Draw or Die ✏️💀

A Secret Society of Comic Artists & Visual Storytellers

✏️💀 This is Draw or Die, my newsletter to encourage visual storytellers with motivational notes, drawing prompts & knowledge shares.

It’s us against the world.

As a comic artist you’re on this earth to tell stories and express yourself through your work. Many lack the support and motivation needed in their own lives to survive in a world that no longer values “the craft.”

But you know deep down you were born for this.

Along the way in life, the resistance tears you down.
Give up. Give in. Put your dreams aside.
Clock in, punch out. You work for THEM now.

Draw or Die is here to show you it’s possible to live a more sustainable creative life, and help you re-define what success truly means for you.

I’m here to encourage, motivate and support other artists like me.

Through thick and thin, better and worse. We're in this together. ✏️☠️♣️

What to expect from this weekly newsletter:

• A weekly dispatch to keep you inspired.

• A weekly drawing prompt to keep you drawing.

• A weekly knowledge share to keep you sharp.
  Will cover everything from tools, books and tips for visual storytellers.

• Join a growing community of like-minded artists.

About the creator

D.J. Coffman / Cartoonist

I was “living the dream” as a full-time comic creator for 13 years before realizing that the financial strains were causing me to do my work out of frustration and fear instead of joy and passion. I knew of so many other creators living hand-to-mouth, just one missed pay-day away from financial ruin or worse.

It felt like the thing I loved to do the most had broken my heart and nearly ruined my life.

That feeling sent me into a silent creative depression. I almost gave up completely. I took a day job and put my dreams back on the shelf. I was back to feeling like a cog in the machine, only working to serve the dreams of others, and when I wasn’t drawing or creating I felt dead inside.

I know now that was all a lie.
There’s a voice hiding within depression & anxiety telling you it has to be an either or scenario, that you must succeed or fail!
Don’t believe it. Don’t listen to that voice.

A better way forward.
I have built a more sustainable creative life, balancing a full-time career while still making comics professionally. The more I share my thoughts openly, the more I find that I’m not alone.

The mission of Draw or Die is to motivate you to live a more sustainable creative life. ✏️☠️♣️