It's a fabulously cloudy morning as I begin typing this. My favorite kind of
weather (if it's not going to properly rain, snow, or storm!) ☁️ I'm listening
to the Disney Goes Classical album that Spotify recommended to me; it
starts out with the overture from Mary Poppins, so I've got goosebumps all
over, ha ha.
I'm trying something different in 2023 with these roundup posts. (Happy New
Year, by the way! 🎆) They've been taking far too long to compose, so I'm
limiting how much I write and how many photos I post for each topic. I hope
that not only will this allow me to share the same ideas in less time (time
that could be spent creating new stories in word and image!) but that you, my
readers, will enjoy the faster clip, as well. That said, let's try it out!
Patreon Rewards
I sent the rest of the six Inktober rewards in December 😄 You can
read more about it on Patreon. And if you'd like to get my illustrations in your mailbox, you can sign up
there, too! You can choose between a monthly postcard, a set of three
postcards, a print, or a print AND three postcards. Patrons don't just get
rewards, they are directly funding my storytelling work! They are truly
members of Studio Mikarts and my most precious audience 🥰
I'm only a year behind on posting to dA now! 😂 I've uploaded several pieces
from 2022 recently, but this is my proudest, my birthday gryphon illustration.
I'm still sending this one out as a birthday card to friends and family
through the first half of this year. I plan to create a new birthday card
illustration at around the same time of year as this one was done. Then my
people will all receive the new design on their special days 😊 You can buy
this as a greeting card, print, or dozens of other things on
Fine Art America. Birthday shower curtain, anyone?
Gryphia Progress
It may not seem like much, but I'm actually quite proud of the two days'
writing work I managed to squeeze in during December's holiday and birthday
madness (I have six birthdays to celebrate! 🥳). To be honest, I was really
struggling mentally with everything I had to do. So being able to sit down, two
mornings in a row, and make good progress on chapter seven was a huge win! I
don't have any major interruptions to my regular schedule until March, so I'm
looking forward to finishing up this roundup post and getting back to writing my
novel!
Art Livestreaming
This is another area where I was proud of myself for keeping up with it during
the end-of-year madness. It would have only been too easy to just give up and
take the whole month off. That is to say, it would have been easy if
livestreaming was still as disheartening as it was a few months ago. Things
had changed by the beginning of December. I have been honored for months now
by a dedicated viewer (hello, Exie~!!) who I look forward to chatting with
every stream, and I was shocked to be notified that I qualified for Twitch
Affiliate status, as well!
Being offered affiliate was not only a boost to my confidence--an affirmation
that I've been doing the right things in my off-beat way--but I had two folks
subscribe to my channel on my very first affiliate stream 🥰💕 I'm so glad I
stuck to it when things were looking so bleak mid-year; now I'm looking
forward to growing my channel and sharing my art with more people!
Charity Fundraising
My featured charity in December was The Protego Foundation. I had only
recently learned of their work using the power of the Harry Potter fandom to
encourage positive change for animals through veganism (from the Harry Potter
Vegan Cookbook!
which I reviewed in November) and because Harry Potter always comes to my mind during the holiday season,
it seemed like a great fit.
My fundraising challenge uses the number of unique viewers per month to
determine how much I will donate. I give $0.10 USD per viewer, with a minimum
of $10 and a max of $100. I had 15 unique viewers in December, so I made a $10
donation to The Protego Foundation!
Mika's Monthly...
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, I'm trying something new in my
presentation of these roundups. I considered cutting this section altogether,
but I like giving these recommendations, not only as a way to share what's
been going on in my life, but because I think they could inspire and enrich,
even lengthen, the creative lives of anyone who decides to try them. One's
creative life is not separate from everything else one does, after all! But I
want this blog to focus on my creative endeavors, and until now, these
recommendations were taking half the time and space--a bit too much. I hope
this new presentation will work better all around 😊
As always, I'm not in any way being compensated for these promotions, they're
just honest recommendations from me ❤️
...Workout 🏃♀️ I finished the YMCA Christmas Run again this year.
Running is such an easy sport to get into, and it's a full-body workout, so
you get a lot of bang for your buck. There's nothing so fun as running a
themed race with a few hundred (or thousand!) other people!
