68 - Feeling Thankful

A day late cuz I was flying…

Rat and Toad

I was on the road, and my son is learning to read. He had my wife text me to ask for an illustration of his learning exercise, “The Rat is wet, the Rat is Sad.” In his art direction, there is also supposed to be a happy toad for contrast. Because, you see, Toads like being wet.

BOOK TOUR 2.0

The Hope Never to See It book tour 2.0 was a great success. Our goal was to sell 10 books at each location, and in the end, we sold 94. Twelve of which were not our stock. Over 8 locations that exceeded our goal by two. Same as last time, some locations were better than others, but on the whole, it was great fun.

The publisher is considering a second print run! We only have 400 copies left in the warehouse. This holiday season may be your last chance to get a first edition!

Order Now for the Holidays!

CAPTAIN ABSOLUTELY

When I was a kid I got this magazine (remember those?) called Clubhouse. It had short stories and bible lessons and stuff, but my favorite were the comic pages: Johnny Grav. It was the first serialized comic I read, and I loved it. Now a decade and a half later and Clubhouse just hired me to be the artist for their new comic series Captain Absolutely! It’s based on a character from Adventures in Odyssey, another cornerstone of my youth.

My run will begin in January 2026. I have already completed the first spread and am halfway through February’s pages. I am replacing their former artist who wanted to pursue other projects. Our styles are quite different, I am more cartoony, so I had to be careful with my designs to keep the spirit of the old while staying true to my own voice.

You can subscribe to the Magazine here for you or your kids!

CLB

I have a publisher!

I can’t say who, as it has not been officially announced, but I have signed with a publisher, and we are looking at a Q3 2026 print run in full color. The series will remain on Webtoons for now, with more updates through the new year. I’ll keep you posted.

DEJA VU

I entered this one page comic contest where the theme was Deja Vu.

I would love to hear what you think of it.

SHA

Today I am flying down to St. Pete’s FL for the Southern Historical Association annual conference. I will be there with Andrew meeting with other historians to discuss our book Hope Never to See It and potential future projects.

I’m nervous because it is not my crowd and I don’t get much experience with networking but I am excited for the possibilities!

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

With the holidays coming up I have made this handy gift guide for what you can purchase from/by me for the loved ones in your life. Links Below

Email Me

Fish Coin

Amazon

WATCH: Bedknobs and Broomsticks

This oldie passed me by as a kid, but now that I have little ones of my own we watched this as a family. What a joy. The kids loved the soccer game in the middle. Very silly, wholesome, and british.

LISTEN: Church History for Chumps

Even if you are not a Christian, this podcast can be pretty entertaining. The three hosts talk about a church period or a leader and the wild stories of their lives.

READ: Kroma

I picked this up on the last tour and tore right through it. The book boasts beautiful art and story by Lorenzo De Felici. The story is short and bitter. It warns of the danger in rules without reason.

PLAY: Risk

I played Risk for the first time in my life, Game of Thrones edition. and it did not dissappoint. It was a 3 hour grind and in the end I, like the other 4 loosers, was only 1 or two moves away from total domination! The victor won gracefully and a good time was had… But I will have my revenge, A lanister always pays his debts!

I’m very grateful for all the love that I got after my last newsletter. September was a rough month, but October was great. I got lots of great time with family, friends, some exciting work, and some quality downtime.

I don’t have a bee in my bonnet about anything in particular, let me see…

Well, actually, here is a small rant.

Today I was teaching my Character Design Class and one of my students was telling me about all the reference she was looking up for her project, but her sketchbook only had the one drawing from last week.

I told her, “You have to stop consuming and start creating.”

And as soon as I said it, I heard it in my own head as well. I have a regular habit of browsing Pinterest for reference images and compiling boards of concepts for future and current projects. But I just lapped myself in my sketchbook. I started it October last year, and I still have a solid 1/6th left blank. I need to be creating more, not consuming.

To that end, I plan to not pin anything else in Pinterest until I fill my current sketchbook. Some of which will be drawing pins in my “Warm up” and “To Draw” boards.

I hope you will join me in less consuming and more creating. This holiday season, as you have some vacation time and you have a moment to yourself, instead of scrolling all the cool things, places, and people on your phone, consider writing a poem, singing a song, drawing a sketch, making a movie, telling a story, playing a game, or baking a pastry.

Go forth and create!

Cheers,

&