I didn’t think I would ever have a Patreon. Then I made one. Now I’m seeing what works and what doesn’t. — I don’t want people to “support” me, I want to use Patreon in a way that people feel supported by me. When people are paying a monthly pledge amount, I want them to get value out of it. The premise of patronage seems one-sided: how can the artist make money…

A story for anyone who feels like they’ll never truly “arrive” — The Wrong Place My story starts in the wrong place. It was a sunny morning in September, the first day of my first year at college. Computer engineering technology. That’s the path I had chosen for myself. 8:00 AM. I walk into a large classroom, flooded with harsh fluorescent light, row after row…

An Update on the Progress of my Book (and Next Skillshare Class) — I am the slowest writer ever. Since I launched my last class on Skillshare in late August, I have been busy writing and re-writing my next big project. …

Why Creative Collaboration is Mostly Done Alone — The process of illustrating for clients is not exactly straightforward. There are always twists and turns, and even the most experienced illustrator can’t predict what’s around the next one. …

Try flipping the script — I recently published a video on my YouTube channel in response to a question from a fellow illustrator. It was a fairly long question, but the gist of it was that this person was wondering why, after reaching out to some 120 art directors, she was not getting any call-backs. …

How to Keep Your Cool and Preserve Your Integrity in the Face of Annoying Client Feedback — Every professional creative will experience annoying feedback. By annoying, I mean any requests for changes to the artwork we send to our clients. Because we have fragile feelings, big egos, and very little time. Feedback can come in many different forms, but there are two overarching categories: reasonable and unreasonable…