Once More Unto The Breach

It’s been a while since I’ve been back from HeroesCon, and I’ve been getting a lot of work done. Above is a page from my upcoming book from Flesk Publications. Originally slated for 2022, it’s looking like 2023 now. For years I’ve struggled with arm and hand pain, and this had slowed me down quite a bit. For the past few years I’ve had to work in concentrated bursts, in the moments when I’m not taking care of my young children due to pandemics, school vacations, school cancellations, etc, but my body couldn’t handle the short and intensive work sessions any longer. It reached the point where I couldn’t pick up a pencil or even a sheet of paper. After a lot of searching I found The Ready State and Squat University, and have been able to resolve a lot of the issues I was having. For the first time in nearly 20 years I’m almost pain-free and able to work how I want, when I want. It feels almost unreal. Any young artists out there: take care of your body, do some warmups (The Ready State’s tennis elbow protocol and the book Rebuilding Milo by Dr. Aaron Horschig have been particularly effective for me), don’t push yourself through pain.

I’m back on instagram - so if you’d prefer social media over the very rare email I’m posting again there. There were a few reasons, and maybe I’ll go into detail sometime, but essentially I didn’t know how to handle the pandemic and political landscape, the loss of my mother and my inability to work, having to devote the majority of my time to parenting and somehow cutting off the outside world seemed the thing to do. I needed less noise. And it helped. But then I began to feel isolated, cut off from my friends and the real world, and I realized that my mother wouldn’t want that for me, that I’ll never really get over her loss and that I needed that connection with my friends, with the world, to be healthy. So I’m seeing how it goes. HeroesCon was really wonderful for this - to meet artists and comic book fans in person and feel the energy and love for art and stories. It reinvigorated me and I feel ready to go again.

I’ve been doing some private commissions for collectors via Felix Comic Art, and really enjoying them. Here are a few:

I’ve also been working in a sketchbook experimenting with screentone. Felix had ordered a big batch and I’ve never really figured out how to integrate it into my own work. Making something small every day has always been the best way for me to learn and grow as an artist.

Here are some recent favorite books:

I hope you are all healthy and well. School starts again next week, and I can’t wait to dive back into my work.

Love,

J