2025 Year in Review
One moment, it was January. Now, here we are at the end of December. And there’s so much to look back on!
I will be honest, this was a tough freelancing year. There were many weeks where I just kept telling myself, “Maybe tomorrow, something will change. An email will come in.” But in just as many weeks, there was only silence. And that became super discouraging - imposter syndrome, comparison, thoughts of changing careers (which I am still considering…) Mentally, it wasn’t great. There’s nothing like the excitement of a new book project, but in the past couple of years, this has become a rarer occurrence.
However, this is not to stay I did nothing. I tried a lot of different things in hopes of getting the wheel turning, in hopes of getting a new project. This was truly a Feast or Famine year. Months of silence. Then all of a sudden, a month before I’m due to give birth to twins, the emails came in?! Maybe those quiet months were about planting seeds? Maybe it was just chance? Outside of consistently posting online, here’s what happened this year…
Three Book Releases
I want to celebrate the 3 books I worked on in 2024 and finally came out this year! “Golf Baby,” “Dreaming of a Quinceañera,” and “I Dance.” It’s always so much fun to share the behind-the-scenes of how these books were made, as well as celebrate their publication! You can see more about them on my Books page.
Online Speaking
I was invited to speak to college students by an old friend of mine. While it was online, I had a lot of fun sharing about my illustration career and answer interesting questions! Since freelancing is so isolating and I’m not always around my peers, I always grab at the chance to talk about art. I also had a number of online meetings to connect with peers and learn about their book projects, something new that I took on this year!
Tabled at a Book Festival
Speaking of connecting with others, I sold books and art at a nearby book festival this year! It had been almost 10 years since I last tabled at an event, so I was so excited to meet people and share my work in-person again. It was a beautiful spring day, and would love to do this again soon! This event even led to connecting with a nearby book publisher and a later, small book project!
Experimented With Styles
For the majority of this year, I was pregnant with twins (a wild experience in itself). Towards the end of my pregnancy, I didn’t have as much energy and knew my time would soon be shifting again soon. So, I tried a new style and format of art. I wanted a way to write and share little snippets of my life, so it led to quick line drawings and comics! I really enjoy making these and love hearing the response from those who can relate.
Gallery Show
I particiapted in my first gallery show since 2017. This time, I made traditional art for Nucleus Portland and their Salut! 10th Anniversary Coaster Show. There’s so much beautiful art in this show, and you can purchase my coasters online - please check it out!
Brand Collab
With the mindset that I truly have nothing to lose, I reached out to some brands that I love! This led to an opportunity to collab with Kung Fu Tea and make some content for Instagram. They were truly some of the coolest people to work with and they made the process really easy. I’m so grateful they were open to making some KidLit art!
Service Changes
Just like most things in stores and around the world, prices went up. This included my previous website host. So, I switched over to Squarespace, as the price was comparable and had more features! Although I had opened and subsequently closed my online store this year (because pregnant/no energy haha) I wanted a website that would be able to host a store, as well as display my work better. I hope you enjoy this new look!
I also finally left behind Adobe and Photoshop. I had been biting the bullet in regards to their monthly subscription model, but a price raise was the final straw. I’ve used Photoshop ever since I started making digital art in 2011-2012, that’s almost 15 years ago! So, it was hard to finally say good-bye. But a free alternative, Affinity Studio, made it much easier.
Private Commissions
While I didn’t have as many book projects as I used to in previous years, I had a few private commissions that I took on this year. My favorite was working with Baryo Ent to create Christmas-themed art for their Pasko Sa Baryo event! I LOVE making Christmas-themed art, and would love more chances to do so. This event was also sponsored by the Filipino channel!!
As the year winds down, I’m finishing up one book project, working on an illustration, and thinking about writing a new dummy book. Other than that, I don’t know what the new year has in store. That’s always been the scary part of freelance, not knowing how long the famine will last, not knowing when the feast will come. But it’s important to plant seeds where I can. This year, I made it a resolution to never say “no” to a good opportunity, not matter how scared I may feel. It feels good.
Thank you so much for your support this year! Whether you’ve read this blog, bookmarked my work, pre-ordered a book, or are here for the first time — thank you! I’m glad you’re here.
Happy New Year,
Christine