SQUADROOOOON!
What. A. Year.
Firstly it’s been the first full year of Squadron and that in itself has been an amazing milestone worthy of celebration.
I’m gonna start this with some “Real Talk” since I would like to take a moment to acknowledge that this has been a trying year for us all.
No matter where you’re from, what you do or what you believe in, the virus has almost certainly affected you and I truly hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well.
I am soberingly aware that the fallout of the pandemic has affected far more than people’s physical health. It has hit people’s mental health, shaken relationships and job stability. On top of that there are the challenges we as individuals face each year even without a pandemic on the cards and it has made those challenges far greater than we’d have perhaps anticipated.
So this is not a blog of doom and gloom. I’d like to share some of this year’s challenges and gratitudes before we get onto the art side of life.
This year my wife and I became first time parents, it has already been a beautiful journey and it started right in the middle of this pandemic so there were a lot of challenges we had to face without a lot of the aid we would have been glad for in a normal circumstance. Fortunately we both work from home and we’re a great team so nothing has been an impossible task, but it has required a lot of energy.
We also realised the house we live in currently is not as fit as we’d hoped for two parents who work from home and an energetic youngling, so after a few months of house hunting and viewing we are doing the next most energetically exerting thing we can do and we’re moving before New Years Eve. Which means we’re doing more packing than unwrapping this year haha. My office is currently a box fort.
So it’s been a white knuckle ride for the last six months which has been exhilarating and exhausting in equal quantities. And as a one man doodle band that has of course taken some toll on my artistic output, it has been so cool to have launched a few products like the Skope patches and to have received such incredible engagement from you but I definitely would like to be doing more fun stuff like the live streams, free downloadable art and making faster progress with the new chapter of Crossroads.
It is my goal to make this a reality in January and beyond.
So a heartfelt thank you to all Squadron Members past and present. I have been practically radio silent for the last few weeks in particular as the house move draws near but I have been so encouraged by you to see you showing up, interacting with the posts on social media and getting involved with product launches and making use of the Squadron benefits wherever they occur.
You are awesome. I say that a lot and I mean it every time. I am in awe and so grateful for your decision to be a patron of the arts.
Thank you.
So without further ado! Let’s look at some of the cool art we’ve got lined up for 2021!
I am working on a couple of Special Hoperations Projects with Patchlab. Both of these will be available as free downloadable art after the products launch.
Titanhop:
Pilot Bunny and Titanbunny Mech will be sold separately. The Mech will be limited to 200 patches split between Patchlab and myself and for the record the Mech is weighing in at 25cm wide, this thing will be a monster on your patch board and I think there’s only one backpack with enough morale space to host such a patch, the Morale Pack from 5.11
I am also pitching for a large film-style poster to come with the mech, because I know how you all love poster art 😀
Bunnofett:
As a star wars fan ever since I was a kid I’ve always loved the bounty hunter Boba Fett, so when the Mandolorian started up on Disney+ I was showing up for it. Seeing Boba in his old gear again was a real treat so I wanted to create a homage and Patchlab was on board right away.
This one will even feature the section of floor around the art so make a little extra room on your patch boards for this character.
Crossroads Chapter 2:
It has been a long time since the end of Chapter One and it’s been so cool to see you picking up the printed comic as a gift from the store so I know almost all Squadron members have a physical copy of the Comic we chartered together through 2019 and the start of 2020.
There have been new Squadron members joining since and you have told me you’re looking forward to a Chapter Two so I want to just make a Squadron-wide confirmation that, of course, there is a Chapter Two coming and it’s been on my mind for a couple of months now. Thank you so much for your patience while I have been meticulously overthinking it haha. The Tedlands is a place I have spent a lot of time in mentally so I am really keen to ensure that this guide through the world is as fantastical as it is tactical.
For now the intro exists in fragments between my brain, pencil scamps on paper and some rough digital lines in photoshop. In January I will be putting my energies into releasing the first panels which will serve as an introduction, then we’ll be back into the fun interactive pathways of choosing Fluffy Nuggets destiny once more!
So it is with unreserved thanks and great pleasure to say that 2020 is a wrap, I will be closing down the office in the most thorough sense as I pack it up into boxes and we’ll resume the journey in 2021! I look forward to seeing you all there!
Stay awesome, enjoy the festivities and a very happy new year to you all!
HIWEZ OUT!