Category: Blog Posts

The Woven Path Tarot Deck + 20% Off Holiday Sale!

The time has come, my dears!  I’m full of happy news today to announce that the beautiful gilded deck that I worked on alongside my talented colleagues at the Changeling Artist Collective has arrived to my shop just in time for my yearly holiday sale.  

It’s so beautiful!  The cards are weighty and gorgeous with 2 foil colors.

You can watch a flipthru of the tarot deck here.

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I was responsible for the Temperance card of the Major Arcana (which I shared more Behind the Scenes about its creation here).  This card’s themes of balancing and tempering one’s strengths and weaknesses appeals to my ongoing journey as an artist seeking self-discovery and improvement.

The rest of the deck is also full of gorgeous art inspired by medieval tapestry, making it a unique collaborative deck.

These decks were independently printed, so they are extremely limited!  They will only be available from the participating artists.  I have only 7 left as of this writing!  Snag a deck here.

The Spirits of Winter Return

For those who love the glitz and shine of holiday themes, my Spirits of Winter art series has also returned to my shop for a limited time (till the end of January).  I’ve also made sure to stock the Christmas cards and prints for those who enjoy spreading the holiday cheer!

I’ve also made sure to stock a few sketch originals for those looking for small one of a kind gifts under $100 that won’t break the bank.

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  • Find my Fine Art shop here
  • And if you fancy more of my Kushiel’s Legacy and ttrpg/geeky art, find my Fantasy Art shop here.  The holiday sale also extends to this shop!

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As ever, I’m grateful to anyone who shops small this year!  Times have been rough for artists and every little bit helps my lil one-person biz out.

In the meanwhile, I hope everyone enjoys a bit of time to relax, reflect, and have some good food!  I’m going to do my best not to set any rum glaze on fire this year.  Stay happy and healthy and I’ll be returning soon with more art musings!

– Ang

Unveiling the Birthstone Goddesses 2024 Calendar!

This collection has been years in the making and after hours of inking, painting, and toil, I have finally completed “The Final Goddess”, the 13th Goddess in the Birthstone Goddesses series!

The turning of the year ends. The cycle begins anew. Her delicate touch brings the frost. Her delicate touch brings the first blooms. Birth, Death, Grief, Healing. Turn, turn, turn.

She is all of these Goddesses and none, the Lady of Eternity, The First and Final Goddess.

I’m so pleased to introduce the calendar!  There were many unforseen challenges along the way, from a pandemic to printing woes, but with the help of new technologies in print on demand, I’m able to bring these calendars directly to you all from a printing partner!

Where to get a Calendar

  • The calendar is available in my Etsy shop here.
  • You can also find a print of the cover here.

Journey of Creation

If you missed the Behind the Scenes look at the calendar’s journey of creation I wrote for Patrons, be sure to catch up here:

“The Final Goddess” Original Painting

Watch a timelapse of this painting’s creation here. That’s 10+ hours of work condensed into 1 minute!  I hope to upload a longer narrated version of this painting and the others in the Birthstone Goddesses slowly, but surely, as they take a lot of time to edit and record.

The cover painting was created with india ink pens and watercolor with accents of white gel pen and measures 8×20 inches.  The original is available for any interested parties!  I’ll be accepting offers from Patrons for a week (till Fri. Nov 10th) before she goes live in my Fine Art shop for the general public.

She can be yours for $2700 unmatted or have me choose a mat, frame, and proper glass for her for $3240, with free shipping within the US and Canada. Patrons will also be eligible to use their 15%-25% discounts on this original as well! The discount is dependent on what tier you’re supporting at.

If interested in adding this painting to your collection, drop me a private message here via Patreon.

Help Support the Calendar!

