If you follow this blog then you probably saw the comic I posted a few days ago. At the suggestion of my cousin, who respectfully disagreed with (being anti-theist, himself) but still appreciated the comic, I posted it in the Christian subreddit. I was floored at the number of thoughtful, respectful comments! Many people disagreed with my “arguments” (although some made a point of noticing that the comic wasn’t meant to be an argument), but the majority of those who disagreed were kind, and wanted to discuss the topic civilly. I was truly amazed at this. The internet can be a dank cavern of slobbering trolls, especially when posting an opinion on the internet that discusses science and faith in the same breath. I think posting the comic even gained this blog a few new followers, and to you I say welcome! Thanks so much for sharing the comic, for your kind words, and for deciding there was something here worth sticking around for! Truly my heart has grown three sizes. (I’m sure that’s what the palpitations are, and not the fact that I’ve had several cups of coffee today. If I keel over we’ll go ahead and say it’s your fault for being so nice.)

I just recently entered the stage of my life where I am barely beginning to feel comfortable calling myself an “artist” (it’s much safer to say “aspiring illustrator” or “I make lots of art”), and I had a moment of horror after clicking the submit button the other day. It was those same old doubts coming out to play:

I received a single (very rudely phrased) criticism about the art itself, and it was enough to send my stomach down into my toes for the entire evening. I also received one (only one!) comment on this blog that was foul and nonconstructive, and I took great pleasure in editing it for him. You’re 100% entitled to your opinion, but if you can’t say it in a constructive way (and especially if the foul language you use is directly insulting to my God), then nobody gets to see it. No troll food here!

In spite of that, I’m glad that I took the leap to post the thing- it was a unique and enriching experience. Will I be doing it again anytime soon? Absolutely not (and if I do, I’m going to have to be much more diligent with my representations of “science” because redditors are sharp and if you make a mistake they will catch it). Sharing it in the deep anonymous pits of the internet on too regular a basis would probably crush my spirit, but every great once in a while I think it’s great to share your art, especially the art that comes from the deepest places of your heart, with an audience that isn’t related to you, didn’t go to high school with you, isn’t married to you, etc. Someplace other than Facebook. It was humbling to have a few mistakes pointed out (primarily the fact I used gravity as an example of a “natural law” that we understand when the truth is that scientists don’t actually understand it that well at all), but also an affirmation that when you put your soul into a piece of art, people can tell.

That said, I will not be going back to Reddit anytime soon, because HOLY COW is that website a timesuck.

P.S.- Unrelated to Reddit, I wanted to thank everyone who voted for my latest Threadless design! It ended with a 3.44 average, which isn’t too bad! That’s my highest ending average so far. I just know that one of these days I will get a design printed there! So thanks everyone for your support and for not getting totally sick of me asking for your support. I appreciate you all!

Okay! I’m tired of talking about myself! I want to see links to your own artwork, poetry, blog posts, and pictures of your dog. (NO CATS)

According to Facebook, National Sibling Day was a few weeks ago. Everyone in my news feed was posting pictures of themselves with their siblings. I have an older brother and a younger sister, but I couldn’t find any recent photos of all three of us! So I drew some.

I’m the pink one, the blue one is my brother, and the green one is my sister.

This last weekend, on Mother’s Day, we were all together in the same house (so rare, it seems) and my mom demanded pictures. I think I wasn’t too far off with my illustration, though these photos don’t capture the sibling harassment that (I guarantee you) happened.

I love where I live, but I really hate being four hours away from my siblings. I don’t tell them as often as I should what they mean to me and how much I love them.