Author: Angela S.

Birthday Musings, Art vs Artist 2025, & Help Save My Studio Closet!

The hubby is recovering well after surgery, while I’m happy to report I’ve finally been able to return to a normal human sleep schedule! The past few weeks have been a flurry of post-con recovery, at-home nurse duty, Halloween, birthday celebration, and adjusting back to the normal grind again. It was a quiet bday this year enjoying a viewing of Del Toro’s Frankenstein with a small group of friends and some cake. It’s the simple things!

Frankenstein is hands down my favorite gothic novel/figure so I’m always happy to see when adaptations get closer to the source material. This version wasn’t a one to one, definitely being more skewed towards the Creature being inherently good when he was far more ambigious in nature in the original novel.

However, Del Toro’s adaptation gave us his usual sumptuous set design, as well as a moment of tenderness between the Creature and the Blind Man that made me cry at its simple heartfelt human connection.

All in all, worth a watch! Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak are still my Del Toro faves, but I still appreciate any take on the Creature that portrays his elegance and intelligence, in spite of his monstrous origin.

Art VS Artist

I always take a selfie around my birthday to document the years gone by, so I thought I’d turn this year’s selfie into my latest Art VS Artist collage! Alas, only one of the pieces in this collage are from this year, but that just goes to show you the kind of year it’s been…

Reflecting on what I want to do with my next year of life, I’ve found some comfort in the acceptance that it’s ok to slow down on the plans I’ve had to stall because of all of our medical and financial drama. Survival comes first, even if that means I have to temporarily slow down my serious efforts to continue my art career and personal writing/art projects.

So many things, AI, the economy, the quiet mass layoffs in the tech industry, medical bills, etc. are making life harder than ever and I can continue to rage at it, or just buckle up till the ride’s over. I’m afraid sometimes I’m too old and tired too succeed, that AI has especially made artists obsolete, but now, more than ever, we must find our own voices, keep ourselves healthy, and find balance to weather the storm of change.

Save My Studio Closet! 40% Off My Coloring Books

In other news, I’m hoping that when tariffs, shipping costs, etc. all die down that I might be able to rev up future crowdfunding projects I had in store (more coloring books, Art Nouveau amulets, etc.) that I had to put off because of this hostile economy for small businesses. While things stabilize, this is a good time for me to create some space for future projects!

By space, I mean physical space! My studio closet is still half full of book boxes from the last Kickstarter.

Angela in front of the full closet of books.Buried in books. Send help!

Snag a Book

And so it’s time for a book clearout. Help me get this closet empty! I’ve marked the Birthstone Goddesses Coloring Books 40% off till Dec 13th. This includes the pencil case bundle as well, which would make for great gifting for the season (but hurry I only have 7 pencil bags in stock as of this writing). No code required. Snag a book here!

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Here’s to keeping it moving even when life gets us down, here’s to filmmakers like Del Toro keeping the flag of hand-crafted media flying, and here’s to remembering that our creative sparks won’t die, no matter how old we get, as long as we remember to carry and protect it.

♥ Ang

The Changeling Artist Collective has Returned! My Original Art On Auction

EDIT: Thanks to everyone who shared this! It really meant a lot to me. The auction is over and these paintings are now available at their post-auction prices over on my Etsy:

http://angelicshades.etsy.com/

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I’m so excited to see that my fellows at the Changeling Artist Collective have returned for their monthly auctions! It’s always nice to be involved with the magic that is collaborating with other kindred spirits and seeing what we all create around the monthly themes.

I wanted to give my inner circle here a head’s up about it because these auctions are a great way to collect my originals, as I often set the starting bid at about half off the original price.

Find the auction here, where you can bid on any pieces you like by commenting your bid on the image within this album:

Visit the Auction Album

About Each Piece

“Angel of January”, 16×20 in., Digital painting in a hand-embellished mat.

This piece was created as an exploration of what would eventually become the Birthstone Goddesses. I eventually moved away from angels and digital in favor of a traditional approach, but I still appreciate what this series would have been like with elegant wings in the mix.

