Donation Drive Art is gaining COLOR

Ok, so, I thought a newer post was here. But, uh, I left a post for this place in my drafts by mistake. And now I’ve gotta write a new one, as I’ve taken multiple steps since then, WHICH I SHOULD HAVE BEEN POSTED HERE TOO. Brain blank. I started one update, but the piece leading it was claimed as a thank you gift, so I wanted to make another to lead off, then THAT one got claimed, so I needed a new headliner, and that’s when I forgot what rewrite I was on, or if I had even published. Whoops!

Anyway, I’ve been pushing hard at physical therapy, gambling with the future, forcing a friend over to supervise me and ensure I stay on task, and locking myself in my room to minimize distractions in order to finish off my coloring project.

With Twitter, really my only outlet (remember: so disabled I mostly lie perfectly still in bed and scroll to try keeping my muscles from triggering and spasming themselves into painful bricks), being destroyed, I was finally forced to push my donation drive more public, even if I wasn’t quite ready. All cuz a person hoarded enough ill-gotten money to throw a $44billion tantrum so he could silence poor people who dared accurately criticize what a deeply stupid person, who spends his days huffing his own farts while imagining money (which he was born into, during an era of wealth consolidation in death-rattle capitalism) equals merit, this guy is. (In the name of “free speech” and “standing up to” those EVIL poor people, who are one medical bill from ruin, pointing out the obvious, as they obviously have more power than the world’s richest man, who can literally buy and delete the words of those “bullies.”) He also remains entirely oblivious that he’a being used as a tool in an extended campaign to quash the ability of vulnerable groups to have their voices heard. (See also: The HBO Max/Discovery merger, where all minorities and women executives got replaced with old white men, and then they destroyed a massive amount of important projects, usually starring women/minorities/lgbt+. And it wasn’t to save money, as the old bitter men lost half the company’s value by erasing so much cultural value. Their interviews have made it clear the cruelty was the point.) So dumb. So tragic. So evil. So timed to ruin an election with a flood of “verified” disinformation. And pretty much the standard tone for the way my life has been going.

I haven’t taken a group photo since this one of 15, omitting the 3 folks have claimed. (Standard Autumn, Target Man, and Vincent, which I wedged in above so all get shown.) Since then, only artist Tiffany was claimed. It’s kinda hard to beg for money when the only folks paying attention after years of your inaction are the ones who understand because they’re *also* in active crisis. I don’t wanna shake that group down! Maybe someone with more stability will end up pointed to this public Patreon post. I don’t expect anything more from you Patreons, so maybe spread the word and try to get eyeballs on this???

Like, I’m spending $200 a week out of pocket on PT that is the sole thing that keeps me out of the hospital. I found out Medicaid screws me over, and hasn’t covered doctor bills for several months now! (Every donation far falls just short of this one bill.) And it looks like my next likely angle to try improving will also be fully out of pocket. (The websites I checked don’t list rates, which tends to be a bad sign.)

As I’m not one who likes begging, the only thing I have is friggin’ PayPal - chrispco@yahoo.com - and PayPal going to zero with an unexpected bill is a big reason this whole begging campaign kicked off!

So how am I handling this donation drive? Improvising! Not expecting much action, I’ve been giving people their choice of cards (or a sketched copy of book 3). But that does get grim eventually, as then these bonus gifts fall into being ranked and I feel sad. Y’know, this isn’t a sale. Fancy Feast sketches SHOULD be simple loose pieces that can be done in an hour of two, but these have averaged taking my broken body a week to finish, and at that point pricing means nothing. A standard rate would be in the $30 range, but wouldn’t time and effort and situation mean these have more value? With me falling off the face of the earth, doesn’t a lost audience mean art of Precocious characters is effectively worthless? Yeah, value is what people are willing to offer. I’m happy to have actual art to gift. It’s been so long. I generally give EVERYTHING I make away, because I want to make people happier to offset how crummy the world currently is. (I have shared so many bad sketches, because I didn’t have good ones after disability robbed me of my power, and I wanted to put something out there!) When I lost everything to illness (or, rather, malpractice), I didn’t have much leftover art to use in donation drives, so it wasn’t worth a meager fire sale.

I’ve kinda fallen into the HOPE of gifts $50+ getting their pick, while $30 and $40 range going blind bag, because surprise art is pretty cool! And I’m proud I pulled these off. I have favorites, in the “I love all my children equally, but this one got a trophy and their pic in the paper” way, and I hope they get their proper love! (Quincy has Dorito fingers and tongue! That makes his piece EPIC! Bud is destroying reality in an amazing way! Kaitlyn’s On-Cue Ball is a legend! Yvette and her dolls are always wonderful results. And that is what I consider a perfect Jacob depiction.)

I have been mentally separating them into general tiers. I follow what my hands create, and some do end up being showstoppers while others are more simple - in the way they are SUPPOSED to be!

(But, really, you can probably get your requests in no matter what, as I simply won’t be getting much action, and I’d be appreciative of gestures while I’m fighting to stay above water during times when everything is going wrong for me. But, hey, let me dream a higher volume scenario, even if I know better.)