I mean, the whole point behind starting this blog was having somewhere on the internet where I could go to be myself--to laugh, to be silly, to be creative using my own process--and I still feel like my blog is all of those things.
But I also feel like it's beginning to be something more.
When I looked through my dashboard this morning, I came to the startling realization that, in the past month, almost half of the posts I've published have been serious, or at least about serious stuff. Sure, a few of them were illustrated using my relatively new brand of art, but they've been heartfelt, honest, sometimes raw posts about my life.
In case you don't believe me, here's proof:
Breast cancer, my dream of being a writer, a recounting of my wedding day, my continued struggle with weight loss and depression--->those are some serious blog topics, people! That's six out of thirteen blogs of seriousness. Seriously.
When I first realized this new trend, my initial reaction was to be disappointed. I mean, my banner says it all---I wanted Abby Gabs to always be a light-hearted, funny place to visit--somewhere people would point their browsers when they were having a bad day. If my earnest infatuation with famous people isn't enough to make you laugh, then my overly-colorful illustrations of myself doing silly things should be...right?
But then, the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that this was just a manifestation of my evolution as a writer.
Woah. I just went all Dr. Phil for a second. Scary.
In all honesty, writing humor is just easier for me. I enjoy thinking up the punch line. I like going for the giggle. Even when I was in college taking creative writing classes, more often than not, the stuff that I wrote was humor. It's a huge part of who I am. I love to laugh.
But I'm also emotional. I have a big heart, and even bigger feelings. I have a full, rich, sometimes difficult life that doesn't always include laughter. Most of the times, it does. But sometimes, it doesn't. And sometimes, I feel compelled to write about that aspect of my life.
And it's awesome that I have somewhere to do that.
Another thing that's changing about my blog is my new found love for drawing crappy pictures. In the beginning, I used Photoshop to create illustrations of a mish-mash of photos. Like this:
But recently, instead of spending hours scouring the internet for pictures to use for those kinds of illustrations, I find myself drawing them (badly) with Photoshop instead.
They take me longer, and sometimes I struggle with certain aspects of the drawing (like hands. Have you noticed how bad my hands are?) But for the most part, I love the creative process behind the drawings, and I'm often better able to depict whatever it is that's in my head.
Because where on the internet would I have found a picture of a giant Abby monster wearing lipstick and glasses?
I rest my case.
Truthfully, the only change around here that I'm not so happy with is the frequency with which I've been posting.
When I first started, I was posting almost every day. Now...maybe twice a week. And that doesn't make me happy. I'd like to say it's because I'm evolving as an artist, and I only post things that I think are worth reading. But that's a whole bunch of hooey, because really, most of my posts are nonsense anyway. It all boils down to two things: 1) laziness and 2) Doctor Who reruns.
Sorry. I can't resist the madman with a box.
I'm sure some of the veteran bloggers out there would say to stick to the formula that works. That maintaining my voice as a humor writer is more important than using my blog as a creative sounding board. Because I don't want to lose readers. Right?
But I'm enjoying the journey. I'm loving the direction I'm headed in. And so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing.
I'm just going to try and do it more frequently from now on. Promise.
