In 2021, I challenged myself to draw every single day. I got the idea from Struthless who recommended drawing the same thing every single day. The goal was to cut out the excuses and just do the thing, every day, whether it was good or not.
My daily drawings turned into a comic strip I called Habits of Creature, and I posted them daily on Instagram. They didn't get much traction, but I adored the process and I grew a lot as an artist. My favorite innovation in this project was crafting my own style of sketching characters, and filming some sketches as motion-comics.
After I had finished my year of daily drawing, I suddenly received an email saying my Facebook account had violated the terms of service. I still find this strange. I hadn't posted anything to Facebook for many years, other than dual-posting this comic strip to both Instagram and Facebook.
I went to appeal the ban. Facebook said they did not have the staff to review my case.
They deleted both my Facebook and Instagram accounts, where my comics lived.
I lost over 350 comics and comments from my community, and it really bummed me out.
The comics often had punchlines that were revealed through swiping through the photos in an Instagram-style carousel. That was how I intended the series to be experienced, and now no one could see them.
Luckily, I had copies of my comics on my phone from when I originally posted them. I took it upon myself to build a custom website with an Instagram-like UI, one I could self-host and distribute my comics through. It took a whole month to design, program, and launch. I put up all of my original comics in carousel form, including the videos, and I added a way to share individual comics through unique links.
I recreated the Instagram viewing experience, this time with complete control and ownership. It took many hours to get my comics back, but they're mine now in a way they never were before.
Sometimes life will give you an excuse to not follow through. DO NOT give in. Drawing every day was the only reason I had something worth rebuilding in the first place. Chase what you said you were going to chase, and I promise you the struggle will help you grow.
If you want to check out my comic strip series, it lives at findingfocus.art
Thank you for the support.
My daily drawings turned into a comic strip I called Habits of Creature, and I posted them daily on Instagram. They didn't get much traction, but I adored the process and I grew a lot as an artist. My favorite innovation in this project was crafting my own style of sketching characters, and filming some sketches as motion-comics.
After I had finished my year of daily drawing, I suddenly received an email saying my Facebook account had violated the terms of service. I still find this strange. I hadn't posted anything to Facebook for many years, other than dual-posting this comic strip to both Instagram and Facebook.
I went to appeal the ban. Facebook said they did not have the staff to review my case.
They deleted both my Facebook and Instagram accounts, where my comics lived.
I lost over 350 comics and comments from my community, and it really bummed me out.
The comics often had punchlines that were revealed through swiping through the photos in an Instagram-style carousel. That was how I intended the series to be experienced, and now no one could see them.
Luckily, I had copies of my comics on my phone from when I originally posted them. I took it upon myself to build a custom website with an Instagram-like UI, one I could self-host and distribute my comics through. It took a whole month to design, program, and launch. I put up all of my original comics in carousel form, including the videos, and I added a way to share individual comics through unique links.
I recreated the Instagram viewing experience, this time with complete control and ownership. It took many hours to get my comics back, but they're mine now in a way they never were before.
Sometimes life will give you an excuse to not follow through. DO NOT give in. Drawing every day was the only reason I had something worth rebuilding in the first place. Chase what you said you were going to chase, and I promise you the struggle will help you grow.
If you want to check out my comic strip series, it lives at findingfocus.art
Thank you for the support.
