I’m Nabi, a freelance illustrator and (ex-???)character designer. My wife and I have been living in SoCal for the past decade or so, and though times were better for the first several years, the burst of the animation bubble left me without full-time work since late-2022. I’ve freelanced at a few major studios since (like CTN back when it was still alive :''''')), have a fairly consistent illustration career in picture books, and maintain my own print store.

However, this year has been /extremely/ lean (thanks AI and shit economy), so much so that all the savings I have left will really only cover maybe the next two months of rent and bills here. It is also becoming insanely expensive to live in LA any longer.

Our goal is to move in late November to Virginia, where my wife’s family lives. There, we’ll have a circle of support, much (MUCH!!!) lower rent, and by the time we get there, the illustration projects I’m signing onto will slowly start paying. We can then also rely on my wife’s nonprofit job in the case that I (god forbid) have another lean patch with little work.

BUT…! A cross-country move is no easy task and we do need whatever help we can get in order to get there.

In order to be as transparent as I can, I’m including a breakdown of approximate costs:

Absolutely need:

TOTAL: $8000

Nice to have (will update goal if I reach 8k):

TOTAL: $3000 (8k + 3k = $11,000)

I will keep everyone posted on progress and updates! Most importantly, thank you all for donating and/or sharing. Even a little bit will go a long way! :’’’)