Today is the second anniversary for JSVB. What you see above is a matrix containing every self-created image I have posted to my visual blog. The left-hand tower is my production for 2010, the right-hand tower is what I came up with for 2011. I made 37 fewer posts in 2011 than 2010, but I feel that overall the quality has improved even if my post rate has not. It's the old equation of quantity versus quality.
Still, two years of plugging in posts (which amounts to giving away much of it) seems to be a lot of work for not much of a cause. I have decided, though, that I might as well keep going. At least JSVB fills my sketchbooks, so that's a plus.
2011 has seen some changes for Blogger, the software application that I use to publish JSVB. It's free, so I should not complain. However, Blogger has been making changes, some announced, some not so much. Lately, the new changes favour people who make fast blog posts using their smartphones, but I find them to be awkward for my use. Hopefully, when it comes time to shutter JSVB, it will be on my own terms, and not because Blogger has placed their application beyond my admittedly old-fashioned skill set.
I am happy with most of my posts, but one I regret intensely has to do with Japanese earthquakes. At the end of January, I created two earthquake-themed posts, #295 and #296, which you can see by clicking here and here. Six weeks later, by awful co-incidence, Japan suffered a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake. Apart from the horror of the event, I did feel awful about my posts. They could be seen as being in very bad taste in retrospect. This was never my intention. I did create a post about my hopes for the rebuilding effort, which you can see by clicking here. Someday, I would like to create a more ornate poster for this theme. If I ever manage to sell any, the money would go to the Red Cross.
Now for some statistics. My Top Ten post list has changed since 2010. You can last year's list by clicking here. Each text highlight is a hyperlink that you can click to see the corresponsing post:
TOP TEN 2011 JSVB POSTS:
10) Mousey Tongue - A competent, cute illustration of a mouse that had infiltrated our house. She was successfully trapped by humane methods and relocated across the river. This used to be #8 on my JSVB popularity list for 2010.
9) Why Phi? Or: A Silver Golden Rule - This was my #3 most popular post in 2010. It seems to be a favourite haunt of art students.
8) Rebuild Japan! - As mentioned above, this is a picture of Godzilla repairing the damage of the big Japanese earthquake. I had a couple of nice comments about this, and someday I'd like to do a better version.
7) Roman Dress - A very simple sketch of the style of dress an ancient Roman woman might wear. I do not know why this post keeps generating hits. I am making it a priority to come up with some finished artwork and upgrade this piece.
6) Happy Birthday To Me (2) - My take on a sexy "Mirror, Mirror" Nichelle Nichols from Star Trek. It's popular because even forty years after Trek was cancelled, every day thousands of people type "Naked Uhura" into their Internet search engine. Go figure.
5) A One And A Two... - I combine two great passions: naked women and Stanley Cup hockey. Naturally, like-minded people have searched this post out. Flashing boobs on the Internet seems to be a surefire way to get hits, although it is also exploitation.
4) Savage Reality - Doug Savage is a local author famous for his cartoon strip. I made some fan mail for him. Doug is what the Twitterverse calls an "influential tweeter". One tweet from Doug translated into a couple hundred instant hits for JSVB for this post.
3) 30th Terry Fox Run - This JSVB post used to be #6 on the 2010 popularity list. I am pleased it has moved up. One part of the illustration ended up in some political publications. I did follow through with my promise to update this post, and I am very pleased with how the new post turned out. Please click here to see it.
2) Ricci De Mare (Sea Urchin) Recipe - This was the top JSVB post for 2010. People still look this up on a regular basis. An illustrated guide to the basics of preparing sea urchin for a gourmet meal.
1) Nat Bailey Nooner - This post was #2 for JSVB for 2010, now it's my top post. I think it recreates the fantastic ambiance of Nat Bailey Stadium, Vancouver's neighbourhood ballpark with world-class charm. This picture ended up being used in a small promotional flyer for the stadium.
Well, another year of JSVB goodness. Honestly, I would have never thought that I would have over 500 posts. I would like to thank family and friends for their loyalty, and all my readers for their website hits and support. Please continue to visit JSVB. Perhaps in 2012, you will consider purchasing a print of something you've seen here and liked.
Happy New Year, and I wish you all the best for 2012!
Respectfully,
JEFF SHYLUK
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