Time to hibernate

Hello again for the last newsletter of this year!

Fall has been warm and cozy, with lots of rest in-between bouts of high intensity quests. As I’m getting ready to travel for the rest of December, here is a little peek into my current sketchbook and what I’ve been up to!

Sketches

I’ve almost filled out my current sketchbook - and pretty quickly. It’s one of the fanciest and nicest feeling I’ve had, I’m liking it a lot! The only downside is that it didn’t have an elastic to hold it closed or a pocket, and I’ve come to really like that. So I made my own little attachment, and added a pen holder - a GREAT addition.

And here are my favourite sketches! I didn’t have my scanner handy so we went with the good old picture taking, so strap in! 📸 

We took a (too short) trip to Saltspring Island, such a lovely place!

Unfortunately there’s far too much stuff in there for my to keep up and share it all in an email, so I’ll be trying to make some sketchbook tour videos at some point.

Fresh art!

I didn’t make many full pieces lately, but I’m in love with the few I did make! I have some others in progress that are also pretty exciting, hopefully they’ll ascend from “perpetually WIP” to “finished”…

Starting with a little piece I called “Nostalgia”.

And this very cute commission I got to do! It was a lovely challenge that pushed me more than anything else I did this year, and allowed me to put in practice some of what I’ve learned. It was a delight to see it come together and trust the process.

Some oldies

I went to see Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein and it was very good - the artistry was all around excellent! I then remembered a small painting I did after reading the book, and as we browsed through the sketchbook, a few pieces turned out to still be holding up quite well, so here they are!

They’re all from circa 2022-2023, when my art started to pick back up again after a long dry spell.

My first event!

One of my goals this year had been to try and start tabling at conventions, markets or local events, and when all hope was lost, I was able to get a table at the first Vancouver Game Expo!

After lots of emotion and three days of frantic organizing (it all happened very fast at the last minute), I set up my table full of prints and stickers, and got in the flow of things!

The event was awesome with lots of cool games and some lovely interactions with attendees. It was very busy and successful across the board!

I was left exhausted but buzzing with a lot of ideas for new products and setup improvements for next time, which I’m very much looking forward to (after a few days of sleep).

Tool of the month!

As I’m preparing to travel, I’m trying to pack just the right amount of tools, and one that hasn’t left my toolkits in the last couple years is the Pilot Kakuno! I’ve always liked ink and fountain pens, and I’ve been wanting to avoid disposable pens, so I went to try the Kakuno and fell in love.

They’re very affordable, cute and you can use a converter to refill it with whichever ink you want, without needing to keep buying disposable cartridges. Most importantly, they’re very smooth and reliable! A lot of my straight-to-ink drawings are made with those pens, and a lot of writing as well.

What else ?

• That’s already a lot! I’m looking forward to chill and curl up in blankets with some hot drinks and little doodles, and hang out with my besties.

• I’ll be closing up my Kofi shop for the holidays and will return in the New Year with an updated lineup!!

Inspirations

• Frankenstein of course

• I read Elliot Page’s Memoir Pageboy and it had a lot of nice music references that I’m listening to, adding to friends recommendations (this one really shines)

• I’ve been trying to get back into writing one of my story ideas, and listening to the Les Revenants is a nice inspiration!