It’s been an eventful and emotional month! Here’s a quick rundown on everything you might’ve missed in February.
Like last month’s Studio Hangout, you can get the quick highlights of this studio hangout from reading this post or watch the full video above or on my YouTube which also has chapters and closed captions. A transcript is also attached to this post.
(Are you guys liking this format? Let me know in the comments!)
Happenings & Announcements
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Good and Bad Anniversaries – Within a single week, my husband and I celebrated the one year anniversary of him being laid off (boo!), our 8th wedding anniversary (yay!), and finally him starting a new job a couple of days later (double huzzah)! Thank goodness! Times have been really rough during this year and we’re so glad it’s over. The constant mental strain was becoming too much for the both of us.
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Finding Connection – Games and art streams have been fun and helped me feel connected as I’ve pulled away from most social media. I only post on Bluesky these days with personal posts on Facebook to Friends and Followers. (Feel free to give my personal account a Follow on FB as I only Friend other artists and people I know IRL or through work/projects).
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Convention Rejections – I’ve been rejected by at least 3 thus far, but I don’t feel too sad. With Bird Flu, regular Flu, and Covid around, it’s still a major health risk to my husband and myself. With our finances stabilizing, I am not being forced to rely on convention income as much.
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The New-Old Plan! – Regaining financial stability with my husband’s job means I can return to our original plan – Me focusing on writing novels while using Patreon to support and practice my art skills.
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Private Commissions Incoming – Private commission offerings are still coming to my Patrons/newsletter subscribers to help us refill our drained life savings, but likely on a limited slot basis.
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New Patreon Digital Shop Opening – A new Rewards Archive/Digital Shop has been added to my Patreon. Check it out for ALL of my tutorials and coloring packs in one place, with more to come!
New Art in February
A very complex Valentine’s couples piece for February took over the muse this month while I was stressing about everything! It’s been a mentally rough time and I needed the escapism of drawing a bookshelf for 39 hours. Cheaper than therapy I guess!
Livestream Studies
I had a fun time studying things out of my comfort zone like objects, animals, and environments.
New Vids in February
Streams in February
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Art Stream – Studying Environments with Line of Action
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Art Stream – Studying Animals with Line of Action
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Art Stream – Studying Objects & Still Lifes with Line of Action
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Game Night Stream – Telltale’s Expanse (Rated M) – Chapters 3 & 4, Chapter 5
Ask Me Anything
These are the short answers. The long, rambling full answers are in the video at the timestamps. Patrons get first dibs on questions, so be sure to keep an eye out for when I’m taking questions at this post and in the Patrons-only section of my Discord (which is open to everyone, but has a special section just for Patrons).
Q: (From Aaron R.). How did you begin your art journey?
Answer at 24:40: I was always a weird kid writing and illustrating fantasy and horror stories about undead prom queens and unicorns. The actual journey began when as a young 8 year old, I noticed Trina Schart Hymen listed as an illustrator on Saint George and the Dragon and had the revelation that a real person made the art for others to see in a book and wanted to put my art in books as stories too. The rest is history!
Q: (From Aaron R.) What’s something you’d love to go back and tell yourself to do differently in your art if you could go back to yourself at the beginning of your career?
Answer at 27:20: I would tell myself not to do cheap commissions. Focus on portfolio work. When the real world hits and you have less time, you’ll regret not focusing sooner and having a body of work to share that’s more uniquely useful and yours. Dedicate to my personal projects sooner.
Q: (From Lindowyn) What has helped you combat overwhelm and art block during highly stressful times?
Answer at 29:52: Art Challenges are my solution for breaking through art blocks! As examples, see my Exalted Art Challenge or 30 Day Monster Girl Challenge, to name a few. Getting my brain into a task-oriented mode that lets me focus on solving simpler creative problems instead of the world’s problems or my own art block. It gives me an ‘easy’ low bar for success and feeling accomplished and often ends up in a tidy body of work I can use for sketchbooks.
Coming in MAR
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New private commission samples (hopefully!)
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Return to work on Cassiel’s Servant cover
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Art Homework – Clint Cearley’s How to Light Characters
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Writing Homework – Maggie Stiefvater’s Writing Class
Upcoming Streams
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ART STREAMs at Tuesday at 2pm EST – Drawing: Arcane Master Copying + Style Replication, Lighting Characters Homework
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GAME STREAMs at Thursdays at 8pm EST – Playing: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
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I think that’s everything! Thanks for everyone who’s been hanging out for me during my streams or leaving a kind word in the comments. It’s really helped me out during these dark times. Now, things are finally starting to look up!
<3 Ang
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