As this calendar is a homegrown project, your word of mouth really helps me out!  Please feel free to share these social media posts and help spread the word about my calendar.  The biggest time to share is now, since the calendar will be less in-demand once 2024 begins:

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This has been quite the journey and I’m still reeling being at this bittersweet end!  I’ve prepared a retrospective look at all of the work I’ve created for the Birthstone Goddesses over the years for the next post that will go live next week. It’s been a joy to look back at all my favorites, especially as it’s easy to forget everything I’ve made after this long, ha!  It has been a flurry of artistic creation.

Till then, it is time for much-needed rest and celebration!

I hope you all had a lovely Halloween and that this calendar will be a light of beauty and inspiration throughout your 2024.

– Ang

The Birthstone Goddesses Collection, A Retrospective + Future of the Project?

It’s the end of an era for me with the Birthstone Goddesses wrapping up!  I thought it only proper to send the project off with a look back at how it evolved over the years I spent on it.  This journey started as a simple set of 12 paintings for a calendar and ended up being so much more!

The Birthstone Goddesses

These paintings started it all!  Lady of December was the original first entry into the series in 2014 as a gift to my mother inspired by Alphonse Mucha’s Precious Stones series.  A couple of years later, the idea to continue with a series of similar paintings came to me.

The Birthstone Goddesses Masquerade

At the start of the series, I was also invested in leathercrafting as a hobby and wanted to explore the themes of flowers and birthstones via masks as well.  Each one of these is a limited edition of 10 per mask, some adorned with crystals and all hand-tooled and painted.  With the way the movement of Art Nouveau also extends beyond 2D art into jewelry, textiles, etc., I found masks to be a poetic addition to the Birthstone Goddesses’ growing ouevre.  (There are still a few masks left in my Artisan shop for anyone seeking a unique cosplay or display piece.)

(The masks were photographed by the talented Winter Wolf Studios).

The Visage Collection

Over the course of creating the paintings, I also started thinking about the prospect of creating a book, which I thought would look lovely if I started each section with a thematic banner of each Goddess.  And thus the Visage collection was born! Inspired by the gorgeous hand mirrors and cameo necklaaces from the Art Nouveau movement.

The Enamel Pin Designs

Once again, I was tempted to explore more wearable art forms by enamel pins, which I also thought would make a beautiful collectible item that would work with Goddess-themed gift sets.  The form of these pins were inspired by the cameo jewelry of Art Nouveau.  These designs were also used for stickers.

Ink & Gold Drawings

These drawings were created to promote the enamel pin designs as luxury tiers for the pins’ Kickstarters, stripping down the pin designs into elegant ink and gold.

Embellished Mats

I created these hand-drawn mats accented with gold leaf especially for display at cons. Several of them were sold before I had a chance to photograph them, as I created the full set of 12, one for each Lady.

The Little Gem Goddesses

During the coloring book’s Kickstarter, one of the stretch goals was the fun idea to do chibi versions of the Birthstone Goddesses.  Luckily they were unlocked and thus the Little Gems were born!  They’re a fun addition to this otherwise very serious series.

The Fashion Illustrations

Each Goddess’ painting was meticulously researched, planned, and rendered, including a fashion sketch on a croquis form to sort out the Goddess’ visual themes and dress.  All of these originals are still available in my shop with the exception of Lady of January’s sketch.

The Goddesses’ Windows

Each painting in the series also called for thematic mandala designs for their ‘windows’ that appear behind their heads in the main series’ paintings.  At some point, I’d like to do more with these designs to let the non-figural designs shine in all their intricate elegance.

Birthstone Goddesses Amulets

These designs were made as stickers for my Patreon Patrons, as well as what I hope will be enamel amulet necklaces I’ll be crowdfunding in the future.

Books & Misc

At the beginning of this journey, it was always my intent to create a wall calendar.  A coloring book and Lady of Eternity themed products arrived later as Patreon exclusives.  The Lady of Eternity enamel pin based on the drawing on the limited edition print is still an exclusive badge of honor for those Patrons who supported this series early on.

The Final Tally

125 creations, not including unique designs re-arranged for product designs like totes, pouches, etc.

