It was the best of times, it was the…okay, it was not a bad year drawing wise. I can boil it down to four categories.
MY REDBUBBLE.COM SHOP
I started my Redbubble shop in October of 2020, but in 2021 I really spent time adding content. I’ve had a ton of fun drawing new art that, for the most part, works within my stated theme, which is artwork inspired by iconic books, authors, and movies. I define iconic as books, authors, and movies I like. Hey, it’s my shop.
Am I getting rich from Redbubble? Oh, hell no. The beauty of Redbubble is that they handle all printing and distribution, so I never have to worry about sourcing, say, slim-fit t-shirts, printing them, and shipping them to Paraguay. The downside is that Redbubble takes a huge slice of the pie. I sell more stickers than anything else, and I make, literally pennies on them. I’m not complaining, mind you. I don’t have the time or bandwidth to open an ETSY shop, so this works for me.
My favorite part of the whole thing? Seeing which countries my customers hail from. The fact that a water bottle featuring one of my designs is heading half way around the world is both fascinating and immensely gratifying. My best customer (Twitter friend Sheena and her fiancé Graham) lives in Norway. That is so cool.
Curious? Here’s the link: https://www.redbubble.com/people/fan-tasm/shop
AN IPAD, AN APPLE PENCIL, AND PROCREATE
Speaking of Redbubble, nearly all the new art I’ve created for it (as opposed to older art that was already completed—some I did all the way back in high school) was done digitally, using an Apple Pencil and Procreate software on my iPad. I love the versatility, the fact that I can try different tools and different techniques and not worry about ruining a drawing, or having to start over. There are lots of other drawing programs out there, but for me at least, Procreate is easy to learn and intuitive. My goal is for you to not be able to tell which artwork of mine is hand drawn and which is digital. I think I’m getting close.
ART MARKETS
In 2021 I starting selling my work at outdoor art markets and shows again, something I hadn’t done in decades. I blame my brother Jim. He makes gorgeous, imaginative fairy container gardens, which he’s been successfully selling at shows, and he asked me to share a booth space with him. We ended up doing a bunch of shows together. I rediscovered how much I love hanging out, talking to people about art, connecting with other creative folks. This will definitely continue in 2022. Oh, and I made a few bucks. Win-win.
ANTHOLOGY COVERS
I’m a sometimes, somewhat active member of the Twitter writing community, and through that I was lucky enough to connect with a group of immensely talented writers and participate in two fiction anthologies: Heads and Tales: The Other Side of the Story, and the just published Welcome to Simmins, Detective Spencer. I have one story in the first, and two in the second. Our editor for both volumes, Chapel Grahamm, did a wonderful job—keeping a bunch of writers on task and on deadline can be like juggling cats—and I’m extremely proud of my stories in both books.
Dave, you may be asking yourself, what’s that got to do with drawing? Glad you asked! I was asked to create the cover art for both anthologies and happily agreed. Both jobs were fun as can be, and, I think, successful.
Curious? Here are links for both. Heads and Tales is available in both print and e-book editions, and Welcome to Simmins, Detective Spencer is available now as an e-book, with a print edition coming any day now:
So that’s my year in drawing. Like I said, not bad.
Dave Writes and Draws 