falling through, and turning out to be empty nothings. I can’t confidently say that I was almost scammed, but i absolutely fell for the bait. I was commuting home with a binktober poster, when a lady approached me in interest in my creation. we shot the shit for a while, and she informed me her mentor was interested in helping out artist in the community. I don’t think of myself in any sort of community at the moment, but I took her up on arranging a call to chat about ideas. I was hoping to get some kind of motivation to work on some more ambitious projects, but it didn’t pan out.
Long story short, I had an ambiguous end of year. I was at a crossroad of creating art for myself, or creating art that will actually sell. I’ve always approached art in this selfish way, of making things that I want to make, and if it sells it sells. But i’m still wary to the idea of creating something for the masses that im not 100% behind. No, im not going to make spiderman fanart, or re-draw pokemon in my style. None of that stuff ever amused me. I don’t have too many original characters, save for “long dog” and “toad knife”. at this moment, writing this, I’m OK with where my art is, commercially. I know if i cater towards a larger audience i could most likely score a few more clams/bones/greenbacks, but for the time being, I want to explore my own ideas more.
i’ve been indulging myself in the past, as i usually do. I’ve dusted off the gamecube and have been crashing through Viewtiful Joe and Super Monkey Ball 2. I’ve been slowly collecting more albums. I’ve topped off my audio setup (barely “hi-fi”, but it’s got some nice bits).
to wrap this session up: make the art you want to see, make the art that is a release for yourself. If you want to dip into commerce, find something marketable and make it as much of your own as you want. Don’t measure growth with $$$$. Measure it with how much of a dialogue you can open up when your art is doing the talking.
that’s a highschool quote right there
i’ll call it for now.
Albums worth checking out in the meantime:
Being There- Wilco. 1996
Actually, You Can- Deerhoof. 2021
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix- Phoenix. 2009