Is It 2018 Yet?

To cut to the chase, I've been disappointed with how 2017 unfolded art-wise. Although I've worked tirelessly, I feel as though I have little to show for it. Normally I have a collage of my accomplishments for the year, but this time, it just didn't come together.

And you know what? That's ok.

I've had a very daring year in my personal life. 2017 included a great deal of travel, self-discovery, social engagements, and workplace highs and lows. December was my first month of returning to freelancing full-time, and it has been a positive experience thus far. It is my hope that a transition into a new year will bring about a surge of productivity. I have much to do in 2018.

2017 is not without things to celebrate:

• Participated in Hourly Comic Day
• Was considered for a gothic romance anthology
• Started a button-making business, Pinback Buttons
• Tabled at MSU Comics Forum
• Reread and revised Petrichor for the first time
• Tabled at Lansing Fantasticon
• Tabled at Capital City Comic Con (my first con to revisit)
• Made a comic about my trip to Mexico
• Tabled at Grand Rapids Comic Con
• Participated in NaNoWriMo again
• Tabled at Grand Rapids Holiday Market
• Presented at a storytelling event in Lansing
• Met my goal of drawing 100 graphic novel pages despite breaking my shoulder in July
• Returned to freelancing full-time

Total Comic Pages Drawn: 112

Going forward, I would like to:

• Finish Minus, my graphic novel
• Finish my comic on traveling to Tijuana
• Experiment with risograph printing
• Pitch a new graphic novel
• Table at more conventions
• Do sketchbook exercises every day

We'll see where this next year takes me. I hope it's my most productive and fulfilling yet!

To finish off the year, here is my December sketch dump:

Moving On

October was not a very productive month for me. After my injury in July, I have been playing a long game of catch-up.

November finalized my decision to leave my part-time job and return to freelancing full-time. This was a tough call to make, but a necessary one in order to pursue my future craft.

One of my proudest accomplishments in the past two months was putting together a mini-comic of my trip to Mexico. This is only a snippet of a larger story:

It sure is a long time coming, but here's the Mexico mini comic I promised! Holler at me if you wanna snag one.

A post shared by Lisa Naffziger (@lisanaffziger) on Oct 6, 2017 at 8:21am PDT

Here are some of the pages:

I enjoyed adapting a version of NaNoWriMo for comics last year, so I participated again this year. Over the course of the month, I scripted and drew thumbnails for 200 pages worth of a graphic novel. This time, my story is at 200 pages, but is incomplete. I plan on working on this large story very soon. This is your only clue:

It is with great pleasure that I also announce that I have reached another milestone for my graphic novel in-progress, Minus. As of today, I have drawn 150 out of 168 pages.

Well, it's the home stretch for me now. Wish me luck as I return to all-day art!

Hitting the Finish Line

As was the case with last month, I spent September trying to catch up pages for Minus. After several dogged weeks, I managed to meet my goal. What a relief!
I am now 133 pages deep, on my way to an estimated 170.

Once again, I do not have anything I can show for this month. I am still debating whether or not to participate in Inktober or 24 Hour Comic Day. There's just so much serious work to do for the time being.

Hopefully I will have time for some sketchbook work once I get this all straightened out. Time will tell.

Catching Up

After breaking my shoulder at the end of last month, I have spent the entirety of August trying to catch up on everything.

I have completed 122 pages of Minus at this point. I really should have 127 done, but I'm glad I'm closing in on the gap (I was over 10 pages behind previously).

Consequently, I have no warm-up sketches or any other projects to showcase for this month.

I participated in Capital City Comic Con for a second year. This is the only show that I have returned to so far. It went even better than the year before!

That's all for now. I'm hoping to make my deadlines with my book pages and continue working on a short story about my trip to Tijuana.

Maybe next month will be more productive. We will see.

Kaijuly Year 3

I was so close to finishing my third full year of Kaijuly, a challenge where for the month of July, artists draw monsters every single day. Unfortunately, I fell off my longboard and broke my clavicle at the tail end of the month. I am currently struggling to draw, which is very frustrating.

Here are the drawings I was able to complete:

My husband was nice enough to contribute and draw me a Tarrasque from D&D:

Better luck next year.