Author: Angela S.

New Coloring Page! “The Woven Path’s Temperance”

Happy weekend, all!  A new coloring page arrives to my Patreon digital library a month ahead of its release to my shop!

This page created from my painting of Temperance for The Woven Path Tarot lets you fill in your own colors for this intricate image.  I was inspired by the lush colors of medieval tapestries. What will you be inspired by?

Attached you will find the printable 8.5×11 inch PDF and transparent PNG.

You are free to share your colored pages online, but please do not share the blank pages!  I’d love to see what you all do with the line art!  Tag me at the following accounts if you share your colored pages of my art on social media:

You can also share your colored pages in my Facebook group dedicated to colorists!

Have fun and let the colors flow!

♥ Ang

*The link to my book is a referral link! If you decide to pick it up from Amazon, I’ll get a little kickback. Enjoy!

New Coloring Page! “The Woven Path’s Temperance”

Happy weekend, all!  A new coloring page arrives to my Patreon digital library a month ahead of its release to my shop!

This page created from my painting of Temperance for The Woven Path Tarot lets you fill in your own colors for this intricate image.  I was inspired by the lush colors of medieval tapestries. What will you be inspired by?

Attached you will find the printable 8.5×11 inch PDF and transparent PNG.

You are free to share your colored pages online, but please do not share the blank pages!  I’d love to see what you all do with the line art!  Tag me at the following accounts if you share your colored pages of my art on social media:

You can also share your colored pages in my Facebook group dedicated to colorists!

Have fun and let the colors flow!

♥ Ang

*The link to my book is a referral link! If you decide to pick it up from Amazon, I’ll get a little kickback. Enjoy!

MAR 2021 Digest – Upcoming Tarot Art, House Hunting, & MAW

March flew by as I returned to work after taking some time to recover with Kev, who also went back to work in March this month after his recovery from a severe case of COVID.  We’re both doing so much better knowing that he’s safe and healthy!  I’m slowly, but surely, getting back in the game and managed to finish my Temperance card painting for the Woven Path Tarot (which I’ll be revealing publicly next week!).

We’re also back on the house hunt, as our current home is a rental and we’re finally ready to invest.  We’re both looking forward to having a new space all our own!  We just have to survive all the paperwork and touring first.  I’m already dreaming of ways I could set up a new studio space. Here’s hoping for a room with lots of sunshine!

I’ve also started MAW (Making Art Work) with Emily Jeffords this month and wow has it been a knowledge bomb to my brain!  I’ve been learning about branding, marketing schedules, SEO, and so much more. I’m already buzzing with plans to redo my Gemstone Goddesses site with all I’ve learned and might be a little slow in April as I focus on absorbing all this knowledge to implement into my art biz.

Coming in April

Now that the Tarot piece is finished, I’ll be offering a Temperance coloring page and a wallpaper to my Patreon Patrons at the appropriate tiers!  I was thinking about sharing my progress with redesigning the Gemstone Goddesses site, but would that be boring stuff?  

It probably wouldn’t be as in-depth as my last article about website redesign, but more showing you progress shots as I map out the new site and make it a lovely space just for my Goddesses!

The Lady of Eternity pins also arrived in the mail today, so it’s time to pack them up and get them out to you guys! (More on that in a future post, soon).

Digest of March’s Posts

Rewards Added in March

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I’m looking forward to seeing how everything I’ve been learning lately will help make my art really shine and how I can make the experience of it better for you all!

More soon!

♥ Ang

Secret Sketchbook: The Woven Path’s Temperance Part 4 – Final Touches

It took a little longer than anticipated, but I’ve finally completed Temperance for the Woven Path Tarot!  Here’s your Patreon exclusive Behind the Scenes sneak peek of the painting before its public reveal next week. (My Discord Patrons also got this peek early!)

Check out the time lapse above to see how this image went from ink drawing to finished painting!  You can also check out my materials list here.

During the process for this piece, I discovered that using white gel pen (used for the stars and white highlighting) creates a resist when paint is applied on top of it. I may have to play with this effect in a later piece!

I’ll have a full tour of the final piece, plus prints available in a public post for everyone soon!  I also plan to upload a wallpaper and coloring page of Temperance for April’s Rewards.

More soon!

