Author: Angela S.

Convention Report – DragonCon 2019

I’m back from DragonCon and have finally stirred from my post-con torpor!  Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by, including a couple of my Patrons here!  It was so lovely to meet you and give you hugs (and pins!).  I got to see so many artist friends I haven’t met in person, plus old friends I only get to see this time of year.  I only wish I’d had more time to spend with everyone!

I always like to do a write-up if I can.  DragonCon is such a massive show and always a great event for testing out new, ambitious things!  I’ve been working hard towards it for a long time before the event to make new products to debut, such as the tote bags and scarves.  This was also the first time I’ve ever had to fill such a large space at 8 x 10 feet! It was an intimidating prospect!

So how’d I do?  I sold half my canvas totes, but only a couple of scarves!  Most folks went for my prints, pouches, totes, and greeting cards (especially the ones themed for the month of September!).  I also think my display made an impression!  People really seemed to love my little ‘shrine’ of flowers and candles.

You can also see a video tour of the booth here.

All in all, I made back expenses and then some!  Having a larger display space really paid off for me, as I think the larger display footprint allowed me to give people a better idea of the scale of this ambitious project of mine which is really hard to contain in a smaller space.

The Art Show

The Art Show was a new beast this year!  New management meant new changes, such as the lack of a silent auction or a print shop.  This meant more floor space for artists and a new way to buy directly from the artist, instead of an auction!  It was nice to be able to take my earnings from sales in the Gallery area home immediately instead of waiting for a check to come in the mail.

There was a little confusion about how to buy things from the gallery bay, but otherwise, I felt the changes were for the better, letting the Art Show check-in process go more smoothly (no dealing with barcodes or anything of that nature).  I really enjoyed the new black pegboard for the Gallery area as well!

The volunteers were especially exceptional this year.  They came around often to see if we needed help and check on our well-being!

What Did I Learn?

DragonCon, especially one where I test out new things, is always a learning experience!  Here are some things I learned.

  • Bundle Deals. The bundle deals worked like a charm! I attribute most of my sales to people wanting to buy gifts for multiple people and being encouraged to do so by saving a little money with a bulk discount.

  • More Signage. I need more signage to show people I’m on Patreon, what my name is, and also that the series is about a birthstone series, as it took  people a minute to realize this was a birthstone series and upon realizing that fact, they of course then wanted to immediately see what their month was, which was easier when I made month signs to go by the images (and to subdivide the print bins).

  • The 15 Second Rule.  Kevin, who has vast retail experience and is a remarkable salesman, taught me this at the con. Basically, instead of smothering people with my overeager greetings, give people 15 seconds to process what they’re seeing and decide if they are engaged with it.  

    This wait time helped me make a better call about who was meandering through and who was actually interested so I don’t waste my precious introvert energy on people who have no interest.

  • Stock for Birthday/Month Sensitive Items.  I had so many September babies stop by and say “It’s my birth month and I’m treating myself” or I had friends of September babies shopping for birthday gifts for the special September person in their life. This should have been obvious to me, but I need to keep more stock on hand for these timely occasions!  I even made extra of September and still sold out!

  • More Small Impulse Items. I had so many people who didn’t want to make a big investment or who didn’t have a lot of wall space who ended up scooping up stickers and greeting cards.  I would have sold pins like hot cakes for this reason as well!  

    I want to focus my table area around showing off these small items since they became the ‘bread and butter’ small sales that added up nicely at the end of the day because they are easy to manufacture on a mass scale with a good markup and impulse range price tag that isn’t too much of a burden for the average buyer.

  • Calendar. I REALLY need to finish up the calendar for this series, as now that I have all 12 images, it’s become my number one requested item. I’ve planned to work on it after the enamel pins, so it will be coming next year!

Favorite Cosplay

Oh boy it was SO hard to pick a cosplay to feature here!  Now that they’ve lifted the no photo ban in the Art Show, I had a lot of fun taking photos of amazing cosplayers who dropped by my booth.  They were all wonderful and you can see more of them here.  

However, I just have to feature this lady!  I was a Power Rangers fan back in the day and this lady made me squeal with nostalgic glee.  She also made her costume herself!

I am already missing the glorious geeky chaos that was DragonCon!  I love being around so many kindred spirits that it feels pretty lonely when I get home and return to the grind.  I’m grateful my fans (and especially my Patrons) are here in my corner experiencing this journey along with me.  Your encouragement and feedback have helped me have one of my best cons ever!

Next, I’ll be hopping right into Kickstarter fulfillment and revving up for the Goddesses of Autumn pins, so there’s no rest for the wary!

