2021 Goals and rearranging my work area! (SKETCHBOOKS)

2021 goals? CHECK. XD

I need a low-pressure way to share my sketchbooks again so I figured, WHY NOT ACTUALLY POST TO YOUR BLOG AGAIN, YOU DORK??

I rearranged my workspace shelving slightly to accommodate my current sketchbooks! (See also: updated corkboards yaaaay.) Sketchbooks were my refuge in 2020: I drew 686 pages across 18 sketchbooks!

My 2020 sketchbooks (eight total) are easily accessible, and I have six sketchbooks I'm doodling in daily or almost daily. I added a couple older sketchbooks I may still reference to the last letter tray (above).

To better organize my thoughts and story ideation, I keep separate sketchbooks for each story (namely Brainsick, Fáèlborn, and KriMauTai at this time--but almost exclusively Brainsick and its alternate universe, Count the Calm).

Collaging / decorating new sketchbook covers is one of my favorite past times. I'd ordered two Wonder & Weiss Create Collection sketchbooks from Ebay late last year after finding a couple in a local Ross sometime in 2019. W&W has no website that I can find, and the Ebay books were likely picked up from another secondhand store and sold at a markup--but I love them, so I fell for the bait. ;D

I will remove the covers from spiralbound sketchbooks to fully personalize them. They're easy to reassemble! This one is from December 1st, 2020:

With time, I added MORE STICKERS:

(front cover, back cover, inner front, inner back)

Pink skull by my friend, Ely (Spycyshark)
Space doggo by my friend, Sunny (The Acidic Slushie)
Strawberry cat by Crowlines
woodland critters from a cute sticker pack at Fred Meyer

Crystal fox sticker by Ely!

Headphones goblin by my friend Mike! (StickerSandwich)
Blue-tongued monster by my friend Merp! (MerplDerpl)

Granted, the paper in this particular sketchbook is not quite as sturdy, SO I've made it a sketchdump! LOTS of pages for quick, rough doodles that I can fix up in my mixed media sketchbook. Speaking of which!

Rat, moon, and another crystal fox by Spycyshark!

Space snake by Alum & Ink

Owl and datura by Black Sea Foam

Horned heart monster by StickerSandwich

Holographic monster by Kiriska

Constellation stickers by my friend Hannah (RoseBound Studio)

(Gorgeous holiday card by my bro Aki hangin' over my Surface)

I LOVE CANSON XL MIXED MEDIA SKETCHBOOKS. They're well-crafted and can weather a LOT of wet media applications!

The Book of Fonch is where I focus on my Count the Calm art. Camille said that "Book of Fonch" sounds like a cult BUT if it's a cult, it's like... a cult of loving yourself for who you are and cute found family shenanigans aaaand non-explicit asexual kink **wow** XD

Nightmute sticker by my friend N! (Nightmute)

Big Mood and AM PUPPY! by ButtsteakYUM!

WILD! by my friend Jen (Coffeehousedog)

Coffee Goblin by StickerSandwich (plus Heart Monster!)

Beanie fox by Spycyshark

Fat Cat Dragon by Spycyshark

Pupsicle by Coffeehousedog

Dork 4 Life by Michi Scribbles

Pink face washi tape by Commandurr14

Chubby unicorn by StickerSandwich

Green tiger sticker by Crowlines

Fat Cat Pants, Space Otter, and Chubby Chonken by Alum & Ink

Pride Possum and Slice of Life by Spycyshark

Wolf and bone by Nightmute

Cute and SPOOKY!! stickers by Commandurr14

SO TINY AND PRECIOUS <3
(by Commandurr14 / Lee Strawberry)

I... just REALLY LOVE STICKERS

I'll share some actual sketch pages here soonish! I WANT to share more of my sketchbook art; I just hate social media nowadays. I deactivated my Facebook account in November (after deliberating on it for years), and I share stories on IG but delete the app shortly after. I'll share more on IG eventually, but the break has been beneficial. 