  • 14 Paintings
  • 72 Drawings
  • 25 Pin and Amulet Designs
  • 12 Mask Designs
  • 6 Kickstarter projects
  • 1 book
  • 1 calendar

The Future of the Goddesses?

While I’m wrapping up the Birthstone Goddesses collection for now, it was always my intent that I could return to the wider Gemstone Goddesses theme and explore other gem-related Goddesses.  It’d be a chance for me to break away from the Mucha style and try other visual approaches.  I also feel that I have a few more ideas for additional paintings involving some of the Birthstone Goddess characters that I’d love to include in a prospective Birthstone Goddesses art book collecting all of the images you see here.

However, after 6 years, I desperately need some space before I take on creating a book collection for them.  I want to allow myself some creative freedom and a chance to thoroughly rest before I try anything else.

It’s strange to think what’s happened in my life during this 6 year span as well. I’ve gotten married, moved 4 times, helped my husband through his fight with lymphoma, heart failure, and job loss, had several surgeries, and so much more.  Life has been coming at us sideways for so long, I’m happy to be at an ending now that I can savor and appreciate!

It’s been quite the journey and I’m so grateful for those who provided encouragement and support along the way!  Thanks to everyone who pitched into my Patreon, supported my Kickstarters for this project, and left a kind word of encouragement in the years I’ve been doing this.  It helped my husband and I survive during rough times, as well as let me focus more on the art that helped the Birthstone Goddesses happen.

This entry is already long enough, so I’m going to leave off here!  I have some thoughts and feelings about the future of this Patreon and what art I’ll be sharing here that I’ll discuss in a later entry.  For now, let us bask and enjoy this moment of accomplishment!

– Ang

New Art! Cult of the Lamb

The Tiefling known now only as “The Lamb” rose from her would-be death as a sacrifice to become a Warlock of an Ancient One set on a quest for revenge for her slaying!

Or she would if I took the story of the adorably evil video game, Cult of the Lamb, and combined it with Dungeons & Dragons, which was the first thing my geek brain did when I played the game.  I enjoyed the straightforward story for the game’s premise so much, alongside all of the mechanics.  I had never played anything quite like it before!

According to my husband, I made quite a terrifying Lamb. Mua ha ha ha!

This was just a fun, silly mashup idea that came to me when I first played this game that made for excellent art practice.  Also a hint of the kind of art I’m moving towards, as it was also an experiment in nurturing a more painterly dark style inspired by Tarot (specifically the Klimt-esque aesthetic brought to the Dragon Age Tarot cards).

Hope you all enjoy my quirky little style experiment!  Painted in Procreate.

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  • Watch a 1 min timelapse for this piece here.

If y’all feel like supporting this art on social media, you can find this piece at the links.  Every share gives an artist wings!

A Big Career Shakeup + Where to Find Me Online

I haven’t been as active online as I used to be and I wanted to discuss that with you all here.  This year started with medical challenges and a house move which set me back a good deal.  Alongside all of that life chaos came a lot of external change in the world at the same time.  Generative AI arrived en masse and it’s given artists like myself a lot to contend with.

In a short span, I’ve found the entirety of my art from DeviantART and ArtStation fed into generative AI databases without my consent.  I’ve seen cover art, card deck illustrations, and TTRPG resources created by AI instead of hiring artists.  It all adds up to my conclusion that even if generative AI becomes ethically sourced, my prospects as an artist have (and will) drastically shrink as time goes on.

I haven’t been as active because I have been reconsidering everything about my career and whether being an illustrator was viable anymore.  It’s been a time of mourning and, frankly, paralyzing depression, as social media platforms fall apart around me at the same time, the reach and communities I lovingly built for years crumble due to ownership changes and the embracing of unregulated tech.

Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom.  My husband and I have been blessed with the help of Patreon and my husband’s work that now allows me to be choosier about my jobs and that has led me to my current decision to pursue projects that only align with my personal tastes and to focus mainly on my own personal projects from here on out.  It’s taken years to gain this freedom and honestly that’s been overwhelming as well!

