2024 was a… weird year for me.
But although so much of it didn’t look the way I’d hoped, there were still lots of wonderful things to come out of it. One of which was the story of a little forest girl, Ivy.
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Ivy began as this random, one-off illustration during my July art challenge where I created one piece of art each day of the month. But as the months went by, I found myself coming back to the piece, eager to explore the character more. When Inktober rolled around, I dedicated the month to doing just that.
From Ivy finding the bird skull, to building clever contraptions, to making new friends, and learning about loss, I spent the whole month discovering and illustrating her story. As the month came to an end, I didn’t really know if I’d do anything with this story beyond sharing the pieces on Patreon…
And then 2025 happened.
I put out my first art book and learned that, while it is tedious, it isn’t impossible. Sharing “The Adventures of Bits and Bobbles” with the world has been one of the best parts of my year! And after much thinking (and much hassling from my mama), I’ve decided that Ivy’s story deserves to be shared too.
I’m currently exploring printing options to be able to print the book in its intended square format and monochromatic color scheme, while still being affordable for me as a self-published author. My tentative plan is to release the book in its anniversary month, October. I have a few more illustrations I’d like to create for it, as well as some story elements that need a bit of tweaking, but my hope is to be able to share “Ivy and the Special Something” with the world by the end of 2025.