I’ll keep this short and sweet.
My dear friend Mike Majestic is a talented artist and designer. He’s worked in comics, done storyboards and design work for animation and live action film for over 25 years. He specializes in mecha design and backgrounds, but also does excellent character design work.
He was a rising star in the industry and was making a comfortable living. He was arguably on the cusp of breaking out into the big time.
Then his father fell ill. After a series of serious health problems, Mike’s dad began to develop dementia. Mike lived with his father and acted as his caregiver every day. As anyone who has had to do this knows, being an adult caregiver is a full-time job. While they were able to get some help from the VA and other services, Mike’s father did not have a ton of savings and the help they received was not enough to pay for his mounting medical bills, or to give Mike much of a break from caregiving duties.
In short, Mike blew through his own savings in order to help his dad. He was able to get a few gigs here and there to make ends meet and keep a roof over their heads, but without being available for long-term assignments like film production, Mike’s career withered.
After nine years, Mike’s father passed away early in July of last year. After taking care of his affairs, Mike was left with the daunting prospect of trying to re-start his career after an absence of nearly a decade. He’s working as hard as he can, but is swimming against the current, and his father’s unpaid bills continue to be a drag on his finances.
I’m asking all of you to please visit Mike’s website, check out his work, give him some likes and follows on Twitter, Instagram, etc. If there are any science fiction fans out there who like his work and would like to do more, Mike also has a Patreon account. A bunch of people pledging just $1 a month could really help to make a difference.
If you don’t want to commit to a monthly pledge and would instead like to drop a buck or two in his pencil cup, his PayPal is vulnepro@gmail.com
Links are below. If you have any questions, drop me a line. If any of you are connected with the film or animation industries and need design work, I urge you to give Mike’s portfolio a serious look.
Mike’s Patreon Page
Studio VulnePro’s website, which includes a tribute to Mike’s dad.
VulnePro on Twitter
VulnePro on Instagram
Thank you all.