Currently working on the next page of Far to the North, I'll post however many pages I finish on Monday. I, an old lady, also figured out how to take a screenshot on my ipad so maybe I'll share progress shots again more often.
2025 was a heavy year for me. I had no energy at the start of it, worn down by a multitude of things. One of those things was Hiveworks. After an emotional rollercoaster I finally determined I'd rather just pull out than keep hoping things would improve there, so I had them send me my books and I rebuilt my websites.
I finally managed to get a glasses prescription that doesn't give me constant eye strain after years, but I'm still sensitive to it and can tell when my frames are bending just a little too much. I had to get a potential retinal tear checked out to find it was more like a blister and I'm still keeping up with appointments with a specialist over it.
I didn't get as many comic pages done as I was hoping to, but honestly? I'm ok with that. I needed time and space to look over my creative projects and let myself breathe with something new. And I think it fixed the burnout I've been fighting for years.
I pulled an old story out of my mental attic and repurposed a lot of it. At first it was just concepts and redesigning the characters. Then over the summer I scripted the first 4 chapters of it. Then I started making test pages to practice black and white comics, which I'm still not very confident in. And the whole time I just did it for me and that was precious. I needed a project nobody else would ask me about or wait for. I think I'm finally at the point where I'm willing to tell people I'm playing with it but I don't plan on releasing it publicly unless I finish the first entire chapter which can stand alone as a one-shot if I never have the time or energy to keep working on it.
If you've been part of this patreon for a very long time you might remember some characters named Anthea and Ynroc. They're both very different now and they were part of a couple different story ideas I've had over the years and this newest one combines a lot of previous elements into one final version. I'm not going to get into the details for now, just know that I needed them and they fixed me and I'm excited to draw again. They're the reason I had the energy to even work on Far to the North again.
I like to start off a new year by telling everyone my creative plans for the upcoming year and the past few years I felt like I was always in limbo and didn't have the confidence in my energy to fulfill goals. 2026 is a new period for me. I'm back, I'm hydrated, and I want to make a bunch of cool shit.
I am currently on a brief hiatus from TQ while I work on Far to the North pages. I'll at least finish the new intro before I go back to TQ, but the first volume's script is already fully revised so I might knock out a little more of it while I get the next TQ scene ready. I plan to get a good few TQ segments done this year but it's hard to say if I'll get all the way through the ball.
I'd very much like to bounce back to Far to the North from time to time. Who knows, if that's what is easier to work on in the moment then maybe I'll end up working on that more this year than TQ. Y'all are being very cool about it so far and I'm not feeling the pressure to deal with both at the same time, so I'm willing to just continue bouncing between them in whatever way comes natural.
As for Anthea and Ynroc, please accept just these sketches for now. I am sharing them with you not as a promo for a future project, but as a buddy explaining what really helped my mental health this year, and I'm trusting you guys to be considerate and let me continue keeping this close to my chest with no expectations for it. I forgot what it was like to actually create just for myself again without worrying about time constraints or marketability or disappointing people who prefer other projects of mine. I needed this and I'll continue needing it. And if you're struggling with creative block yourself, consider if maybe we're all just a little too used to applying our passions to the capitalist grind.
In the later months of 2025 I started working out again. I got myself a cheap violin off Amazon and I'm gonna learn how to play something on it and give my left hand some much needed enrichment. I'm eating more vegetables. I'm making more effort to reach out and make friends. I didn't plan to do any of these things at the start of the year, it just kinda happened as my mental health improved. I want to continue what I've started into 2026 and I hope by next New Year's I will be able to look back on a much happier, more productive year.
Thank you all for your patience, kindness, and support this year. I hope your 2026 kicks ass. I'm gonna draw so much stuff for you.