...Vegan Victuals 🌮 Try the "Taco Bell Cheesy Gordita Crunch" recipe
from the
Vegan Fast Food
cookbook (which I happily received for Christmas). So good my mouth is
watering just remembering these amazing tacos 🤤
Mmm...soft crunchy vegan tacos...
...Book 🐲
The Hobbit audiobook
as read by Andy Serkis. This is my favorite book of all time to start, then
adding Andy Serkis's excellent narration, let's just say I started his reading
of The Fellowship of the Ring immediately after! You can read my full
review (which is relatively short)
here on The StoryGraph.
...Show 🤶
The Santa Clauses
on Disney+ was pleasantly surprising! I grew up watching
The Santa Clause, and I still watch it every year, but I have a
well-founded distrust of sequels made decades later. This show therefore
exceeded my expectations, didn't disappoint in the least; it was hilarious,
wacky, and magical. I'll definitely be watching it again next holiday
season!
...Game 🤓 My husband had
kickstarted this game
and received it in October, but it wasn't until December that we finally
played it. Um, Actually... The Game of Nerdy Corrections is a hilarious
game that we played with my siblings during the holidays and it was
enthusiastically requested multiple times. It's a great party game--pure fun,
no stress--that I think anyone will enjoy!
...Music 🎄 It's out of season now, but all month I listened almost
exclusively to my new
Christmas favorites playlist on Spotify. It's full of the Christmas albums and soundtracks that I absolutely love. I
recommend listening straight through (not on shuffle) because one album is a
reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Other News: 2023 Goals
Finally, I'd like to share with you the goals I set for myself on January 1st
this year (using my Jibun Techo planner, which is new to and absolutely
perfect for me~) both as a topic of interest and as a form of accountability!
I will check in at the end of the year and report on how things went 😊
Career🎨 I will create 12 new, large, full-color
illustrations.
Education 💮 I will sit and pass the JLPT N2 exam.
Finances 💸 I will make, rather than buy, birthday & holiday
gifts.
Health 💤 I will go to bed on time on work nights.
Hobbies 🎮 I will play Animal Crossing every day.
Travel 🛳️ I will cruise around Japan with my husband.
Family 👩🍳 I will host seasonal family dinners.
Relationships 💌 I will send a card or letter every week.
Reading 📚 I will read & review at least 26 books.
And that's it for December's roundup! It only took me half the time it usually
does, so I'm rather looking forward to checking in again next month, and
sharing all the progress I'll be making in my creative career journey. Thank
you for reading! 🥰
I've got my curtains half open, so I can see if it starts to snow, while still
preventing the morning sun from blinding me when it peeks out through a crack
in the clouds. This is the second day in a row the weather forecast said it
would snow in the morning, but instead I sit here disappointed, looking at the
pale blue sky behind the icy grey clouds 😑 Come, Mother Nature, let it snow!
😆
Still, it's pretty cozy in my studio this morning. I've got a mug of lemon tea
at my elbow, my two dogs sleeping peacefully in their beds, and a playlist of
my favorite Christmas music filling the air. My tootsies are cold, but I've
got a fluffy robe keeping the rest of me nice and warm~ With all the holiday
busyness ever since Thanksgiving, I haven't been able to sit down and work on
this roundup post until now, the third week of December. To make sure I can
actually get it done in a timely manner, this will be a condensed roundup, a
few sections removed, and others combined. If I can finish writing this today,
that would be ideal~ Let's get started!
Patreon Rewards
In November, seven different
Patreon
rewards were ordered all at once! It was the first time I've created so many
different designs at one time. Included were the six Inktober drawings that
Studio Mikarts members voted for, plus the chibi tanuki illustration that was
finished at the beginning of the month.
All seven Patreon rewards: six Inktober plus one chibi tanuki.
Two of these seven rewards were sent out in November. I wanted to space them
out weekly so that everyone would get a nice, steady stream of happiness in
their mailboxes, instead of one big art dump 😅 Plus it saved my hand, since I
am still handwriting my messages of greeting and gratitude.
Inktober reward #1: Flame
After these seven rewards have all gone out, I am going to begin printing all
rewards in-house and handwriting only the first message, which will then be
replicated on or with all the rewards. This saves me a lot of money in
production costs (while still delivering museum-quality art reproductions 😎)
as well as time and physical strain.
