Dear Reader,
As 2024 draws to a close I wanted to take the time to share an honest review of the year. In a career that is never particularly stable each year feels like you are riding a rollercoaster that is being built as you go. There is an excitement as the year kicks off, you are strapped in and ready to go but as the cart launches off all of a sudden you realize you aren’t sure how many loops, tunnels and drops the ride has in store— or even worse sometimes you are convinced the next part of the track is under construction and your career is doomed to fall into the abyss.
2024 has been my least successful year to date, a hard admission but not exactly a bleak one— I promise this isn’t delusion but rather an honest look at how the year played out.
2024 included;
1 Career Goal
1 Finalised Kickstarter
2 New Clients
3 Trips Between the USA and Australia
8 Gallery Shows
10 Returning Clients
11 Comic Covers
12 Conventions
My business is broken down into 4 avenues; freelance, conventions, online store and gallery sales. In 2024 my most profitable avenue was conventions, followed closely by freelance, then online sales and gallery shows.
The Wins
Even the worst years come with a sprinkle of great experiences— NYCC was my most profitable convention to date, I ticked off a huge career goal and signed with Arthur Elias Creative, I was invited to be apart of signings at SDCC and I was invited to participate in Honey I Shrunk The Art Show, a group show at G1988 with some incredibly talented folks. I also FINALLY got to see my printed work on shelves in store which hits a little differently to boxes of comps arriving at your doorstep!
Bad Blood was finalised, printed, shipped and sent out to backers! This was a slow burn, but a project I am SO incredibly proud of. In the end I’m glad I took the time to finesse the details, I learnt a lot doing it and I’m looking forward to taking these lessons and building something just as exciting in 2025!
All these wins have made me feel like I gained some progress, they made me feel accepted and as though I am apart of the community I adore.
The Struggles and Disappointments
Not all contracts, execution and concepts are created equal, there will be jobs and pieces that really lift you up and others that tear you down. I am someone who can’t tick off the next goal fast enough and I find I’m often feeling as though what I have in front of me isn’t enough, that I’m behind my peers or I’m holding onto false hope.
This year I struggled most with opportunity, I felt as though even the big wins somehow couldn’t generate anything more than a participation award. I followed up on every email, every connection, said yes to pretty much every silly job all in hopes that something more would come out of it— 2024 just wasn’t the year for that. The concept of working smarter not harder defiantly took a back seat throughout the summer.
I landed a client at the start of the year who I was over the moon to work with, not only was I excited by the concept but I hoped it would lead to future endeavors. It might go on the books as one of the most frustrating projects I’ve worked on to date. The person who originally hired me quit part way through the job and the person who took over was less than interested in the project— It wasn’t a brand I was at all familiar with, the concept we agreed on was complicated, the pay was minimal, emails went unanswered for weeks on end and very little reference material was provided despite the job having strict guidelines. I was extremely disappointed in not only the clients attitude but the work I was producing. On a positive note the cheques cleared!
I do my best to look at every opportunity that crosses my path as a chance to grow— at times it leads to disappointment, but I like to think dreaming big will pay off in the end.
Art and Design Goals
At the start of the year I challenged myself to expand my portfolio and further develop my style. Hoping to sign with an agent my focus was on illustrating outside of my comfort zone (buildings, scenes, animals) and better defining my shape language across more subject matter.
I’m extremely proud of how my work developed throughout the year, it has given me a new found confidence to take on 2025 with! I have a ways to go, but I’m most excited to really pull my design and illustration skills together going forward.
Conventions
The metric of success at conventions isn’t just profits, for me this is always a priority, conventions help balance out the holes in my freelance throughout the year— in 2024 they ended up brining in the most revenue, however this changes year on year. There are so many metrics to measure a successful show is— new connections, new customers, general awareness of your brand, returning customers, email sign ups and generally connecting with like minded folks.
There is never any guarantee of success at conventions, this year was a particularly volatile year with the U.S. election and the general state of the economy— Most customers have less cash to splash which reduces sales and attendance. I saw growth at a couple of shows, some held steady on last year and others took a dive as we got closer to the election. It all evens out by the end of the year but a few rough shows in a row tends to shake my confidence.
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My Best shows of 2024
NYCC
NY has always been a city that responds well to my art style, this year NYCC was my most profitable show to date. I was an absolute shell of a human by the end of the weekend, but my creative soul had very much found the acceptance and positive reinforcement it needed after such a bleak con year. It provided a big opportunity to put my work in front of new customers, connect with some peers and reunite with some folks who have been following my journey since 2018!
C2E2
Year on year C2E2 has been not only my favorite show to attend— it had a kindness and warmth unlike any other— but financially it’s a huge win for me. Like NYC, Chicago seems to respond well to my style, every year I see a large number of returning customers as well as an opportunity to share my work with people who haven’t come across it before.
ECCC
ECCC has been an up hill battle for me the last few years, the 4 days always seem to drag on and the layout is beyond confusing. This year the show was hosted in the new convention centre building and it brought a new spark to the weekend. The simplified floor plan made the show much easier to navigate, this was a huge bonus for those of us in Artist Alley! I have less returning customers in Seattle but had a great opportunity to put my work in front of new faces this year!
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My Worst Shows of 2024
Baltimore Comic Con
This was an unfortunate weekend, annoyingly one I was really looking forward too, my position on the show floor REALLY cost me. The hall is an awkward shape and the layout was very front heavy— guests, discount comic retailers and CGC all set up at the front of the hall encouraging very little reason for attendees to explore the space. Almost everyone situated towards the front of the hall had a better experience, a disappointing weekend for me, but not without a silver lining! I was tabled next to three of the nicest creators and definitely left with a few new friends that I started the weekend with.
Mega Con Orlando
Mega Con is HUGE show, one I’ve loved attending year on year! This year however was a very sore reminder that my set up needed tweaking and that I can’t keep attending shows with the same catalogue of work. I had a number of regular customers stop by seeing nothing new and my signing featured none of my work making it harder for people to see what I offered at a glance. It was financially a disappointing weekend, however it provided the motivation to make some big changes to my set up and allowed me a very successful ECCC.
LA Comic Con
There is big competition I the LA area for general con’s with Wonder Con and SDCC just down the road leaving LACC a little in the dust. I personally think that LA has more industry than fans when it comes to general cons outside of SDCC which makes for lower attendance and not a great conversion on sales. Not much can be done, every one around me had similar feelings, all in all this might just not be for me next year!
As I disembark the 2024 rollercoaster (Mickey ears in tack), I’m excited to get in line for the 2025 ride. No matter how the year plays out I’m always thankful, I love waking up every day to do what I love— I will continue to keep the coaster on the tracks!
2024 has taught me the value of believing in yourself and your ideas as well as patience. This career hasn’t come has fast to me as it has others, i’ll continue to chip away at refining my skills, balancing cons and freelance and seeking that opportunity for growth in the new year. All in all I’m striving to work smarter not harder, hoping to push for a year with stronger freelance opportunities and less travel.
Thank you, dear readers for your support, for coming along for the ride, stopping past at shows, buying my work or sending words of encouragement.
Happy New Year!