Today, I add the sixth column to my JSVB matrix. This shows every piece of art I've uploaded to my blog; every column is a year's worth of work. I was hoping that 2015 would be a break-out year, but as you can see, it's more of a break-down-and-out. My lax post count didn't help, and word-of-mouth viral interest failed to materialize. Maybe I'll look back at 2015 and laugh at how easy-going it all was.
Let's call it a "quality over quantity" year. I did make some pretty good stuff as well as some clunkers. Mostly, it was a year of well-intentioned projects that fizzed into vapor. I call those my "starry-eyed projects": I go in thinking that I'm going to be doing something that will get real notice or pay some bills and I end up with unfinished material. On the positive side of the ledger, I didn't really lose anything more than an unallocated block of optimism that had been gathering dust anyways.
So, what were the best JSVB posts of a lean year? Post #777 Wrath Of Gandhi (click here) is still my top achiever. I predicted last year that I would get 10,000 hits for that picture, but as of today, I'm still 50 views short. So, this year should be the one.
Beyond that, what are my favourites of 2015?
1) JSVB Post #1069: I show my nearly-completed Nativity icon. Honestly, I don't know why I don't have a finished picture of it on my blog, though. I even made Christmas cards out of it, which I also didn't post. Remember the part where I mention my lax post count? You can see the icon by clicking here.
2) JSVB Post #1070: Staying in a religious theme, I like this photo of a statue of the Virgin Mary in the darkest night. I find I still think about it from time to time, although looking back, I do find it slightly kitschy. Click here.
3) JSVB Post #1285: I see the Delivery Stork from time to time, and it's one of my money-earning illustrations. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and that it seems to make the target audience happy. Click here.
4) JSVB Post #1100: This is one of my top favourites for certain. The Mouse Wrangler always makes me smile. I pledge to make this into a business-style card, which ought to be fun. Click here.
5) JSVB Post #1168: This is my other top favourite: the cover for the novel "Interstate 10", and the introduction of Jake California as the protagonist in an alternate-history inspired by Philip K. Dick. Against all probability, PKD's "The Man In The High Castle" is a celebrated television series, which makes me wonder which Phildickian alternate-history universe we live in... Click here.
2016 seems to be set up so that I can deliver some of the unfinished projects of 2015: among them some SunRise stuff, a Batmobile, Star Wars jokes, a longer look at Joseph Campbell, and a continuation of Interstate 10, not to mention more iconography. I have my work cut out for me.
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