It was a big concern as I thought of the future and the growth of Studio
Mikarts. I put it to the vote on Patreon, and was so relieved that all of my
patrons voted for the printed message option. So kind and considerate, I have
the best patrons 🥰 And their comments about still loving the heartfelt nature
of the handwritten message is what led to my hybrid solution of handwriting
once and replicating, rather than simply typing the message.
Inktober reward #2: Bouquet
So what's next? I have two illustrations in the works. My main project is my
winter gryphon, which in November I got halfway through the final sketch. The
snowy evergreen environment is all worked out, I just need to add the gryphon
itself now.
The full-size sketch for my winter gryphon illustration.
The other illustration I'm working on is my chibi orca. More about that in the
Livestreaming section below 😉 To sign up and become a Studio Mikarts member
on Patreon,
click here! You can choose from five tiers, receiving postcards, prints, both, or
neither (the latter is actually the most supportive option ❤️) and all members
get access to exclusive updates and limited time rewards. I'm looking forward
to seeing you there~!
Gryphia Progress
Just a small update here. I'm proud to say I've continued working on my novel,
but it's been very slow going, so there's not much to report. Still, something
is better than nothing and in November I exceeded 3,000 words written for
chapter six!
deviantART
An interesting thing happened as I was preparing material for this section of
my post: I noticed that deviantART got rid of their physical prints shop 😲
Fortunately, I already have an alternate on-demand prints account through
Fine Art America
but it was still a disappointing surprise. dA is turning heavily toward
digital offerings, including subscriptions much like Patreon and even A.I.
generated artwork (hotly contested by the community there; I'm still not sure
how I feel about it...), which unfortunately makes it far less in line with my
creative journey than ever before.
Still, after some consideration, I decided to continue using the site. For
one, it remains an online repository of my artwork, including all my major
work going back to my high school days! For two, they still have the commissions feature, which allows me
to
offer chibi caricature commissions
online. It's a nice feature! There are some other fun things that make the
site worth using too, like silly badges and cool profile customization, so
although I'm still disappointed that they're pushing so hard toward digital
stuff, I feel fairly at peace with the recent changes 😅
Anyway, this is the piece I am featuring today: my Nyan Meow Mice. I recently uploaded the rest
of my 2021 artwork, which is to say, all the work from my capstone
illustration project 😄 I'm really proud of this project and I intend to
expand upon it next year. I love all the pieces I created so far, but the mice
one just feels extra good for some reason, which is why I chose it for this
post. If you'd like to see all six illustrations and the endpaper and cover
designs,
click here
to visit my gallery on deviantART!
Art Excursions: Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve
It's gotten really cold here since late October, so this excursion was a bit
tough! In November, I went with my sister, who is also a professional
creative, to
Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve, a hidden gem right in my backyard. It's a small nature reserve with unpaved
trails and excellent viewpoints where you can relax in the stillness, or be
enchanted by the cacophony of bird voices, all while gazing at the wildlife
(I've seen countless bird species, bats, deer, and even stray domestic rabbits
here!) and taking in the scenic wetland environment.
As I mentioned, it was very cold that day, but gloves weren't an option for me
while sketching, since I needed precision for my chosen media: watercolor! The
golden rays of the sun camouflage how red my frozen hands are in these photos
😅
I used nothing but watercolor for my sketches, no pencil or pen. It's an
exercise I really enjoy, because it forces me to be creative with my brush
strokes. How can I depict this, knowing the colors will blend when they touch?
Knowing this brushstroke might dry before I can get the color ready for the
next one? How can I make this shape recognizable in the least amount of time
and strokes? These are the types of questions I'm answering when I sketch with
watercolor. And the answers show up later in my more detailed and complete
watercolor illustrations 😁
Livestreaming
I had a great time with my viewers on
Twitch in
November; I am so grateful to my regular chatters who make each art stream
such a pleasure! Here are the results of my Lucky Dip and Chibi Friday
streams:
Lucky Dip XIX
Chibi Friday 35: Tanuki Part 7 (final)
Lucky Dip XX
Chibi Friday 36: Orca Part 1
Lucky Dip XXI
Chibi Friday 37: Orca Part 2
Lucky Dip XXII
For Lucky Dips, which are on Wednesdays, I randomly choose four art tools and
then make an image with them. For the past few months, I've been working
through a manga pose reference book so that I don't have to worry about what
to draw, just how to draw it using the tools I have. Plus, I think my
manga/anime-style drawing is getting better thanks to this!