I’ve wanted to be a lot of things in my time. Illustrator, comic artist, concept artist, etc.  There have always been a million tempting paths.  With my own mortality hovering so much over my head lately, I want to dedicate the rest of my life to telling those stories that live inside me that only I can tell while I still have time to do so.  Now, it’s a matter of wrapping up old projects and forging ahead with the new!  I’m currently preparing for all that positive change, which I’ll talk more about later.

Where to Find Me on Social Media

With all the aforementioned chaos, I’ve left many social media platforms and art communities that plan to use my art for AI training without my consent or that have changed for the worse and I wanted to keep you all up to date about where to find me.

Find me now on:

  • BlueSky instead of Twitter/X – If you need an invite, let me know and I can most likely pass you a code when I get new ones each week!  You can still find all of my art brand accounts on Twitter for now, but as soon as BlueSky comes out of beta, I’ll be leaving Twitter permanently.
  • Instagram / Facebook – I’m still on Meta platforms for now, as it is one of my oldest communities, but their plan to train their own AI on user posts worries me. Currently, I’m hoping they will clarify their uses of my art more adequately or I may be looking for an alternative for these platforms as well or leaving them entirely for Discord, but that big decision’s a ways off yet since FB is still very core to my art biz.
  • Discord – This has become where I spend the most time lately!  I frequently hangout on my personal art server, which is open to all of my fans, with a special private section for Patreon Patrons.  If you aren’t already connected through Patreon where you can claim your Patreon server role, you can join as a regular member with this invite.

    I also curate a Video Game server and an Exalted RPG Artists server, so feel free to join up and hang out there as well!

Where to Find Me on Art Communities

I’ve also had to leave places like ArtStation and DeviantART, my main haunts for going on 20 years now, for other sites that are more staunchly against unethical AI.  This has been another blow losing the communities I felt a part of for years, but I’m hopeful we can all make new connections and rebuild in these new, more supportive spaces!

Cara.app – A replacement for ArtStation with a lot of amazing artists from the game and TTRPG industry there.

Inkblot – A replacement for DeviantART showcasing lots of different media, from art to comics and more.

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Have any of you found new interesting places to be online?  Tell me about it!  I’m currently looking for new places to be that are more supportive of artists with strong anti-AI stances.

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That was a LOT, but it feels good to all these thoughts out somewhere.  Thanks for sticking with me through all of my chaos lately.  The advantage of having to start over in new places is that I can celebrate my new work and rebuild myself more efficiently, which is proving to be exciting!  With my long-term projects wrapping up after the Goddess calendar, I am very keen to show you all what I’ve been plotting in the meanwhile.

Stay strong, arty friends!  See you folks around the interwebs.

♥ Ang

Inspiration Trip: Japanese Armor Exhibit

My husband and I have been quite the hermits since COVID, so it was a big deal for us to actually leave the house this past Friday and venture forth into downtown Atlanta to the High Museum of Art, my old stomping ground where I attended SCAD-Atlanta for grad school!  The area has changed a lot, including the addition of the amazing SCAD Fashion museum and an expanded campus.

Our goal this trip was to visit the Samurai: Armor from the Collection of Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller being hosted by the High.  When you first enter the exhibition space, you’re enveloped by the sound of a heartbeat as you survey a wall collaged with famous movie posters and screenshots inspired by samurai epics, including everything from Kill Bill to Kurosawa’s best.  

Past this point, many armor sets are displayed in cases that allow you to fully circumvent them, a fact I appreciated as an artist who considers drawing armor a weak point.  I especially wanted to study how armor works during this trip, but I left the exhibit with so much more inspiration than that!

My Favorite Pieces

Beyond the more traditional armor, the collection housed many impressive pieces with unique imagery, specifically Buddhist dieties and symbols, seashells, and even ‘human head’ caps.  Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the collection:

This helm sports the wheel representing the Eightfold Path of Buddhism.

