Hurray! This thing I’ve been planning to do for the last year or so is finally happening! >_< I need a lot of momentum building sometimes.

Mascots for Life. They’re like personalised cheerleaders who remind you of the things you want to be doing in a cheerful way. It’s awesome. And you want to grab some now, because the first batch is half-way to sold out.

Check it out click here OMG!

Dear Back Pain,

I’m writing to you because I feel we really got off on the wrong foot since you got back. A lot of that is clearly my fault, and I wanted to apologise.

Since you moved back in about a month ago, I’ve been mostly ignoring you, complaining about you to others and throwing occasional painkillers at you in the hope it would shut you up.

I know that’s no way to treat an old friend. I know. Mea culpa.

And blaming it on the chair, and getting all resentful and weird about that injury years ago that may have caused you to first show up wasn’t helpful either.

I’d like to try a different way now. I bought a new yoga DVD, especially for problems people like you. I was thinking it could be a way for us to spend some quality time together, every day. To see if we can work something out here.

I’ve also joined a gym again. Even though it’s only a small gym, they have some weights machines and in time, we can start working with those again. If we take it easy and just work steadily and surely, before you know it the strength and support that allowed you to live abroad will be back in place, and we can part as friends and both get on with our lives.

I hope this sounds good to you, and that you’re willing to give it a try. I know you’re not happy either about living in my house, and that couch can’t be comfortable to sleep on. It must be hell on your back. (Wait, did I just break this metaphor?)

I’m willing to stop fighting and start taking care of you. Let me know about what you need, and I’ll do my best to make it happen. Lots of love,

Willie

PS: I know what you said about Menstrual Pain, but you shouldn’t compare yourself to her. That was really a whole different scenario; she was out of control. I mean, actually crazy.

I really think it’s best for everyone if she stays where she is now. You know what she’s like when she comes off the meds. And I know you’re not like that, so let’s not make this about her. OK. See you at yoga.

New Year’s resolutions are awkward, am I right? It’s kind of a lame tradition and I have a troubled relationship with it. Too often have I failed my resolutions weeks into January. Too often have I started the year with a crushingly huge list of Things I Will Do Better in the new year, and bailed before I even got started.

And, I mean, really: you’ve spent years of your life eating junk, being lazy, cranky, forgetful and downright anti-social, you’re going to fix all that on the magical day of 1 January? Come on.

The Dutch for New Year’s Resolution is “Goede Voornemen”. It’s softer than the English; a Voornemen is more like a well meaning intention, without the militant discipline demanded by a Resolution.

It also comes with “good” in front of it. And there’s no mention of the new year. This is one of the reasons it’s awesome to be Dutch. Huh? Wait. Allow me to explain.

A Goede Voornemen is a New Year’s tradition (although the Dutch say “Old Year’s”, funny huh?) but because it’s not in the title, you could easily have a Goede Voornemen at any other time of the year. You could have one every month. Spread them out. Wait until spring. Whatever.

My plan for the new year is to have one, and only one, Goede Voornemen for each month. January is for Drawing Fun Stuff.

A Voornemen is not like a Resolution. It’s not like “I will do this every day or I’ll be the same useless waste of skin I have always been!” It’s just an intention. A trying-on. A kind of “I wonder what it would be like to be the kind of person who does this.”

And it’s Goed, and that’s the other important part. My Voornemens aren’t going to be The Things I Should Be Doing. I have enough of those, thank you. It’s going to be for things that are good for the Willie Organism. Immediately. Things that are fun, that I enjoy, that nourish me.

I’m thinking of sleeping and dancing and reading excellent books. I wonder what it’s like to be the kind of person who devours fiction for fun. Wait, no, I already know what that’s like. I wonder what it’s like to be that person, and older than 11.

I’ll let you know when I find out. Good things to you for the new year.

Update: I have found my partner, and things are working out really well. I’ll leave my little ad up, if you do think it’s a good idea, feel free to steal it!