For Chibi Fridays, starting in August this year, I have been asking my patrons
to vote on which animal they'd like me to draw as a chibi. Then I generate two
random words and use them to construct a scene with the animal at its center.
I keep working on that illustration for as many Chibi Friday livestreams as it
takes to complete it. Here's the recording of the last one from November:
Be sure to
follow me on Twitch
to be notified every time I go live! Let's chat soon~!
Charity Fundraising
In November, I chose
Farm Sanctuary as
my charity of the month. They do amazing work helping end the suffering of
farm animals, both for individuals and for the billions trapped in the misery
of the farming industry. They run a turkey adoption program around
Thanksgiving, which is how I found them last year. Thanksgiving is often
referred to as Turkey Day. For me, that now has a different and more positive
meaning, as I enjoy symbolically adopting a turkey from them, rather than
killing and eating one 🦃🤎
I had 19 unique viewers on Twitch in November. I donate $0.10 per viewer to my
selected charity, with a minimum of $10 and and max of $100, which means a $10
donation to help take care of the animals at Farm Sanctuary this time 🥰
December's charity is
The Protego Foundation! They use the Harry Potter fandom as a base for building a kinder world
through veganism and other animal activism. I hope you'll
join me on Twitch
this week for my final December stream and have fun hanging out while helping
improve the lives of magical (that is to say, all!) animals 💖
Monthly Recommendations
This will be a condensed version of the funnest part of my monthly roundups. I
hope you'll enjoy reading about these recommendations and perhaps giving them
a try yourself! (As usual, I am not being paid to advertise these things;
they're just positive elements of my November that I am excited to share with
you~)
🍽️ Vegan Victuals & Book of the Month 📕 The Unofficial Harry Potter
Vegan Cookbook by Imana Grashuis & Tylor Starr
My review from
The StoryGraph
says it all, so I will let it do the talking, spiced up with some photos of my
cooking!
Absolutely five-star cookbook! For TL;DR: the recipes are delicious, the
book beautiful, and the information about veganism and vegan cooking both
helpful and inspiring!
If you're a Harry Potter fan, get this cookbook! It doesn't matter if
you're not vegan, forget about the stereotypes, this food is indulgent and
beautiful and absolutely satisfying. The good you'll be doing for animals,
the environment, and your own health can just be considered bonuses! It's
easy to forget, but the book itself is a beautiful showpiece as well, with
a silky, embossed cover; patterned endpapers; well-organized, easy-to-read
text; and full-page, color photographs included with every recipe.
Before
I describe my experience with the half-dozen recipes I've already tried,
here are some highlights from the other sections of the book:
Enthralling foreword by Evanna Lynch. If you're already vegan, your
passion for the cause will be set ablaze ❤️🔥 For those who are
veg-curious, you may be moved to finally take the next step!
Listing the reasons to go vegan and tying them to the Wizarding World we
all know and love~
Vegan alternatives section that can help veganize any recipe or allow
you to throw together a quick vegan meal without instructions.
Fun and helpful Kitchen Witch Tips. A bit too new age witch
(spiritual/religious) and not enough fantasy witch (my view of the
Wizarding World) for me, so I came up with my own versions because I did
like the core ideas being presented (such as clean the kitchen before
cooking, get as much light into the kitchen as possible when working, be
mindful and grateful as you cook, etc.).
The appendix section that lists all recipes, including by which Harry
Potter book they're from (such a good idea!), and the metric conversion
page (I grew up with Imperial but I prefer metric for its precision!).
I made several recipes from this book for Thanksgiving this year and
I was able to provide my family with a complete and magical vegan feast!
In fact, I had to make some recipes the weekend after the holiday because
I chose way more things than I could make 😅 Here's what I made and how it
was:
Rabbit Food Grazing Board: So delicious, so filling, perfect for a big
gathering or party! The grilled olives were an awesome, unusual addition
that I loved, and it was treat to have pomegranate seeds for the first
time since childhood (they went well with everything), but the star was
the tzatziki sauce. I will make this sauce any time I want tzatziki from
now on!