A most impressive display of fully armored group of horses and riders takes up a large stage in the exhibit.  I can only imagine how horrifying and awe-inspiring they would be riding atop small ‘dragons’!

This piece caught my eye because of its striking color and unique shape.  It’s described as being a cape made for a woman, as well as a fire fighter, the long treated cloth providing protection against flames.  Fire was a major danger in Japanese fuedal cities due to the fact a large part of their construction was made of wood.  I want to know more about these female fire fighters who protected the city from threats!

All in the Details

One thing this exhibit stressed was that Samurai armor emphasized not only function, but form and aesthetics.  Even as the construction of later armor was simplified for quick dressing, the craftsmen always made sure it was beautiful and impressive.  I had to feature some of the close-up shots of the details in the metalwork and lacquered leather.

(Notice this armor has butterfly-shaped hinges to match its butterfly mon (sigil), which was the symbol of the clan being represented by this armor.)

(I especially appreciated the naturalistic motifs and stylization here.  I can see how Art Nouveau borrowed from Japanese motifs looking at this!)

Yasuke, the Black Samurai

This exhibit also included a fascinating sub-exhibit dedicated to Yasuke, an African samurai who served Nobunaga, (for those who aren’t already familiar) that’s worth a look.  The museum hired local artist, Brandon Sadler, to tell the story of Yasuke’s life through four Japanese brush style wall scrolls and they are very inspiring!

History, Worldbuilding, & Inspiration

I hope as an artist that I’ll be able to absorb something of how and why this armor operates in our world for my own worldbuilding and storytelling efforts, as many of my own stories take place in a low tech era of warfare.  Some observations I made as I absorbed this exhibit:

  • The artistry of making these armor sets represented vigilance, grace, dedication, and skillfulness on behalf of both artisan and wearer, putting an emphasis on discipline and status.
  • Visual motifs from the observed world include bamboo leaves, religious iconography, local gods and spirits, sea shells, and even smoking pipes popularized by Europeans who brought tobacco into Japan.  I imagine these motifs were chosen based on each warrior’s local symbolism, which usually shows up in the mon (family crest) too.
  • Construction elements include metal (specifically iron), silk (layered into strands and used for ties), and lacquered leather.  Swords had manta-ray skin for the grips, materials all plentiful in Japan’s island climes.  
  • Evolution of construction evolved over time based on what the armor needed to defend against. The layers were silk and layered leather or metal at first to defend against swords and arrows and protect horseback riders (needed to be light to be quick and also longer blades to reach opponents), but as time progressed, larger strips were used in chest armor to defend against matchlock weapons.  Hinges were also added to make the armor easier to get in and out of. However, none of these pieces lost their attention to detail and pageantry during that evolution.
  • The world is interconnected.  Some of the armor was inspired by European soldiers featuring paneled construction like European helmets or big noses that mocked Europeans as “demons”. Other sets were made by Korean artisans who brought their own silhouettes and techniques into Japanese armor-making during political exchanges where the armor was brought as gifts during a time of diplomacy between the two countries who have had rough history (IE. Japanese occupiation of Korea).

Full Reference Album

There are too many beautiful things to include in one blog post, so definitely check out the full album on imgur to see the rest of the pics I took and the High’s page on the exhibition, which includes additional information and history about the exhibit’s signature pieces.  I photographed with texture, construction, etc in mind for my reference as an artist.

All the photos in the world can’t do this exhibit justice, however.  These pieces are a sight to behold with so much detail to take in and I encourage you to go visit them in-person, if you can!  This exhibit will be at the High Museum until September 17th.

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There were also lots of wonderful Japanese reference books, comics, and souvenirs featured in the gift shop.  I left with a couple of small souvenirs for myself, including a magnet, which I always get for any exhibit we attend.  A butterfly-themed pin seemed appropriate after marveling at the buttefly-themed armor set I particularly enjoyed!  We also purchased the #4 print in the Yasuke set for our personal collection, as he is an inspiring figure for my husband, Kevin.

