Tag: Summary of Art

Ang’s 2025 Year in Art

EDIT: I’ve added a video about my Year in Art 2025 summary to the top of this post, for those who enjoy listening instead of reading. I’ve also made sure the video includes proper subtitles and links in its description on YouTube. Enjoy and let me know what your fave piece of mine from this year was! I’d love to hear your thoughts. Was it the same as my personal pick?

I wanted to do a video as I normally do for the yearly art review, but flu hit our household hard, so I’ve lost my voice! I hope you’ll enjoy a tour of my featured art for this past year. While I did more than was featured, these were the pieces that stood out.

January – “The Boy With the Seven Word Name”

Ever since I joined in on the Exalted Secret Santa gift exchange hosted by ShiftingPath over on tumblr, my first art of any year is usually a gift for a fellow artist in the TTRPG community! I had a blast practicing a Hades-inspired style for my gift recipient’s character with the epic name.

Watch a timelapse and see my mini-tutorial on drawing in the Hades style here.

February – “The Empress’ Secret Library”

The Exalted TTRPG fan community also hosted a matchmaking challenge which tempted me this past year where two characters of ours were sent on a date. I chose a secret heretical library full of risque literature and artifacts.

Watch a timelapse of this image and learn more about the characters involved in this romp here.

March – “Exalted Character of the Month: Yorigasu”

The Exalted pattern continued as I also participated in the Exalted Character of the Month event where the Discord community gathers to draw each a chosen character each month. I always enjoy doing these to practice my skills and try new things!

Read more about Yorigasu here.

April – “Artorias Collbrande”

This portrait marked my return to doing private commissions and a level up in my skills and style goals. I’ve been trying to push my art towards painterly semi-realism with an intent to draw more story-driven art. As most people comment that Arty has a very self-satisified punchable face, I consider this a job well done!

For more about Artorias, read on here. You can also get a deep dive into his process in his Secret Sketchbook posts.

May – “Detective Claw Zu”

Another Exalted Character of the Month entry! This Pink Panther-inspired detective character presented a fun challenge for me of a character type I don’t draw too often.

June – “Dahlia”

A lovely character by Sam Hogg from her Whaler Girl universe. She was one of my commission giveaway winners where I got to practice a simpler flat color style.

For a timelapse and process pics of Dahlia, read on here.

July – “Cassius, Life and Death Necromancer”

Another giveaway winner, this time featuring a character by my friend, Zan.

For a timelapse and more story behind Cassius, read on here.

August – “Art Fight Emotes”

I technically started these in July, but there was too much art to fit in just that month’s slot. Art Fight is another yearly event where artists gather to draw each other’s characters while tallying points for their teams. This year, I wanted to teach myself how to do simplistic emote portraits in hopes of later designing my own for Discord and Twitch. I think I got a good start!

Watch timelapses for each character here.

September – “The Lingering Smile”

My Favorite Pick of the Year! I consider equipment, weapons, & FX a huge weakness for me, but this image pushed me in untested ways. I’m pleased with the results & how much fun I had along the way!

Read more about the story behind this sword concept here.

October – “The First Eclipse Meetup”

Another group activity with the Exalted TTRPG fan creators discord. With all of our health challenges this year, I’m not sure I would have drawn as much if I didn’t have the constant enthusiasm, encouragement, and inspiration from this community. This was my first time drawing a YCH (Your Character Here) template, where we all got together and drew our characters based on this pose template. That’s my happy drunk gal, Kalara, there at the end toasting with a mug. Featuring other characters from the fan community.

Featuring art and characters from left to right: Basileios (Jen), The Mournful Chorus of Shattered Heavens (Tuskface), Suriya (Epee102), Kalara (me) Serpent Twined Graveflower (shiftingpath), Shame (Neev), Ashen Heavens (Dr. Gelic), Forsaken Bride of Crimson Vows (ToxinFox), and Edan (Kess).

