I’m so excited about the magnets I just got in! To celebrate, I’ve created a Mystery Magnet Mega Bundle, over on the Things store.
Over the next 5 weeks, I’ll be announcing one new magnet every week!
And every week the price of the mystery bundle will go up by $1!
The mystery items are:
Comic magnet value $4.99
Business card size magnet with full color art, value $2.99
Comic magnet, value $4.99
Cute square magnet, value $1.99
Comic magnet, value $4.99
The bundle will also include my existing, A Sad magnet, value 4.99
Pre-order all the mysteries, $16.99 (OMG what a bargain!)
Mystery 1 revealed, $17.99
Mystery 2 revealed, $18.99
Mystery 3 revealed, $19.99
Mystery 4 revealed $20.99
Mystery 5 revealed $21.99 (Sweet! you basically get the business card sized magnet for free!)
Alas, I can only ship to the USA, but if you’re in a different country, drop me a line. Maybe we can figure out a bulk order to your favorite book store or something!
Hi lovely humans, I hope everyone has managed to grab some nourishing moments in the last couple of months.
Me, I’ve been so wowed by the wonderful responses to my comic. It’s been so terrific to see Ordinary Madness and Jagged Edges so warmly received. I’d like to send an extra special thanks to the therapists and other caring folks who’ve purchased extra comics to give to folks or have floating around as a resource. I wasn’t expecting that, and I’m honored and humbled.
I’m really glad Ordinary Madness has been something joyful and mind opening for so many folks. When you’re an artist, I think being of service is one of the highest things you can achieve.
Since I published Ordinary Madness I’ve been exploring a few other concepts and building on what I learned in its creation. Some are longer works that aren’t ready for the world (although Patrons can get sneak previews), but I’ve published a few shorter works over on my Patreon. They’re free for anyone to read and anyone can subscribe to the public feed. New comics published on Patreon include:
Lost Time, it’s easy to get down on yourself and not see what you’ve achieved. A nice bit of perspective, that I was finally able to draw by collaborating with Midjourney. Midjourney is an AI that generates art based on prompts. It took me much longer to create a comic this way, but I’m very pleased with the result.
Locker Rooms – my experience of locker rooms as a teen!
In Memoriam – Ladders – how I process things when someone suddenly and unexpectedly dies
Reflections – what it’s like seeing a homeless person ranting to themselves, now that I know what it’s like to rant to yourself on the street
If you become an actual Patron you’ll get to see work before its published as well as special behind the scenes content (including pages I couldn’t fit into Ordinary Madness), access to a password protected experimental page and occasional special discounts in the store. For example, Patrons get free shipping on “A Sad” magnets for this month.
Speaking of which! You can now buy “A Sad” magnets in the store! A little bit of joy, feeling seen, and a reminder of stuff I still forget sometimes, for your fridge.
They’re $5 plus flat rate shipping (or free shipping if you get the discount code by becoming a Patron… in which case I ask you to pinky swear you’ll stick around for at least a few months!).
Sadly, I can only ship to the USA right now. I use a super secure commerce platform that is so secure it keeps thwarting me when I try to ship to other countries! If anyone is a WooCommerce in WordPress expert who wants to help a sister out, please drop me a line!
Thanks for stopping by, if you haven’t yet, I encourage you to order (or review) Ordinary Madness. Feedback from folks so far includes, wow, wow wow wow, insightful, extraordinary and terrific!… also, there are one or two typos that slipped through, thank you friends for pointing them out. All kinds of feedback is helpful and appreciated.
Hi folks, I’ve always loved the wonderful stories I’ve heard about the joy the Things bring to folks. They have certainly brought a lot of joy to me.
And one of the ways drawing this comic has been special to me is that it ended up helping me heal from serious mental trauma. Between 2018 and 2020 I experienced three psychosises… which for me meant delusions, being lost in a scary thriller movie that wouldn’t end.
It really shook me up. The Things have played a huge role in my healing. Being able to take little aspects of my experience and turn them into more universal experiences we can all go through, helped me feel less alone and feel like I still had value to give to the world.
Most of my comics are not inspired by psychosis recovery, life is rich and diverse, but some are.
I’ve created a mini-comic/zine/book, 60 pages long that talks a bit about my experience in a way that I hope that is joyful, normalizing and a good read for anyone.
You can pre-order Ordinary Madness in my store, it’s a $9 instead of $10 for this first week.
It feels like a big, but important step to be open about my experience. Three in a hundred people will experience psychosis in their life and yet it’s still one of the most stigmatized things.
I hope you folks stick around, now that you know a bit more about what happened to me. I’m doing super well these days, I’ve gone through such a healing process and you get to see a little of it in my book.
