July in Ragonia (2022)
Added 2022-08-12 03:04:03 +0000 UTCHello Art Town Residents and Happy August!
I hope you are enjoying your summer and/or are feeling that Autumn's-almost-here excitement (I know I am!)
I've had a very busy and eventful summer so far, and I'm so excited to share with you some of the things I've been up to. So let's get to it!
1. CLIENT PROJECTS
It seems like 50% of an illustrator's job is working on big projects that you aren't allowed to talk about, and that's totally the case this month. I'm happy to keep busy, and even more happy to be making that *~client ~*~ income~* I just wish I could share them!
I will say, it looks like the BOOK PROJECT I've been working on since 2020 will be finishing up in the next few months! I just finished and submitted concepts for the cover, and the final final art will be due at the end of August!
I also can share I've continued work on the NPC Phonebook zine with the sketches I shared above! These character portraits and the one's I shared earlier in the year will be released in a zine in the fall!
2. NEW PRODUCTS
With the motivational help of the weekly Art Town Wednesday streams and my first convention table since 2019 this month, I've finally been able to put together my biggest batch of new products in years!
Only the Rainbow Makers and Halloween sticker sheet have arrived yet, and I don't anticipate any others arriving before Emerald City Comic Con, but I ordered them anyway! Take a peep!
Anything that arrives in time will be available at ECCC, and the rest will be released on my online shop in the fall!
3. CONVENTION DISPLAY PREP
Emerald City Comic Con is next Thursday through Sunday, and I've been working on upgrading my display!
I ordered a new clear plastic display with magnets to try out, and I've been slowly working on it on the other side of my studio. Still lots to be done!
4. JULY'S PRACTICE PROMPT: VEHICLES
Add this cool guy to my list of my favorite things I've ever drawn!
I combined the "Vehicles" prompt with Kaila's suggestion to draw a "Ghoul", and took inspiration from a totally cool guy I saw skateboarding on the sidewalk in this outfit smoking a cigarette.
I'm so proud!
And thank to the residents who joined in the art practice with their own submissions, you absolutely motivated me to do my own prompt:
MPLS Transit Rider badge by Francesca Oaksford
Hot Air Balloons by Carli Bartlett (@carlijaynedesigns)
Ferry by Victoria Wood (@greenmountainart)
Great work, Residents! Such diverse and awesome art!! Everyone chose different styles, materials, and subject matter, you love to see it.
Okay, for next month...
August's Prompt is: PACKAGING!
Check out more on the livestream schedule here!
5. OTHER JULY ART
Thanks to the weekly Art Town livestreams my creativity has been FLOWING and I have been making so much personal art! (By my standards haha)
Ghost in a Bathtub sketch, ready to become a POSCA marker painting!
A re-work of a sticker I did for Snapchat in 2018 or '19. (We had a super hot heat wave this July!)
A gift for Art Town Townie Kat, to say thanks for her gift! She gifted me the video game Stray to play on stream, and is always a delight to have in chat. :) Thanks Kat!
VOD of me playing Stray Pt.1, and Pt.2 ! (These links should work for another week or two!)
And also I drew the new bread dog Pokemon.
6. NON-ART LIFE!
- We sweated through another heat wave in our apartment without AC
- I watched my sister's aussie, Jasper, in Portland for a week, and ate lots of great vegan food.
- I watched my friend's four cats - Max, Freckles, Princess, and Lil' Dude - for a few days in Edmonds.
- We booked our wedding venue, in walking distance from our apartment!
And... my youngest sister Nora Lane came from Virginia to visit her sisters in the PNW! Above is me (28), Kenna (26), and Lane (25), from left to right.
Lane is a bank examiner at the Federal Reserve in Richmond, VA, and a Townie at Art Town! (Thanks Lane!)
She loves photography, the beach, traveling, dogs, Starbucks, and her sisters :>
While Lane was here we:
- saw the salmon in the salmon ladder at the Ballard locks
- bought flowers and Rachel's Ginger Beer at Pike Place Market
- trained to Portland to see Kenna's neighborhood
- hiked around Crescent Beach and Cannon beach on the Oregon coast
- soaked and steamed at Kenna's local hippie spa in a Victorian house
- smelled the roses at the International Rose Test Garden
- watched 'Nope' at the theater Zach works at (it was so good)
- shopped at Glossier, Elliot Bay Bookstore, and the Starbucks Roastery in Capitol Hill!
We also did the now Dickard family visit classic of playing 'a round of morning Catan'. Zach won once, Lane won once.
7. THINGS I LIKED LAST MONTH
This Margaritaville playlist that I made for Zach.
This Youtuber who completely repairs old junk.
So that was July 2022! A lovely summer month, but now that it's August I am completely ready for fall.
How was your July? Did you do anything you feel real proud of? Any cool plans coming up? I'd love to hear in the comments!
Thanks for your support here on Patreon! Y'all keep me rumblin along this Arty road.