♥ Ang

Estado del proyecto: Fase final de las Diosas de las Piedras de Nacimiento

He tenido un merecido descanso de musa con el Exalted Art Challenge, ¡pero ahora es hora de volver a mis Diosas de las Piedras de Nacimiento! En primer lugar, una cálida bienvenida a los Patrones que se han unido recientemente. ¡Están a punto de disfrutar de esta emocionante fase final de este proyecto!

En los últimos años, he creado el conjunto principal de pinturas, la colección Visage, y los pines esmaltados, y ahora quiero dar los últimos pasos audaces hacia las grandes ambiciones que tenía para esta serie. ¡Aquí hay un resumen de en qué estoy trabajando y qué está por venir!

Mis queridos Patrones tendrán una visión detrás de escena de mi proceso de diseño, publicación y producción a lo largo del camino, ¡junto con vistazos exclusivos detrás de escena!

El Calendario de Pared

Parte de la idea principal de crear el conjunto original de 12 imágenes era que quería hacer un calendario de pared. Finalmente estoy dando pasos hacia este proyecto y necesitaré crear este calendario desde cero, ya que el tamaño no tradicional de las imágenes significa que necesitaré que se corten e impriman a medida.

Ya tengo plantillas y una imprenta local en mente, y espero lanzar este calendario en Kickstarter alrededor de agosto de este año para que pueda crearse a tiempo para un calendario de 2022. Los Patrones de Patreon tendrán un vistazo exclusivo de cómo estoy diseñando los diseños y otras notas creativas a lo largo del camino.

(El conjunto principal de 12 pinturas.)

El Libro de Arte

¿Qué mejor manera de cerrar este proyecto que recopilar el arte creado para él en un libro lujoso? ¡Esta es mi joya de la corona, la pieza central definitiva de esta serie! Una de mis mayores empresas que sucederá a continuación es comenzar a trabajar en los guiones gráficos del libro. No solo quiero mostrar el arte, sino también parte de la narrativa y la investigación que he desarrollado a lo largo del tiempo para esta serie, así como crear un volumen coleccionable elegante.

También quiero crear pinturas nunca antes vistas para este libro (de las cuales puedes ver una pista en las miniaturas de la imagen destacada de esta pieza). ¡Llamo a estas nuevas pinturas las 'Diosas Oscuras', ya que estoy tomando algunas de mis Diosas favoritas de la serie y dándoles una nueva versión en mi propio estilo!

Adoro a Mucha, pero también quiero dejar mi propia huella con esta serie que muestra más de mi propio estilo que el de Mucha. Estas nuevas pinturas serán mucho más de mi propia estética oscura, elegante y surrealista, ¡que espero que sigas disfrutando!

Sin duda habrá muchas tareas que hacer, desde ilustraciones puntuales hasta la contratación de un diseñador adecuado que me ayude con el diseño del libro, pero espero tener la mayor parte del trabajo hecho antes de lanzar este libro en Kickstart, lo que quiero que suceda en 2022. ¡2021 será para todo el trabajo de preparación!

¡Como siempre, también compartiré vistazos exclusivos de las pinturas de Dark Goddesses y otras tareas del libro solo para los Patrocinadores!

Otras Colecciones de Diosas de Piedras de Nacimiento

Todavía tengo en mente lanzar las siguientes cosas a lo largo del camino. ¡Algunas de ellas ya han sido creadas, pero aún esperan un lanzamiento adecuado!

  • Pegatinas – Estos diseños ya se han completado, pero aún no están en mi tienda. ¡Actualmente investigando opciones de envío directo!

  • Bolsos/Bolsos de mensajero – Probé estos en DragonCon hace un par de años. ¡Se agotaron por completo, así que es hora de prepararlos para un lanzamiento adecuado en mi tienda!

  • Pañuelos – ¡Estos también funcionaron bien en el último evento presencial en el que estuve! Tendré en cuenta los comentarios de los clientes para poder relanzarlos adecuadamente en mi tienda.

  • Tarjetas de felicitación – Ya tengo diseños para estas, pero todavía estoy trabajando en configurarlas con un sistema de envío directo como Printful y Art of Where.

  • Estuches de regalo – ¡Siempre he pensado que unos estuches de regalo de cumpleaños adecuados que incluyan los productos favoritos de todos, combinados con joyas con temática de piedras de nacimiento y flores secas bonitas (¿o quizás una pegatina?) serían algo emocionante de ofrecer! Todavía estoy pensando en ideas de qué agrupar y cómo presentarlos para poder hacerlos disponibles para todos.