I mostly share friends' art on Twitter, haha. :D

Here is a fat bird I found at Fred Meyer.

It reminds me of Fonch (AU Finch lolol)

I'm collecting Fonches at an alarming rate XD

Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019!

I let 2018 whiz past me with nary a blog post. As guilty as I felt about not sharing my art process, I had to remind myself that working full-time (usually 45+ hours a week) left me little time to prepare blog posts. And I like to share thorough blog posts!

I've got a lot I still want to share. Part of me says Start Fresh and Move On. The other part of me organizes progress folders for the following projects:

And that's not even counting the projects I didn’t fully share in 2017, including my comics venture, "Lily's Nightmare," nor the many adventures I experienced throughout 2018. Oh, jeez.

I'm on the fence about sticking with Blogger. Most of my Inktober 2016 pageviews were spam, spiking at consistent times throughout the day, week, month, and so on. In a word: discouraging. I'm considering a partial switch to Wordpress, i.e. cross-posting between platforms for better SEO.

Time will tell. What do you think? Slowly work through the wealth I have stored, or New Year, New Blog?

Inktober 2017, Day 2!

Inktober 2017, Day 2: Human!Twitch

6x9 technical pen and colored pencil on smooth bristol paper

Human!Twitch is fun to draw. Disgusting, but fun. Pose and quote directly inspired by a scene from AKIRA (the film; said scene is absent from the manga).

Twitch is usually a huge tomcat, and a sadomasochistic cannibal.

Inktober 2017, Day 1! (plus BONUS)

Inktober 2017, Day 1: DECAY

9x12 brush pen in my sketchbook

Ahklut bonus sketch!

Blogger isn't what it used to be, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't continue to update it! So, better late than never, here is Inktober, Day 1. I began with my poster girl for all things grim and gory, Decay. Added a bonus Ahklut for Thornwolf's creature challenge!

Decay didn't scan well; I drew her too close to the sketchbook seam. I used to add margins to my sketchbooks to prevent this from happening, ha!

February Face-Fest, Room Renovations, and DIY Photo Boxes!

Kicking off with the Meet the Artist meme.

Studies and character studies for Paranoid. 

 Studies and character studies for Lily.

Finch's turnaround came out pretty well!

Test run: mini photo box!

Owl charm and Musky the Smilodon toy.

Quartz crystal (purchased) and a hag stone from Oceanside.

Agates I collected from Oceanside last year.

A couple of my old Sculpey figurines: kitty-dog and a Moraunx (1999 or 2000).

Raccoon skull I cleaned in 2006. Lots of damage, but a great reference! 

Anne's turnaround is decent.

Rant's turnaround: EYEBROWS.

Zentangle-inspired owl based on a suggestion from Sophie!

ADORABLE papercraft portrait Katie made of me! (Plus tiny cat friend.)

Christine's fabulous Sphynx cat, Gandalf the Pink!

Table setup prior to breakdown.

Naked walls are so weird...

Built with generous help from my aunt and uncle!

Fieran's turnaround is getting there. Best version I've drawn of her, at least!

Brought my Samsung monitor out of storage to use with my Surface!

Raquel and Fieran. <3 p="">

Quick reworking of an old marker illustration using watercolor pencils and Derwent Inktense. I want to make a full version!

February was another fickle month. I began my personal art challenge - February Face-Fest - on a good foot, and ended with few completed drawings to show for what I'd had planned. It was progress, but it often felt in vain.

I found distractions to pique my interest: installing and learning how to use Linux on my old laptop; building my own photo boxes to take better photos of my prints (tested with many different items); making charms with the owl beads Mom gave me for Christmas; and preparing to upgrade to a loft bed. I participated in Fanaticon 2, which was lackluster in sales but wonderful for inspiration.

...I'm finally posting this in August and I began prepping this post in March??? Life is weird. ;P