It must have been 2008 or 2009, I decided that I needed to learn Photoshop. After taking a shot at various tutorials and group activities that I ended up alternating between dull or hectic rather than relaxing, I realized that it mattered less what I was drawing, than it did that I was drawing something at all. Dialing it back, I began carving out time to reflect on my days, drawing scenes from my daily life. This allowed me to work toward my goal while doing self-care activities at my own pace.
As time passed and my family grew, the cast of characters grew with it and single panel updates changed to multi-panel anecdotes. I did multi-strip stories and full page stories and back between the three as my schedule and needs changed. What started off as Daily Life became Life With Girls. Between being a stay at home dad with two daughters, and being active in the local craft community, I was a man living in a world filled overwhelmingly with women. I felt like I had stories to tell and I enjoyed drawing my friends and family and sharing those stories.
The drawings came a long way in the last ten years. I remember before I started this thinking to myself that I may one day be a competent artist, but that I would likely never be a really good one. I’m thankful for the work that I’ve done, and for the friends that I’ve made along the way through these stories. While there are are still parts of my story that I want to still talk about on Patreon, and I may still do some of these smaller thoughts on instagram, I don’t think I really want to tell the whole story anymore. So I’m archiving all the old strips on my website, and focusing on new projects. I hope the next ten years show as much growth and love as the last ten have.