Tag: comic artist

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Getting Ready to Move

AT LAST! My roommate and I found a new apartment! We are signing the lease in the next week and a half. So, in the meantime, I’m getting ready to move.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

For one thing, this means a new, re-designed studio space. I’m clearing out the supplies I don’t use, and getting ready for new stuff. Like a new office chair (because Mister Moony the kitten has torn the crap out of my old one, which wasn’t in the best of shape to begin with).

This also means more creative time! The new apartment is closer to the office where I work, so less commuting time = more drawing time!

Unfortunately, this move also means that a lot of schedules are going to get disrupted until things settle down. So…

HERE’S MAY’S UPDATED SCHEDULE

New Punk Signal updates on the Tiny Dinos Discord are going on hiatus until June 6.

The Legend of Jamie Roberts will update as usual on Wednesdays. (Behind-the-scenes content for the Clubs will also continue as normal). I will clue you in if this changes.

TikTok will update sporadically, if at all (same as right now). The same is true for Instagram and Tumblr. I am NOT on Twitter anymore because Twitter is broken AF.

Validation on Instagram is going on hiatus until June 5.

Validation on Webtoon is going on hiatus until June 5, as well.

Vanita and the Demon King will update as usual on my email newsletter. (Behind-the-scenes content for the Clubs will also continue as normal). I will clue you in if this changes.

Any blog updates will be saved only for big news, like a convention appearance being booked or needing to extend the hiatus.

Email newsletter updates will continue updating once a week on Fridays, so readers can get the latest from Vanita and the Demon King in their inboxes. Also, Subscribers to my Clubs will continue getting Sunday updates.

YouTube videos are a special case because some are already in the pipeline. One video is going live this Friday, and I hope to get the other one done before May 15. (It’s halfway done already). Don’t expect regularly scheduled updates, though.

I appreciate your patience while I’m moving to a new home. With any luck, I hope to resume things as normal around June 1.

That’s all for now. Thank you very much!

You. Are. Awesome.

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I’m Changing How I Do Streaming. Here’s What You Need to Know…

Yep, I’m changing some behind-the-scenes parts. So the way that will show on stream is going to change.

How?

Well, here’s the situation:

I had done past live streams using StreamYard. Now, StreamYard DOES allow for streaming on YouTube AND Twitch simultaneously…but there’s a catch.

In order to do this, StreamYard saves streams in its own archive. The amount of hours you can save depends on how much you pay StreamYard per month. I’m on the basic plan because I’m frugal and don’t want to spend much money. Streaming is not the most significant thing I do (it’s making comics).

However, the last stream I did made me reach my cap on the number of hours I can have stored. In order to free up space, I have to delete past recordings. And here’s where it gets weird on a technical level that I can’t figure out.

I went into the StreamYard storage of my account and deleted past recordings. (Don’t worry – they’re still available to watch on YouTube). BUT, StreamYard tells me I’m still maxed out on the number of hours I can record, which doesn’t make sense. Aren’t I making more space by deleting these recordings?

So, until I can figure out what the hell is going on here, I can’t use StreamYard to host my streams.

Instead, I will be switching to OBS.

OBS Studio is a lot more technical than StreamYard, but it’s open source and free to download. So I have some basics set up for OBS now.

The problem with OBS is – I can’t stream simultaneously on two platforms. I can only stream on one.

So, I have decided to ONLY stream on Twitch for the time being.

This DOES change how streams are archived. Twitch does have archived streams available for folks to watch – if the viewer is subscribed to the channel. Not followed, because following is free. Subscriptions cost some money. And the minimum subscription is $4.99 a month. As the creator, I can tell you that Twitch takes half that amount, so I only get $2.50 of a $4.99 subscription. It’s not my favorite cut, but it’s the one that exists.

WITH THAT SAID…

You don’t have to subscribe on Twitch if you don’t have the means.

I will still be streaming Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2 pm EST. If you would like to watch it for free, be sure to tune in at those times on my Twitch channel.

However, if you would like to watch streams that get archived, you gotta’ subscribe. If you DO decide to purchase subscriptions, know that your sub will support the comics I make and the work I do! This means better tools, which make better comics, art, and videos.

What About YouTube?

The things I post on YouTube will ALSO be changing. But I’ll share that in a later post.

If you have questions or concerns, leave them in the comments and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

That’s all for now. Thank you for your support and understanding.

You. Are. Awesome.

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The Dragon Mage

the dragon mage illustration. This piece pictures a young woman in a sports bra and skirt sitting on a cushion with her hands up and cupping ethereal smoke. The smoke lingers before her in the shape of a dragon head. The trail of the dragon smoke twists on the canvas until it trails back to its source - an open teapot.

I’m surprised I never posted this on the blog before. But here she is – The Dragon Mage.