November – “The Twin Suns”

For November, I like to do a bit of writing, which I spent some time developing the rest of the cast of characters for The Uncrucified, a story I’ve been working on for a long while. These twins represent new characters on the cast I’m developing as divine twin heirs exiled from their kingdom because of their choosing by The Unconquered Sun.

They may end up changing in the future, but it felt good to get them down on paper after they’ve been living in my head for a long while now!

December – “Echo for Aquatica1000”

A commission which played to my strengths in goth vampire loveliness, which was a great way to close out my year!

Watch a timelpase of Echo’s creation here.

—-

What was your fave piece of mine from this year? Let me know in the comments!

I feel like Exalted really snuck in big time and I hope to listen to that urge more as we move into the future and I wrap up other projects.

Here’s to another year where I hope to keep pushing my storytelling, fundamentals, and personal stories!

<3 Ang

[Video] Ang’s Year In Art 2024 | Annual Art Tour + 2025 Art Goals

It’s that time of year again to take stock of all the inspiration 2024 has brought! I always enjoy doing this because it’s easy to get caught up in the ‘guilt’ of not creating enough. This year was an important one for me because I finally escaped the long grasp of long-term projects and started on a grand new adventure drawing more of the Geek-stuff, Fantasy novels, and TTRPG art that I enjoy!

Check out the video for the full month-by-month tour of what I worked on this year. It was impossible to fit every piece of art I made in 2024 into this format, especially for busy months like October where I created multiple pieces, so I’ve chosen my favorites. I’ve also included subtitles on the file for those who need them.

For those who just want to scroll through the art at their own pace, check out the rest of this entry for a quick rundown of each piece featured for each month of the year!

My Year in Art

There was lots of Exalted TTRPG and Cassiel’s Servant art this year! It’s been my happy place to explore all these wonderful Fantasy worlds and get involved with more narrative, character-driven art.

JAN – The Marrionette Dancing on Bloody Sinew

This character belongs to Paint-Lady.

FEB – The Cultivar of Bloody Sunsets

This character belongs to Kessinder.

MAR – Stained Glass Tarot – X of Swords

This is a detail of the larger piece I can’t share just yet! It will be fully revealed once we’re closer to the release of the Stained Glass Tarot project, which you can follow here.

APR – Blue Eye Meets Silver Devil

Featuring Mizu from Blue Eye Samurai, an amazing show you all need to watch! Crossing over with Koh, my character, Kalara, in disguise.

MAY – Shame

Shame belongs to therestlesshands.

JUN – Swan Ledaal

Swan belongs to annacory-blog.

JUL – Elua – Your Heaven is Bloodless

Inspired by Cassiel’s Servant, the novel by Jacqueline Carey. See more about this piece and the narrated video I created for it here.

AUG – Joscelin Costume Concepts

Also inspired by Cassiel’s Servant, I created several more sheets for this character you can see here.

SEP – Spice War Comic

This is actually a work-in-progress that I’ll return to later. Anjali and Rachna (on the right) belong to the Exalted comic by irregularcircle, while Kalara and Night Locust on the left are mine and my husband’s Exalted characters..

OCT – Kalara 3e Cover

Part of the Exalted Art Challenge from this year’s event, which you can see the full entries for here.

NOV – Cassiel’s Servant Cover Sketches

A selection of the thumbnail sketches for the Cassiel’s Servant cover I’ve been working on. See more here.

DEC – Reference Sheet: Kalara Vadras

This is only one of two in-progress sheets created for Kalara. See both sheets, plus a whole additional character not shown here.

My Fave Piece from 2024

Shame’s piece from May was my fave piece of this year! Drawing this piece was the first step in a new tarot-inspired style I want to nurture for my art moving forward. It captures the perfect blend of graphic and painterly.

My Art Goals for 2025

  • Do more traditional art.  I’d like to teach myself how to use acrylics and experiment with acrylic x color pencil pieces, as inspired by the gorgeous work of Tran Nguyen.