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“Lady of January”, 10×20 in., watercolor, ink, and silver leaf. Framed under UV resistant non-glare glass in a beautiful ornate metallic silver frame.

Created for my Birthstone Goddesses, January represents the Garnet birthstone for January and the pink carnations birth flower of the month. She channels the pale wintry presence of Persephone with her regal flower crown and veil.

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“Guide My Blade”, 6×8 in., watercolor.

Created for my Angelic Visions howto book*, she represents a quiet, protective angelic spirit. (*Using this book link earns me a little kickback!)

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“Temperance of the Woven Path”, 11×14 in., watercolor, ink, & mica paints. Framed under UV resistant non-glare glass in a lovely wood frame with subtle gold metallic patina.

Created for the collaborative project where the Changeling Artist Collective combined their artistic talents to create a beautiful gilded tarot deck called The Woven Path Tarot. I had the honor of creating this card for the Major Arcana.

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To be quite honest, being able to give even one of these originals a new home would help my husband and myself out immensely as our combined medical bills have been a lot to handle this year. It’d make a real difference in our lives!

Even if you cannot collect a piece, just helping me boost the auction helps a small artist like me out, as so much of the Algorithm on social media these days actively works to bury the work of artists.

Here are some ways to help me out by sharing:

Thanks to anyone who helps give a boost! It means a lot to me.

<3 Ang

Visit the Auction Album

Personal Update: Surgery Hiatus (Actually Good News?)

I’ve not shared a lot of art around here, nor been able to get back to any regular streaming and Monthly Hangout activities in a long while, so I wanted to give you guys an update to let you know what’s up.

No sooner did my husband and myself return from Multiverse did we get a fateful phone call from the doc office. A surgery he has desperately needed since May, that we had been fighting insurance for, a surgery that had been postponed till the end of December had a cancellation. The catch? THE SURGERY WAS HAPPENING NEXT DAY!

This was actually amazing news, as every day Kev didn’t have this surgery was a day we could end up in the ER if his body decided to stop working correctly as it did during our May medical drama.

I’ve been taking time off to take care of the hubby. Beyond that, life has been A LOT and I’ve been slowed down by the mental overwhelm of it all (IE. job rejections, fighting health insurance, doc office phone calls, doc appointments for the both of us, and the constant unending stress of uncertainty).

We’re both just trying to focus on survival right now, which may lead to some changes to this Patreon in the future, as I may have less time for the investment it takes to read novels for creating book-related illustrations while I try to find more non-art related side work to help us get by.

I have no cons for the rest of the year, so I’ll be focusing on Kev’s recovery and wrapping up my planned art for Cassiel’s Servant, then brainstorming for how I can do something more swift, engaging, and fun with this Patreon that’s easier for me to manage!

For now, I must re-iterate how grateful I am to everyone who’s stuck with me thus far despite my slug pace of art releases. The bit of support I recieve here goes a long way and has provided succor during a hard time for my husband and myself.

Take care in these trying times, friends!

<3 Ang

Con Report – Multiverse Convention 2025

It’s been a long time since I did a con report! Ah friends, it felt really good to be back on the circuit. The small, chill show that was Multiverse Convention was the perfect event for me to make a convention comeback! This year, I came representing my Birthstone Goddesses since I was the most prepared with inventory for this spread, but I’m hoping next year I can apply with my Dark Fantasy/TTRPG work instead.

Multiverse was small enough to not be too stressful and right on our doorstep as a local event, which made it also doubly amazing for being an easy setup and for getting to network with other creative types in my area.

I was so thrilled to reconnect with other artist friends like Ariel Burgess, Rachel Rieckenberg Becker, and Amy Brewer-Davenport and to meet new friends in-person like Emily and Lauren Brown! Lauren and I, in particular, have been admiring each other’s work for years, so it was one of my biggest joys of the con to have our parallel Art Nouveau worlds finally collide!

