July Update ⇢ Life, client projects, and April's rewards

Hello dear friends!! 

It's been a while since my last full update because of how busy I've been for the past... 3 months! However, I'm very excited to say that I just sent in my last client project and now I can finally get back to my usual schedule ((': 

Feel free to skip over the life update + projects if you'd like to just be updated on April's rewards!

Life Update

While it's been a little over a month since I moved back home to NYC from LA with my partner, I'm still having a little bit of hard time settling in. I guess since I've been living independently for so long, it feels a little like I'm regressing back to my younger self. However! Right after my old bedroom had been completely renovated into an art studio, I feel more motivated to sit down and get some work done. The space feels so different and new!

Currently we are in the middle of hunting for new furniture, so it's a little stressful but we're having a great time making the space feel like home again. I was even thinking of filming a 'shopping+setting up the studio' vlog?? Or maybe I'll just wait for the studio to be entire set up for a 'studio tour' video. I'll see how much energy I'll have for it, but I would love to try making daily studio vlogs again 👉👈

Client Projects + Mossery Interview

Back in May, I got approached to do a collaboration with There Skateboards, an independent, queer-owned skateboard company,  to create an illustration for a limited-edition skateboard that will be released later this year. It's very different from the type of illustrative work that I've been commissioned to do but I've learned a lot and am very excited to see the final results! 

I'll talk more in depth about my process and the finished illustration in a future post sometime next week. Please look forward to it!

--

In June, I got an invited to do an interview for Mossery and to be a part of their The Picture Of Series which offers a space for queer artists to share stories about their artistic journey for Pride month. The full interview has been posted on their blog and you can read it right here!  I'm glad that I got a chance to talk a little bit about myself and I hope I'll have more wonderful opportunities to share my artwork outside my social media circle. 

April's Rewards Update

Now that I'm settled in and finished all my projects with June deadlines, I can go back to working on sending out my rewards! I'm so sorry that I've been so quiet about them in the last month and I'm super appreciative of everyone's patience. As a thank you for waiting as long as you have, I will be including a bonus sticker of my most recent illustration from the "Classics... but Make it Gay" art book. I'm really happy with all the positive attention it has gotten on social media so I'm hoping you guys will enjoy it as well! 

Also, I've realized I never shared the postcard preview photo and illustrations for April's stickers! I have all the postcards packaged so now I'm waiting for the stickers to arrive in the next few days. 

---

One last thing that I'd like to address is: I'd like to make some new changes to my Patreon. Sometimes the amount of work I give myself becomes overwhelming and I struggle to keep up with it. This results in months being skipped, rewards being delayed, and burnout that keeps me from regularly producing art )': Since this has happened repeatedly, I realize that I need to find a better way to create and deliver rewards in a way that causes the least amount of stress possible. I've been thinking of ways to improve my work management, post regularly, and still be able to offer good quality rewards. I love being able to make art and being supported directly from you guys! It's a dream come true for me! BUT, I'm only human and finding the best work schedule for me and my mental health will in turn produce the best work✨ 

I'll be updating my patreon page such as new banners and rewriting the tiers throughout the month. Make it look new and fresh!  Thank you again for your support and patience with me through these past months!! I'll be discussing more about what the actual changes will entail in a later post but until then,

stay groovy!~  🌈

Karlovy