It's that time. Forgive all the images piled into this entry. As a wrap up, I wanted to get at least an overview of what I managed to get done this year. There aren't the most entries but I did better than last. While the year started out 'ok,' things ramped up, despite what was going on in the world. It was a very tough year for everyone. That being said, I gave myself room and time to experiment, pushed some boundaries, declared I wasn't a cartoonist and then pretty much went right back to City Silent, which I feared I'd abandoned. Instead, I completed the first act with a chapter that I think stands out from all my other comic work and is an explosion to end the act with. So now all I have to do is get better for the next act.

With portraits, I was highly inspired by the British show, "Portrait Artist of the Year," which I'm not supposed to be able to watch and which is one of my favorite shows ever. So many great painters, some of which I follow on social media. I got into an artist I generally don't like, Matisse and managed a new style for portraiture based on his work that I ended up really liking. I also got the actual paints back out and painted some pretty big things. I want to do more with paint. I want to keep pushing in all sorts of directions.

I dropped Ghiroy which I think was the right decision. It never really gelled for me; I like drawing the characters but was never really comfortable with the overall style. It changed so much and I think I was too conscious of wanting to make it "A Thing." I might revisit it as a book, which is where it started (dug up the 1st draft of that and while terrible, has some good points).

I got back in touch with some guys I did a cooperative comic with and we restarted it. It hasn't gone very far but I managed a new style for that which, again, I ended up really liking. Even if that never continues, I will continue with the style for something. Maybe Biograph will make a come back.

I sought out new art to look into. I'm more interested in it than ever. I just need to focus and not get lost in what I'm NOT doing, what others are.

Managed to self-publish two books; the Book of Portraits and the first act of "The City Silent" as an all-in-one which required some heavy re-drawing. Almost no one downloaded the portrait book (four as of this writing) and I got no feedback on it, except from Vince. No one downloaded the Act 1. And that's fine. Because I like them both.

Outside of art, I continued the podcast with my best friend Max. We're at 125+ episodes now, which is no small thing. My sister started a troupe called "Cue Footsteps" which started out as just a couple of her friends and me doing original one acts she wrote. It soon changed to a radio play series called, "The Jewel," gathered three more people and we've recorded 11 episodes of that. I've developed an interest in vinyl around the holidays, my partner bought me a very nice setup and I've already started listening to music well outside my comfort zone. I like a lot of it.

All in all, I consider this year a success for me, even if there are no sales, almost no downloads or feedback. I'm producing work, it's good work and it's getting better. I've come to terms with the fact that this will never be my career, just a passion. When all is said and done, it was for me. I look at it all the time. It makes me happy.

Otherwise, fuck off 2020. You, honestly sucked. We managed in spite of you, not because of you. Here's hoping for continued strength. Thanks to anyone who ever looked at my stuff, commented on it or, the rare of you, owns any of it.