Meeting a few writers at the con also energized me to start indulging that side of my artistic spirit again. It’s been difficult to start for many reasons, but seeing other people passionate and motivated infects me with their spark.

PANELS! I also worked 4 panels over the course of con! I got to geek out about video game adaptations, chat references and figure drawing, and sketch costumed con-goers.
(Did you attend one of the panels I was on? Say hi in the comments!)

Who knew that the gentleman tv would be my fave sketch of the figure drawing panel?

My Bestsellers

Unsurprisingly for the down economy we’re currently in, most of my sales were of small items. I tried to keep most of my items $25 and under, with the exception of things like my original paintings and masks that were pricier, none of which sold from my booth or the Art Show. Most people bought:

  • Stickers (that 3 sticker deal was popular for gifting)

  • Enamel Pins

  • Drawstring Pouches

  • Coloring Books

If I could ever get organized to do a tote bag Birthday gift set for each of my Birthstone Goddesses, I think that would be really popular, but I’m still brainstorming how to present that at in-person events and how to present them in a shiny and unique way.

My Convention Display

I always take a picture of my display for future improvements! I have to say that this year I was very satisfied with my display and how the crowd interacted with it. Beyond a few minor fixes, I don’t have any major improvements I’d make.

Most of my nitpicks would be related to the space for the booth not being consistent with what was advertised by the vendor info. We were supposed to have an 8×8 ft space with a 7.5 ft table, but ended up with more of an 8x10x8 space with a table that was too large for an 8×8, which is the reason for the gap in the back. Thankfully, my vendor neighbors were forgiving and the staff assigned me against the wall where I had more flexibility after discussing my carpet walls with them.

Otherwise, I’m so pleased with how the new Lady of November standee worked out! She’ll be perching in my studio till the next event.

I’ve already gotten a few questions about where I got my displays, which I’ll share in a dedicated post with a list of the equipment in the near future!

The Verdict

We made a small profit after making back the fees, but the true gift of con was finding my kindred spirits again. I hope to come back next year with more writing under my belt so I can also experience the Writing tracks of the con that I missed this time around.

I also have a list of local art shows and figure drawing to check out since this con was so close to home, which is an awesome bonus.

This might be my last con again for awhile till life and medical chaos calms down, but I’m so grateful for my time there, for the awesome people, and for the chill atmosphere.

Catch you all again next year, hopefully!

♥ Ang

Planning a Convention Booth + Art Show Display with Visual Aids

Peeking my head up to say “Hello there” I’m alive! With Multiverse coming up in October, I’ve been hard at work envisioning ways to make my grand return to cons a big one and thought I’d let you all in on that process.

My Old Booth

My very first big con booth debuted at DragonCon 2019, which also happened to be my last big booth with COVID’s surprise dropkick that kept me out of cons for years afterwards. Even still, it was a valuable experience in figuring out how to layout my products, how foot traffic and customer flow works, and how to make everything visible and easy to find. I’m definitely drawing upon everything we did right back then to plan a new booth!

My Upgraded Booth Mockup

To plan how to upgrade this old setup, I started with creating a mockup first, with the next step being to set up a live booth in our sunroom to make sure everything fits and THEN to do a run to make sure we can fit it all in our car. Seeing everything laid out visually like this makes it easier for me figure out spacial relationships and what signage I’ll need.

Some of the changes of note:

  • Self-Serve Area – On the right side, I’ve added a small table that allows for showing off more art where people can also enjoy browsing a portfolio and self-serve items like greeting cards and flip bins without being in the way of people at the main checkout table in the back.
  • Folding Bins in Front – In my 2019 display, I had the bins under the prints in back-left in hopes that people would come up to the big wall to flip through. Instead, people seemed afraid of going into that corner as if they were intruding on our seller space behind the table. Hopefully, having print bins up front will encourage more people to browse freely!
  • Added Masks – The Birthstone Goddesses were such a HUGE body of work that I hated leaving the masks out. People tend to find them interesting handmade items that make for great conversation pieces, so I wanted to give them a chance to shine!
  • Added Sticker & Pin Displays – My stickers were displayed in one barely noticeable plaque that didn’t have room for more than a few examples. Meanwhile, my enamel pins weren’t even on the table, which was not ideal as they’re some of my bestselling items! I’ve sacrified showing off the matted pieces on the main table to have ALL of the available stickers and pins featured front and center since they’re some of my most in-demand items.Many thanks to my Patrons here because your support helped me to be able to buy these displays instead of having to choose between them and groceries this past month!
  • QR codes instead of clipboard signups – In my long gap in vending at cons, technology has moved forward enough that QR codes are the standard. Instead of needing table real estate for a bulky tablet for newsletter signups, I’m going to put out a QR code with a Meet the Artist plaque instead. This will link to my landing page with links and my newsletter signup form.
  • Adding a Birthstone Chart – It’s amazing how many people don’t actually know their birthstone/birthlower, so I’m going to create little visual where they can look up their or a loved one’s combo for easier gift-giving.
  • Adding a Lady of November Standee – My brother runs a sign shop and has been wanting to make me a standee for years! I FINALLY found a reason to indulge his urge, which I’m sure will be a thrill for him. Backup plan in case the standee won’t fit in the car is to put a roll up verticle sign I already have.
  • New Tablecloths – I found these awesome table covers with openings in the back so we can easily store things, rather than using the unwieldy crushed velvet fabric square I had been using before. (Another expense made possible thanks to Patreon support. Y’all are awesome!)
  • Lighting (Not Pictured) – Dragoncon provided booth lighting, but it’s not guaranteed at other events, so I’ve bought a couple of sheet music lamps for a more budget lamp option.

The Art Show Mockup

Next, I also have a large bay in the Art Show. I like to fit as much as possible, while still having breathing room, so I like to plan a layout in advance in Photoshop. Bid sheets are also unwieldy, so it’s easy to forget that they will take up so much space!

This year, I’m including as many original paintings as I can. Having this layout available also helps if someone else other than me will be hanging my art, usually my husband or other helper for the show.

What you’re not seeing here is all the adding and removing of several pieces I couldn’t find that were lost after our house move or too big for the display once I swapped others out…but at least I can fill out the pre-con paperwork now! It’s like a game of Art Tetris.

The To-Do List

Still a few things left on the agenda to be fully ready for this show, including:

  • Sort out stock and packaging for the Print Shop area I’m also included in. Most of my prints are already packaged, but some might need bag and backing. Also pre-con paperwork to do for this area as well.
  • Cut mats (I HATE this part) and wait for frame glass to (hopefully) arrive in time to be inserted into the frame that didn’t come with glass by default.
  • Prep for my panels. I’m on a really fun schedule in the Art Track as a Guest Artist/Author which I want to refresh myself on info so I can be prepared. That’s me, the Very Professional Artist and not an imposter that everyone will discover soon!
  • Make sure I have all the signage I need, along with making sure prices are current.
The convention chaos begins!
The mockup booth begins to form in the corner of the sunroom.

PHEW have I missed this convention prep dance! Hopefully, everything will go smoothly this year, despite being quite rusty at this after my very long hiatus. Thanks again to everyone who has kept supporting my Patreon despite my sluggish updates lately. It’s helped make this prep so much easier for us while we also continue working through our medical struggles.

Now, back to prep with me!

<3 Ang

The Color Wheel Challenge

I saw this fascinating art challenge circulating around the art community and thought I’d have a little fun with it! Attempting to match my own art to the colors on this wheel really emphasized to me how much I lean towards purple and reds.

I love the dark elegance of purples, especially, and often lean on this a muted version of a purple/gold Complementary color scheme for much of my modern digital work. What I like most about digital is my ability to more easily create shining and glowing effects, but too often I’ve relied on doing this by choosing very flat dark and muted tones with pops of colors. This isn’t a bad thing, persay, but it does make me wish my work wasn’t so reliant on black for shadows.

