yappy hour graphics

 

 Day 2 of the resurrection.

Really dreary and dismal day, steady rain and gloom.  Drains the life right out of you.  Worked on some graphics for SHOPMADE then trying to make progress on printing.

My clothes are damp, my head is foggy, and I just want to go home.  But I've resolved to continue on for a few more hours to get the LOGO shirts I'm printing finished.  And to at least start on the teamwork print.  Make some headway.

I'm really putting off card designing.  I don't know what the block is?  To order more?  

 I guess I'm just down on my skills, or I'm muddled on what to do, or who they are for.  A continuing crisis of confidence.  You would think that after all these years doing this, I would have insight.  But I don't, or I don't think I do.  Always questioning what people will like vs what I want to do.  Or what is good?  It's so hard when you are working on your own.  To get direction.  I have people thru the years that have been in that role.  Tom, Amy, Buzz, trohv, Shopmade, Hallmark, etc.  

 I have been through a lot of cycles like this.  I make new cards, think they are great, and they sort of flop.  or kind of flop.  And then I lose confidence.  Why did I like them? Why did I think they would sell?

 It ALWAYS comes down to this > keep trying.  

I don't know...

 

Back from the nowhere

 dear dave!

back, but for how long?  I just don't know.  I miss having a place to put all my shit.  Stuff I'm too self-conscious to post on IG, but stuff I want a record of making.  or doing, or thinking.  So the blog seems like a natural solution.

 

BRANDDAVE > stale!  I have to mix something up, because I am so unmotivated to do what Ive been doing.  I could print anything I want, but for some reason i'm not.  I don't have a place to put it.  Shopmade is great, but it's not inspiring me lately.  Buzz is over.  Trohv long gone.  Artomatic is the past.  So where do I put my art??  My effort?  

 

Lately it's been instagram but writing this here right not I realize THAT IS THE PROBLEM.  It's a black hole.  a digital trashcan where you hope people look, but it just seems more and more like nowhere.  All I do is look at feeds and feel jealous and frustrated that my art doesn't have 10,000 likes like I'm seeing.  

Most of my creative energy the past year or so has been directed towards instagram, and that is the problem!  That is the problem!  It's not real.  It's not something you can touch and feel.  it's just a picture.

 

Break thru?

2020 Wrap Up

Ahhhh - the yearly ritual of wrapping things up!

 

Kind of a cheat since I've abandoned the blog completely, and don't even have links to it anymore. oh well, something to keep up, a record of my branddave.

 

What a shitty year of course.  After march, we fell into a fog of despair and fear over the virus, and the government, and friends and family.  We have learned to cope with masks and isolation, but are so anxious for this to get back to (normal) although there are no illusions that normal will ever be the same!  A year of this changes EVERYTHING about us and how we live and relate to each other.  What a huge fucking mess.  It will take years to shake out and shake off.

 

BUT - BIDEN FUCKING WON ! ! ! ! !  ! ! ! !   That is the cherry on top of everything.  Knowing that trump is FUCKING out.  So much ahead I'm sure, but I revel in that every day.  Biden won.

 

Year started with more Hallmark work, and same ins and outs at the studio.  Really distracted but humming along.  shopmade was growing a lot, and taking more of my creative attention.  Mind was geared towards producing items for them.

 

Then covid, and things stopped, then slowing crept onward again.  Enjoyed my short stint packing at Shopmade in dupont.  Somewhere to be, and a minor dent in my time.  Gave me some structure.  Was nice to be alone there.  I don't think I could have ever done it if I was with others.  Anyway, insightful into how they work, and a nice throwback to BSUR.

 

Summer was blah.  Not much to remember, just not normal, but not horrible.  Excited to hook up with new instagram maker friends.  PEERS!  but couldn't go far because of the virus restrictions, so mostly something to look forward to in the future.  I knew I should be preparing for HOLIDAY, but of course I didn't.

 

Fall came around and things picked up with election fear and work.  I was busy with what I had to do, but nothing new was accomplished or tried.  Mask collabs with Supon were exciting and working with him was a long time goal.  But they didn't really succeed like I expected.  So f-ing typical!  Shopmade got saturated with masks, and somehow they just were not the right note.  Supon continues to make and sell them, but I have to say that I was disappointed with how they were received.

 

For fall all attention was on election, then the dam broke with work and orders.  Just like I expected, so felt more prepared for it.

 

ELECTION - I was such a basket case for days.  i blacked out all news on day of, and for at least a week after while it worked out.  hex was opposite, getting constant updates. The saturday that Biden was delcalared is so memorable.  hex running up the studio stairs shouting!  And our walk downtown to celebrate.  What a release and relief!!  Still a mess of course.  How else could it be?  We have for more weeks with fucker.

