Jun (Colour)

Happy new year! Jun is coloured and the rewards are posted. 

 I want to take the opportunity to thank you for making this project possible. I'm taking small steps, but being able to set aside time for it at all, that is all because of you. I really love the concept of supporting creators directly and leaving out the company in the middle. It is a much more genuine experience and it makes you care about the work in a very different way. 

Reflecting on 2016
Working on this project has been my favourite thing in 2016 and I want to continue exploring, expanding and making it better. When I started, I had this idea that I would write a chapter, do the illustrations for it and move on to the next one. But I had to learn that storytelling (for me) doesn't work in that linear fashion. Instead, I'm jumping around between worldbuilding, dialogue, storyboards, character designs etc. etc. So I decided to let it unfold naturally. Some illustrations might not even end up in the final book, but are necessary to get a feel for the settings and characters. I'll continue making art for it without worrying too much. I'm trying not to feel bad because I don't have the story figured out after a few months. I just found this awesome podcast called Writing Excuses (http://www.writingexcuses.com/ ), that is hosted by Brandon Sanderson and two other authors. I'm learning so much and it feels great! Those things take time and I'll  keep going and hope you'll stick around, even if I might not be able to show you everything I'm working on because it might spoil the story. :)

What am I up to in 2017?
I opened an online store in November where I'm selling limited edition prints of my artwork and occasional originals (http://djamilaknopf.storenvy.com/ ). It has been a great success so far and I'm happy to continue in that direction this year. Again, I love the idea of giving my work directly to the people who like it. At the same time, I've cut back on freelance jobs. I'm excited about exploring the gallery world this year. So far, I have a list of a few galleries that focus on magic realism and fantastic art and I'm hoping to get my foot in the door that way. 

Aaaand I'm going to Japan in February! It has been a life-long dream of mine to go there. I'll be spending a whole month in Tokyo and it's going to be my first vacation since the summer of 2015. I almost never take time off, so I desperately need time to rest and recharge my creative batteries. I can't wait!
I'll have to see whether I can post something during that time. If not, I'm going to let you know and make up for it when I get back.

I hope 2017 treated you well so far.
Again, thank you for everything. <3

Djamila