Category: Blog Posts

Studio Hangout APR 2025 + AMA – Character Art, Vampire Pirates, & Free Commission Slots [Video + Monthly Digest]

Another monthly Studio Hangout and AMA arrives! How is it the end of April already?? As per usual, you can watch the video above or read the summary in text here. Captions are included on the video and a transcript is also included attached to this post for your reference.

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There’s no way to sugar coat another bad month. I’ve been trying to work during a metaphorical hurricane. Tariffs have severely impacted my ability to plan any crowdfunding projects for the future, as what might be held up in customs changes day by day. Tariffs are also affecting my main target clients in the entertainment industry, so they’re hesitant to hire while they’re waiting for things to calm down.

It’s been heartbreaking to watch more than a few artists I know finally quitting the profession after already being strained by the state of things the past few years. Meanwhile, smaller game studios are even closing down because having their products frozen at port behind an unexpected customs fee means they can’t move any product.

The icing on the frustration cake of this month is finding out I’ve been waistlisted for DragonCon after hoping it’d be my grand return from being absent from conventions for 5 years. Alas, competition for in-person shows has grown even more fierce as AI generated art slop has flooded online marketplaces, making in-person shows the last bastion of marketplaces not flooded by cheap AI art because it’s generally against the rules for it to be included in these exhibition spaces.

Even still, I’m trying to celebrate the small victories. I’ve approached a couple more big game companies with my portfolio and hope that with enough persistence, one of these big clients will bite when things (hopefully) stabilize. I’ve also been accepted into a convention that I’ll announce soon once I’m allowed to talk about it more. It’s a really cool show I can’t wait to share more about!

I’ve also, after much toil and experimention, managed to finish the long-awaited character art samples I’ve been working on for far too long! Friends and fans have been after me for years to solidify something in this vein, though I fear my timing is absolutely terrible for launching character commissions at a time when we’re all tightening our belts.

Still, my only option is forward and hoping that we can hang on a bit longer while my husband and I recover from our no good bad year slowly, but surely.

New Art in April

It was another sparse month for art, as most of my time was spent doing all of the invisible background work writing the commission FAQ and updating my website to make ready for the Character Commission process. What art I did make I’m very pleased with, however!

[New Art] Artorias, Soul Knife Rogue

This image represents a technique level up for me, as well as a new professional direction targeting TTRPG markets. Read more about its creation, watch a timelapse, etc. here.

For those interested in a deep dive about character design, illustration process, etc. I’ve also written a deep dive Secret Sketchbook entry about this portrait which is available to Patrons at all paid levels.

[Work-in-Progress Art] Kalara versus The Bride

This piece is another personal fun one for the Exalted Character of the Month challenge. This month’s featured character is The Forsaken Bride of Crimson Vows who belongs to ToxinFox and is featured heavily in her webcomic Reclamation (an Exalted TTRPG story). The vampire known as Bride, for short, terrorizes the high seas with her soulsteel blade, cat-o-nine-tails, and incredibly epic hat!

ToxinFox and I have always talked about how cool it would be to see our Exalted characters meet and so I’ve taken the chance to indulge the idea! I ended up with a fighting game style VERSUS screen which I’ll be finishing in a Hades-inspired ink style.

Who will win? Place your bets, folks!

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(Below) Reference of Kalara (art by me) vs Bride (art by ToxinFox)

Important Announcements

  • I’ve launched Character Art Commissions! Commission slots are currently open exclusively to Patreon Patrons at any tier (including the free tier) and my Fantasy Art newsletter subscribers. The general public will have to wait till May 6th to claim any leftover slots. Learn how to reserve your slot here.

  • Free Character Art Slots! To celebrate the commission launch, I’m offering 2 slots for free. This is only happening on BlueSky, however! Read on at the BlueSky post for more details.

AMA

Q: (From Char) What support systems do you have in place for your art career (part time job, spouse, etc)?
A: Watch the answer here.

Q: (From Lindowyn) Is there an artform you want to try and just haven’t gotten around to it?
A: Watch the answer here.

Q: What profession did your multiverse self go into?
A: Watch the answer here.

Stream Schedule

I’ve been playing Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden this month for Game Nights.

This game tells the story of Red and Antea, two lovers working as ghost hunters, who have come to New England during a time of tumult in an alternate history frontier Puritan America. They must face their greatest fear when one of them becomes the thing they hunt after dying at the hands of a powerful spirit. They must find the origin of the curse that keeps them trapped in the forsaken settlement or be trapped forever in a loop of regret.

It’s a wonderfully inspiring and underrated game that I’ve been wanting to share with others for a long time! Tune in Thursday nights as I continue my playthrough and discuss its inspiring qualities.

  • Find the playlist of the Game Night recordings for Banishers here.

May Goals

  • Returning to work on my CASSIEL’S SERVANT cover

  • Teaching myself acrylic paints using studies (new Kushiel art possibly?)

  • Continuing my writing homework with Maggie Steiftvater’s novel-writing class

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    Feel free to tell me what your multiverse profession is in the comments! I’d love to hear you guys’ answer to that question.