  • Improve my cover illustration portfolio.  Part of the whole reason I’ve been working on Fantasy novel inspired art here is to have new work for my cover illustration portfolio. This Patreon is all a part of the plan to support me during this endeavor!

  • Push my visual storytelling with new formats.  I’ve had so much fun doing comics and interactive media this year! I want to keep going with experimental formats like comics, animatics, and more for narrative expression in 2025.

What was your favorite piece of mine from this year? What do you want to see more of from me in 2025? Do you have any ambitious creative goals for 2025? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Here’s to another year of inspiration and remembering our great art loves!

Ang

Ang’s Year in Art 2023 Summary [Video + Blog Post]

It’s time for one of my favorite things – rounding up the art for a year-end retrospective!  This year, I wanted to do something different, however, so in addition to this little round-up blog post, I’ve also narrated a video for your enjoyment!  For those who don’t have 15+ mins to listen to my longer form rambling, you can skim the major talking points here instead.

Enjoy and let me know what your favorite piece of mine was from this year!  Is there anything you’d like to see me do more of in 2024?

My Month-to-Month Summary

A better look at each piece, plus extra art I couldn’t fit into the month-to-month format.

How Was My Year?

It was honestly a rough one!  From my existential dread dealing with generative AI replacing Illustrators to a significant cancer scare that derailed all my best laid plans, I’ve come out the other side with the best outcome of a benign tumor.  In spite of the dark cloud of looming disasters, I managed to complete my Birthstone Goddesses collection after 6 years of toil!  It may not have gotten the big finish I wanted for that project, but I’m happy to free up my muse and attention for other exciting endeavors on the horizon.

My Level-Up Piece

The piece that taught me the most and helped improve my skills – “The Lamb”

I chose this as my Level Up piece because I was able to find a balance within it that brought me a step closer to a Tarot-inspired art style I’ve been nurturing of late.  I used line art to accentuate the form and bring in very subtle hatchwork, while also letting the image be painterly. It’s a hard balance to strike, but this image was my “Eureka” moment for how to combine my love of lines and painterliness!

My Personal Favorite

The piece that I loved the most out of the rest I made – “Leaping River Orchid”

Things just ‘clicked’ with this piece.  Despite being quite loose, this image still has a good sense of character and mood.  In trying to emulate the Arcane animated series art style, I unlocked something between that space of loose lines and color that makes for a very appealing visual look.  Perhaps it’s merely her cool hat that makes this my favorite?  Either way, I hope I can use what I learned from painting Orchid for future pieces like it!

2024 Art Goals

  • Make more videos & streams – While I’ve been dipping my toe into sharing more videos this year, I’d like to really up the ante in 2024. I’m hoping to create more narrated videos and be more present as a person in them to remind folks I’m a human, not an art machine. I also want more face to face time with you all by streaming! Now, I just need to learn how to stick to a streaming schedule which I’ve had a terrible track record at.

  • Learn Clip Studio Paint – I feel like I’ve stagnated the past couple of years because I’ve avoided complex images with multiple figures and architectural elements. I’m hoping to teach myself Clip Studio Paint so I can start using 3D models to create reference materials for complex elements so painting them will be easier.

  • Re-invest in myself and my artistic voice/stories! – For years, I’ve always intended to write more, but my Art Muse has always dominated my time.  With AI now intruding into all creative fields, I want to push my work to be more about my voice, which I hope will stand out from the increase in AI material that’s bound to happen in the next few years. I have something to say with my work and now I finally have the freedom to pursue this endeavor with full attention thanks to our newfound stability!

—-

2023 was tough, but I’m stoked for 2024!  I feel like I’ve finally been able to slow down and heal in 2023 after literal years of health disasters, medical debt, house moves, and uncertainty.  Now, I’m able to approach a new branching path in my artistic direction in 2024.  I can’t wait to share it with you all!  I’ll be talking about the new and decidedly different work I’ll be sharing on this Patreon in the next entry.

Till then, onwards to 2024!  Thanks for sticking with me on this eteneral roller coaster of a ride.