Did you stop by at DragonCon?  What was your fave cosplay?  Sound off in the comments!

♥ Ang

This was a meticulous article to write, but I love talking about the nitty gritty thought process!

A discussion of my process of troubleshooting my painting & visual exploration of problems & solutions complete with visual aids.

Accessible to all paid tiers or grab the individual post for $3 without needing to sub.

Find the article here:
https://www.patreon.com/angelasasser/posts/secret-cassiels-164355650

[Early Release] Unboxing Art – Mucha’s Le Pater Century Guild Edition

I’ve been saving opening up the lovely package I received from the Century’s Guild long-awaited Kickstarter since a couple of weeks ago till I could take a moment to enjoy it.  That moment has finally come!

Join me as I unbox the loveliness and dive into this wonderful collection of Mucha’s spiritual works!  This video will be released to the public on Friday, but you get an early look because you’re special. 

Now back to con prep with me!

♥
– Ang

July 2019 Wrap-Up: Too Many Books in My House. Send Help!

July was a month dedicated to ALL the Goddesses of Summer pin things!  The Kickstarter took over my life, as Kickstarters are wont to do, and I found myself the recipient of so much love and support!  

Seriously, you guys are awesome.  We funded the Goddesses of Summer pins in no small part to fan enthusiasm and sharing!  It officially did better than the coloring book Kickstarter at 114% funded.  You guys are the best! ♥

Estado del proyecto

The Birthstone Goddesses Coloring Book Trade Edition 

The Trade Edition has been printed and 1k books are now sitting in our house!  I still need to prep them for sale via Amazon’s vendor program and take care of some of the background maintenance/setup, but they’ll be available via Amazon and Etsy soonish! I will make an announcement here, on my mailing list, and on social media when they are available.

Pins de Esmalte Diosas de Piedras de Nacimiento

The first set for the Summer goddesses (June, July, and August) are funded. Now, we’re just waiting on payment processing and the gears of production!  They will be sent to the manufacturer once the Pre-order period (Aug 5th – 15th) for them ends.THEN the Goddesses of Autumn will launch on the first day of Autumn, September 23rd.  This year has gone by SO fast!

Próximas Convenciones

I am confirmed for the following events:

  • DragonCon – AUG 29– Sep 2 – I’ll have a booth for the first time ever!

  • Multiverse  – OCT 18-20 – This one’s new to our area! Come help me celebrate their inaugural year. 

New Rewards Added

Angelic Vision Coloring Page ($5+ Patrons)

Posts You May Have Missed in June:

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I’ve enjoyed a very brief downtime after all this hubbub and now it’s onwards to DragonCon in early September, which means August is going to be full of prep for the con, Kickstarter fulfillment, and working on designs for the Goddesses of Autumn that are up next on the Kickstarter docut for Autumn.

Stay tuned for more art and things as and when I can share them during this hectic time!

Thanks for your support this month, everyone.

♥ Ang

June 2019 Wrap-Up: Kickstarter, Upcoming Cons, etc.

It’s been a relatively quiet month here on Patreon, as I’ve been busy managing all the moving parts of the Goddesses of Summer Kickstarter and adjusting to a major life change.  

My husband has started a new job and suddenly we now have the option to improve our situation a bit!  We can finally start considering a new home of our own without the issues of our current rental and also take a little bit of pressure off the art side of things.  

To be frank, we’ve been scrambling between the two of us to cover unending medical bills, debts, rent, etc. something which has been taking up most of my proceeds from Patreon for the past few months while we’ve been struggling for balance.  

It’s been a frustrating endless cycle of climbing out of a hole only to fall back in as soon as we reach the top.

But now I’m hoping with the shift in our finances that I can put more of my Patreon earnings back into funding the art and to keep bringing you all the cool things I’ve always been wanting to do that I just had no time and/or money to do (ie. creating more art videos, more fun physical perks, etc).

It’s such an amazing release to not feel so stressed and fearful of what even a little emergency could do to our budget.  I know that peace of mind is going to be reflected in my art and productivity as well!

Estado del proyecto

On to business!  During this quiet time, I’ve been making a lot of small background moves on the entries into my Birthstone Goddesses collection.

The Birthstone Goddesses Coloring Book Trade Edition – After many small corrections and all the official book registration process, the coloring book is currently off to the printers who are prepping it for printing by the end of July! I plan for this trade edition to be made available on Amazon and in my own online shop.  I should have it with me at cons this year too!

The Birthstone Goddesses Enamel Pins – The first of the set of 12 total pins is on Kickstarter right now!  We’re 80% funded and everything is looking good, thus far.  Keep spreading the word, everyone! 