 

In october I started with my micro commission idea, and it was all a big success.  Got lots of orders after promoting on IG and email.  all the way up to xmas.  fun to do, and because a creative outlet.  Really great direction.

 

Also big for holidays were cards. Sold in 6 packs for first time, and it went well.  I got inspired for designs with all the covid crap, so they came out really great, and were timely.  Plus I think people just wanted to send more this year.  But the key: EARLY DITRIBUTION!!!!!  Must remember for future!

 

Shopmade has fizzled a bit.  georgetown lost their killer location, and new one is off beaten path.  Prints on wood died out, no tote bags, shirts fizzled too.  All really strange and disappointing.  More to say about all, but I'm getting tired of typing, so that will have to be it.  haha

 

 Anyway, 2021 comes with big hopes - for Biden and health and new successes.  lease for studio up in April.  A turning point?  probably not.  We'll see.

 

Bye for now. 

 

 

 2019 wrap up

2018 Wrap up

2017 Wrap up 

2016 Wrap up

2015 Wrap up

2014 Wrap up

2013 Wrap up

2012 Wrap up

2011 Wrap up

2010 Wrap up

2009 Wrap up

the year in pictures

2013 year in pics

2014 year in pics

2015 year in pics

2016 year in pics  

2017 year in pics
2018 year in pics

2019 year in pics 

 

new collaborations! (S&I)

Hallmark design into early 2020 print

Micro home confinement

IG puppet project

Pandemic coffee

Micro Commissions on wood!

IG 100 days of drawing

 

More of the same.

hot hot days.  mask misery, and lack of focus.  today I spent too much time doing mask spec work, and much of what I did is not usable.  So other stuff didn't get accomplished.

Happy the lost V finally showed up.  Wish the stupid company communicated with me instead of keeping me in the dark.

Making slow progress on gaggle.

Days later.  Happy to have taxes behind and dentist round 2 behind.  onto bigger and better things.

Tough time figuring out how to get Lee's wood from there to here, but all worked out perfectly. 

Went to HOME DEPOT and found a great piece that was precut small, and just had to trim it - bribe the workers there to do it for me.  I planned how to get it on my car, and managed to park right across from a group of day laborers.  I could feel their eyes on me as I methodically failed to tie the right knots.  Happily a guy came over and helped me out.

Working on some other fun little prints too, but it's all so dumb (in my head).  Instead of production type runs I do these little one-offs.  I think like an artist and not a business.

Frustration with FB as I try to implement shopping functions into my instagram posts.  So much rig amoral to get it to work.  Not happy with any of it, yet I try and try because I think I should, and I just want to solve the puzzle in front of me. 

Yesterday I spent all this time trying to figure out what time zone I was in according to their crazy options.  Options I never heard of, and got more and more complicated as I started to google them all.  In the end, I couldn't even figure that out, so I gave up and just picked one.

Overall: UGH.  Ugh to figuring out what to print.  UGH to spending money.  UGH to trohv closing.  UGH to BUZZ closing.  UGH to fucker trump.  UGH to everything.

2 0 1 9 taxes done! An epic journey of angst.  Feel drained to the core.

on to other things

many

other

things

S A T U R D A Y at the studio!

A good time to catch up, but instead I come up with Instagram ideas and then fret about the fact that nobody seems to see them because FUCKING Instagram hides them, expecting me to pay them to show the free content that I'm giving them in the first place.

So it's a loopy mood of manic creation and epic frustration, and the real stuff I need to do gets pushed off.

Suddenly commercials have reinvaded my life.  On spotify and now hulu.  ugh.  somehow this relates back to instagram...

ANYWAY - sunny and super hot.  Emma home with hexy.  Working on screw you reprint, and adding inventory to SHOPMADE system.  all in flux with them, shops reopened and I need to regroup and see what they actually have of mine to sell.  With the gtown shop move and pandemic, all is muddled and foggy.  I completely stopped creating and printing any cards.  Buzz still closed I think???

LOTS to do always.  But most important is to STAY POSITIVE and CREATIVE.  MOST MOST important.

Nice to have this place to bitch and moan again.  A place to put these thoughts.  ALL this angst!

Hey Blog,

Long time no see, write, share, blab, vent.

Friday night, classic angst.  More to do always, regrets about what wasn't finished. 

Sad George Michael song playing makes me think about Sue, and all the sadness and grief rushes back. 

What to do with her ashes?  How to memorialize her on her birthday/?  What is facebook and instagram anymore?  I post stuff and it gets buried under all the other stuff.  Nobody sees it.  Feeling invisible lately.

