Tag: art memes

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

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

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

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

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

Art VS Artist

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

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

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

Save My Studio Closet! 40% Off My Coloring Books

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

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

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

Snag a Book

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

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

♥ Ang

The Color Wheel Challenge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<3 Ang

Want to do this challenge yourself? Have some resources:

Artist Asks Questionnaire – Part 2

Continuing on from Part 1, here’s the 2nd part of my Artist Ask questionnaire!  Discussing my preferred mediums, what I’d like to improve on, and more!

You can see the full thread with animated GIFs for maximum impact here.

15. How long does an avg piece take you to complete?  

It depends! My extremely detailed intense ink & watercolor Birthstone Goddesses took about a month a piece, while others might only take 1-2 weeks. I’m an intensely research & detail-oriented person, so I usually take longer.

16. Do you draw more than you did in the past or less?

I’ve actually drawn less, which makes me sad! Once art became my job, there was suddenly this pressure that EVERYthing must be good/monetizeable, which made me too obsessed with perfectionism. I’m trying to have fun again!

I’ve also gotten really lax about doing studies and practice as I rush from one project goal to the next. I need to learn to slow down and get back to my fundamentals again! It’s going to help my quality (and my career) in the long run.

17. Do you think you’re justified giving art advice?

I believe so! I share what I know always with the caveat that I speak from MY individual experience and I am a fallible human. If I don’t know an answer, I’m always keen to learn more, find out, and discuss.

18. What are you currently trying to improve on?  

My fundamentals! I want to be more ambitious with my anatomy, color, perspective, & light. I’ve lined up classes for myself, including Proko’s portrait & anatomy courses. I’m currently reading through Renderwave’s Colorpedia to brush up on my color theory.

19. What is the most difficult thing for you to draw?  

Architecture, cars, guns, basically anything inorganic that doesn’t let me fudge the details!

20. What is the easiest thing for you to draw?  

Long hair! It’s so soothing, flowy, & fun. I can use it to fill up pesky BGs or to lead compositional flow.

21. Do you like to challenge yourself?  

It’s exciting to challenge myself! I enjoy it, even if it’s scary & frustrating at times. IE. Clothing was one of my biggest weaknesses, but I took on my Birthstone Goddesses series in part to improve on that weakness. It’s been a blast!

22. Are you confident that you’re improving steadily?  

I’ve slowed down a bit because I’ve been so focused on my Birthstone Goddesses project, where I made small improvements because of the formulaic nature of them. I’m hopeful changing things up will get me back on course!

23. Do you do more fanart or original art?  

Funny enough, I created more fan art as a young artist, esp for DBZ & FF7. I also sometimes make TTRPG art based on my OCs for Shadowrun, Exalted, & D&D.  Nowadays, I do mainly original work, but it’d be fun to take some fan art breaks!

24. Do you feel jealous or inspired by other artists?  

Both! Most times, I love discovering new art, but sometimes it’s SO good I want to quit because I get overwhelmed by the thought I have a lot of work to do to improve. That’s when it’s time to turn off the internet and re-center!

This is lately compounded by the fact that I’m nearing 40 & feel very behind in my development. I should be further than I am, but life took another path!  I know that’s anxiety-brain speaking. I’m my worst critic & social media gives us such a skewed view of everyone’s reality.

25. Do you like to draw in silence or with music?  

Def with music! I’m a stickler for making playlists to match the mood. I even have character-specific playlists.  But here’s a good general playlist of stuff that gets my muse going & keeps me focused.

26. What programs do you use?  

I mainly paint & arrange comps in Photoshop, with Clip Studio Paint for comic work, though I’ve been painting more often in Procreate as I learn to use it better.  CSP’s panel functions work like a dream & Procreate has some of the best FX brushes!

I have plans to take a course on CSP, as I feel like its 3D models could help speed up my workflow and there are so many quality of life functions meant specifically for artists which it has over Photoshop. I’m looking forward to exploring it more soon!

27. How many layers do your digital pieces have?  

I’ve regularly gone beyond 40+ layers in a single piece because I like to be able to edit each part individually if I change my mind. I always forget to label some too. I do not recommend my bad layer habits!

28. What traditional media do you like most?  

I’m a fan of mixing watercolor & color pencil. Watercolor lets you bring such surreal textures & blends, while the color pencil lets you bring in sharp details with a rich texture & depth of its own.

29. How do you start a big trad piece?  

I usually plan my pieces with rough thumbnailing on toned paper, then refining the rough drawing in Photoshop, then transferring a printout with a lightpad onto paper. Then FINALLY painting can begin!  It’s all rather tedious, but worth it.

30. What inspires you to not just make art, but to be a better artist?  

For me, it’s being able to put the kinds of tales & stories out in the world that I want to see, to expand people’s ability to imagine what’s possible, to bring a voice to the unheard.

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I hope folks have found something useful & inspiring from my Artist Asks journey.  Did I miss a question you all are dying to know the answer to?  Feel free to ask me in the comments!

♥ Ang

Artist Asks Questionnaire – Part 1

Back in September, this survey was a nice distraction and an informative journey for my Twitter followers. Now, I’ve compiled it here on my blog so it can be easily read all in one place.  Enjoy this list of answers to some of the most frequently asked questions!  