Mis Colecciones de Ensueño

Estos son deseos de cosas geniales que no estoy segura de cómo hacer realidad, ¡pero espero que al decirlas en voz alta se hagan realidad algún día!

Joyas de Diosas de Piedras de Nacimiento – Realmente quiero expandir las Diosas a algunas prendas de vestir hermosas para que puedas canalizar esa sensación que obtienes al mirar el arte a través de ti misma. ¡Las joyas preciosas son una parte integral del movimiento Art Nouveau y me encantaría rendir homenaje a ese hecho colaborando con un joyero.

Paletas de maquillaje – Me encanta, ME ENCANTA ver sets de maquillaje bellamente ilustrados con muestras inspiradoras. Cada Diosa de Piedra de Nacimiento tiene su propio esquema de color basado en sus flores y piedras de nacimiento, lo que parece una combinación perfecta para el maquillaje. ¡Además, la idea de ilustrar una portada con un enfoque en el lado glamuroso de mis Diosas suena tan emocionante!

Tés, Perfumes, Bombas de baño y/o Jabones – Todas estas cosas me brindan consuelo y una sensación de calma, al mismo tiempo que tienen una sensación y estética lujosas. ¡Soy especialmente fanática de las mezclas de té y las etiquetas de té fancifully ilustradas!

¿Conoces a alguien con quien deba hablar sobre estas ideas?  ¡No dudes en enviarme su información de contacto y los agregaré a la lista de prospectos para cuando esté listo para expandirme en estos emprendimientos!

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Tengo mucho que hacer como un negocio de una sola persona, ¡pero estoy emocionado de volver a la acción!  Estaré trabajando en el curso de marketing Making Art Work de Emily Jefford durante los próximos dos meses y espero obtener una nueva perspectiva sobre cómo manejar todas mis ambiciones para esta serie.

¡Ha sido un viaje increíble hasta ahora en los aproximadamente 6 años que llevo en esto!  Estoy emocionado de compartir la última etapa del viaje y ver qué revela.  Mi esperanza es que esta serie se convierta en la columna vertebral de un negocio autosostenible y recién estoy empezando a ver buenos resultados de ello.

¡Por un futuro lleno de arte hermoso que espero te brinde tanta felicidad como a mí me ha dado compartirlo contigo!

♥ Ang

Feb 2021 Digest – Health, Happiness, & Looking to the Future!

I’m so pleased to have good news to share this month!  My husband was able to come home from the hospital and has managed a miraculous recovery from COVID.  Kev has gone from possibly needing a cane and an oxygen tank to needing neither with no adverse effects, beyond bouts of fatigue he’s still struggling with.  He’ll still need to strengthen his lungs, as they were weakened by COVID and pneumonia, but we are so relieved, as things could have gone so differently!  We’re so grateful to have been able to celebrate our 4th anniversary together.

It’s given us both perspective to enjoy life while we can.  Our plans to find a new home continue and I’ve meanwhile returned to work this last week in February with renewed focus and appreciation for our good fortune.  I’m also slated to start new training with Emily Jefford’s Making Art Work in March, which I hope will help me figure out a path forward through the difficulties of this pandemic.  I look forward to making my Birthstone Goddesses the best they can be as I continue with their journey to publication and expanding that vision in the coming months!

Coming in March

There will be a new fantasy-themed coloring page and a wallpaper for my Patreon digital library. I’ll also be sharing Secret Sketchbook notes for my next painting of Temperance for the Woven Path Tarot.  I have some exciting major project updates to share as well, now that my muse break with the Exalted Art Challenge is over! 

Digest of February’s Posts

Rewards Added in February

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I’m happy to see life returning to a form of normalcy for us and to take a big step forward as I return with renewed energy to the next and final phase of the Birthstone Goddesses!

Till next time. More soon!

♥ Ang

My Share the Work Challenge + New IG Account!

It’s been a time of trial and change for me lately with our personal struggles with COVID and the way it has impacted my art business.  It’s fair to say my life has been upended!  With that in mind, I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching trying to figure out where we go from here.

And that is when Emily Jefford’s Share the Work free mini-class came to me earlier last week.  I had seen Emily’s name recommended around the art community by people I admire (Naomi VanDoren, to name someone with an absolutely stellar and successful art biz).

Emily invited artists to try out her 5 day challenge which explores our understanding of our art and our business readiness, so I decided to take on the challenge!

