Hello my dears!
Forgive me for the late New Years blessings, but I have been quite busy this past month. Nothing too serious, just the typical commissions coming in business as usual!
Now, 2022 has come very swiftly - a little too swiftly for little ol' me. And with that comes some plans for the year. There is a lot to go around so I'll keep it to a list.
Art
I have failed to do some personal pieces myself since 2020 to be honest. The latest project to be contributed to was "Theocracy", but that was halted due to commissions and figuring out what pieces to do. Now, that gallery is very daring and confrontational to a degree... but at the same time I don't want the gallery to be condemning.
As for projects outside that gallery... it's up in the air. I really, really want to try new things this year and hopefully I get to that when I have time away from commissions and "Rose of Sharon".
I do plan on making pieces requested from the Jewish Community back home in the Rio Grande Valley, so you may see some pieces in the future for them!
Commissions
Commissions will go as usual, but I am also considering other options for my business. I found out I really love doing DnD campaigns due to how creative they can be! So hopefully I get more in the future!
A new feature has been added out of the numerous I have in mind for those of you designing a character there is the "Character Design Package" where you can get one full body poster, one sketchbook page, and one turn around sheet. Pretty neat, huh?
"Rose of Sharon"
The comic is going strong, but the only critique I will give myself is to promote the comic more as well as fix up the Patreon page where people can support the project directly and unlock special features. I have to be unashamed of this project considering it's my break-out work.
2021 was a strong year for "Rose of Sharon" thanks to it's come back since January 25th of that year. However, with great strength and improvement comes temptations obviously. I was approached by a group on Instagram that wanted to work with me and make a comic series of their own since they have a growing network. To be frank, guys it was extremely tempting to say "yes", because:
1) I could get more exposure.
2) I could take of my family more.
3) Networking and partnerships.
However, I had to turn the offer down. I can't quite explain the interaction; call it poetic but my best description was the bad vibes coming off the offer that sparked a "deja vú" moment for me to a degree. Reason why I say that is I've meditated and studied over the third chapter of Mark (the temptation of Yehoshua) for almost a year and longer since after all just to write the first half of the Prologue.
A whole year, just to write twenty pages and get the scene just right!
So, I knew off the bat it wasn't a good offer this Instagram group was offering despite the good intentions behind it.
And the frosting on top of that, what killed the offer in the crib before it had a chance, was the fact the representative claimed to be a fan of mine and yet could not name my comic. It stung, I'm not going to lie. Because that tells me they lied to my face in five seconds, that tells me they don't care of my resumé or experience, they only give a crap if I can draw good - make nice eye candy and claim "This is G-d's" work while using me.
The double edge of that sword is I am also to blame, because I didn't bring myself to talk about "Rose of Sharon" more due to some stalker issue back in 2018. It got so bad with the art theft and manipulation, I had to halt production for a while and do complete lockdown on my online accounts. And it wasn't a one time thing, this bled into 2020 and somewhat 2021, but no art was stolen after 2020; just requests to be team members. I don't want that hot mess to repeat, but you know what - we can't live in fear. The person threw in the towel when they couldn't get what they wanted from me, and as for me...
Here I am.
Your dutiful wine-drinking metal-head is not going anywhere from "Rose of Sharon", my husband and I have been working on the world-building and the story-line and it's FANTASTIC. I'm super excited to get this comic going even further!
So this year, I will discuss more about "Rose of Sharon".
Other Things
Now, not to end this on a somber note this year was rough on my husband and I community wise.
As you all know, we are a mixed couple - my husband is Mizrahi Jewish, and I myself am Latina Mexican. We have been slammed on both ends with update after update of the rise of anti-semitism in the U.S.A and human-trafficking in Latin America. Yes, we are pissed off no one is talking about either issue, we feel betrayed by left and right to certain degrees, but we are NOT going to quit being involved on how to combat both battles.
We both are helping each other small and big and we're going to keep that rhythm going.
I won't talk too much over exactly what we will do, but if we have anything - ANYTHING that you guys can do to help out, you bet I will share as soon as I can!
Conclusion
This is going to be a busy year! I know that for a fact, but I am happy to doing what I love and I'm happy most of all to hear from you guys!
Take care and be blessed!
- Haleviyah
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