That’s a Wrap
December 31, 2025
I finished the Smiley Face Project today. It spans 2 years, 8 sketchbooks, 272 markers and 730 drawings made one day at a time. What began as a daily practice slowly turned into an archive. Not just of images but of decisions, habits and change that only shows up when you stay with something longer than is comfortable.
The work now exists in several forms. The drawings themselves, writing created alongside them and a published Season One book. Together they document what accumulated when the project was allowed to run its full course instead of being redirected or wrapped early.
Direct. Cocky. Unapologetic.
December 30, 2025
One page left and I’m not confused about what carried this. It wasn’t balance. It wasn’t motivation. It was belief. The inconvenient kind. The kind that doesn’t ask if it’s reasonable. I believed I could sit down every day and do this, so I did. I didn’t need anyone else to believe it. I didn’t need it to be understood. I just needed to keep moving. It was hard. It sucked a lot of the time. I did it while doubting myself, while tired, while pissed off, while crying. And I still did it. That’s the part that matters. Not because it’s impressive. Because it’s possible.
Honest Expression
December 18, 2025
Everybody can tell a story and most people can tell a good one for a short stretch. Fewer people can tell the same story on purpose, every day, without novelty carrying them, without applause guaranteed, without knowing where it leads. Doing one drawing a day for 365 days says, “I can show up when there’s nothing new to say.” Doing it twice says something sharper: “I’m not dependent on motivation, reaction or outcome to justify the work.” That’s not talent and it’s not discipline in the Instagram sense. It’s training a nervous system to tolerate boredom, doubt, invisibility and repetition without collapsing or pivoting prematurely.
Storytelling over time isn’t really storytelling. It’s exposure. You let people watch you think, regress, refine, repeat, contradict yourself and keep going anyway. That kind of presence builds a reputation marketing can’t fake, not because it’s loud but because it keeps accumulating. Most people are telling stories to be selected. This kind of work is someone selecting themselves, over and over, in public, without guarantees. There’s no clean category for it, no neat conclusion to point to. So the question isn’t what it means. The question is simpler and harder. Why would someone choose to keep showing up like this at all?
Stacking Days
December 12, 2025
Drawing every day produces a noticeable effect over time that isn’t obvious at the individual level. A single drawing carries little weight on its own but repeated daily execution creates accumulation and accumulation introduces change. Decisions become quicker, hesitation decreases and outcomes begin to stabilize. Progress isn’t felt in real time and rarely announces itself, which makes it easy to overlook while it’s happening. Only after enough days have been stacked does the result become visible, at which point it functions less like a feeling and more like evidence.
The Advantage of Being Insecure
December 10, 2025
Insecurity has this sneaky way of shaping your life without asking permission. I was watching a Basquiat documentary and they mentioned he used Gray’s Anatomy, the old medical textbook, as a reference. And for a moment, I actually got annoyed. Not at him but at the idea that one of the greats used references like the rest of us. I was too young to understand that everybody uses references. At the time, I thought real artists were supposed to summon brilliance on command, like some random creative lottery. Then they mentioned he had around seven hundred drawings to his name and something in me shifted. Not jealousy. Just that quiet Mexican pride that taps you on the shoulder and says, “If this vato put in that kind of work, what’s stopping you?”
And that insecurity mixed with pride did something wild. It made me try. It made me sit down and draw, one page at a time, until the stack of work turned into something real. Not because I thought I was better and definitely not because I thought I was racing him. Basquiat is Basquiat. The greats stay great. This was about me trying to live up to the voice inside that said I had more in me if I stopped being scared of my own doubts. I eventually passed that number, not in meaning or legacy, just in pages. And the funny part is, it wasn’t confidence that got me there. It was insecurity. The thing we’re taught to hide. Turns out it’s not the enemy. It’s the spark. Sometimes the part of you that feels the smallest is the part that pushes you the furthest.
The 30 Jobs I Did This Year
December 9, 2025
I finally sat down and wrote out every job I have been doing alone for the Smiley Face Project and the result was equal parts funny, depressing and painfully accurate. What I thought was being an artist building a book turned into a full scale production studio held together by caffeine, stubbornness and one man trying very hard not to collapse.
So here it is. The truth of what it actually took to bring this world to life. I didn’t realize how many hats I was wearing until I felt the weight of every single one crushing my spine. These are all the jobs I have handled on my own like some kind of deranged arts and crafts octopus.
The Artist
The one everyone sees. The drawing guy. The face guy. The “wow you’re so dedicated” guy.The Illustrator
The one who actually has to bring all those faces to life.The Author
Writing essays, captions, book intros, and random monologues at 2am.The Designer
Layouts, typography, merch, album covers, stickers. All of it.The Brand Identity Department
Tone, look, feel, voice, universe. Also just me.The Book Production Manager
Printing proofs, file prep, edits, revisions, headaches.The Merch Department
Pins, stickers, shirts, posters, packaging, panic.The Quality Control Guy
Inspecting everything like a TSA agent with trust issues.The Inventory Manager
Storing books, organizing merch, counting things I probably miscounted.The Fulfillment Team
Packing boxes, printing labels, shipping orders, sweating.The Event Coordinator
Designing menus, displays, setups, vibes.The Salesperson
Closing deals, following up, pitching, praying.Customer Service
Answering 97 forms of “do you ship to Canada” every month.The Marketing Director
Launch ideas, hype cycles, strategy, storytelling.The Social Media Manager
Posting, replying, editing, filming, fighting algorithms.The Copywriter
All the words while pretending I didn’t use ChatGPT because, well, public school.The Business Strategist
Mapping out seasons, structure, offers, revenue.The Finance Guy
Budgeting, bookkeeping, mentally apologizing to my bank.The Data Analyst
Checking what performs, what doesn’t, pretending I understand graphs.The Pricing Specialist
Setting prices without crying.The Sales Funnel Architect
Linktree, product pages, landing flows, conversion paths.The Project Manager
Keeping track of deadlines and missing half of them anyway.The Vendor Manager
Talking to printers, manufacturers, suppliers, lizards, whoever.The Logistics Coordinator
Deliveries, shipments, pickups, drop offs, repeat.The Tech Support Guy
Fixing website issues I definitely caused.The Community Manager
Talking to people. Being nice. Being present. Exhausting.The Collector Liaison
Maintaining relationships, following up, staying grateful.The Family Provider
Trying to take care of my wife while chasing a dream that isn’t a sure thing.The Self Regulation Department
Managing stress, fear, identity, pressure, ambition, and my own expectations.The Emotional Support Pillar of This Entire Operation
Keeping the faith when the bank account says “bro stop.” Carrying the dream alone. Hoping it pays off.
Project Status
The Smiley Face Project concluded with page 730, marking the end of its second season. What began as a daily drawing practice developed into a sustained body of work spanning two years, eight sketchbooks and 730 pages, alongside essays written throughout the process.
With the project now complete, its outcomes exist as documentation, writing, and physical editions. For those interested in supporting the work or exploring what came from the experiment, Season One of the Smiley Face Project book and related materials are available through the online shop.
Explore the Project →
(Season One / Shop)
Thank you for reading and spending time with the work.
DonCarlos Salinas
#SmileyFaceProject