Pudgy Unicorn by Niroot Puttapipat

Whether through trades, gifts, or the time honored tradition of just buying it, I’ve had the good fortune to acquire quite a handful of new, original drawings this year.

There are a lot of reasons, of course, to pursue collecting originals– not the least of which is doing a small part to invest in the community and support the artists you like, but for me (perhaps more selfishly) I also do it to better my own work. There’s got to be a quality about the piece that I can’t quite describe; it’s got to stop me in my tracks and teach me something. I’d be out of house and home if I chased down everything I saw that met that criteria, of course, so the reality is there’s a much smaller window of opportunity when it comes to my own collecting.

Even so, I love when stars align and I get the chance to support my fellow artists and in turn collect works which give me such profound delight. I believe that collecting drawings, especially, makes me better at what I do so that I can turn around and hopefully give some measure of that enjoyment back.

Tran Nguyen

Tran Nguyen

Claire by Ashly Lovett

Scott Gustafson

Scott Gustafon

Rebecca Guay

Emily Hughes

Bird Buddy by Rovina Cai

Wylie Beckert

Wylie Beckert (detail)

Troll Boy by Eoghan Kerrigan

Paul Bonner

Paul Bonner (detail)

• Remember, you can keep up with @MuddyColors on Twitter and Instagram! If that’s your thing.

• My FIRE SALE is still smoldering! I’ve got a handful of originals left in my store; you can see if anything strikes your fancy.