I hope to explore more exhibits like this as long as we’re in the vicinity of so many wonderful museums!  Seeing this beautiful artistry in an amazing collection filled me with such awe I hope to channel into aspects of my own work.  I hope you all are inspired as well!

♥ Ang

Art Fight 2023 Collection [Video + Art Feature]

I decided a long time ago that I really wanted to start making more videos to share with you guys.  Participating in Art Fight this past July was the perfect excuse to try my hand at videos once again!  

It was my first time participating in Art Fight and I’m so pleased to report that other artists there made it such a joyful, nostalgic experience for me.  I felt like I was back at college again where my Art Department buddies and I would hang out together and geek out about our characters, drawing them for one another without any of the stress of monetizing our art, only the pure joy of being massive nerds.  

Lately, I’ve been very bummed out about seeing my favorite art communities and social media sites I’ve put years into crumbling before my eyes, so participating in Art Fight was a healing salve for my soul that I needed more than I could have guessed.

What is Art Fight?

It’s an art trading event hosted on artfight.net that welcomes artists of all levels to come together and trade art for the month of July.  Everyone is split up into two teams who ‘fight’ each other for dominance, with the trades you make earning each user more points.  The more polished your art trade “Attack” is, the more points you’ll earn for your team.  You can even “Attack” people on your own team (known as “Friendly Fire”).  

Each participant shares profiles of their original characters for other artists to draw. I’ve even seen some instances of “Draw A Character” character profiles where people challenge artists to work under inspiration prompts instead of uploading a specific character profile.  It’s very freeform.  You are also not required to return trades you recieve, if you don’t want.  The freedom to control what you draw made this super chill and appealing to me!

Art Fight allows not only 2D art, but 3D, animation, and crafts as well, so it’s a great opportunity to hop in and practice with your favorite medium.  I may try my hand at jewelry or maquettes inspired by characters next year!

Let the Battles Begin!

The video above goes through timelapses of each of the entries I drew while I talk about the characters, share Procreate tips, and finally share the art (and animation) I recieved of my own characters. I suggest giving it a watch for the full experience!  Otherwise, I’m also sharing the art here in the post so you can quickly view it.

This year, my goal for participating was to try and see if I could work faster, as I’m usually a very slow, meticulous artist, so I kept each entry under 2 hours.  I learned a ton about tightening up my workflow by simply limiting myself to rough underdrawing, skipping right to inking, and learning to trust in my instincts and ability to tweak later, rather than obsessively perfecting everything early on.  Done is better than perfect, or so I’m trying to teach myself!

During the event, I also experimented with new tools, including the wonderfully bristled, organic texture of the Inka Pen in Procreate.  It may just be my favorite new digital pen to draw with!  (You can see this brush at work particularly in Cyn and Cultivar of Bloodied Sunset’s portraits).

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Evelyn for Viday

What a gorgeous character!  This vengeful demon has all the hallmarks of things I love. Horns, halos, tattoos. Check, check, and check!

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Pretty Boy for DungeonDelves

How could anyone resist wanting to draw his fabulous parrot-themed hair?  Pretty Boy was a great chance for me to play with that silver shining in the shadows effect of his tattoo, which I was quite pleased with.

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Rowyn for Lumaris

Lumaris gentle dragon prince was a great challenge for portraying a soft color palette and implying the detail of his neck scales rather than drawing each and every one.

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Cyn for ArtoftheNerd

Probably my favorite portrait of the bunch for the dramatic lighting and restricted color palette!  Time restrictions led to creativity when the complicated weapon and fingers meant I had to quickly come up with colors before I exceeded the amount of time I set for myself.  The simplicity of this one helps the glowing eyes really stand out.  That shadow cutting across the eyes is something I’ve always wanted to do, so it was satisfying to bring it into this piece!