Dragon Roasted Nuts: These were a big hit with my entire family, one of
the things people called out as particularly delicious. The best thing
is, they have a flavor that is both seductively familiar and yet wholly
unique. It's hard to stop eating them because you just want more and
more of that enchanting taste!
Fang's Boarhound Treats: I made these as my pups' Thanksgiving treat and
they LOVED them. Absolutely no hesitation or polite curiosity, just
munch, munch, down the hatch! Being vegan, these treats are made with
stuff humans wouldn't mind eating, like applesauce, peanut butter, and
vegan yogurt. I might have to reserve one for myself next time...
Butterbeer Three Ways: For Thanksgiving, I chose to make the hot
butterbeer and kept it warm in a small slow cooker. The only downside is
the calculation necessary to quadruple the recipe, as it only serves two
normally. This was another item that was particularly praised by
everyone in my family!
Pumpkin Patch Brownies: SO INDULGENT. So rich and delicious~ To simplify
the recipe, I replaced the cubed pumpkin, coconut oil, and gingerbread
spices with canned pumpkin pie filling. It worked great (the pumpkin pie
flavor sat evenly with the rich chocolate) and cut off at least a good
half hour of cooking/prep work!
To make cooking easier for Christmas this year, we've ordered
catering for the main meal, and I'm just going to make some desserts and
drinks, several of them from this book, including the Apple Pie and
Arthur's Eggnog 🤤 And there are so many holiday appropriate recipes still
remaining, not just for the end-of-year holidays. How about Liquid Luck
for New Year's? Amortentia for Valentine's Day? The Great Feast for
Independence Day? Full Moon Cookies for Halloween? Not to mention Happee
Birthdae Cake for all those special days! And there are plenty recipes
more for whatever you're in the mood for, such as Cheery Owl Breakfast
Donuts, Buckbeak's Stuffed Pumpkins, Coconut Snow Cones, Caramelized
Devil's Snare, Ernie's Sandwich, Slithering Snake Ravioli, Polyjuice
Potion, and Treacle Tart (Harry's favorite!).
I hope everyone
will try this cookbook and enjoy all its magical offerings~!
🎧 Music of the Month 🎧 Mika's Celtic Christmas 🎄 on Spotify
Christmastime is my favorite time of year, so although you might think this
more appropriate for December, I was already listening to my Celtic Christmas
playlist the month before X3 I especially like to listen to it at the end of
the day as I'm winding down for bed~
I recommend listening to this playlist on shuffle, though it's not a problem
to listen straight through. I just added whole Christmas albums until I was
satisfied, no rhyme or reason to the order other than the playlist's theme and
my memory of artists that fit it 😅
Other News: Gratitude Postcard Project
In November, the month of Thanksgiving in my country, I have for years now
tried to practice active gratitude through a daily project. Usually, I pick
something I'm grateful for each day and consider it through a social media
post, journal entry, sketch, etc. This year I thought to do something a bit
different: sending gratitude postcards!
So many postcards to choose from🤩
I'm sure I was inspired by the fact that I send so many postcards all year
round, not just to my patrons, but to friends and family as a way to stay in
touch. Still, I find it interesting that only this year did I think of doing
such a thing. Maybe it's because this was the first November in four years
where I wasn't overburdened by end-of-semester projects and looming finals.
Being a degree-holding college graduate is something I'm very grateful for
😆
So, for this project, I posted online everywhere I could think, inviting folks
to send me their addresses if they would like a postcard. Considering that's
very personal information, I was pleased to have sent out a total of twelve
gratitude postcards throughout the month!
Second batch~
I'm not sure if I'll do this project again next year, but I think I'd like to.
Perhaps more people will trust me with their addresses if it becomes a yearly
event 🫡
Final and largest batch~!
And here we are, at the end of November's roundup. It's the day after I
started writing and the clouds are thinner than ever, and it's even colder! I
still have hope, though: the forecast says it will snow tonight! 🙏❄️🌨️ It
also says it will rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas, but let's just ignore
that for now...
I hope you enjoyed reading this post and perhaps got inspired to try something
new 😀 This is my last blog entry for 2022, so I would like to wish you a very
happy holiday season and a magical new year~! 🎉💖✨ As always, may you be
safe, happy, and healthy!
