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The First Six Months
As loathe as I am to admit it, we're halfway through 2018. So, like any self respecting masochist, it's time to hide away from the death rays of the sun and check in on how I'm doing this year. To properly grade myself, I'm referencing my goal tracker I added to my bullet journal at the start of this year. If i somehow find that a goal no longer works for me, I can scratch it out and replace it with another! I'll also be grading myself on overall growth, noting areas where I feel I've fallen behind. Finally, it's time to set new goals for the rest of the year!
Part I: The BIG Goals
Every year, I try to set big goals that are a mixture of reasonable and pie-in-the-sky accomplishments. The reasonable goals typically have to do with activities I wish I had more time for, like reading or gaming. Sadly, they also tend to end up on my list year after year. The crazier goals tend to not stick around after a year if I don't hit them. Not because I no longer wish to achieve them, but because I typically break it into micro goals that will (hopefully) lead up to the big one.
This year, my big goals were:
To be invited as a guest to a new-to-me convention.
Make fan art based off a livestream show I enjoy, and have it shown during the stream.
Start ANY sort of comic.
Livestream gaming or art of Twitch.
Spend some time working on art in a social setting.
Create a Zine of my own.
Create YouTube videos again.
Get accepted into a dream convention.
Of these goals, I'm happy to say I've already completed 2 of them: having my work shown during a livestream and getting accepted in TWO dream conventions!
As for the others, well, some might be scrapped altogether. For example, creating my own zine may be switched out to being accepted in another fan zine or two. And, as much as I would like to get back into making videos or livestreaming, I simply cannot afford the equipment that would allow me to do so. Yeah, even a cheap as hell webcam is simply out of the budget for the time being. Also, I have learned this year that I'm simply not a social artist. I find other people far too distracting to also work and not be frustrated.
Part II: Growth
Shocker, changing my name and art style created a backslide in growth. I've seen a sizable drop in all of my social media platforms as well as sales. This is something that was expected, especially since I've entirely moved away from clay work. By the end of the year, I would like to see regrowth. I'm not expecting platforms to grow past their peak, but I would at least like to be close.
Instagram in particular has seen a lot of change in content. I've always been a mixed artist, and I never saw the need to differentiate my work into different account types. This year has been more mixed than usual--the leave from clay, the random bullet journal stuff, art, WIPs, and a few more vignettes from my everyday life. The style and subject matter of my drawings is kind of inconsistent as well. I've just never been good at sticking to one thing.
Patreon is another platform I continually struggle with. Allowing Patrons to pick blog topics seemed to work on getting people excited and engaged for a couple months, but that engagement also dropped off entirely. Switching to "Thank You" sketches has yet to work with my schedule, especially now that I'm in the middle of the convention season. I hope to have some sort of happy medium figured out by early autumn.
Part III: The Next Six Months
Moving on from here, I don't foresee my main goals changing too radically the next few months. With conventions in full swing, and some MAJOR shows coming my way, the majority of my focus will have to be on that. Following conventions, there's still several commissions from last year that I need to deliver on. As life late last year majorly derailed me, I really don't feel comfortable taking on new commissions until I honor those.
I do feel that I should put any thought of video or stream creation on the back burner for now and focus on what's ahead. I would like to challenge myself to try sketching in new locations, but not force myself to make it a social activity.
Finally, in lieu of video creation, I really need to sit down and force myself to work on a comic, I've had an idea for a four panel style comic for 6 years now, but I've always been too afraid to sit down and work on it. In fact, I started creating videos first because I was too afraid to try creating a comic. If I fail to hit every other goal, this is really the one I should strive for.
So, how'd the first half of your year go? Did you hit any of your goals? Is there anything in particular you're looking forward to in the second half? Let me know in the comments!
