Hello!

I REALLY appreciate all the feedback and emails I received from the last newsletter. There were some things I really needed to read. So thank you. I haven't been able to respond because I've had my head down grinding on getting this kickstarter ready for a June launch.

I'm gone camping this week with a bunch of dads and boys from the neighborhood so this email is a bit shorter than usual. I wrote it up earlier in the week and scheduled it to come out while I was gone. School's out, and the mountains are calling, and I must go!

Alright, read on, there's 3 things I thought you'd find interesting this weekend.

Enjoy!

1) Kepler’s Intergalactic Guide to Spaceships

From the Special Projects Unit

​>>>CLICK HERE TO BE NOTIFIED ON LAUNCH<<<​

If everything goes as planned my Kickstarter will be launching next week. If you've enjoyed these newsletters, backing this book project would be a great way to show your love and support.

It's part comic. Part art book. ALL spaceships!

Here's a sneak peek at a couple of the reward tiers:

This is just scratching the surface of some of the things I've been putting together for this. Can't wait to show you the exclusive prints.

Again, sign up here for the notification at launch: LINK​

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JOIN THE DISCORD COMMUNITY HERE: LINK​

It's been a ton of fun seeing what people are posting and discussing over there. The newsletter has it's own thread so you can discuss what I share with other like-minded folks. Come on over, grab a snack and join the party!

2) Saturn's Hexagon

Department of Space Exploration

Do you know about Saturn's hexagon? Of course you do...but if not: SATURN HAS A NATURAL HEXAGON AT ITS NORTH POLE.

When I first learned this about a decade ago it blew my mind in two ways. First, that I was well into my thirties before I found out about this, (why didn't a teacher show me this? they discovered it in 1981??) and second, that it's just the most alien looking thing in our solar system.

At the center of the hexagon is a MASSIVE vortex. That's a close up shot of it there in the red and green.

Just to help you understand the scale here check out this image of the United States overlaid:

More about the Hexagon here: LINK​

3) On doing

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

Had a long chat last week with a peer about whether or not he should start a youtube channel for his art. We looked at all the angles to see if this was something he should pursue or not. I kept coming back to asking him what he actually wants to spend his days doing. In thinking some more about it, I recalled this quote:

​Austin Kleon puts it this way, "if you want to be the noun, first do the verb." Think about what you want to do, and let the labels and career come out of that.

Looking at it backwards though: what you do ends up defining you.

Granted, this day and age, every indie professional is required to wear ALL the hats: marketing, accounting, admin, customer service, etc. So the move to start a YouTube channel to increase awareness of one's work makes sense. The concern is that one can get so lost in the weeds of doing everything, that they end up being nothing.

It's important that no matter what extra things you take on, they don't interfere with the thing you really want to be doing. And by doing, I'm really talking about the things you create.

In June 2027, when I look back at what I've created in the last 5 years I don't want it to just be a pile of "content" posted online to help make the social media companies richer. I'd like to look at a stack of books, point at them, and say to myself, "I made THAT."

What do you want to have created by June 2027?

That's all for this week. Thank you for reading this newsletter and hope you have a great weekend!

-Jake

My sponsor for this newsletter is…me. It's me, because I'm not accepting sponsors for my email list, and don't plan to any time soon. Really, I'd just like people to buy stuff from my shop. If you like this newsletter, you can support it a few ways:

​Order something from the shop (Best)

​Back a kickstarter when I launch one (Also Best)

​Support me on Patreon (Second Best)

​Share the newsletter with a friend (Third best)

​Shop for art supplies using my affiliate links* (Fourth best)

Mention it on social media (Fifth best)

I'd appreciate any of these when you can. Thanks!

*Any amazon link I post is an affiliate link

By the way, I'm getting a TON of positive responses to my new Renegades comic. If you haven't had a chance to read it, you can snag a digital copy here:

DOWNLOAD MY NEW COMIC HERE: LINK​

​💥Download it and read it TODAY!💥​