The Dragon Mage is available as a hi-resolution download! But only for Ko-Fi supporters and Patreon patrons. I’ve been posting hi-res downloads for supporters, and I plan on keeping that up.

But maybe there will be more art like this? I’m thinking about it…

If you’re curious, The Dragon Mage is drawn with fine line markers, a brush marker, and color Copic markers. I really like the simplified color palette here.

That’s all I have for now. But maybe there will be more art like this in the future? We’ll see.

Thank you for checking this out!

You. Are. Awesome.

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A Ko-Fi Shop Update

Normally I write about projects, but today I’m giving a ko-fi shop update. Because there’s new stuff, clearance stuff, and stuff coming soon.

Wait…New Stuff?

Yes! New stuff! I have new mini-prints, yo.

These are all now available on ko-fi.

By the way, there are only 3 Dragon Baby keychains left as of this writing.

But I Still Have Clearance Stuff?

Yes, I do! I did remove the things that are sold out, so those things I removed are gone forever. BUT…I still have mystery bags. Plus I will be making more mystery bags soon. Also, they’re now $1 (and shipping is $5 for USA shoppers).

What’s Coming Soon?

The Case of the Wendigo! Unfortunately, I sold out of copies of this book at Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, so I’ll need to re-order those. I also need to order more copies of Witches: A Sketchbook and Gods & Spirits: A Sketchbook. Those 3 were the most popular things on my table on Saturday. (Them, and the Dragon Baby Pins.)

It also occurred to me that I haven’t posted the other Charlie & Clow books OR my other stickers up on ko-fi yet. So that’s going to get fixed this week.

And MAYBE there will be original art soon? Who knows? There’s still a gallery show I need to prepare for. But I’ll go into that next time.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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Mid-Year Check-In on My 2021 Goals

Remember when I set my goals for 2021? Well now’s the time to do a mid-year check-in and see how things are going.

Number 1: Make 5 New Craft Pieces

Are we talking about 5 craft projects TOTAL? Yes! This goal is achieved.

But are we talking about the specific craft projects I wrote for myself to do? No.

See, I wanted to make…

  • a kitty-sized sweater for BreeBree (why? Because she’s neurotic and wants hugs ALL THE TIME. I thought a kitty sweater would help)…
  • a patchwork skirt…
  • a bikini top made from upcycled T-shirts…
  • a crochet shawl covered in crochet donuts and cookies (why? I was inspired by a shawl I saw in the live-action The Grinch movie)…
  • and a scrapbook for my graduations. I’ve had these graduation keepsakes for 10+ years and I want to put them in a book instead of a box.

Those first 3? Those are done. I even made 2 bikini tops. The shawl base is also done, but now it needs cookies and donuts.

Number 2: Make 5 Videos that are NOT Live Streams

Honestly, I dropped this goal. Would I love to make animatics? Absolutely. But I need to study how to make animations in Clip Studio Paint. I have no idea what I’m doing.

Number 3: Make 5 Large Prints

I have finished 1 print so far!

an image of a modern-day Valkyrie flying in the air. Their skin is dark, hair white, wings gold and silver, and they wield two swords. The clouds part behind them and divine light shines upon them.

Unfortunately, 2 prints had to be put on hold because they need more work than I expected. The Cryptid of Leaves print is more of a time-sink than I thought because of all the details. The Fighting Game roster I want to draw will require more research and character mock-ups.

So 1 print is done. But that leaves 4 left to do.

I have 2 other ideas in mind. Both are for personal projects. We’ll see how that pans out.

Number 4: Make 5 Books

Slow and Steady wins THIS race!

The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1 has its own updates going on KickStarter. The same goes for Less Than Secret: A Cryptid Anthology (which I did a short story for).

The book I’m designing for Sean…all of it is edited! Now comes actually putting it into PDF form.

But while we’re here…

I’m thinking of NOT doing Inktober this year.

Shock! I know! I’ve done Inktober every year since 2017. And every year, after Inktober wraps up, I put those sketches into a book. I’ve done Witches, Gods & Spirits, AND Dragons.

2020 threw off those plans. As for this year? I’m thinking of not doing Inktober. Because I would LOVE to get the Roxie comics I did for Validation into a book. Those…and Tiny Unicorn.

Number 5: Make 5 Minicomics

HOT DANG, this took a minute to figure out WHAT minicomics I wanted to make.

For this goal, here’s what I want to make:

  • The Legend of Azu-Mi (for KickStarter backers)
  • The Character Compendium (a personal project I talk about sometimes on Instagram)
  • A Mr. Dino story
  • A Kitties By Kelci story
  • And a NEW art sketchbook zine

I have a LOT of zines on clearance on Ko-Fi because I want to make more room for these new minicomics. (If you’re interested, get them before they’re gone forever!)

Here’s hoping I can still make these goals by the end of the year!

How are your goals going? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.