Próximas Convenciones

I’m slowly getting back into the convention game and have been confirmed for the following events:

  • DragonCon – AUG 29– Sep 2 – I’ll have a booth for the first time ever!

  • Multiverse  – OCT 18-20 – This one’s new to our area! Come help me celebrate their inaugural year.

New Rewards Added

Glimpse of Eden Coloring Page ($5+ Patrons)

Posts You May Have Missed in June:

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Now that things are calming down and the constant stress has eased somewhat, I’m hoping to get back to posting more regularly around here.  I have some articles on the agenda to talk about what goes into designing an enamel pin, what goes into a Kickstarter, etc.  

My ambitious project keeps growing and this year all the little seeds I laid years ago are finally starting to bear fruit!

More soon!

♥
– Ang

May 2019 Wrap-Up: Vacation, MSAD, & Upcoming Giveaway!

Ooops we’re over halfway into June and I’ve not posted my May wrap-up yet!  As ever, May (and June) have been a crunched month while I prepare to unleash the Birthstone Goddesses enamel pins upon the world.  And what did I decide to do in the middle of the hype period for my upcoming enamel pin Kickstarter and other craziness?

I went on vacation for a week! Doh!

But you know what guys?  Sometimes you just have to have a little self-care, which is what May was all about for me.  My husband has been declared in remission from lymphoma and a long period of stress is over for us (for now).  It was a good time for a vacation!

A friend also encouraged me to take on the May Sketch A Day Art Challenge, which allowed me some much needed time to let my muse meander without being tied to any theme.  I also spent a week in South Carolina walking on the beach and enjoying a local botanical garden!

(A tease of one of the beautiful aqua gardens I visited at the Brookgreen Gardens while I was on vacation!)

And while I have returned to a crazy prelaunch crunch time, I’m grateful for some fresh air and the ability to let my creative wells refresh!

I have plans to share some posts with all the flower photos I took in an upcoming Inspiration Trip post, but for now, here’s a quick rundown of what you might have missed in May.

Posts in May

(ALL my sketches from May Sketch A DAy! Check out the posts above for story snippets and full views of the sketches I did)

New Coloring Pages Added:

Upcoming Giveaway!

It’s tradition by this point that I host a Launch Party on Facebook for each Kickstarter I do!  Come join me at this Event leading up to the Launch Day. I’ll be sharing the stories of each Goddess as we lead up to Launch Day and an art+book giveaway!  

THEN, once Launch Day arrives, I’ll be streaming the choosing of the winner as well as hitting the big shiny red launch button! It’s all very exciting!!

Woo hoo June is going to be epic!  Thanks for following along with my journey here as a Follower or a Patron.  I’m always in good company here!

More soon!

♥
– Ang

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May Sketch A Day Week 5 – Dark Fey & Mermaids + Full Month Recap

Week 5 was another lean week while I was out to the beach on vacation!  I intend to share an Inspiration Trip post at some point collecting all the reference I took. I got to explore the beach and one of the most beautiful gardens I’ve ever visited!  I stole a few late night hours during the trip to do some quick sketches, most of which were dominated by one of my story concepts that’s captured the muse of late.

The Watcher II & III

Last week, I introduce this character from my story, Song of Exile, into the MASD mix.  In my worldbuilding pondering for this story, I’ve envisioned an ancient spirit who once held dominion over the desert.  She watched mankind with curiosity, vexed by the seemingly irrational actions of these short-lived specimens.  One day, she ventured to them, teaching them knowledge beyond their primitive achievements, learning from them the joy of irrationality.

But one day those gifts were taken for granted and calamity struck.  Her wrath was swift and thorough.

Her concept is a seed of a story right now, but each image I create, she becomes clearer in my mind and I discover something new about her.  The butterflies and other eye-marked creatures of her own creation are her ‘eyes’, her own lost during the ‘Fall’.  She is the creator of the silk moths that roam throughout the desert, though she is no longer watching through their wings, their markings having lost their luster since The Watcher’s disappearance from history.  

Deep Blue

How could I NOT draw a mermaid for this month with the Mermay challenge happening as well? Plus the fact I was surrounded by so much lovely blue and green water while I was on the beach!  All the sketches this week were done in Adobe Photoshop Sketch on my new iPad Pro.  It’s pretty easy to pick up and put down a sketch while also being able to easily record a time lapse!

Full Month Recap

Here’s a collection of ALL the sketches I made for this event!  You can read the stories and notes about each week’s sketches at the following posts:

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4 

All in all, I had a fantastic time letting the muse off the leash to wander and do as she pleases!  I’ve been in desperate need of refreshing the creative wells and letting my mind wander while also getting some new experiences at the beach have helped a bit.  I’m hoping I can carry forward the daily sketching habit into the future as either daily warm-ups and/or freeform sketch time during my usual routine!

