Day: April 3, 2024

March 2024 – Happy News, Patreon Plans, & New Tarot Preview

March was both the worst and best month, all at once. I’m so happy to report that after the bombshell February we had in which my husband was laid off from his job and suffered some possibly-cancerous symptoms that his test results are in. While some things aren’t normal, cancer has been eliminated as a possibility!

The ghost of this bad news has been hanging over us since early February and we’re both so relieved to hear it’s not the worst case scenario. He’s still got some challenges ahead, but they won’t be as nasty as cancer.

Knock on wood! Now, can cancer and serious illness leave us both alone till we’re at least 80? Please and thank you!

Once my head stopped spinning from all the life chaos, I had just enough time to catch my breath and dive headlong into finishing the X of Swords piece for the Stained Glass Tarot deck coming this year. Patrons got a deep dive into this process, as well as a look at a detail of the final painting. I can’t wait for you all to see the final painting once the deck debuts! I’ve been peeking the art from the other artists and it’s gorgeous stuff. I’ll be sure to let you all know here when it goes live on crowdfunding.

Meanwhile, the poll results have come in and I was really surprised at the results! There’s more love for my niche interests than I thought there’d be, which makes me very happy. Once this Patreon resets themes in June, expect that theme to be all Kushiel’s Legacy for awhile! Prepare yourselves for angels, masquerades, and fantasy fashions.

I really can’t wait and I’m currently plotting on what other themed Patreon goodies I can roll out for the event! Read more about the poll results and my plans for this grand relaunch theme here.

In that same post, I also mentioned that my Exalted art will be moving to a new space in the future. Rather than have Exalted art sneaking in here making a confusing mess of my Patreon in June when I start talking about more book-inspired art, it’ll have its own tidy home on Ko-fi where everyone can follow it for free (or pitch in if they want some small perks).

Posts Planned for April (Tentative)

  • Blue Eye Samurai x Exalted Fan Art

  • Movies That Make Me Want to Paint Part 2

Posts in March

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Even though life doesn’t seem to want to slow down and let us breathe, I’m happy for the Spring here, which has been flowering with beautiful dogwoods. They’re a good reminder to slow down and appreciate the beautiful things for a few fleeting moments before I get caught up in the chaos. I hope you all found some little bits of happiness this month too.

– Ang

New Upcoming Patreon Theme! + Where to Find My Exalted Art

Thanks to Patrons’ votes in my last big poll, I’ve finally made a decision about where this Patreon will be going after May.  Your insights were a big help in choosing what I’ll be focusing on next, with so much inspiration pulling my muse in different directions!

My top two contenders were, much to my surprise, the Kushiel Concepts theme and the Exalted TTRPG theme.  Color me surprised to see two of my most niche topics be at the top!  I’m so pleased these passion projects would be appealing to you guys.

KUSHIEL CONCEPTS is our winner, which means I’ll be exploring the following once June rolls around:

  • My own variant book covers of the first 3 books, Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen, and Kushiel’s Avatar (maybe further into Imriel and Moirin’s trilogies, if the muse strikes me and the interest in this theme stays strong)
  • Favorite moments, character concepts, etc, as I re-read the books
  • Designs of the sigils of the Court of Night Blooming Flowers & noble houses of Terre d’ Ange
  • Plus other ideas as we see how the muse inspires me while I read!

I’ll also be designing a new suite of Kushiel-inspired Patreon-exclusive merch, which I’ll announce later on as I figure out what might be a cool thing to make.  Perhaps a series of night-blooming flower stickers inspired by the Court?  Fancy stained glass noble house sigils?  Let me know if you have ideas of things you’d love to collect!

I’m going to think about this and do some planning while we wait on May to arrive.

But what about my Exalted art?

I’m still going to be making Exalted art, stories, and resources just for my own fun and on my own time, but it won’t be shared here on Patreon, as that’d start to get confusing if I tried to mix it in with Kushiel/Fantasy things once that theme revs up here.

My solution? – A dedicated place for my Exalted things on Ko-fi.