– Ang

2022 Year-End Wrap-Up, An Existential Crisis, & Future Plans

EDIT: I’ve added a more thorough collage collecting my sketches and WIPs from 2022 as well. Enjoy!

2022 has been quite the ride!  As most of you guys know by now from reading here, I’ve had to take a lot of time off in 2022.  Not only did we go through an intense house move during an interest-rate hike and unfavorable housing market, but I’ve also been recovering from major shoulder surgery for tendon repairs from an old injury and subsequent physical therapy.  My art biz functioned on the bare minimum, mainly bolstered by the kind folks still supporting here on Patreon and my merch sales.

Thankfully, I still managed to draw at least one thing a month and that kept me sane and happy!  Even if my indulgent art resulted in sharing such an odd smattering of character art and writing here.  I hope to get back on task with my Birthstone Goddesses in the new year and keep these more exploratory pieces to sketchbook compilation posts while that project’s going on.

My Personal Favorite Artwork from this Year – The Pirate’s Kiss

This gift art for my good friend, Sam Hogg, was my fave from this year.  I had resigned myself to not making much art and spent a process of several weeks slowly chipping away at this painting in short bursts while just enjoying the painting process and learning new tools in Procreate. I hadn’t slowed down that much in a very long time!  It made me love making art again during a time I was feeling extremely burnt out on it and unsure of my future.  Thankfully surgery turned out okay after this painting was completed!

  • Read more about this piece’s creation here.

My Level Up Artwork from this Year – The Unmerry Band

Created for a Dungeons & Dragons game with friends, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone drawing vastly different looking characters, weapons, and body types.  My Genasi gal from this image also sparked off a whole NaNoWriMo inspiration adventure. 

  • Read more about this piece’s creation here.

An Existential Crisis

Unfortunately, this year has also brought us the wider proliferation of AI generated imagery, which has been a lot for me to process! I’ve written up a resources list of my research, should you want to read more about this topic.  I had played with this tech for a while thinking it could be a fun and useful tool to integrate into my process…until I learned that it functions by stealing artwork from the internet (including my own!) without the consent of artists to make its creations.  

We’ve now seen this tech spreading without much oversight and even a major publisher using it on a book cover. I’m not here to debate the merits of the tech, so please don’t start that debate in the comments.

For me, it’s made me LESS motivated to work on my more decorative art because I don’t feel it can compete with AI imagery in the same vein and MORE motivated to move my work in a direction where the narrative aspect takes priority to convey a message that I hope will make my work stand out from AI generated work.

For this reason, I’ve left longtime platforms I have loved for 20 years (half my life!), including DeviantART and ArtStation, which I’ll be using sparingly because they have allowed unethically sourced AI generated art to drown out human artists on their platforms and are common targets for unethical AI scrapers.  If you Followed me on those sites, be sure to look for me to be primarily sharing new artwork on Inkblot instead, with my presence still the same on IG, Facebook, Twitter, etc. for now.

Future Plans

I’m not giving up on art!  I still take joy in the act of creation, I just have less hope now that art can sustain me in a meaningful way within the illustration industry, which is already being flooded with AI generated competition, especially in the smaller independent arenas and even in some larger ones.  This is more incentive for me to work on what makes my artistic voice unique, to refine my traditional techniques, and to tell the stories only I can tell from my unique perspective.  

Thankfully, my husband and myself are stable enough right now alongside your support so that I can focus on my own personal IPs and stories in a way I never thought possible before now.  The advent of AI generated images has only helped convince me that pursuing my own stories instead of commercial work is less foolish of an endeavor than I used to think it was.

I still may try to pursue some of my dream commercial art jobs (IE. Magic the Gathering, TTRPG art, and pursuing more commercial book/comic cover work), but I want to stay focused on my own ideas rather than feeding an industry that grows more hostile and automated by the day, while continuously devaluing and underpaying artists.