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Cultivar of Bloodied Sunsets for kessinder

Vampire girls really won this event for me!  This gal has such a cutesy-dangerous vibe that I really enjoyed drawing.  Yet another great candidate for experimenting with dramatic horror lighting.

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Kainda for Toasted_bAguette6

HOW have I never drawn a goblin before this piece?  What a fun opportunity this was!  Toasted_bAguette6 described Kainda as being a chaos goblin similar to Nimona and seeing as how that movie is now one of my all-time classic favorites, I was stoked to channel that vibe for this piece.  How did I do for drawing my first goblin?

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Laelri for Creativeidiote

This one was the true test of ‘get it done fast, gurl’!  I didn’t start this piece till the morning of the final day of the event and also wanted to find a way to utilize what time I had wisely, so her line work had to carry the piece through no shading with only color flats.  The container shape around the portrait helped tie this all together so she didn’t have ‘floating head syndrome’.

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Glittering Blade Meets Kalara for ShiftingPath

For the grand finale, I knew I wanted to do this piece for ShiftingPath, who is the ringleader organizing the Exalted Secret Santa every year (another art trading event that I enjoy participating in when I can).  I wanted to give back to ShiftingPath for being such trooper for organizing the Exalted artist community, so I was overjoyed to see they were participating in ArtFight this year too!

This one probably took more like 4-5 hours as I tried to structure it more than the others, while also keeping the background more implied with painterly strokes and shapes.  I’ve talked more about this one in the video, so definitely go watch that for more about the thumbnailing process and why I chose this particular scene.

(You can skip right to the segment on this piece here).

Glittering Blade (left) belongs to ShiftingPath.

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Attacks Incoming!

But that’s not all!  Check out the lovely entries other artists did for me this year.  It’s always a lot of fun to see my brainchildren in different styles and interpretations!  Be sure to check out the video for a closer look at each entry and character discussion.  You can skip right to each one in the chapter breaks listed in the video’s description over on YouTube.

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Character: Kalara Vadras by me
Lumaris – https://www.lumaris.net/ 

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Character:  Kalara Vadras by me
DungeonDelves – https://dungeondelves.carrd.co/

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Character: The Crucified Dreamer by me
Art by kessinder – https://www.pillowfort.social/cinders 

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Character: The Crucified Dreamer by me
Art by ArtoftheNerd – https://instagram.com/Art_o_nerd/

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Character: Rabanne Aroré by me
Art by Toasted_bAguette6 – https://twitter.com/Toast_baguette 

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Character: Rabanne Aroré by me
Art by Viday – https://twitter.com/Vidayium

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Character: Anko Xelkova by me
Creativeidiote – https://instagram.com/creativeidiote/ 

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I hope you all enjoyed this look at the festival of art trading that was Art Fight!  What was your favorite portrait from the set I did?  Was it the same favorite as mine?  Do you Art Fight too?  

Feel free to share your profiles with me in the comments so I can catch you next year!  You can find my Art Fight profile here.

Hopefully find you all next year for the event!  I plan to make it a part of my yearly rotation from now on because it was so positive for me and I enjoyed the carefree excuse for practice.  See you on the (art) battlefield!

IMPORTANT! Upcoming Changes to This Patreon

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared anything here, friends!  I’ve taken some time to let myself rest, recuperate, and reflect.

As the Birthstone Goddesses draw closer to their finale, I’ve been pondering where I go once this years-long project wraps.  This Patreon began 9 years ago as an experiment in a new, exciting format to help support artists, with the Birthstone Goddesses occupying over 6 years of that time.

But now, times are changing for my husband and myself.  I’ve been working in overdrive for so many years to provide constant Patreon material, feeling the burnout from my long project, and feeling the crunch of an industry that’s slowly strangling illustrators like me out of the profession with machine-generated art trained on my years of hard work.

