April 2017

I don't think I have a huge amount to say about this month to be honest - it's been more or less the same as March was.

The job situation is still the same - still looking, and I'm still doing the side job twice a month (although this month it was three times). Admittedly it's been a bit stressful, and on one of the days I felt like everything that could go wrong went wrong, some of which was out of my hands, some of which was me not handling stuff as good as I should've. Days like that are what make me nervous about having a regular job, and I really hope I can get past that someday. However, it is still a job, and at the end of the day it's experience, and it gets me out of the house.

I've also been wondering if some of what I said in my last blog post might've turned some people away from my artwork, and if they have, then I'm sorry that it made you feel that way. I still stand by what I said however, and with that said I'm still going to carry on making my artworks regardless. As the saying goes, to each their own.

I mentioned getting out of the house before, and with the weather becoming warmer and drier, I've started my bike rides again, and a few months of not bike riding certainly does make a big difference, but as exhausting as it can be, it's always good to just get out there and ride like the wind. It's also strange looking back to a year ago, when I was very reluctant to venture out onto the Connecticut roads by myself for the first time. Now it's just second nature.

On the artwork front, I can't say I've really been motivated to do much digital artwork lately, and that's because I've been working on the first Fyfe & Sparkplug comic. The inking phase is nearing completion, so hopefully soon I'll be able to move onto the colouring phase. I'm still trying to figure out how to go about releasing it - upload it to Tapas, or publish it in book form, or even both? I still have a while to go before I reach that stage though.

This month was also a very special someone's birthday - April 23rd was my lovely wife's birthday, and we celebrated it with a weekend away in guess where, Rhode Island. There were casinos, hotel pools, a restaurant meal, some shopping, and watching the sunset over the Atlantic. Did I mention lots of together time too? (There's your mushy moment for this month.)

I can't end this blog without mentioning Easter - hope you had a good one if you celebrated it. And as always, I'll leave you with some artwork - my wife's birthday falls on the same day as St. George's Day, and I couldn't resist making a scene with a certain knight and a certain dragon duo.

There was one last thing that i forgot to mention last month - me and my wife are finally going on our honeymoon. We would've gone last year, but for circumstances - and as for where we're going, I'll leave that until the comes. (Hint: we've been there once before, and no, it's not Rhode Island.)

You'll get to hear all about it in a month's time - peace out.

March 2016

I hope everyone had a good Easter, whether eggs were involved or not. Mine involved quite a lot of them, plus flying a kite at the beach and spending quality time with my wife and her family, so I definitely had a good one.

Spring has arrived, and getting used to losing an hour's sleep with daylight saving time wasn't the only thing I've had to get used to this past month, as this was my first full month living the married life, yet with moving to the US and living with Nicole for two months prior, it already felt like I was living the married life, just without the ring on my finger. It's been good so far, to say the least, and even though I still get moments where I think about my family and my old life back in the UK, I don't regret making the move.
There's always a downside though - because of a bit of miscoummnication and red tape, I have still been unable to apply for a job in the US, because I need a social security number to do so, and that could take another couple of months to obtain. A couple of jobs came up in the last month that involved artwork, so I'm a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to apply for them, but hopefully once I have what I need Ill be able to look for similar jobs, there definitely seems to be a bigger calling for art-related jobs Stateside.
I say married life has been good so far, though it hasn't been without any hiccups, and most of them have been from planning for the June wedding ceremony, the majority of it is on Nicole, and anyone who's ever planned a wedding can probably imagine how stressful it can be. I do my bit to help, though sometimes I feel like it's not enough - but hopefully it'll be alright on the night though, as the saying goes.

On March 12, me and Nicole took our monthly trip to Newport in Rhode Island, and it just happened to be Newport's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade that day, it was the very first time I'd ever been to a St. Patrick's Day parade, and it was a blast, with people lining the streets dressed in green to cheer on the very colourful and creative parade floats, dancers and marching bands, they really put a lot of effort into it. Back in the UK, St. Patrick's Day doesn't get nearly as much of a celebration, and I was surprised to learn that apparently even the Irish don't make as big a deal out of the day as the Americans do - but then again, as I've learned, the Americans usually make a big deal out of just about everything.
I also had some terrific news this month - not only is my brother flying over for the wedding ceremony in June, but my grandma and my mam have also decided to fly over with him. It's proving a bit stressful though as my mam needs a passport, but it would mean the world to both me and Nicole if they could pull this off. The last time I saw my family in person was the day before I made my move, and I really want to see them again.

Went to see the latest animated film that everyone's talking about, Disney's Zootopia - two thumbs up, great characters and a very deep message. If this had been 20 years ago, that message probably would've gone right over my 10 year old self's head.

On the artwork front, this month I decided after 11 years to end one of my comic series, Snow Sam the walking talking snowman. I just felt that I was running out of gags and that his comics had run their course, plus with my move, getting married and eventually getting a job I'm gonna have less time to be able to do artwork, so something had to get the chop I'm afraid. However for those of you who have read my Snow Sam comics, I hope you enjoyed them over the years, and don't fear, I will still be drawing the character, and I'm not saying no to giving him any one-shot comics or cameo appearances in the future.

I'll leave you with Snow Sam's final comic - Easter and St Patrick's greetings to you all.