What does this mean for this Patreon?  My plans have remained the same.  I’m moving forward with a re-launch of my Patreon (aiming for February) where I hope to wrap up my Birthstone Goddesses project over the next year or so and then I’ll be switching my Patreon’s focus to more narrative endeavors.  I also plan to shake up how I’m doing business now that I am no longer attending in-person events.  More specifically, I hope to do more online streaming, video content, etc. to invite you all into the process and get some of that face time back.  I really miss your faces and meeting kindred spirits at events!

I want to celebrate my Patreon’s re-launch with flair and am currently working on a line of Patreon-only merch for the occasion.  I’ll share more about the new merch, my evolving biz plans, and my specific Birthstone Goddesses Final Phase plans in a dedicated post soon, so stay tuned!

For now, this post is long enough, so I’m going to stop rambling here and wish you all happy holidays.  Thank you once more for making all the difference with your support this year, despite the fact I haven’t been able to give back as much as I’d like in return!  The downtime has been healing and invigorating for me and I can’t wait to put that energy back into my art and art biz in 2023.

We have a new home and studio to celebrate and a whole new path ahead.  Here’s to a 2023 full of passion and a glorious return to art-making for me!

♥ Ang

This Year On My Patreon + Year In Art Wrap-Up 2021

It’s still hard to believe this year has almost ended!  It started out rough (COVID, moving, burnout, quitting conventions, etc), but has ended in an amazingly positive place (Kev’s good health + new job, etc.).

I didn’t produce a lot of art this year, but I was also making a lot of invisible moves in the background to overhaul my web presence, sites, and shops.  I used a lot of what I learned this year to make big steps towards building a more sustainable art biz for myself without having to rely on conventions, which is looking to be a permanent change for me as we prioritize Kev’s health and risk factors.

Our Year On Patreon

Your support here has done so much for me, especially during the rough times!  Not only that, but every word of encouragement here in the comments or over in my Discord server have really meant a lot.  Every word of encouragement really keeps an artist going!

Fans and Patrons have helped me do the following this year:

  • Pay for lifetime subs for my websites’ themes and gallery plugins so I can save money in the long run

  • Up my budget for ads, which drives sales and helps new folks discover my art

  • Stay stable and have more peace of mind while we’ve endured struggles and medical bills

  • Afford the Making Art Work class, which has been so helpful for improving my biz this year

My Major Milestones This Year

  • Built a new site for the Gemstone Goddesses

  • Started laying the foundation for the Birthstone Goddesses Calendar & Art Book

  • Participated in my very first Tarot deck with Temperance

  • Started learning how to use Clip Studio Paint, an amazing tool

What’s Next?

I’m excited for next year, where I hope to keep making steps forward to finish my biggest ambitions for the Birthstone Goddesses and to keep pushing my art skills.  I have a pretty big list from class of things I’d like to start rolling out for the Goddesses (ie. pendants, totes, gift sets, etc.).

But first, I’m going to relax for the holidays and enjoy a much-needed quiet end of the year.

Thanks so much, as ever, for being here and for all who have supported this Patreon or have just been encouraging fans.  I know I keep repeating this, but it’s little things like that which keep an artist going, especially when times get rough!

Thanks for your kind words and thoughts.  I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the year!

♥ Ang

A Year In Art Summary + Happy New Year!

It’s always therapeutic to put together my year in art collages. The year began with wrapping up the creation of my Birthstone Goddesses enamel pins and ended with learning a new art program (Clip Studio Paint).  I can’t believe that I finished my pin series this year.  It feels like it was 20 years ago, at this point!

I wasn’t as productive as I would have liked and spent a lot of time just trying to stay sane with random fun art memes.  By the same token, it was also a therapeutic year of escaping that intense focus on biz concerns to indulge in my own well-being and personal fun art. Doing so helped me to survive and to refresh those creative wells that have been feeling empty for a long time!

Now that I’ve started to accept my new normal and have given myself the chance to rest and indulge in the personal work, I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing of things with the Birthstone Goddesses in 2021!  I have ambitious plans, as ever, and I can’t wait to share them. (More on that in a future post!)