Did any of you participate in May Sketch A Day (or any of the other May art events)?  How did it work out for you?  Like NaNoWriMo, Camp NaNoWriMo, and other art challenges, I’ve found it to be a re-energizing experience with community support behind it which helps to keep me motivated!

Next, more enamel pin progress once I’m back from vacation starting Monday!

♥
– Ang

May Sketch A Day Week 4 – The Blood Hunter & The Faerie

This week was a lean week for sketching while I was rushing to get my enamel pin sketches off to the company!  I squeezed a little bit of sketching time in thanks to my husband gifting me an iPad Pro (YAY!) and encouraging me to take the time to sit down and have a play with it.  

All of the sketches this week were created with Adobe Sketch on the iPad Pro, with the exception of the sword portrait, which was started in Sketch and transferred into Photoshop for finishing.

Head Portrait – Nils

This piece is a milestone for being the first image I created on the iPad Pro!  I’m impressed by the responsiveness of the Apple Pencil and the way I could tilt the stylus for the graphite shading used in this one.

This week I had an urge to explore Nils, a shy priest of Kelemvor from a Dungeons & Dragons one-shot I played some time ago.  I was smitten by this quiet, sweet man in such a brutal profession of being a Blood Hunter!  

He wears his worries on his face, where he often looks tired and anemic, the blood magic use taking a toll, as well as the terrible things he’s seen in his past (which you can read more about in his character biography here).

The Watcher Appears

Experimenting with the watercolor blooms in Sketch on the iPad made me want to draw something dreamy and dark, which is where this gal from my Song of Exile storyworld came in!  She was drawn completely off the cuff without worrying about my mistakes.  This won’t be her final design, but it was just fun to muck about without being too precious (the whole goal of May Sketch A Day for me). 

Some flavor text for The Watcher:

Old stories still speak of her, though her name is long forgotten. They called her The Watcher, for she watched mankind for centuries from between the moments and the twilight shadows, always curious, always seeking through the eyes of the animals in her desert domain. Why did humans tarry so, she mused?

Whenever a traveler finds her moths in the desert, they know she is there, always watching through their spots, and they pay her homage whether she is there still or not.

Blood Grooves

After seeing this glorious character sheet by Mooncalfe, I was in the mood to do some more character sketching to show various pieces of equipment and angles for Nils!  I’m pretty shocked that Blood Hunters don’t have any specialized weapons for their demon-slaying, monster hunting craft.

I’ve envisioned Nils using a pair of scimitar custom crafted by his Order that allow him to trigger a needle which lances his palms and sends blood down the handle into the blood grooves on the sword.  This lets him more efficiently use his blades for Crimson Rites, which require bloodletting to imbue the blade.

First level Blood Hunters don’t even get silvered weapons for their starting gear, poor sods!

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So that was my short week!  Which one of these did you guys enjoy most?  Have you done any cool sketches for May Sketch A Day or Mermay this week (or seen any?)  Share in comments!

Next week, I’ll be on vacation at the beach, which I haven’t seen in well…years!  I expect to be pretty AFK for awhile and sneaking internet when I can, so I may be slow!  My stream schedule is on hold for now till I return on June 1st.  Hope you all don’t have too much fun without me!  

I hope to return with more enamel pin mockups to share and a refreshed mind.  See ya after!

– Ang

May Sketch A Day Week 3 – Tieflings Galore!

This week, my muse followed my Dungeons & Dragons character, Anko, down the inspiration rabbithole this time!  I have a lot of behind-the-scenes deadline to meet this week, which meant an ‘easy’ week where I didn’t have to think too much, just have pure fun exploring this character who’s already fairly established in my brain.

It’s felt good to define Anko even more thoroughly, since I’ve been playing her for years now!  She’s had a really satisfying arc from being a timid young Tiefling girl to blossoming into a fully capable mage. She deserved more art than she’s gotten from me, honestly!

Day 14

This week’s journey began with gesture sketches and trying to discover what pose worked best for showing off Anko’s small demure horns for a formal concept chart.  I needed an angle that would show enough dimension in the spirals so that I could properly show off any danglies and decorations and ended up with a classical head turn.

My first horn decoration ideas were simple bejeweled tips and a studded cloth wrap inspired by how sacred cows are adorend in India.  Inspiration leads you to unexpected places sometimes!

