Not sure if you knew this or not, but I dabble in artwork as well as writing. I’ve been drawing and scribbling down crazy characters and animals for a lot longer than I’ve been a writer.
I found out about these things called ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) from a website called atcsforall. I signed up and participated in a few swaps (a theme is picked and you send your cards to someone in the mail… then they shuffle all the cards and everyone gets something from different people that participated in the swap). I found it extremely fun to get baseball card sized bits of artwork from all around the world. CLICK HERE to see a gallery of some of the cards I’ve done.
After reading WOOL by Hugh Howey, I thought of some cool cartoons to draw. I figured I’d contact him to ask for permission first, and he not only gave me permission, but he said, “Sell ’em, too.” This was the first time I’ve ever heard of an author essentially telling someone to go ahead and make some money off of their work. Being the nice guy I am, I made the artwork available for everyone at pennies above cost, so I’ve only made a buck or two ever since I made them available.
But the actual point to all this rambling, is that I have something to do when I’m not in the writing mood (or crocheting). When writing becomes a struggle, or I just can’t get to the point that I can type anything that makes sense, I have a backup outlet. Sometimes, I forget this and get annoyed with myself. I accuse my brain of not being creative. I get… dare I say it?… surly.
Last week, I was in full-on surly mode. I finally grabbed myself by the collar and said, “Mike. You’ve got a nice, 2-in-1 laptop. Why not try to draw something with that tablet mode you’ve never used?” So I did. What came out, was that cat up there. It was a quick sketch, but a few of the people from the writing group liked it, so I made it available for anyone who wants a copy of it HERE.
If you check it out, you’ll be able to see those cartoons I did for Hugh, too. One thing I’ve always liked about RedBubble (the site that allows you to sell stuff with your artwork), is that the artist retains their copyrights. One of the reasons I self-publish, too.
I may post some future artwork here… we’ll see how it goes. Let me know if you have other hobbies you do when you’re not writing. Is it something you could sell? Is it something you would have a problem selling even if you could? I’d like to hear about it.
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