Have you been setting goals and aspirations for the new year?  I’d love to hear about them!  Artists, did you also make a Year in Art summary? Feel free to link them, as I’d love to see!

Here’s to the last day of 2020.  Happy New Year, everyone!

♥ Ang

A Year in Review + Updated Art List

No doubt, it’s been one of the most challenging and epic years here on Patreon!  You guys have helped me through a very difficult personal time with the medical challenges my husband and I have faced.  I’ve also been able to complete the monumental task of finishing my very first physical coloring book!  I took part in another successful card game Kickstarter and have grown so much this year with the work I’ve been doing (just look at that montage above!).

But even that work didn’t feel like enough when I found myself crippled by stress and anxiety over our medical woes and unable to focus as much as I would’ve liked.  The words of encouragement you left us and the fact that many of you have stuck around to support this Patreon has really kept me going this year!  Your kindness goes a very long way.  Here are some of the things you all helped me do in 2018:

  • Pay our utility bills once medical bills became too much for us.
  • Pay for ads to help boost my art biz.
  • Invest in new product inventory for conventions.
  • Successfully Kickstart my first coloring book, which I couldn’t have done without your signal boosting and support!

After the difficult year that was 2018, things are looking up and my husband’s health has continued to improve.  Without that stress hanging over us, I’m hoping I can focus on making a comeback in 2019 with some very ambitious goals!  Here’s what I want to roll out to you here on Patreon this year:

  • More Behind the Scenes videos.
  • More live art streams.
  • The Artist FAQ Video Series.
  • Early Access to Commission Slots for Patrons

With the main series of paintings completed for the Ladies of the Months, I’m hyped to begin building up to the Art Book I want to make happen next, plus some of the other art merch I’m planning!  Here’s a look at the creations I’m hoping to make this year:

  • The Ladies of the Months Wall Calendar (FINALLY!)
  • Sticker Sets of the Little Ladies of the Months
  • Enamel Pins of each of the Ladies of the Months ( + gem-encrusted deluxe versions!)
  • Alternate Lady Paintings for the Ladies of the Months Art Book
  • Cosplay Charts for each Lady
  • New Premium Tutorial Videos (ie. painting walkthroughs of each Lady & her mask)
  • Standalone Paintings of each Lady’s Window Design

Can I make all of this happen this year?  We shall see!  As ever, I look forward to sharing each step of the way with you, my lovely Patrons!  I couldn’t do half of what I have done without being able to focus on what I love thanks to your encouragement and support.

Do you have any crazy ambitions for 2018?  What are you looking forward to the most from this Patreon?  What would you like to see more of from this Patreon in 2019?  Share in comments!

Now let’s start making this year amazing!

Ang’s 2018 Summary of Art

The end of the year and the beginning of a new year is always an introspective time for me.  It’s that time where I look back and take stock of where I’ve gone and look forward to where I’m going!  I wanted to take you all on a tour of this year’s greatest hits.  It’s been a pretty prolific year for me, artistically!

JANUARY – Anko’s Determination

Anko, my Warlock Tiefling who loves to bake, came onto the scene a few years ago for my husband’s Dungeons & Dragons campaign and I’ve loved watching her grow from meek young girl to a strong capable mage.  This image represented a pivotal moment in her development where she and the party faced off with an enemy that had no regard for innocent lives.  Anko learned to fight for what she thought was right and that she was more capable than she realized!  The resulting drawing of this moment flowed out of my pencil without much effort and remains my favorite drawing of Anko.

FEBRUARY – Lady of October Thumbnail Sketches

The next few months were consumed with research and study for the Lady of October, starting with her thumbnail sketches. This Lady was a bit different from her sisters in that she was much more mystical.  I agonized for a long time making a composition that was different enough from Lady of November, who also had a similar holiday theme in the Day of the Dead, while this Lady is more Samhain.