I’m looking for a butt-kicking partner. Other people might refer to this concept as an accountability partner, but that sounds way too technical for me. What I want is for someone to follow what I’m up to on a daily basis, and say “hey, that’s great,” or “aw, sucks that you’re not getting anywhere with this thing,” or “come on, you can do this!” depending on the situation. And then I do that in return. Partners, see? And we both get more butt-kicking done.

You:

• You are working on something. Something big, or something that might be big, if you could get it to work. It could be a business thing. It’s probably a creative thing. I’m right, aren’t I? Yeah, it’s a creative thing, I knows.
• You are into the whole permission thing. Meaning, you get that guilt is not a good way to motivate yourself, let alone anyone else. So none of that. You’ll get none of that from me either.
• You may well be female. I’m not sure, I just have a hunch. You might also be queer, but that’s totally not a requirement. Odd is perfectly sufficient.
• You’re probably not someone I know really well already. I think a fresh voice in my head is what I’m looking for.
• You might be one of Havi’s right people. Or, if you’re not, you probably could be, if she came with a little less woo, or if you’d heard of her before.
• You are ready to kick butt. This thing you’re working on, it’s been a while. You’ve made some progress, you know you’ll stick with it, but you’re ready to push a little harder now. Or a lot harder. And I do mean now. Not after the holidays. Not once this cold finally clears. Not after you’re done with X, Y and Z. Now.

Me:

• I will offer you patience, reliability, and compassion.
• I live in the UK time zone, but willing to make long distance calls when necessary.
• My thing is something creative, but I’m not entirely sure what it is. It’s something to do with comics, or sometimes just illustrations. It’s arty, but it’s also about making something of real value, so people will happily give me lots of money and I can stop working full time.
• I am dedicated to spending time with my thing (like, say, an hour a day), and telling you about how that goes. And then you tell me about yours. It’s simple, but I think it could make both of us better at our respective things.

How will this work?

Daily e-mails, baby. Not full-on letter type e-mails, all formal and stuff, but just a couple of lines if that’s what it takes. If you mail every day anyway, it’s OK to be brief. I also do twitter, but in short doses at the start and end of the day. As mentioned, occasional phone calls are an option if that would be helpful, although I’m not a big time phone fan.

Respond!

If this sounds like you, if this might be something you’ve been looking for too, I advise you to get in touch immediately! ^_^ I’m @williehewes on twitter, and my e-mail is willie@itchpublishing.com. Would love to hear from you!

This assignment was great fun, I was asked to design a header image for Inky Comics, the new comics-specific site from brochure and everything else-printers Inky Little Fingers. I had heard of Inky Little Fingers from other comic book artists, they were recommended for their quick print times and painless online service. So it made sense for them to set something up especially for the comics people.

Girl with splotches

They left it pretty much up to me. I decided to go with a mascot-type image, and keep the “inky fingers” idea because it seemed fun and playful. I took the colours from the main inky site to keep a little branding consistency, even though the page looks and feels different. the second image I did was for the background, it’s a bit more subdued so it doesn’t attract too much attention.

Believe it or not, I did this for a female client.

She wanted a cheeky portrait of her best friend, a sassy, chatty party girl who is very aware of her assets and likes wearing low cut tops. In doing the sketches, I kept exaggerating the chest more and more to the point of rediculosity. It made us both laugh, so we went with it.

The client was very pleased, and her friend loved the picture and has sworn revenge.

Price was £ 60, including a large size print and a frame.

Hi there! You came from Copyblogger, right? Awesome, I love that blog. So I thought Sonia’s animal analogy was the best thing ever and drew a picture.

Here is your free graphic, in two sizes (obviously you can resize yourself as you see fit).

It’s a bit quick and dirty, but hey, that’s why it’s free.

Licence: this image is free to use, even on commercial projects. Yes, I’m crazy that way. You just need to tell people who made it: Willie Hewes.

This four animals image is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

Willie Hewes?

Hi! Welcome to my site. I do cheap and cheerful illustrations for blogs, e-books, children’s parties… anything, really. If you’d like a print version of the above image, or you like the style but want something else done, you should get in touch:

willie@itchpublishing.com

Or read about what I charge etc.

Thanks and all the best!