I think I've made my way out of the mental exhaustion of the past few months. I still lack the time to do all of the ideas I have in my head, but at least I'm finding the ideas interesting again. I even have new ones. I've also been thinking about tidying up the site. I think I should make the gallery just some of my best pieces in a more static way and less of the pop up way they are now. I like the concept of what I have now, but I lack the coding experience to make it as sleek as I see on other websites. That's okay. With my limited time, I can't becoming a master coder.
I've also been prepping to make some photocards. I got the idea from looking at a friend's collection of thai pop singer's merchandise though a quick search online has shown me this is very popular with k-pop bands as well. I'd just like to make them for my characters. I started mocking them up using old art of mine because I couldn't find the inspiration to make new pieces. I've selected nine, which should fit onto one sheet of printing paper, and I bought holographic "cold laminate", which I consider just a film with a adhesive side. I'm sure Ill screw up the first few tries, but that's all part of the learning process. I've planned for them to all be manga style, screen tone, black and white. I really like that look but all the examplesI've seen from other artists have been full colour illustrations. I won't bail on the idea until I've done my own tests though! I really like black and white work.
Speaking of black and white art, I asked for some traditional ink supplies for Christmas and there are now laying on my dresser. I don't have time to focus on them right now, but the idea is there and I'm ready as soon as I have the energy. I've always loved how comics looked when they are inked and without colour, but north american comics don't really get sold like that. That industry also seems to be very tightlipped about inking techniques, so I haven't found instructions to latch on to and learn from. I doubt just putting ink to paper will work, but it's probably what I'll end up trying.