I’m so tired mentally from these industry shifts and recent ongoing health issues involving chronic illness have made this feeling even worse.  I’m struggling to even create art anymore, especially as I feel myself moving away from art and more into writing and other story-driven endeavors.  That’s meant less material to share here as time has gone by as I have been struggling to solidify where it is I want to go next as a creative professional.

What’s Next?  Looking to the Future

The Birthstone Goddesses were about creating a passive income for me as an artist with beautiful merch that brings light and tranquility to our everyday lives.  It was also something I owned controlled by me and not a publisher or company that didn’t value my work.

By contrast, my future projects are looking to be more narrative in nature, possibly comics, possibly illustrated novels, possibly even animatics, or some combination of all of these things!  All I know for sure is that the Illustration industry doesn’t feel safe for me anymore and I want to focus on the passion projects that fulfill me and add more to the world than a ‘product’, especially a product that works for someone else and not for my good as the creator.

These ambitious ideas need time to bake while I work through current health challenges, take new classes to educate myself on multimedia approaches, and settle into a new, focused me!

And so I’m making this Patreon primarily a Tip Jar with Loyalty Merch perks until further notice.  I’ll still be offering WIP’s, sneak peeks, etc, but at my own pace so I have the energy to work on my projects without stress.

My archives of digital downloads & private Discord access will still be available for Patrons, plus I’ve added brand new Patreon-exclusive Loyalty Merch rewards for those who choose to support me here!

Loyalty Merch is Already Here!

I wanted to give something extra back to you all for supporting me here aside from digital archive/Discord access, so I’ve added brand new Loyalty Merch Rewards to ALL of my tiers starting at $5 and up!  I have been working on several Patreon-exclusive designs for the past few months and I am so pleased to FINALLY be able to share them with you all!

Here’s a little taste of one of my new Patreon-exclusive designs, the Wheel of Eternity featuring the 12 new amulet designs for the Birthstone Goddesses (more merch previews coming in the next update):

Current Patrons don’t need to change a thing.  If you’re currently pledging at $5 and up and have chosen a tier with benefits, you’ll start earning time towards Loyalty Merch deliveries starting on June 1st!

Loyalty Merch begins to be mailed out after every 3 months of successive support and every 3 months afterwards up to a year.  All you need to do is make sure your mailing address has been entered into Patreon, your country is on Patreon’s allowed shipping list, or opt out if you don’t want to recieve anything in the mail.

Your pledge already includes the cost of shipping, even for international shipping!  Patrons outside the US need no longer add any extra funds for shipping to their pledges.

I’ll be sharing a visual preview and FAQ of exactly what Loyalty Merch will be added to each tier in the next update once I get my hands on the physical proofs, so stay tuned for that post!  In the meanwhile, check the descriptions of your tier here to get an idea of what merch is coming your way.

The higher you pledge, the fancier your Loyalty rewards will be!

Summary of Patreon Changes

– New digital downloads (wallpapers, premium tutorials, etc.) will only be added as & when I have time to create them, making this Patreon more of a Tip Jar.  I’ll post a head’s up when new material is coming to my digital downloads.

– New Loyalty Merch (IE. mini prints, stickers, mugs, and tshirts) have now been added to each tier starting at $5 and up!  If you’re currently pledged, you’ll start earning towards Loyalty Merch on June 1st.

See my Tiers list for a peek at what merch you’ll be getting and to update your pledges before June 1st!

– A Loyalty Merch visual preview + Merch FAQ is coming soon!

– I’ll still be sharing WIP’s and sneak peeks here on Patreon, especially during the Birthstone Goddesses’ final phase.

– My future projects will be totally different than the Birthstone Goddesses. Brace yourselves for narrative projects and Fantasy genre geekery!

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That’s all for now, folks!  This was a lot of info, so if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments or drop me a message.  I’m happy to help as this Patreon transitions fully into a new structure.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck it out with me thus far!  It’s been an amazing journey and I hope to keep sharing the ride for as long as I can stay creative.

♥ Ang