Goodbye to 2024, and hello to 2025
Raise a glass to new beginnings!
It’s the end of a very interesting and fast year!
I hope that in the festive period and the run up to the new year, everyone is having a good time and enjoying the festivities. We at Seaglass have been eating, drinking, and making all sorts of merry as we wrap up 2024, and I hope that you are doing the same!
During the month of December, it truly has been a month of madness. I have some absolutely amazing news and opportunities for my fellow illustrators and animators in the Essex and Suffolk counties of the UK, so read on if that has piqued your interest.
But before I do, I would like to look back on the previous year and all that it has brought, both personally and in our amazing creative community. It really has been a year of vital conversations about our industry, our collective professional futures, some incredible projects and some truly pivotal moments within the unions.
A win for Animators
The Animation Guild fought for the 2024-2027 Guild Master Agreement, which upon 23rd December the results were released that the majority of the vote was in favour of the agreements between the members of the guild and the studios that took part- 76.1% were in favour of ratification. This agreement appears to be a positive one- with increased pay, benefits and pension safety nets being secured for three years. However, even with added protections against generative AI, it appears to not be a total wall of protection and it is an ever-increasing concern.
Read the ratification document here
And the memorandum agreement here
Even outside of the US, this has important ramifications for our industry and is a step forward in better workplace conditions, generative AI protections and the implementation of much needed safety nets. It is a concern, but speaking as a UK based creative I hope that this leads to a brighter future within our industry. It has been a year of setbacks for us, let the coming year be a good one for us as a collective!
Art vs Artist 2024
On a personal note, I would like to contribute to the yearly tradition of “My year in Art” meme-
My year in art 2024- Image credit: Seaglass Illustration
It has been a year of great highs and great lows professionally. Projects have been published and completed, others have been canned and cancelled. But overall I am proud of my achievements here at Seaglass, and I am looking forward to 2025 and all it brings.
Big news for Essex and Suffolk Artists
And here is my news- starting this year, I will be working with Dave Bain of the AOI to bring a meetup to the Essex and Suffolk counties of the UK! I am currently in talks with suitable venues that would like to host us, and gathering interest. I need around 50 takers for the meetups to be viable for funding, and I am aiming for the meetups to be quarterly- Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. If you are in these areas, or are willing to travel, I would love to hear from you! I have prepared a google forms page for people to register their interest, which will be presented to the AOI in the spring.
If you are an Essex or Suffolk based artist/illustrator and you are interested in joining the AOI, or just looking for support, please fill out the form below and join us!
Finally, I have launched a Ko-Fi account for readers and viewers to donate, should you want to support me! These newsletters take a long time to write and prepare, so I appreciate any and all support. If you can’t afford to donate, or just don’t want to, that’s cool! It also helps a ton if you subscribe and share this newsletter to others, and best of all, it’s free. Win Win!
https://ko-fi.com/seaglassdraws
Have a happy, healthy creative new year and see you all on the other side!
Love,
Emma at Seaglass Illustration