It's a snowy morning as I begin typing this entry, one of my favorite
atmospheres, but unfortunately, it's already wet and mushy and melting. I'm
listening to Tchaikovsky, my favorite classical composer. His music seemed
like a good fit for the weather. My usual morning tea has gone cold, but
that's ok because there's not much left anyway. I'll wait until lunch for another
cup. For the next couple hours, I'm going to focus on sharing my roundup of
the past two months with you 💕
October marked the first time I've missed a roundup since I started doing
them. After over two years not being sick with anything, in September I
caught COVID-19. And I had symptoms; I wasn't one of the lucky people it
doesn't affect. Thanks to my vaccination and booster shots, I was never sick
enough to go to the doctor for care, but I was sick enough that most
everything in my life got put on pause while I recovered. That included
writing my September roundup. Instead of scrambling to catch up once I was
better, I decided to just do a joint post after October, and here we are!
I have some unique news to share with you in this post, so I hope you'll enjoy
reading to the end 😄
Patreon Rewards
Because of being sick for several weeks from the end of September into the
beginning of October, I wasn't able to produce any worthwhile new rewards to
send out to
Studio Mikarts members
during those months. I won't deny I felt guilt and anxiety about it, but as
always, my patrons are amazingly patient and understanding people. I'm excited
to report that they are soon to be thoroughly rewarded for their constancy 🥰
I completed all 31 Inktober drawings in October (for the first time ever! more
on that later) and chose my top ten to present to my patrons. They voted on
their top six at the beginning of this month and now all of the winning
drawings have been ordered as rewards!
If you're interested in becoming a Studio Mikarts member, now is a great time
to sign up! If you select any of the postcard or print tiers (Pen Pal, Writer,
Collector, or Connoisseur) before 21 November 2022, you'll be guaranteed to
receive all six of the Inktober rewards! What a solid way to start your
collection! 😮 You'll also have the pride of knowing that your support is
helping me continue to make cool, unique artwork, both in a financial
sense--helping me with things like buying art supplies, paying for intangible
costs like the very URL of this blog, and funding entries into art shows,
contests, and professional guilds--and in an emotional and social sense,
giving me reassurance that my artwork is worthy, and proving to others that
these images have value 🖼️✨
It's not pleasant to realize that I haven't written anything for my first
Gryphia novel since the latter half of September. But it's not as if I have
lost my motivation or have writer's block. It's just that I've been so busy
ever since! First I went on a week-long anniversary vacation (a planned break
from writing), then I spent several weeks recovering from COVID-19, soon after
that it was time to go to New York state for the Inktober retreat, and for the
past couple weeks, I kept finding both legitimate and silly reasons to be busy
during my writing hours, until here we are today 😅 The good news is, once I'm
done with this post, my writing time will again be available for Gryphia work!
It's not as if I didn't get ANY writing done in the past two months, either. I
got about halfway through writing chapter six (of twelve) before my extended
break began. That means I'm almost halfway through the entire first draft!
It's no longer realistic to aim for my goal of finishing the first draft this
year, but I intend to ride the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) energy
to make as much progress as possible this month! Wish me luck!
deviantART
I uploaded a lot of work to deviantART last month! It bothered me that in
2020, I had done several lovely drawings for Inktober, but I never even
scanned them into my computer. So I took the
time to digitize and post all eleven pieces. Even though they're a couple
years old now, I still love how they turned out~
All of these Inktober drawings followed the same format: a Halloween-themed
animal depicted with some sort of plant or mineral, inked in black with
limited color added using marker. I drew them all in my tiny Royal Talens
sketchbook, which has beautiful, warm ivory-colored paper.
Click here to visit my Inktober gallery
where you can see all of the 2020 drawings and some of my favorites from
previous years, too!
Art Excursions: Grand Canyon North Rim
As I said in my
previous blog post, I have continued to go out on art excursions to practice my plein air work,
sharpening my life drawing skills and working with subjects I don't see every
day. In the past two months I only had a single plein air session, but it was
a biggie: I painted the Grand Canyon!
Sitting on the edge of a cliff while painting the view. It was a first
for me!