If anything, creating this wheel made me more aware of just how DARK my digital work is and how I can explore shadows with more creative use and understanding of color.

A color wheel created primarily with Angela's digital art and colorful characters.

I was somewhat consciously aware of this, but realizing how much I lack warmer colored pieces encourageses me to more purposefully expand my color palettes to greens, golds, and oranges. Perhaps I’ll discover something I enjoy or new expressive moods?

It seems my more recent digital work is also on the dark, saturated jewel tone end, which I also would love to explore in a more purposeful way.

That Huevember challenge keeps calling my name to see what new aspects of my art might emerge through exploration!

I have also seen other artists explore the Pantone challenge to similar effect where they grab a swatch book and paint directly onto it.

A leopard framed by purple flowers and green leaves.
Sam Hogg’s exploration of the PANTONE color, Sauterne.

Seriously, check out Sam Hogg’s Pantone challenge for some jaw-dropping explorations of surprising color palettes! I credit her with bringing this challenge to my attention, though I must work up the bravery to work directly on this paper after being so spoiled for fixing mistakes by digital art.

I have also explored a nearly full color gamut with my Birthstone Goddesses, which created a pleasant pastel rainbow of a wheel when I put them all together. Creating these goddesses were the only reason I was able to complete the green section at all on my first wheel!

A color wheel consisting primarily of Angela's Birthstone Goddesses watercolor paintings, which create a soft pastel wheel.

I had so much fun being ‘forced’ to explore each birthstone’s color palette within each goddess painting. Doing so made every goddess a thrilling creative challenge! Perhaps I can find a way to assign gemstones to a color wheel to make a sort of themed Huevember exercise? I want to explore more oranges and iridescent combinations, in particular, and this would also be something else to practice!

My musings aside, what colors would you want to see me explore? Did you also put together a wheel? Show me in the comments. I want to see yours!

<3 Ang

Want to do this challenge yourself? Have some resources:

No AUG Hangout? + Vacation Sketch Dump!

Sorry to say that I was a little too overwhelmed to do the August Hangout! It was another rough month that included ever MORE doctor appointments for my husband’s surgery prep, but also the yearly kidney cancer check-ups for me, which have ended in a cautionary “you need more scans to be sure”.

Everything is likely fine, as the doctor’s concern level was medium-low, but it still meant taking the time to be transferred to a new specialist to organize a set of ever-MOAR appointments.

Basically, both me AND my husband are simultaneously navigating the medical funhouse that is being patients on cancer-watch within a constantly evolving medical system while also trying to navigate an unfavorable job market for our professions.

The convention prep for October has also started and I’m going EXTRA-BONKERS trying to prepare after being out of the game for so long!

WIP Art

Lots of art is currently in the work-in-progress stage as well, including:

  • A mockup of my new, improved convention booth (I’ll be writing a post about this!)

  • The “Cassiel’s Servant” fan cover, which I need to make some decisions about as far as what media I want to use. I’ve been art blocked on this one!

  • Character of the Month feature drawings for my Exalted buddies. I’ve started 3 drawings by now that linger in the inking stage.

A Sketch Dump Treat!

Once again, Exalted TTRPG art is keeping me sane while I battle the feeling of constant overwhelm. I don’t want to leave you guys without a little fun and treats after all our medical doom, however, so have some random sketches inspired by community activites over in the Forge of Wonders, the Exalted fan server I’m co-admin of.

A sword with a theme of phoenix feathers and embers. When drawn, it grants the user an aura of phoenix tails.
A sword concept for the wandering desert swordsman, Glittering Blade, who belongs to ShiftingPath.
A reference sheet of a swordsman, featuring his armor, mount, and many blades.
Art by ShiftingPath on tumblr of Glittering Blade, the wielder who I designed this weapon for.

