Once upon a time, there was an OCT. For those of you not on deviantART during the end of the 2000s, OCTs--short for "original character tournaments"--were the "hip" "thing" among the "cool" "kids" "on" the site. What really kicked off the trend was Endzone, featuring many talented artists--one such artist being Ian "Surfdog" Jay and his character, the Chimbley Sweep.
Curious, I seeked out this guy and his account. He seemed like a pretty cool dude! It was a while ago, so the specifics are a littttle fuzzy, but I ended up finding his then very new webcomic, Epiphany--a comic about a deer kid named Eli and his very unusual summer.
I kept up with it for a while, even after Endzone ended, and became incredibly invested in it. And eventually, Ian began a new practice--livestreaming part of the creation of Epiphany pages. For a budding "Komic Kid" like myself, this seemed like the ultimate in cool, so I began watching them regularly and even participating in the chat.
Since then, Ian "Animal Dicks" Jay has become a very dear chum to me, not only being a big inspiration to me and my art but being an absolute spring of help and info and support. He inspired me to go into SCAD and has always been an absolute sweetheart to me, even when I was afraid I'd be too dorky or annoying to talk to him. We've even got to meet up for a while in a group last year, in which I proceeded to be too nervous and shy of everyone to really talk, and in which proceeded to be totally nice to me in front of everyone (WHAT A *JERK*). And during all these years, I have been promising and swearing up and down that I was going to draw Epiphany fanart (that one doodle of a Epiphany Fancharacter doesn't count), and all these years I somehow never got to it!
And today, five years to the day of its first page, Epiphany has concluded, and I finally made good on my promise.
I'm so, super proud of you for seeing this project through to the end Ian, and I wish for nothing but the best for you and your future endeavors, and life in general. Your friendship is something I super all kinds of treasure, and this is only a tiny token of my gratitude. Rock on, dude!