Meanwhile, you can read this list with the original gif accompaniment here.

1. Do you prefer digital or traditional?  

Both! I prefer to paint color digitally & line art traditionally. I feel like I have better motor control & work faster with trad tools! It also depends on what mood I’m in. Sometimes I’ll draw my lines by hand & scan to paint digitally.

2. How long have you been drawing?  

Since I could hold a pencil! I loved writing & illustrating my own horror & unicorn stories as a kid. I distinctly remember when I was around 8 that I wanted to be like Trina Schart Hyman, who illustrated my fave fairy tale books.

NOTE: By horror & unicorn stories, I mean entirely different unrelated stories & not stories about horror unicorns.  I had my Last Unicorn phase 1st followed closely by my Scariest Stories Ever Told phase.  Though now I wonder what actual Unicorn Horror stories might be like!

3. How many classes have you taken?  

I’ve taken college art classes (BA in Studio Art & MA in Arts Admin), but have also kept my learning going with:

And more.  I’m always up for learning & experimenting!

4. Do you have a Devart, site, or blog?  

I’m not as active on DA as I used to be as I spend more time on ArtStation now. I share articles about my process & happenings on my blog.  

Bonus links to where I spend most of my time lately:  

I’m also around a few community Discord servers for Drawn+Drafted, D&D Fantasy Art, Forge of Wonders (an Exalted server where I’m a mod) etc.

5. What’s your fave thing to draw?  

Anything elegant & dark. I love capable &/or mysterious female characters and intricate costumes. Give me mystical moods & scrumptious intriguing narrative details to chew on!  Detail of my Priestess of the Keeper piece which is def my aesthetic.

6. What’s your least fave thing to draw?  

Not a fan of architecture, cars, or machinery! I have trouble wrapping my brain around the intricacy and perspective planes and don’t find them as fun to draw as more organic subjects.

7. How often do you use reference?  

Very often! My brain only has so much room to store all the knowledge of human anatomy. I don’t consider it cheating, but essential to maintaining realism.  I also share my pose ref photos over at my art resources project, The Muses Library, if you need inspiration!

8. Do you draw professionally or just for fun?  

I am a full-time professional working on indie projects, but sometimes I actually miss doing art purely for fun!  It’s a bad habit now to automatically monetize what I’m drawing or needing every.single.thing to be masterfully done.

9. How long do you spend drawing on an average day?  

I split my time between answering emails, writing articles, managing sites, updating shops, managing orders, and ACTUAL art-making, so my ratio is usually 4-6 hours of art. Maybe more if I’m lucky and/or there’s a tight deadline!

10. Are you confident about your art?  

Some days more than others! I try to be realistic about my art skills. Many of my fundamentals still need work, but I’m proud of my sense of narrative details, composition, & posing. Just need to keep on working on color, light, & anatomy!

I like to do inspiration maps & evals about once a year to get a sense of where I’m going with my art, stylistically & emotionally, & to be more aware of what skills I should be working on. Portfolio reviews also help immensely! 

Full art sources here.

11. How many art blogs do you follow?  

I keep up with the industry via FB groups but also: –

Any others I should check out?  Let me know in the comments!

12. Is it ok if people ask you about your process?  

As long as folks don’t mind that it takes me awhile to reply, I’m happy to share what I know!  I also discuss my mixed media watercolor, color pencil, and ink techniques in my howto book, Angelic Visions.

My Patrons also get an in-depth glimpse into my techniques & product development via my Premium Tutorials & Patron-only posts.  Additionally, I share -free- tuts & info via my YouTube channel.  I’m very sporadic about updating, but there’s good stuff there!

Finally, here’s a comprehensive list of my fave tools & materials for watercolor painting!

13. Do you prefer to keep your art personal or work for others?  

I prefer my own projects! It’s fun to occasionally explore other people’s topics, but after starting my career doing freelance work that didn’t really grow my portfolio much, I switched focus to my own projects.

14. Do you ever collaborate with others?  

I’m contributing to The Changeling Artist Collective’s The Woven Path Tarot & have also contributed to their Olde Fae (Old Maid) card game.  I’ve also worked with Sam Hogg on a lovely Special Ed gold foil print of my Lady of Eternity!

(My Rose Fae set for the Olde Fae game)

(My “Temperance” card for the Woven Path Tarot)

(A gold foil print made with Sam Hogg and available exclusively through my Patreon Secret Shop.)

I’ve even designed jewelry in the past, which was a rare, but exciting opportunity! Though the final design hasn’t been released yet, to my knowledge.  I’d love to collaborate on more topics that interest me, including TTRPGs, feminine empowerment, folklore,& dark elegant horror.

15. How long does an avg piece take you to complete?  

It depends! My extremely detailed intense ink & watercolor Birthstone Goddesses took about a month a piece, while others might only take 1-2 weeks. I’m an intensely research & detail-oriented person, so I usually take longer.

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This entry’s getting a bit long, so  I’m going to save the next 15 questions for the part tune.  Stay tuned!

(Part 2 Coming Soon!)