This sword has a bit of a love story behind it which I’ll include for the curious:

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Story Fluff: This blade arrived to Glittering Blade via a specialized spirit messenger, a little firebird that dissipated upon completing its task. It was immaculately gift-wrapped in silk fabric embroidered with gold, there also came a letter, scented with a familiar myrrh perfume Blade will recognize.

Written in a practiced quill hand were the words:

Dearest Glittering Blade,

May this sword protect you on your wanderings, far and wide, so that you may journey safely. I know it is your way to fall in love with a new blade eventually, so this one shall not linger overlong. It will eventually return back to me for safekeeping, as I hope you might someday, even if only to take up the sword and leave again, as heroes do.

I look forward to continuing my sword lessons upon the occasion!

Your friend, ~ K

(And if you don’t know who K is, that’d be my character, Kalara, sending him the equivalent of “Call me, okay?” XD She’s quite smitten with this traveler!)

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Next is a cute sketch of Kalara tempting her businesswoman buddy, Shame, to her happy hour meetup the only way she knows how – Tax Deductible Networking Event Persuasion Technique!

It was some much-needed silliness over a much-need long weekend!

Thanks for sticking with me so far when I’ve not had as much as I’d like to share with you guys. It’s appreciated more than you will ever know!

<3 Ang

July 2025 Studio Hangout + AMA – Art Fight, OC Art, & My Fave Tropes

Time for July’s Studio Hangout! It’s coming to you a little late because I wanted to give the Art Fight art feature room to breathe, but here we are with the monthly wrap-up of everything you might’ve missed in July!

Feel free to watch the video above or read and enjoy this article at your own pace below. A transcript of this video (attached to this post) and captions.

Personal Updates

  • Layoffs suck, AI sucks, tariffs suck, and life is rough on our end for many reasons, but I’m tired of being mad and sad about it. Tell me something good that happened to you in the comments! (I’ve thankfully got some happier news below in the Announcements)
  • Keep your head up, friends and fellow artists. Let’s take it one day at a time!

Announcements

  • Upcoming Convention Appearance! I’ll be appearing as an official Guest at Multiverse in October! Read more here. I’m back at cons after 6 years away!
  • New Poll! Free & Paid Patreon members, I want to know your thoughts about how you’re liking these Studio Hangouts! Only a couple of folks have responded thus far and I’d like to hear from more of you.
  • New Ask Me Anything Archive. We’ve accumulated quite a few Q&As over the past few months, so I’ve finally started listing them in one handy location organized by category. Ask and ye shall receive!

New Art in July

Art Fight 2025 – Go Team Crystals!

Art Fight happened in July and led to the creation of many fun emote portraits of the amazing characters created by the Art Fight community. If you want to deep dive into the reference art created by others not shared here, check out my art feature of Art Fight.

The Attacks on me by other artists featuring my characters (You can get a full view of each of these images at the Art Fight feature):

Character Commission – Cassius for Psycheen on BlueSky

This was prize art for another commission giveaway winner, Psycheen, who gave me free reign to play with their design of their solarpunk-themed character, Cassius. Find out more about this character’s tragic backstory and watch a timelapse of this piece’s creation here.

Cassiel’s Servant WIP – 3D Modeling

I’ve been very art-blocked on this piece and it has taken me FORever to make progress on it! Likely because I decided it was past time I taught myself how to use Clip Studio Paint’s 3D model posing tools to create reference for myself for the complex aspects of this piece, such as the daggers in perspective and the foreshortening of the main figure.

It took a lot of shouting at the interface to get it right, but I arrived at something very useful for my purposes! I’ll likely be covering this part of the process in a future Secret Sketchbook entry for paid members, so keep an eye out for it.
(Watch the video on this post for some more cool things that I discovered how to do in CSP).

Ask Me Anything

Q: (From Psycheen on BlueSky) What is your favorite trope and why?
A: Watch the answer here. SPOILER ALERT for a 20 year old show (Avatar the Last Airbender)!

Q: (From Psycheen on BlueSky) What do you want to draw, but haven’t yet, and why?
A: Watch the answer here. Lots of Elden Ring: Nightreign gushing!