MARCH – Lady of October Fashion Design

More Lady of October! She was a unique challenge with her billowing sheer outfit and I deliberated a long time trying to nail down her look.

APRIL – Lady of October

The Lady of October finally arrived!  I experimented with gray inks for the first time with this piece trying to find a way to create mist and subtlety with pen and ink.  She also marked the completion of the Ladies of the Months main series of paintings, one of my major accomplishments for this year!

MAY – Ladies of the Months Headers

May was a prolific month!  I Kickstarted the Ladies of the Months coloring book while feverishly creating all twelve header images to boost the campaign.  It felt good to take the completed designs for the Ladies that I had agonized over for years and just have good fun with them!  Lady of December’s header was my favorite from the bunch, but you can see all twelve here.

JUNE – The Lady of Slaughter

Created for a Patreon request, this sketch allowed me to draw on an old love for Egyptian mythology that I had never really expressed in art before.  It felt good to return to these beloved stories from my childhood and indulge in that old love!  

JULY – The One Who is Above

The Egyptian sketch requests from my Patreon Patron continued resulting in some of my unexpected favorites from this year!  You can see the whole triptych of Egyptian gods here.

AUGUST – The Rose Seelie

This month saw the creation of the Rose Faeries, my pair of cards for the Olde Fae card game based on Old Maid.  It also marked a glorious return to creating more fantastical images, which I had been sorely missing!

SEPTEMBER – Fury of the River Goddess

Sometimes those quick sketches just work out!  This request for a Patreon Patron’s river goddess made me realize this is the kind of thing I want more of in my RPG/Game portfolio and also showed me what strong shapes and contrast can do in a composition.  The rest of this month was spent converting the Ladies headers from the previous month into line art for the coloring books extra pages.

OCTOBER – The Little Ladies of the Months

October was another flurry of productivity creating extra art for the coloring book!  Lady of September here was my favorite of the bunch as I felt had the best balance of a dynamic pose and filling up the space of the medallion in an interesting way.  You can see the whole set of twelve Little Ladies I created during this month here.

NOVEMBER – Anko’s Determination (Colored)

I realized during this month that I had fallen into a slump.  I was really burnt out after working on so much material for the book and it had been a very long  stressful year with my husband’s cancer diagnosis in August and hospitalization for heart problems in February.  Whenever my morale is low, I turn to games and original characters who always lift my mood.  After spending several months ignored, Anko finally got her first ever colored portrait!

DECEMBER – Exalted Secret Santa

The burnout slump continued and I’ve been trying to take it easy this month to enjoy life and family!  Doing the Exalted Secret Santa every year has been such a fun way to connect with one of my favorite fan communities and cool tabletop universes. It’s always exciting to see how my partner interprets my characters, as well!  You can see what my Secret Santa partner did for me here.

Finally, here we have a montage of nearly all the art I created in 2018!

What’s Next?

It’s funny that while I was very productive this year, I still feel like I didn’t do enough!  There were a lot of days spent forcing myself past those mental slumps feeling like everything was a disaster because it was supposed to be easier or finished long before it was or I wasn’t ‘strong’ enough to work past my mental blocks and tiredness to make more than I did. 

I have to remind myself that I am not a machine and that sometimes life is going to get you down.  It’s ok to spend your time with loved ones instead or work on a personal piece to make yourself feel better.  In the end, well-being is more precious!  A hard lesson for this workaholic who was always taught that my self-worth lies in my productivity levels.

Next year, I’m very much looking forward to exploring the more conceptual paintings I have planned for the Ladies and diving deep into that fantastical element I’ve been hankering for in my work!  I also want to get back to studying more, as I feel I’ve really let my fundamental skills languish.

I have a lot of exciting art goals for 2019, but I’m going to save those for a New Years post!

I hope you enjoyed the tour of this year’s work!  What was your favorite piece of mine this year?  Did you create any favorite pieces of your own?  Let me know in comments!

Much love and inspiration!

– Ang