Thank you to my husband, Sean, for taking these photos 😊
The only thing I didn't like about this art excursion was my own choice of
media. I did not realize that the travel watercolor kit I brought was mostly
full of bright, neon colors 😱 I initially chose it because it had a few
lovely metallic paints, but the other colors didn't look so shockingly bright
in the pan. Not until I wet and applied them to the page did their true nature
show.
I did my best to work with them, though. After all, I wasn't going to waste
the opportunity just because I didn't have the colors I expected. Indeed, the
session was a great art lesson because I began experimenting with mixing
colors. I ended up being able to produce some nice hues that reflected what I
was seeing quite well. And even if the end result wasn't what I hoped to
produce, it's still a unique experimental piece!
The final plein air watercolor sketch, with ink details added later.
There was a particular reason I chose a watercolor kit that included metallic
paints. Normally in my work, metallic, glitter, and other light-reflecting
elements are a waste, because they're not picked up properly by the scanner
and therefore don't make it into the final piece. In this case, however, I
knew I would not just be creating a plein air sketch, but that I would be
doing it on watercolor postcard paper! The final painted postcard, with all
its metallic glory, was mailed to my best friend since adolescence, Sarah, who
is now the owner of my first ever painting of and from the Grand Canyon
😊
Greetings from the Grand Canyon!
While I was at the Grand Canyon (we visited the North Rim, which I had never
been to before and has a very different look from the South Rim I visited in
childhood!) I bought a bunch of neat souvenirs from the gift shops. One of
them was a purely practical purchase: a sling rucksack that will make future
art excursions much easier! Until now, it's been cumbersome carrying my art
tools, a waterbottle, perhaps a snack, and my personal items in a regular
backpack, which I have to take off and put back on every time I need
something, usually with the backpack or something else spending time on the
dirty ground while I rearrange 😬 With this new rucksack, I can just swing it
around to my front when I need something or even wear it across my chest the
whole time! It's hard to put into words how much this bag is going to improve
my art excursions. The bottom line is, I'm going to be spending more time
making art!
Livestreaming
One of the first things I was able to get back to once I started feeling well
enough, thanks to the impetus of Inktober, was
livestreaming on Twitch. In September, I streamed every week until I took my anniversary vacation,
completing two Lucky Dip pieces and making a couple more hours of progress on
the digital coloring of my chibi tanuki piece.
I think the chat-inspired title of this one ended up being
Beast Boy Be Creepin' 😆
My final Lucky Dip until November!
For October, I switched from Lucky Dips and Chibi Fridays to Inktober! This
was my plan since returning to Twitch earlier this year, and it went so well I
intend to do it every year 😊 I livestreamed a total of six Inktober drawings
this October (the other 25 were all done during the Inktober retreat! More on
that later~). I'm not sure how outwardly apparent it is, but without a doubt,
participating in the Inktober challenge this year helped not only my inking
skills, but my composition and design skills, and improved my drawing
efficiency and confidence.
My first drawing served as a warmup for the entire challenge.
This gryphon was nicknamed the "wiener bird" by Twitch 😆
You can't really tell, but this is a bat-snake gryphon!
My first attempt at using a gesture drawing to increase overall
dynamism.
By this time, I was less hesitant to try drawing unusual scenes from
imagination!
I absolutely love this, my final drawing 🤩 Gives a completely
different meaning to "turkey farm"!
To join me during future livestreams (where we can chat in real time!)
visit my Twitch page
and click the "Follow" button. You'll get notifications when I go live, either
in your email, on your Twitch app, or both. My streaming schedule is the same
every week. Check out the
schedule on my page
to see times and dates in your time zone 🌏
Charity Fundraising: Zoo Boise
Because I lost so many streaming days in September, and because I was too ill
to update it before I resumed streaming in October, I kept
Zoo Boise
as my featured charity. My fundraising formula is based on the number of
unique viewers I get on Twitch in a month (or in this case, two months). I
donate USD $0.10 per viewer, with a minimum of $10 and a max of $100.
Across September and October, I had 26 unique viewers! That amounted to a $10
donation 🤗💸✨
When I made the donation, I was pleasantly surprised to find a specific goal
listed on the donation page. This $10 is going to help build the red pandas a
bigger, better home! I'm excited to see it when it's done 💕 If you'd also
like to help with the red pandas' new home, please
make a donation here!