Q: What art of yours would you like to redo?
A: Watch the answer here.

Happening in August

  • Kev’s surgery. With our health insurance finally sorted out, my husband can finally get the surgical procedures he needs! I’ll be focusing on his care, first and foremost. With luck, everything will happen this month without being prolonged any longer and we can be on the road to better health!
  • Finishing up the “Cassiel’s Servant” cover. I have the reference completed after much fighting with Clip Studio Paint. It’s finally time to get to the meat of the art-making process!

Links in the video:

  • Mimimaru – Artist who did Zelda and Arcane character art in the style of Klimt.
  • Christian Angel – Artist of the Elden Ring art done in a classical style.
  • Sam Hogg – Artist of the reference art of my character, Nils.
  • Psycheen – Artist and creator of Cassius.
  • The Uncrucified – My Exalted TTRPG blog

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Here’s to another month of surviving. Hang in there, everyone!

<3 Ang

AMA (Ask Me Anything) Q&A Archive [Updated 8/5/2025]

EDIT: I’ve updated this post with all the questions that have been discussed thus far during the AMAs, including ones still in the queue. Want to ask a question not found in this archive? Feel free to leave a comment!

Every month as a perk for fans and Patrons, I do a Studio Hangout with an AMA segment answering 3 questions at the end! I love to talk to you all about art, geekery, and life, so lay your questions on me. This is usually a livestreamed event, but will sometimes be pre-recorded instead.

Either way, if you miss the segment, recordings are always available on my YouTube channel!

Patreon Patrons will be prioritized in the question queue, but everyone including Free Members and non-members are welcome to leave their asks. This archive post will collect all of your questions by topic.

Got a question not on this list? Feel free to leave a comment or drop a message in the dedicated AMA channel over on my Discord!

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The Business of Art

Entertainment

Making Art

Meet the Artist (Questions about me, my art, my influences, etc.)

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Where to Watch:

Questions Currently in the Queue

From Psycheen on BlueSky:

  • What are some of your favorite tropes and why?

  • What is something you want to draw but haven’t and why?

Art Fight 2025 Collection – Video + Image Gallery

Art Fight has concluded and what a glorious battle it was! This year, I used the event as a way to practice drawing simplified emoticon portraits with the hope that one day soon I can make some of my own emotes for my Discord and Twitch. Watch the video above for the run down or scroll through this article for the rundown at your own pace!

(Paid Members are getting this vid a few days early before everyone else as a little treat for your support! <3)

However, this proved more difficult than I anticipated! Drawing emotes to visually express an archetypal emotion requires picking up on a strong defining emotion, which requires knowing something of the defining personality of a character. This is easier said than done if a reference sheet provides neutral expressions, I don’t know the character personally, or there aren’t any visual references hinting at the character’s personality.

Luckily, most of my guessing at character types proved correct or at least amusing to their creators!

The next challenge was also taming my own inability to keep art simple because emotes are very small and must portray the character silhouette and emotion extremely clearly and minimally. I got better at doing this as the event went on.

STRAP IN because this is a LONG post with a LOT of artwork embedded. My apologies to those of you on slower networks!

 

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Attacks by Me

Here’s a closer peek at all the cool characters that inspired me this year, plus the emote I made for each of them.

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Hesper by Kessinder:

 

My first Attack was of Hesper, who is an acrobat who enjoys collecting knowledge.  She seemed very quiet and thoughtful to me so I tried to make a more subtle emote. I love Hesper’s soft lavenders and red.  She helped me explore and define what kind of style I wanted to use for the rest of the event.

My Hesper emote:

 

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Glittering Blade by ShiftingPath

 

My Glittering Blade emote.

 

Glittering Blade is a flamboyant swordsman whose expression came in loud and clear when I was trying to think of a strong, defining emotion for this character.  His flirty emote ended up being my favorite one from this event!  I think I nailed the balance of expressiveness and simplicity the best in this particular emote as well.