<3 Ang

New Art! Atorias, Soul Knife + Process Sneak Peek

EDIT: Head’s up! There’s now a Secret Sketchbook post with a deep dive about the creation of this portrait. Go check it out!

I’m so excited to finally be able to share this art that’s been in the pipeline for awhile! This piece represents a new artistic direction for me as I embark on a new journey to create more TTRPG and Fantasy Art after spending years on my Birthstone Goddesses.

About Artorias

Introducing Artorias, the smarmy Rogue from our D&D campaign (played by my husband, Kevin) whose dice rolls so far have not reflected his smooth skillset. He was a willing volunteer to test out this new artistic style I’ve been nurturing.

ART CAPTION: New head of the Collbrande trade empire after his hostile takeover. Outwardly charming, inwardly growing more heartless by the day.

He is also the twin brother of Ariminthia “Mint” Collbrande, a Bladesinger my husband played originally. When the family abandoned her to kidnappers, Artorias started his villain arc and overthrew their trade empire. He is currently working with a disparate band of volunteers to aid the city in finding a supernatural serial killer targeting aristocrats who has also cursed his sister with the inability to speak.

It was interesting to compare this new portrait of Arty to the old one of Mint done in a Legend of Vox Machina-inspired style from 2022. I’ve worked more in this cell-shaded animation style lately for quickness, so going full render on Arty was a big challenge!

Art Process

I tried a new digital process for this piece where I did all my line art and flats first, then tinted the shadows with different color temperatures on a single layer. For the final polish, I dropped out the lines in key places. My goal was to achieve a look that kept the energy of my line art and brushstrokes without dipping too deeply into overrendered realism.

I’ll talk more about this process and share the PSD file in an upcoming Secret Sketchbook post just for Patrons, so keep your eyes peeled for that this week.

In the meanwhile, enjoy this glimpse at the process and how I constructed my layers:

Watch a timelapse of Arty’s portrait here.

Upcoming Commissions

Now that I have this example complete, I’ll be releasing a price sheet soon! I’ll be offering a limited number of slots per month depending on my availability which will be offered first to my Patreon Patrons and newsletter subscribers first.

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Once I get the commission sheet out to the world, I’ll be returning to my usual schedule of working on the “Cassiel’s Servant” cover for my Story Sketchers project. My journey with acrylics and ambitious narrative imagery will continue!

More soon!

<3 Ang

Studio Hangout MAR 2025 – TTRPG Portraits & Artist AMA [Video + Monthly Digest]

Where did March go??? Here’s the skinny on the happenings, new art, etc. for this month. You can watch the video above (which has captions and chapter breaks in the desc on YouTube) for my full update. This post contains an abbreviated summary if you’re short on time and a transcript of the full video attached to this post.

Personal Updates

It’s been a rough month! I’ve been attempting to keep up with writing and art, but found myself overwhelmed trying to juggle art/writing classes, a regular biweekly stream schedule, and swapping my sleep schedule to a new night-time routine (as endorsed by Brandon Sanderson).

This month, I’ve also taken the time to do our taxes and was faced with the exact numerical value of how my business has been impacted by social media and AI flooding Etsy’s marketplace in the past year (60% down in sales, to be precise).

The art community is suffering existentionally right now, so I have to thank you all once more for your continued support during these trying times! It’s been a struggle to create with all this noise around us. Making art goes, slowly, but surely!

New Art

I only have a couple of things to share this month because of existential dread brain and taking time to do taxes reasons.

  • Yorigasu, a celestial agent from Exalted. (Top)

  • Artorias Portrait (Bottom Right) – A D&D character portrait currently in-progress (which was shared for the first time on stream). Watch the full vid for more about each character.

  • Writing Class Homework – A little different than the art I share, but hopefully an interesting glimpse, regardless! Here’s a quick look at the brainstorming homework I’m doing for my writing class with Maggie Steitvater. A longer explanation is in the video as well as a story pitch of what I’m working on.

Ask Me Anything Questions

Check the time stamps for the answers to these questions.

  • 22:25 – (From Aaron R.) – What’s a piece of yours that surprised you?

  • 24:53 – (From Lindowyn) – What is the most satisfying piece that you’ve done?

  • 27:13 – (From Lindowyn) – What is your favorite medium?

Announcements

  • Art Streams are on hold until further notice!  I’ve been overwhelmed and sleep-deprived and needed more time to focus on re-balancing my schedule. Art streams will return once I’ve been able to settle into a healthier schedule for myself! Game Streams (featuring the game Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden) is still a go for Thursdays, 8pm EST.

  • Coming in April! – Creating private character art commission samples is my current priority. Then, I hope to return to focusing mainly on writing, with a couple of days a week spent on art as soon as the samples are out in the wild. I’m hoping taking these private commissions can help refill our life savings after our bad year last year. They will be released to my Patrons and newsletter subscribers before the public.

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    Catch you next month.
    Wishing you all inspiration!

    <3 Angela S.

