Things never go as planned (Patreon)

Yesterday I finished the first issue of Grisly Tales. There is a little bit of post production left in order to prepare the comic for printing but that will probably be no more than a single evening’s hard work.

I don’t feel very much like celebrating. Too many horrible things have happened in too short a time. Between the suicides, war, my wage being cut despite soaring inflation and recent horrible trauma in my family, my brain feels like it is in a haze. I’m always feeling tired and sad.

It was a good thing I had to work so hard these past few months to keep my mind off things. What with a job, commissions, evening chinese and author classes, daily art practice, comics and all the things that come with being an adult living on your own.

If you are wondering “wow, how do you manage to combine all of those things successfully?” The answer is; you don’t. It’s been a constant scramble to keep up and catch up, often dropping daily art and language practice in favour of keeping up with the rest and with no time to relax or recharge.

I try to remind myself that it is not all doom and gloom. The progress I have made is remarkable. I managed to successfully finish Grisly 1, the most detailed comic I have made so far, on time despite the curveballs life threw at me. I managed to support my family and keep my head above the water even after financial setbacks. I never once lost motivation to finish Grisly, even if I grew bored of working on the same thing all the time. I know I did well, even if I don’t feel like it.

I’m not entirely sure yet what to do with Grisly, I was originally planning a kickstarter but I don’t think I will have time to run one for the next few months. I’d have to do some kind of ad campaign to draw attention to it and make sure the kickstarter itself runs smoothly to avoid issues for myself and potential customers. I just don’t have the energy for that right now. The other, easier option is to do print on demand through amazon. Then I won’t have to worry about it anymore. But amazon takes a very big cut and the quality won’t be as good as if I were to personally work with a printing company. And I’d still have to hustle to get people to buy it.

I’m not going to rush to a decision. I need the fog to clear from my mind a bit more first. I also need to immediately start working on the second project of this year: Harpy vs Demon.

You see, I’ve had my eye on becoming a Webtoons original artist for years now. It might very well be my dream job. Though being completely independent would be very nice too. However, the trouble with webtoon is that there is no way in, no chance to pitch your idea or show them what you’re capable of. It was always a closed castle. Until very recently.

This summer there will be a contest at webtoon that will allow any artist to submit their work. Top 3 receives a job offer. The contest subject? A fight scene. Now, I avoid bragging as much as possible because that’s just inviting trouble. But I am good at action scenes. I’d go as far as saying it’s my speciality. So I might actually stand a chance here. This is a unique opportunity. I want this very, very much. I’d finally be able to quit my current, dead end job and work on what I always wanted. It’s like a dream come true. Winning money would also be a great help cause the upcoming hospital bills from the “””accident””” might rake up in the tens of thousands. We hope insurance will cover them but it’s uncertain. The hospital still needs to be investigated for what they have done. We’ll probably need to pay lawyers for the case and everything. It would sure be nice to have a financial backup for what is to come.

So I wanna win. I want that job. I want that money. This is my chance.

The catch is that the deadline is very close. I’ll have to do twice the work I did for Grisly in half the time. And I’m already running on fumes in terms of energy. Originally I was going to catch a small holiday to celebrate finishing my comic and recharge. But after what happened I won’t be going anywhere. I need to start work immediately. Of course, I have to finish people’s commission orders first. I’m pretty stressed out ngl.

The fun part is that, since Harpy vs Demon will be publicly available for the contest, I will be showing my entire progress from the start. I won’t have to keep it under wraps like Grisly. I think I am going to time my work for it as well. Then I will know exactly how long it took to make. All progress will be put up here.

The deadline is 15th of July. Which gives me about 10 days' wriggle room in case something unexpected comes up, which it always does. As for the PL remaster. I’m pushing that to after HvsD. I am in no rush for it. There are still a few pages scheduled though! I hope you will enjoy them.

Thanks to everybody here for their support.