Day 15

Some days are slower than others when you’re tired, but I managed a single variation with lots of braids and dainty filigree horn caps!  I love the way the braids wrapping around give a more elegant transition between hair and horn.

Day 16

I explored two concepts in mind, including flower garlands around the horns and gold-dusted or painted horns.  I was surprised how many colors this character looks good in and how much I loved the flowers!  They were my favorite look until the next set came along.  Even if I don’t go with them, I think if I ever have a need to depict Anko in a marriage or spring ceremony that the flowers would be perfect!

Day 17

A productive few days! I honestly thought I was done with concepts, but then I got the idea to combine my previous day’s concepts into a new variations, plus try the cloth wraps, but with chain taking the shape of the wraps.  I also loved the long elegant shapes of the dangling flowers I found while reference hunting and had to try them on horns!

Day 18

I needed another easy day and laying in flat colors on Anko’s dice arrangement from last week obliged!  Color brings all the golden goodness of baked goods to life, doesn’t it?

Day 20

After all this concepting, I wanted to work up one of my fave designs into a more fleshed out sketch!  The result is this lovely little portrait which was also great gesture and anatomy practice.  I had a little help from Senshistock with the pose as well!  Highly recommend her awesome stock for idea-gathering.

Concept Compilation

I’m not sure I made it any easier for myself to choose a formal look for Anko because they all have something I like about them!  Which ones did you guys like best?

Did you draw anything for May Sketch A Day this week? Share your favorite in comments so I can see and enjoy it too!  Or if not, let me know which of my sketches you enjoyed best.

More soon!  I’ve been working on a collection of enamel pin design sketches I’m so excited to share once I have them in a more finished spot!

– Ang

May Sketch A Day – Week 2: D&D, Tangled, & Harse!

See week 1’s collection here!

What a weird combination May Sketch A Day week 2 has been!  The week started out strong with another portrait of Khalara exploring her glowing silk moth dress concept.

And then my muse went bonkers with my D&D Tiefling and randomness!  But hey that’s half the fun with this event.  Enjoy the randomness!

Day 6 – Mothglow Portrait

This ended up becoming a little more than a sketch, but I was obligated as soon as I created that mothglow dress design from last week to work it up on the character!

Khalara continues to evolve from her Exalted look and is starting to look more like her own character now, though I’m still giving a nod to the original character’s flaming hair with her henna-dyed tips. 

Kalara had a hand scar while this Khalara has dyed hands to cover stains from her life as a slave. It’s been really intriguing to translate this character to my own story world and preserve what I like about her RPG concept!

I played around with the idea that the silk also has iridescent properties in normal lighting. I may have to work this one up to final sometime, as I really enjoy this concept for a painting! She’s come so far since my first sketch of her last week.

Day 7 – Adira

I took a totally indulgent day to draw some fan art of Adira from the Tangled animated series. The first time I saw this hulking, badass, cocky woman and her amazing character design, I just KNEW I had to draw her!

May Sketch A Day was the perfect excuse to finally draw her after many instances of ‘dang she’s cool’ when I saw her in the show.

Sidenote, this was also the first time I noticed the character wore mismatched earrings, something I never noticed until I was dissecting her character design in order to draw her!

Day 8 – 10 – Anko Head Variations

After playing my Tiefling Warlock Anko for the past few years, it was about time I decided what her horns looked like under her hair buns!  For those who haven’t met my D&D character yet, she’s a young Tiefling from a ghetto who grew up in her family’s bakery.  She ends up adventuring and learning about a legacy of dark magic she never knew of as a Warlock.

She ended up with cute little ‘cinnamon roll’ style horns which seem to fit her themes and the shape of her hair buns.  The shorter straighter horns are also quite nice. Stashing them for later!

Day 11 – Harse

This is what happens when I try to quickly draw a horse from memory. Anatomy from Hell and a horn because I only ever learned to draw horses so I could draw unicorns!

I can’t look at how hilariously bad this is without laughing so hard, I cry. May Harse bring you a laugh today instead of nightmares!

 Day 12 – Anko’s Dice

I was inspired by the beautiful dice arrangements of SweetDelilahs to make a similar one for my Tiefling gal, Anko!  She loves baking and the dark arts (but let’s hope she doesn’t mix up food with her spell components!)

How was your week?  Are any of you taking on a May art challenge?  Share your favorite one in the comments!  Or if not, which sketch of mine did you enjoy the most from this week?

If you’re on Discord and are one of my Patrons, you can see these sketches a day before I post them by connecting your Discord to Patreon!  You can see how to do that here.

Can’t wait to see what next week brings for May Sketch A Day and share more progress on the enamel pins as well!

– Ang