New Art! Exalted Character of the Month: Yorigasu, Chosen of Battles

It’s been a month of adjusting to a new schedule! I’ve been attempting to return to our original plan of me writing more, with art being a smaller part of my day.

However, it’s been difficult trying to fit all the art I want to do into the smaller time I have for drawing, which has also been split with trying to get commission samples done and maintain a streaming schedule, which has started to fall apart already.

Plus the mental overwhelm of US politics and my current identity crisis as I move away from being a more active artist.

Still, I always make time for the Exalted Character of the Month challenge and while I said I wouldn’t share much of this type of work here because I wanted to keep it tidily confined to The Uncrucified’s Ko-fi, I find myself with little else to share while other art takes me longer to do.

So enjoy the corvid bird warrior, Yorigasu, Chosen of Battles, Sidereal Exalted, who belongs to Lobsopdoy.

 Watch a timelapse of this piece here. Created in Procreate.

Lobsopdoy’s reference image:

I was very intimidated by the bird anatomy, as I have less experience drawing animals, but I do appreciate the challenge because corvids are awesome! How’d I do?

I hope I’ll have more art to share soon, but commission samples have been slow-going and I just haven’t been in a good head space this month. Hopefully I can shake it off and get back in the art battle soon!

Once the commission samples are done, I’m returning to focus on my Cassiel’s Servant work. For now, ENJOY BIRB!

<3 Ang

Studio Hangout FEB 2025 – Valentine’s Art, Good News, & Artist AMA [Video + Monthly Digest]

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!) Read more

New Art! My Exalted Valentine + Art Feature of AnnaCory’s Art

Not going to lie, friends. I wasn’t supposed to be working on this art. I had very serious intentions to work on character art samples for private commissions, but job hunt stress and the world at large have been overwhelming me to a frankly unhealthy degree.

So I gave myself permission to indulge in my happy place – tabletop RPG art! Specifically, the Exalted Discord Fan Artist server I’m in had a Valentine’s Day couples art trade event I couldn’t resist taking part in. Not only did I get to make cool art for a cool person, but I also got to challenge myself with backgrounds, multiple figures, and a specific storytelling goal.

My gunslinger, Koh, was paired up with AnnaCory’s Gale, to which Anna suggested the perfect date for Gale might be quietly reading together or a more mischievious night on the town. I thought “why not both?”

I chose to render the two on a date inside of a noble’s heretical library, the perfect place for a picnic and a good laugh at the noble’s secret stash of bawdy Scarlet Empress books and knicknacks. Meanwhile, Koh’s bodyguard, who was likely told to stay home, looks on, glad the boss is having fun.

Here’s a timelapse of the piece so y’all can appreciate how much it drastically changed along the way:
https://youtu.be/Tc_SM-Lkcc8?si=ZJjg2zKE8Ea25rr_

Art Feature: Anna Cory Kulikova

I knew I had to make something extra special for this particular trade because Anna has done such amazing art of my characters in the past. Look at these gorgeous portraits she’s done of my brainchildren!

Anna also took part in the Valentines challenge and created this gorgeous piece featuring her character, Satica, and another of my characters, Mask of Golden Lies. I just love the little ghosts and the entire moody atmosphere! She’s shared a timelapse of this piece here.

 

So perhaps this wasn’t as on task as I thought I’d be in February, but fun and not going insane was had instead. What more could one ask for?

I hope you all enjoyed this extreme artistic diversion!

<3 Ang

New Patreon Shop & Rewards Archive

After much toil, I am happy to report that I’ve finally gotten many of your digital goodies up in my Patreon’s digital shop! I’ve been striving to do this for a long time ever since Patreon added this feature to give you guys an easier way to access your rewards, as well as an easier way to support me if you’re on a tighter budget without having to go off-site to my Patreon’s Backerkit.

Now, those of you supporting me at any tier with digital rewards can treat the shop like a rewards archive where you can easily find and download what you need at no extra cost, while those of you who are on free or lower tiers who would rather pay a one-time fee for downloadables can support me by buying the ones you’re most interested in.

What’s On Offer

As a reminder, I’ve made many different and useful tutorials that you can now find in the digital shop! Find everything from a tutorial on my research and watercolor painting process for Lady of February to a tutorial on how I create my leather masks that comes bundled with a starter mask pattern for you to practice with.

Again, those of you who are on tiers with access to my Premium Tutorials should see these items listed as FREE in the shop to download at your leisure.

Coming Soon to the Patreon Digital Shop 

As of now, I have made all of my coloring packs and Premium Tutorials available in the digital shop. Here’s what’s coming next as I gradually upload all of my past digital rewards and brainstorm on new items to offer:

  • New coloring packs combining some of my older pages

  • PDFs of my most popular Patrons-only articles

  • PDF Sketchbooks of the Exalted Art Challenge, Kushiel’s Legacy works, etc.

  • Wallpaper Packs for all devices

Suggestions?

Are there any other digital items you’d like to see me offer? Let me know! I’m always working to improve the experience for you guys here.

<3 Ang