Hourly comic day 2023 & the streaming debacle
February 1st is hourly comics day, something that I have seen going around for years but never took part in because I felt like I wasn’t “good enough” to do. Then when I saw that people over on
’s Discord server were getting hyped up about doing it I figured that, fuck it, I can at least try. If it doesn’t turn into anything I just don’t post it anywhere. But lo and behold, I did it!It was quite the exercise in letting go of perfection and just letting things be what they would instead of trying too hard to get it “right”. I’m proud of the fact that I did it while simultaneously being very ambivalent about the result. There are a couple of panels in there that I’m surprisingly happy with and a few that I cringe looking at.
That said, it did teach me a lot of things and showed me things I need to work on that I thought I had down (basic shapes aren’t as ingrained as I thought). I would definitely recommend it as an exercise for artists in general, lots to learn!
I might try to do a random comic strip every now and again as practice, it was kind of cathartic to do.
As for streaming… I mentioned in the previous letter I had set myself a schedule and I was hell bent on finally getting started.
The Tuesday stream started out promising and I had high hopes since I had previously managed to stream Andromeda for a few hours before my graphics card decided to die. Sadly, this time it only took about an hour and a half before it crashed, and it crashed bad. Like, needing to reboot the computer and corrupting the games auto saves bad. I had to give up trying to stream and play after another three just as bad crashes.
So, I resigned myself to doing a shorter art stream for the Thursday one but the signs weren’t optimistic for that one either. Wednesday morning I got a message that the electricity was going to be out for a large part of Thursday morning/early afternoon meaning I had to reschedule the stream for the evening instead. Then 20 minutes into the stream on the day, as if on the clock, my internet went down.
Where I live the only connection I have is the landlord’s WiFi and as such I can’t do anything whenever these things happen. So. Yeah. Needless to say, streams were pretty much cursed last week.
Since then I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about streaming in general. Scheduling anything seems like it’s pretty much a no go at this point, especially with unstable internet, and the only thing my computer can (barely) handle streaming at this point is art. I may try to do impromptu streams when I notice my internet is stable and I’m working on something art related but at this point I’m really disheartened by the whole situation.
Now I’m just hoping I’ll be able to finish my current commissions ASAP and then be able to find a few more to help me save towards a new computer but due to mental health it’s very slow going.
I’ll keep trying my best though, I have so many plans for when I have a computer that can handle it, damnit!
I’m usually incredibly bad at asking for help, but in the spirit of Amanda Palmer and the Art of Asking, if you want to help me save for a new computer I have a Ko-fi goal set up and any income I get from this newsletter/Redbubble store/Donations etc will help immensely 🙏💜
I know I’ve said it before, but thank you so much for reading this, for following along on my ramblings, for letting me be vulnerable and for supporting me and my art in whatever capacity you can. I love you 💜
Now, to send you off with a small brush pen doodle from my sketchbook, brought to you by pinterest inspiration and a nudge to lean into where your heart takes you.
I hope you have a lovely week and I’ll see you next week for (hopefully) more art!