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Iselsi Toshiaki by GuyBitesAtGames:

 

My emote of Toshiaki:

 

I adore all of Toshiaki’s interesting costume details and glamourous personality and have been wanting to draw him since I saw him during the Exalted Art Challenge event.  I drew him throwing shade and sparkling with charm all in one emote.

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Yorigasu by Lobsopdoy

 

My Yorigasu emote:

 

This one stumped me at the start because I am not too familiar with avian anatomy, much less how to chibi-fy avian anatomy.  Thankfully, Yorigasu showed through at the end, no doubt looking down at one of her failed charges with embarrassment at how sorry a warrior they are and how she must guide them to their destiny, regardless.

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Sheireen by KuroCyou

 

My emote of Sheireen:

 

I’ve admired Kuro’s art for a long time and had to do something for this Art Fight!  I chose this character because I was intrigued by her story of returning from the Grave to uncover some sort of mystery. I have a soft spot for my death-positive Grave Domain folks.  I also highly identify with this character’s amount of eye bags!

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Caelin by Lumaris

 

My Caelin emote:

 

Next, I had to do something for Lumaris because I love their art.  Here’s Lumaris’ Caeilin, who looked like a kind sort of emotional support knight.  I thought a reassuring wink suited him!

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Falloren by Kakkobeast

 

My Falloren emote:

 

Falloren caught my attention for being multiple things I love. Witchy, purple-haired, and mischievous.  I loved your expressive reference art of her doting on her gnome champion, Kakkobeast!

The aforementioned silly reference by Kakkobeast:

 

 

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Nova by Aulianna, art by Eviraitari

 

Nova emote by me:

 

I admittedly wanted to draw this character purely because I love moth antennae and his design is absolutely gorgeous!  I apologize for giving him such a silly face, but that’s what came through to me because I admittedly missed that there was reference link offsite until after I already submitted the attack and now upon checking info for this video, I know that he might not make this.  He seems much nicer than I drew him haha!  Sorry about that!

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Rania by Jadequarze

 

My Rania emote:

 

Rania caught my attention with her amazing design and cool backstory.  She is a ruthless, discerning crimelord who also makes wood figurines for her crew and has two adopted kids.  I enjoyed this juxtaposition!  It also seems the crankier the character, the more fun it is to turn them into a chibi.

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Sprite dela Cruz by Creativeidiote

 

Sprite emote by me:

 

Finally, we have Sprite dela Cruz by Creativeidiote.  I loved this character’s hair and freckles and really enjoyed coloring the hair.  Probably the most adorable emote of the bunch! I also identify with this amount of nervous sweatdrops.

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Attacks On Me by Other Artists

Here are the attacks/art I received of my characters this year for the event. My sad boys, Nils and Mask of Golden Lies, were very popular this year! To be fair, Mask of Golden Lies was also the featured character this month over at the Forge of Wonders, so participants were encouraged to double-dip on Art Fight as well. You can see all the cool Golden Lies art over at The Uncrucified’s blog soon.

 

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Nils by Kakkobeast

 

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Nils by Creativeidiote

 

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Mask of Golden Lies by ArtbyDungeon

 

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Mask of Golden Lies by GuyBitesatGames

An adorable chibi version of Lies! He’s dressed for colder weather and stole The Lover’s hat from 2e, which I’ve always had beef with that hat. He rocks it better than she did imo.

 

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“Forbidden Fruit” (Mask of Golden Lies x Grave Goods Gardener) by ShiftingPath

This one comes with a fun story explanation you guys should check out here.

 

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Thanks for the Fight!

Not going to lie, this year has been extremely difficult and July has been a new emotional low for me as I’ve been coping with some existential shifts in my life and career. Receiving cool art of my characters brought me some much-needed happiness!

I look forward to this event every year. Did you participate? What was your fave piece that you made this year? Feel free to link in the comments!

Which of my emotes is your favorite? Let me know in the comments! ;-*

♥ Ang