I welcome you to explore the blog posts I wrote as I absorbed her lectures and did the worksheets for myself:

To summarize, Emily’s challenge surprised me with just how much focus there is on understanding what meaning your art has to others, but ALSO what meaning it has for you, if you’re comfortable with the act of creating it, what value it brings to your life, etc.  This is important because, as I’ve realized with my many bouts with burnout, if the work isn’t fun for you to physically do, how do you hope to make a permanently sustainable business?

I had some big revelations along the way so I recommend you folks read the blog posts for the details!  May they be useful for others who might be wandering the same road of creative entrepreneurship that I am.

I also got to create a brand mood board, which is something I had never thought to do.  It felt great to define a vision for my Birthstone Goddesses with more intention!

(I also created a blank template of this board you’re free to use.  Enjoy!)

My New Instagram Account

The very last day of Emily’s challenge asked me to do a BOLD thing and my choice was to create an all-new Instagram account for my Fine Art endeavors!  It was scary, but it feels so very good to finally do this.  Over time, my main account has become more about my personal characters, comic experiments, etc.  It’s been more challenging to elevate my fine art pieces when I’m also sharing a silly comic about my D&D party’s latest misadventure or fan art memes on the same account!

So please welcome @AngelicShadesArt which will now be the exclusive home for my Birthstone Goddesses and other gallery-minded projects!  I’d be so grateful if you gave it a Follow and helped give it some love.

I may occasionally double-post to my main account, @AngelaSasserArt, when I feel there’s common interest, but otherwise, @AngelaSasserArt is going to be all about my original characters, storyworlds, ttrpg adventures, and other illustration and geekery!

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I hope my musings prove useful to you guys!  Did you take the Share the Work Challenge too?  Did you have any revelations along the way?  

I’m looking forward to learning more from Emily as I progress into her Making Art Work full time course for artists in March!  Till then, I’m going to take the knowledge I learned from Share the Work and start working towards an even more bold and beautiful adventure for my Birthstone Goddesses!

❤ Ang

Share the Work Challenge Day 5 – Do A Brave Thing

Whew!  Emily Jeffords’ Share the Work challenge has been a great ride!  We’ve plumbed the depths of meaning in art, unraveled the mystery of the collector, and quelled the chaos of my brain to come up with a brand board.

The final day asked us to do something very simple, but also difficult.  Do something bold!  After much inner turmoil, I’ve decided my bold action would be to start a new Instagram account!  This has been weighing on me for a long time because I already curate several IG accounts and didn’t want to do more work, but honestly, after deep thought spurred on by this course, I realize the folks who like my fine art work definitely are not the same folks who like my illustration and geeky character art.  It was time to give both of these bodies of work the space they need to breathe!  Meanwhile, I’ll sort out the other IG accounts to see if I could lessen my workload.

So with that in mind, I’ve created AngelicShadesArt, the new space for my Fine Art and Art Nouveau identity!  It feels so good to know I won’t scare off Fine Art collectors with art of the dumb thing my D&D character I did smattered between my Birthstone Goddesses pieces on AngelaSasserArt.  While I’m certain there are some art collectors out there who might love my geekery, I don’t think this different mood elevates my fine art pieces in the way that I’d like, while also sending a confused branding message to my Followers.  

Feel free to give my brand new IG account some love if you like my Birthstone Goddesses and other Fine Art work!  I’ll be cleaning up my AngelaSasserArt account and moving all of that Fine Art work to the new account, instead.

 

In the five days I’ve been working through Emily’s prompts, I’ve learned so much about myself and my own vision.  I’ve decided to make the big investment into her Making Art Work course which is focused on the kinds of things I feel I’m lacking in my current business, clear branding, reaching collectors, etc.  After 2020 threw a huge wrench into my plans by canceling all of my shows where I planned to debut all the art I’ve been making in the past 5 years, my strategy needs to shift! 

 

Here’s a peek at all the modules of MAW that I’m SUPER STOKED to dive into in March:

 

I hope you enjoyed this look into the thought processes of a creative entrepreneur!  It’s a business like no other and I’m excited to dive even deeper to what this means for me in the coming year that’s presented such a different landscape for me as an art biz.  I leave you with the empowering mantra that Emily prompted us to write for ourselves:

Like my Goddesses, I will be powerful, balanced, and beautiful.  I will believe in my workings and share my blessings.