September Recap & Behind-the-scenes

Hi, everyone! I’m back with another monthly update. September was all about getting back into a routine after my trip, and this month there are plenty of fun things in store, so without further adieu, let’s jump into it!

First, I’d like to welcome the new members of our community since my last update. A huge hi and hello to you lovely folks! Thank you all for your generous support!

September Recap:

So what all has happened since the last update? For starters, I updated the Patreon page and tiers to better reflect some of my creative goals. Those changes are now live! There actually weren’t all that many changes to begin with, outside of adding a new tier level and updating the language and graphics on the page. It was a bit of a housekeeping task that I’ve had on my to-do list for awhile, so I’m relieved to have finally completed it.

Another big part of September involved designing, promoting, and selling the glow-in-the-dark Vampupper shirts. Because the design used a specialty ink, it needed to be ordered directly from the manufacturer instead of produced through the company I normally use for shirts, Printful. Because of how seasonal the design is, my timeline was pretty tight. I only offered the shirts for sale for two weeks. 

Despite that, they were incredibly popular! In fact, they did so well it took me two days to finish packing and shipping all the orders. The shirts shipped out last Monday, and a few have already arrived to their forever homes. I’m glad people are as excited about them as I am!

Tweet by @coolsilver 

Tweet by @nagito_eevee 

Overall, I was pretty nervous giving this a try (there was so much that could have gone horribly wrong) and with the exception of a couple of minor hiccups, things went smoothly. I learned a lot from this experience, and would love to try doing something like this again!

I tried something different for the gold tier drawing request stream this month. Instead of hosting the stream on Youtube, I hosted it on Twitch. That meant more people could watch the stream, but only patrons could request a drawing. Here’s a collection of some of the drawing requests, mainly the ones documenting the birth of a legend:

I unfortunately can't remember the name of this lil rock dude, but drawing him was a treat.

And finally, I jumped on the Inktober bandwagon! Due to a crippling case of FOMO, I joined in on the challenge with my pals, Jane and Enzo. I think this is the first time since 2013 I’ve participated with serious intent to complete Inktober. I’m trying to keep things as easy and stress-free as possible, because I’m also trying to maintain my regular output of comics and illustrations. I plan on using this challenge to complete a project I’ve had waiting in the wings for awhile: fantasy/D&D doggos! I’m going to make my way through the D&D classes. 

So far my favorite is the bard, but I have a few others planned that I'm really excited to share:

There’s been some interest in turning these drawings into coloring pages, so I may try doing something more with them soon! DnD Doggos won’t cover all the days in October, so if you have any suggestions or ideas you think would be cool to see me draw for Inktober, please let me know!

Coming Up:

So what’s next for this month? 

Patrons selected the next Patreon-exclusive mini series last week. It was a close call, but in the end, one idea reigned supreme. The newest mini series will follow the adventures of Tuff Fluff, a rough and rowdy pup with something to prove. The first comic will premiere this month as a silver tier perk!

As for the Dogs with Jobs series I post publicly to my social media pages, the Dr. Dog arc has one final comic, and then it’s time to move on to another dog/job combo. While I originally wanted to draw comics about President Pupper, I felt like now wasn’t the best time. Instead, I’ll be focusing on the tech support dog, who was a huge favorite among readers:

Be on the lookout for the first comic of his story arc coming soon!

The holidays are fast approaching, so I'll also be working on another round of new merch for the final part of the year. Mainly I’ll be adding new coffee mug designs to the shop, but I also have ideas for some stickers and prints I’d like to make if I can find the time to complete them. Those should be coming to the shop first thing in November.

Finally, I’ll be attending Alamo City Comic Con in San Antonio with my friend Patabot! It's my last show of the year, and my first time attending this particular convention, so I'm curious to see how things go. By the way, the 2019 convention season applications are open for a lot of shows. If there's a show you'd like for me to attend next year, let me know! (Also write in to your local shows and request me as a guest. It helps a lot!)

The Thank You:

Last month, I asked you to vote for the theme of a sneaky thing: Bob Ross dog vs. Lumberjack dog. The votes were almost exactly split 50/50, and I can now reveal what the poll was about! During October, I’m offering a special thank you to patrons for the support you’ve offered me over the past two years. All patrons will receive wallpapers of both illustrations and the option of receiving a handwritten thank-you on a postcard print of one of the two designs. 

These designs are exclusive to patrons and will not be sold or offered outside of Patreon. I’ll be sending out a Patreon message to everyone later tonight asking for your shipping address (if you’d like a postcard) and your preferred print. Attached to this update are the wallpaper files.

Patrons have helped me in so many ways during my journey as a full-time artist, and I want to try giving back in some small way. Even if you choose not to partake in this offer, I want to say once again: Thank you for making the choice to support me and my work. It means so much.

------

That’s all for now. I’ll be back with more Inktober and comic posts soon! 

Love,

Megan