Just posted a sale, and instagram shows it to nobody.  How do they know what it is?  They are just trying to get me to buy ads.  to promote it.  How do other people do it?  such a mystery to me.  HOW TO SELL ONLINE ? ? ?  It eludes me.

Emma is up and down on the floor, just like remi was before her.  Anxious to get me going.  We are off to Great Falls in a minute.  Friday is the new saturday.  Easier all around.  Or at least it was when traffic was dead.  I have a feeling tonight may be different.  But it's a good time to go when it's not so hot.

Life is rough!  Not a good year.  ups and downs.  Lots of anxiety.  And obsession with the news.  I tell myself to stay positive.  Will be so glad when taxes are done (4 days?)  Happy to have teeth sort of resolved.  So much fear.

Its friday, and for now that is all behind.  Great Falls will be a good chance to feel free, and enjoy Emma and the woods.

Cleaned up the studio today - long overdue. 

I have a fantasy of going through everything and getting rid of 85% - all stuff I don't interact with at all and just store.  We'll see. 

I wish getting rid of things was easier.  I have these old signs I printed for shows, with contact info and prices.  Even those I can't seem to toss.  Well maybe I'll need them in the future I tell myself.  Ugh - we are our own worst enemy to progress.

Anyway, the air is kind of warm, and I'm sitting here in my (mostly) clean studio, and was instantly reminded of the ladder swing in the the basement with an old mattress underneath, swinging to records with Sue after cleaning up the basement (involuntarily!!!!).  Always felt good - the clean space, and the feeling of accomplishment. 

I remember, Sue.

2019 Year in Pictures!

the year in pictures

2013 year in pics

2014 year in pics

2015 year in pics

2016 year in pics  

2017 year in pics
2018 year in pics

side car cat : commission

currently Rockville

early '19 print of late '18 design

Blagden x branddave x stickermule

Littles

BLAGDEN for superfine in Oct

Sticker or Label?  You decide

2nd round of button designs

you Go Nancy - big hopes!!

updated Dave portrait

Fun foray back into photography

Thanks superfine for the inspiration

Lots of bugs this year

First iteration of a much copied design

rough commission to print

Scooter!  used alot, for everything

Giclee delivery!

Shopmade GTown

2019 Wrap Up

2019 - the year I gave up blogging!

So sad really, I wish I could be more disciplined about keeping up with it.  i try and try only to lag again.  Instagram took over, that's where all the people are, and where I get the most bang for my effort.  plus how many times can I complain about NOT blogging, and not working and not drawing?  I guess I found my limit.

But I will miss having this record of my daily and weekly and monthly and yearly struggles.  I continue on with a private diary of sorts, but it's not the same.  Better in some ways, because I don't edit my feelings for consumption, but not as organized as this.  No way to keep it organized I guess.

A N Y W A Y - things change radically form year to year, and sometimes it takes me a year just to absorb the change.  Business was wayyyyyyyyy down, and picked up toward the end because I finally had a new outlet for my work, Shopmade.  But even that I managed to fuck up, because I couldn't keep with with a consistent flow of inventory.  Started out promising, but my big plans for holiday went way off track after I shifted focus to SUPERFINE in sept/oct, then got sick for weeks in Nov.

Lets see - what else?  Buzz has fizzled for prints, but still ok with cards.  BUT, hard to keep getting there to restock, and hard to keep all the cards inventory, and HAVE to keep making new designs.  All very challenging.

A great Hallmark year.  New designs in spring, and now another round this month.  Really excited to be working with them again.

Studio - a mess.  I HAVE TO re imagine it, clean out all the clutter, and set it up for success!  Gallery walls, and ORGANIZATION.  It's such a mess all the time.  2020 last year on lease, so ugh, need to renew.  The cost just escalates.  When am I being stupid???

GICLEE - a positive new step, but again, hard to manage.  What to order?  How many?  I'm always off.  Getting into the idea of printing editions again.  We'll see how that goes.  A huge can of worms.

SHIRTS - sticking with DC logo for shopmade, and that's pretty much it.  Transfers way down, but easier.  crazy.  At some point I will go back to shite shirts.  When?  And still making totes.  But it's fits and starts.  So weird how at once they are popular, then not at all.  I have no idea.

Prints - anxious to find my way as always.  Big, small?  I just don't know.

UGH - I guess all is a question.  After doing this so long, I still have no clue. What a perfect way to end the year.  Hopefully not the end of the blog.  Plan to check in now and again.  Certainly want to at least keep it active.

PS - iweb website GONE!  officially cut ties, and now it's big cartel all the way.  5 years too late!  

2018 Wrap up

2017 Wrap up 

2016 Wrap up

2015 Wrap up

2014 Wrap up

2013 Wrap up

2012 Wrap up

2011 Wrap up

2010 Wrap up

2009 Wrap up