I’ll be posting all Exalted art/writing/resource updates and future Exalted Character of the Week compilations there in the future, so go give it a follow if you like that particular facet of my TTRPG-related art.  I’ve shared my free fan resources there, for those who need art templates and resources for playing their Solar characters.  

If you like the Exalted things I do, Ko-fi’s set up to where you can leave me a monthly or one-time tip there as well, or just enjoy the project, which is 98% free to enjoy, minus a couple of perks for monthly tippers.  This way, I don’t feel like my Exalted fans are left out of the fun and I have a chill place I can share that TTRPG hobby.  I also like the idea that my Exalted stuff stays free of too many expectations so it can remain a fun and carefree endeavor!

Well that’s enough of my excited ramble!  I hope you all are as hyped for a change in theme here as I am.  I’m looking forward to reading some of my favorite books and deep diving into some really cool imagery!  Perhaps it will pave the way for other fun book series I’ve enjoyed and would like to do fan art for?

Till next time, I’ll keep sharing interim inspiration and art till Summer arrives!

<3 Ang

Exalted Character of the Week Vol 2 + Bonus Valentine’s Comic

Until May rolls around and this Patreon is re-vamped with a brand new theme, I’Il be sharing the fun random arts I do, like the next collection of character portraits for the Exalted Character of the Week challenge I host over at the Forge of Wonders.  It was another adventure in experimenting with different styles and loosening up after so many years of working in a more rigid style.

The Cultivar of Bloodied Sunsets for Kess 

At the same time that The Cultivar was chosen for the next Challenge, my husband started playing Persona 3 Reload, which put a whole new coat of paint on top of a game that he loved growing up.  I’ve always enjoyed the sleek and appealing designs of ATLUS’ games and wanted to see if I could try to bring that visually stunning nature to a portrait of The Cultivar.  How did I do?

Apparently I subconsciously matched her outfit with her girlfriend’s outfit from an earlier challenge, which is a fun bit of accidental serendipity.

Fia for Morpheous XO

Next up, we have Fia, the No Moon Lunar witch.  I was originally going to keep this portrait as a simple pencil portrait, which I’m quite pleased with Procreate’s graphite simulation.  But then the color tempted me!  I tried to keep it subtle with the pops of her dramatic red hair tips.  I ended up with a look very close to what I can do with copic marker, traditionally, which is neat!

Moira for MissSunnySweden

Lastly, we have Moira for MissSunnySweden, a kickbutt Dawn Caste with a tiger theme.  I’ve long considered smiles my weakness when drawing people, but I was able to capture a delighted bloodlust smile without too much trouble.  I didn’t have much time to draw Fia and Moira, so I aimed for more simplified ‘token-style’ portraits.

All the portaits you see here were painted in Procreate, which has become my mainstay of late since it let’s me curl up in a comfortable spot on the couch to work.

Bonus Valentine’s Day Exalted Comic

I created one last bit of fun Exalted art in February where we were challenged by another member of the Forge to draw our characters on a date.  My character, Kalara, was paired up with the Abyssal, The Cultivar, for a date, which triggered a fun idea for a whole mini comic I could practice my visual storytelling skills with.

I wasn’t able to finish the mini comic with everything happening with health and job woes last month, but I’m hoping to clean this up at some point for practice.  For now, enjoy the sketches for the comic and the quick final panel I did work up just for fun!

Premise:  The Cultivar and Kalara go on a date!

Kalara shows up to the cafe, where the Cultivar awaits, the two of them competing to show off who has the highest Resources rating (basically means how rich they are in this setting).  They ‘battle’ through various things, from fancy tea vs coffee, to fancy favorite foods, to the final battle – Who will cover the check???

Eventually, Kalara wins the wealth battle, but The Cultivar gets the upper hand…which my gal is actually pretty okay with.  There are worse, more boring ways to die, right? 

The final panel:

(This one was drawn on Procreate, but word bubbles added in Clip Studio Paint)

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this little art diversion!  I have more serious projects to finish up by the end of the month, but these character challenges are always a fun way to stretch my legs between more intense projects.

– Ang