Welcome to Thingswithout.com. The site is going through a bit of an upgrade and with over 700 comics it may take a little while. Things may move around a little bit and should become easier to explore and navigate.
If you’d like to read comics that aren’t in the new comic, scroll down to read the comics below, access it through archives, or do a search.
If you have any feedback about the new site, wishes, nominees for what to go in the Favorite section, let me know in the comments section of this post!
It’s been many years since I created A Sad and I’m honored and humbled by the stories folks have shared with me about this comic. I love that it’s been used as a tool for folks to express their emotional needs. I love that folks can pull this out and say this! This is how I want to be treated when I have a sad. I treasure all the stories I’ve heard and it’s so amazing to think of the secret life the Things have out in the world.
It’s nice to have these reminders that sometimes just being present is enough. Asking what a person needs is often better than diving in with a solution. It’s such an easy habit to fall into, and I need a reminder from my own comics sometimes. Thank you for visiting Thingswithout, I’m so grateful the Things and all their friends came into my life, they certainly help me when I have a sad.
I hope you enjoy your stay, here are a few I’m particularly fond of:
Stories featuring Boot. Boot has been through a lot, but still keeps caring.
Bunson Hoppydew is a wonderful little boy bunny who loves dancing, friendship and cake. His lifestyle advice is sometimes a little peculiar, but always brings a smile to my face.
If you have any favorites, I’d love to hear them in the comments.
FYI, comments for most comics get closed after a few weeks (sometimes a month or two, I’m not always good at remembering, but forgetting to close comments is a way to tell google you’re lame if there’s no activity!), but I’ll keep comments open on this one. Though if you want to license thingswithout art etc, please e-mail me, rather than use the comments section!
A Sad Support
Checkpoint (a non-profit providing mental health resources for gamers) has a great looking list of resources and helplines around the globe. It’s better to reach out for help than suffer alone. I also love how Checkpoint’s mental health guides (handy for anyone, not just gamers) come with fun monster illustrations and the writing is so down to earth and approachable. The Depression monster looks so cute and is a grumpy jerk!
Lifeline 13 11 14, is a fantastic general support line in Australia. The Creator of the Things called them once because she had a really rough day at work (police stations were involved, and she held someone’s hand while they were brave). It felt a bit silly to call, she wasn’t in massive crisis, but she reminded herself they said nothing to small and not to self censor yourself out of accessing support. It was nice to be able to talk through some stuff in a confidential anonymous way that respected the privacy of the person she had helped. Calling definitely pushed her comfort zone, but it was also really empowering. She went and got the help that felt best for her needs, not the oughts society tells you (especially the you ought to just deal with it).
We Need to Talk About Mental Health talks about stuff that’s much bigger than sadness. But is a handy resource in these complex and crazy making (literally crazy making) time. I hope it helps folks navigate some of the bigger issues and have a resource to share to make certain conversations easier.
Do you know about Patreon? It’s a place where everyday folks can become patrons of the arts. One of your favorite artists might be there right now, creating exclusive content and supported by a community of patrons. The Patreon that supports the Things is https://www.patreon.com/lizargall
Transcript
Thing 2: I have a sad
Thing 1: Are you looking for solutions or comfort?
Thing 2: I would like to be angry, then sad, then comforted, then adventure for solutions, then giggles
You can now get Things face masks on Redbubble. The 3-layer ones are two layers of cotton plus one layer of synthetic with comfy adjustable ear loops.
I’ve also created a new Boot print for the store, it took me many hours to draw and arrange Boot that many times, but I quite like the sort of cow print look you can get. I think the t-shirt pattern needs a little bit of work, I’m still fiddling about with it, but I’m quite pleased with how it looks on other products. You can now get everything from Boot Socks, Boot Masks, Boot Leggings, Boot Apron or even a Boot Backpack!
One of the things I love about Redbubble is that it has local shipping in many countries. I can send presents to family in Australia and friends in America for a similar cost!
As part of my Art from the Heart presentation at Orycon Creation Station’s OR e-con, I ran folks, including myself, through a new exercise. I was wondering if the prompts could help create interesting stuff that could help bring the weird to comics. It was cool to see what folks did, creating visualizations of different things or creating a lovely narrative across four panels.
This is what I created… and I think it will help bring some weird to the Things! Stay tuned!
Orycon is hosting a free virtual convention this weekend. There’s loads of things going on, and I’ll be part of three panels on Sunday 15 November hosted by Creation Station.
11 am to 12 noon: Local Food & Bee Sustainability
1 pm to 2 pm: Disaster Prep/Bug-Out Bag Prep
4pm to 5pm: Art from the Heart; doodling your way into comics
