My whole life, I've been obsessed with...
dun dun dun... DRAWING! As a shy kid, it was my PREFERRED way of expressing myself to the world. I ALSO loved MAKING characters and writing stories about them - a passion THAT IS STILL A BIG part of MY LIFE to this day,
AND YOU CAN CALL ME SABER!!
I'M A 28 YEAR OLD FULL TIME ARTIST & PLUSHIE DESIGNER, CURRENTLY
LIVING IN FLORIDA!
I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid, and basically never left home without my sketchbook.
Drawing little characters on the side of my notes in school is how I made it through elementary AND....
..reading books like Warrior Cats carried me the rest of the way LOL
( Shout out to early 2000s Warrior Cats AMV animators… you ENDED UP INSPIRING
me to pick up digital art! LOL )
TEENY TINY SABER
2010-2013
YOUTUBE AMVS LED ME TO EVENTUALLY JOIN DEVIANTART, AND i STARTED POSTING MY ART ONLINE FOR THE FIRST TIME!
I WAS OVERJOYED BY ALL THE ARTISTS LIKE ME THAT i MET THROUGH THIS WEBSITE, AND CONTINUED DRAWING FANART AND POSTING ART OF MY CHARACTERS + STORIES. AT THIS TIME, i WASN'T THINKING MUCH ABOUT THE FUTURE. IT WAS ALL FOR FUN C:
eventually though, I had to face the dreaded question.. What do you wanna be when you grow up?
AN ARTIST!! I knew - i couldn't imagine anything else! i just wasn't sure what that entailed yet.
As I GREW into high school, I FELT LIKE THE ONLY PATH FORWARD WAS working for AN animation studio. I fantasized about how cool it would be to see my name up on the big screen, AND CONTRIBUTE TO FUTURE FILMS.
I knew I had to improve my portfolio though IF I WAS GOING TO DO THIS PROFESSIONALLY.
so I started drawing - a LOT :D
I drew TONS OF fanart for movies & book series that I loved, and
posted them up on A PLATFORM THAT I HAD JUST DISCOVERED - TUMBLR!! LOL
2013-2016
This is the point where my path forked, because without the support I got in these online spaces, I really don’t think you’d be reading this right now. On Tumblr, I was lucky enough to meet so many kind people who really believed in me, and it gave me a lot of strength AND SELF-LOVE that I still carry with me.
SO MUCH SUPPORT, IN FACT, THAT I STARTED TO QUESTION MY FUTURE ANIMATION STUDIO GOALS.
WHAT IF I COULD MAKE IT, JUST WORKING INDEPENDENTLY?
2016-2019
By the time I reached my final year of high school, I was dreading the impending future of art college, WHICH I ASSUMED WAS THE ONLY PATH AVAILABLE FOR ME. I had spent my whole life rotting through
school, and I’d developed a sort of venom towards THE WHOLE SYSTEM.
By this point I’d do JUST ABOUT anything to avoid going to college. Deep down, I knew tHAT EVEN IF I DID MAKE IT THROUGH ART COLLEGE, There was no way I was built to work for a corporate art studio.
but what other option did I have?
ART COMMISSIONS!!
I'D NEVER SOLD MY ART BEFORE, BUT I DECIDED TO TAKE A SHOT IN THE DARK:
COMMISSIONS WERE OPEN, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!
I TOLD MYSELF, IF i COULD MAKE (X) AMOUNT OF MONEY BY GRADUATION - IF I COULD PROVE TO MYSELF THAT I COULD DO THIS CONSISTENTLY AND RESPONSIBLY - I WOULD OPT OUT OF ART COLLEGE AND LEAN INTO CHASING
MY DREAM OF BEING AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.
THE RECEPTION WAS INSANE - over 200 COMMISSIONS IN A SINGLE YEAR. HOLY, CARPAL TUNNEL!! but i did it!!
( And here I am, 10+ years later,
still MAKING ART THANKS TO SUPPORT
FROM PEOPLE LIKE YOU! :D )
WAHOO!!!!
(I also told myself that if I hit my goal, I would reward myself by commissioning my favorite fursuit maker, BeautyOfTheBass, ONE DAY! AND IN 2019, THEY made my Ghatz suit!)
by 2019, I hit the point where I was ABLE TO STEER AWAY FROM COMMISSIONS AND LEAN INTO LAUNCHING MY online store! And it's been the most rewarding thing in the world. What else could I possibly dream of, besides drawing my weird little art, and multiplying it around the globe in the
form of little plushies, keychains, stickers, pins, etc!
2019+
I've vended at A BUNCH OF conventions, held a HANDFUL OF PLUSH COLLECTION Kickstarters, tried a bit of everything, with no intent of stopping. THIS IS A dream job. And I'll always love and appreciate everyone who supported me through, this would all be impossible without you!!
2026+
But when AI started to flood the internet, I eventually hit a wall. I stepped back and realized that Social media was also festering into something unrecognizable from the early days that I loved, and all the art websites I fell in love with as a kid were changing or caving, exploding with AI generated work, etc.
My weird little corners of the internet didn't feel the same to me. The internet didn't feel like my second home anymore. And I started waking up to the ways social media was training my brain to be in a constant state of obsession, and using these platforms started to make me feel sick. For many years, I persisted - this was
my job, after all. And it's an amazing job that I can't afford to lose.
I slowly watched so many artists I looked up to fade away. I saw the writing on the wall, and for awhile there - I teetered on the edge of throwing in the towel
myself, far too many times to count.
To this day, I'm not as active on social media as I used to be. But I'm still sharing my art in smaller spaces like discord, patreon (and occasionally instagram for my projects). Even though I'm not as active on my skinner box socials, I'm still drawing more than ever. And I'm so much happier. All the new products in my store are so self indulgent, things I'm so so proud of and excited to share with the world.
I decided to stick around, not only because it's my dream job, but also - I realized that if I give in, that's just giving the AI corporations exactly what they want.
I realized, we need human artists more than ever right now. Just because I'm obsolete in the corporate world, doesn't mean they can shut me up and take my love for art away. I don't work for them, never have, so why should I start listening to them now?
I'll dig my teeth into my art and hold on til my last breath. And after that, I'll come back from the dead and dig in deeper. And if you're an artist
reading this, I hope you will too.
Everything on my site is human-made, designed with love,
and made with the best quality materials I can find.
Thank you for reading <3
Spit in the face of extinction
SaberGhatz
