bellechevalier

Hey there, so, I'm not here much anymore!  Every once in awhile I pop by and stick something in the gallery, and I do come by to browse art, but I don't really have time for much in the way of community here anymore.  I'm off finishing up my MFA, working on a graphic novel and ... there's the inevitable social media drift.

You can most reliably find me at:
my tumblr (sometimes NSFW) (for up-to-the-minute output)
my blog (for more details & news, and sometimes complete comics)
my website (for portfolio/polished semi-professionalism?)

Thanks for visiting! <3

Oh man, okay, I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off lately, trying to get ready to move (twice; once from the Boston area to my hometown temporarily, and then to Vermont a few weeks later).  Quitting my job, figuring out my tight, tight finances, getting school supplies, trying to fit in art ... it's a little intense.

It hit me today that I am probably never catching up on the 300+ deviations in my watchlist.  It just isn't happening.  During my little mini-vacation when I'm home with my parents in August, I'm hoping to go through, leave a few comments here and there, and clean it out, but just ... the thoroughness I was hoping for is not happening.

I'm not leaving; this place is useful and nice and I like it a lot!  But imagining that I'm ever going to come back and use it frequently as a social space is probably pretty foolish, particularly if I keep such a huge watchlist around.  So with that in mind, I'm starting to pare it down quite a bit.  My tastes have changed, some of us have grown apart or vanished ... if I'm going to stay here and interact at all, it needs to be more manageable.

And no more groups.  There's no way I can handle all those art dumps.

If you've been unwatched, I just want you to know I'm regretful for having to do it.  I think your art's awesome; that's why I was following it in the first place!  And I wish you all the best.  I might stop by now and again, but I feel like an asshole for watching and then ignoring you - like a promise I'm not keeping.  Take care of yourself. <3

I will be around now and then.  But in the future, you're much more likely to find me over at my blog, which I'm going to update more frequently once I'm in school (with all the new stuff I'll be producing, and the new stuff about comics I'll be learning)!

See you kids in August.

Oh hey, so I'm not dead or anything, and I'm even still here.  Eventually I'll have things to post apart from Sailor Moon fanart (or even Batwoman).  And um, comments.  (Sorry, watchlist.  I know I suck.)

Life's a bit exciting; I've been accepted to The Center For Cartoon Studies for the fall.  (At long last!  I've been planning this since the school was founded, and I was an ickle undergrad intern.)  Also, I put out my first minicomic, Fruitless, back in December ... and the Turtle Soup mini should finally be coming together in the next month or so.  (Have to unexpectedly draw one new strip!  But apart from that it's good to go.)  Once that's done, I'm going to set up an Etsy store, if any of you would like to read my work on paper for a change.  (But no pressure.)  

I have to dash off now, but I hope you're doing well, anyone who's still reading this! ♥

Also, a note: it's awesome if you like my work so much that you want to share it with people via, say, your Tumblr.  Seriously, I've been ridiculously flattered to stumble over myself there a few times.  One thing to remember, though: most of us artists and creative types really do appreciate it when you credit us by name, and link back to us.  It's common courtesy and keeps the internet fun for everyone.  Thanks in advance!

I don't think I've ever used this space for a rant, so this is going to be a bit out of the blue.  Sorry.

Ugh, so I was just linked to this blog post: transfinite.dreamwidth.org/215…

To briefly and inadequately summarize: another deviantart user, who identifies as neutrois (without gender; in hir own words, "neither male nor female"), went to create a new account and was unhappy to discover that there is no longer an "undefined" gender option.  We are all (as you probably know, but may not have taken note of) currently required to mark ourselves as "male" or "female," and even if we choose to hide that designation, deviantart applies the "appropriate" gendered pronouns in such places as the user stats page.

The user went on to complain about this to support, trying several different approaches.  Ze was rebuffed in a manner I find quite rude, and in at least one instance, outright offensive.  (It's bad enough to see staff insisting that this user choose a gender identity which "best suits [hir] needs" - when clearly, neither option suits at all - but there's that one staff member who flatly tells the user that hir identity DOES NOT EXIST, and then uses a term for intersexed people that is considered extremely rude in this day and age, though it's unfortunately still in fairly wide use.)

For anyone who happens to be reading this - I realize that the complexities of gender identity are not well understood in our society, and that the complaints referenced above may seem incomprehensible. If you've ever struggled with a part of your identity, however, you probably know that being forced to misrepresent yourself, once you've finally embraced who you really are, is intolerable.  What particularly irks me is the fact that deviantart DID have a third, broad option for gender identity once upon a time - something I think should be offered everywhere, when this information is requested - and has removed it without apology or adequate explanation.  (I'm sure the removal came quite some time ago.  As I've grown more comfortable identifying as "female" in recent years, I've become much more oblivious to these things - something to work on, as it goes against my beliefs.)

I don't really have time to discuss these issues (either the specific incidents discussed above, or the broader topics), since I'm still trying to wrap up my grad school application, finish designing my first two minicomics, and cope with the energy drain I tend to encounter around this time of year; I've got a truly absurd backlog on my watchlist already, and I barely manage to talk to anyone around here anymore.  I just wanted to point out the issue, for the timebeing.  I have no idea whether this is even likely (given my extended absences from this site), but - please don't expect an immediate or lengthy response, if you comment.

[Even more unlikely, but: before anyone asks, I've already checked, and I'm currently sadly lacking in any decent resources for trans*, intersex, etc topics, so I don't have educational links to offer right now. Google can be a useful place to start.  I also have no patience for arguing my basic beliefs about gender identity right now, so if you try to start anything about that, you're going to be ignored - and if I see anything I consider bigoted, I will hide it.  Also any complaints about things/people being "too PC," because that is a massive pet peeve of mine.  This is my space; my standards apply, basically.]

So about two months ago, I submitted a five-page comic to an anthology; today I found out that I got in!   The anthology is called Inbound 5, put out by an awesome local group called the Boston Comics Roundtable; I'm told it'll be out around the end of the month.  You can see a preview panel from my contribution here.

Things are picking up for me!  I'm almost ready to put together my Turtle Soup minicomic, and I'll be spending much of the next two months completing my grad school application, including a nine-page comic.  I'm so excited and nervous - I've been waiting to do this for five years, ever since my junior-year summer internship.  Here goes nothing!