This month, November, my featured charity is
Farm Sanctuary.
They are working to create a more kind and healthy world, where farm animals
are allowed to live out their natural lives freely, in peace and happiness.
Since 1986 (my birth year 🤯) they have run the Adopt a Turkey Project,
redefining the meaning of Turkey Day 🦃💖 You can even
take a quiz
to determine which of this year's spokesturkeys match your personality! I got
Roberto, the Adventurer~ The money we raise livestreaming in November will
count towards his symbolic adoption. If the total is greater than that, I will
donate the extra as well!
Monthly Recommendations
Now it's time for one of the most fun parts of my roundup posts: monthly
recommendations! This time they span two months, but because this post is
already plenty long, I'm still sticking to one recommendation per category. As
a reminder, I'm not being paid to promote any of these things (though I
wouldn't mind if that were actually the case 🤑) they're just things I
legitimately want to share in hopes that you, my readers, might enjoy them,
too.
👟 Workout of the Month 👟 Hiking
With a trip to southern Utah in September and to northern New York in October,
hiking was a big theme for both months! I hiked with my husband along an easy
trail at Grand Canyon National Park during our day trip there, and then joined
in a couple group hikes in Adirondacks Park during the Inktober retreat.
It's starting to get snowy and cold here, so hiking is more dangerous for many
reasons. I've probably done my final hikes for 2022. If you're lucky enough to
find some trails that are still warm and dry, why not don your hiking boots
and set out? Physical exertion in the great outdoors, there's nothing more
invigorating!
🍽️ Vegan Victuals of the Month 🍽️ Cinnaholic
Cinnamon Rolls
Ever since I went full vegan earlier this year, Cinnaholic has become my
favorite indulgent dessert shop. Everything they offer is vegan, so it's a
safe haven where I can order anything without spending a bunch of time
checking all the ingredients. The calories in their rolls are over the top (no
surprise there, nothing so delicious could be low-cal!), so I've had to limit
myself 😅 but there's nothing better when you're craving comfort sweets 🤤
Chai frosting, maple frosting, apples, chocolate chips, graham crackers,
and marshmallows~
I reminded myself of Cinnaholic during the Inktober retreat, when I drew an
owl gryphon eyeing a delicious roll for the prompt "tempting". My trip back to
Boise was very stressful (in fact it was the worst day of flying I've ever
experienced...), so of course, my first full day back home, I ordered the
scrumptious roll you see above!
Spoiler alert: This Cinnaholic-craving gryphon (which I'm considering a loose
self-portrait 😆) was one of the Inktober drawings that got
voted into reward status! Postcards are on their way to the studio as I write 💌
My recommended book this time is the start of a series that spans at least ten
volumes (the eighth English volume is slated for release in May 2023). If you
love cats or pets or just warm, fuzzy feelings, I think you'll love this~ It
was originally published in Japanese on Twitter.
This
was such a touching, heartwarming manga! It's very reminiscent of
Chi's Sweet Home, both being cute tales told mainly from the point of
view of cats who find new homes with loving humans. If you enjoyed Chi's
story, I'm sure you'd love this. A Man and His Cat is a bit more
bittersweet, with hints of past tragedy and more moments of sadness, but it's
also full of humor and cuddly scenes that make you smile. The artwork is well
done: pretty and easy to digest. When I finished this first volume, which I
waited a long time to purchase so that I could save money by buying used, I
immediately ordered all the following volumes--used if I could get them, but
new if that was the only option--because that's how much I wanted to continue
the story! If you're in the mood for something uplifting and fluffy, and
especially if you were already considering reading this manga, I encourage you
to give A Man and His Cat a try~
I was looking forward to watching She-Hulk long before it premiered, simply
because I'm always in the mood for more female superheroes to inspire me, but
I had no idea what to expect from the show. Happily, I enjoyed it from the
beginning, and the more I watched, the more I liked it. After finishing the
final episode, it had planted itself firmly in the top three of my Marvel
series ranking. I think Moon Knight is still my number one, but She-Hulk is so
unique (and so hilarious!!!) that it displaced Loki for second place. I highly
recommend the show, and make sure to watch to the very end! It's so good, just
writing that last sentence gave me goosebumps 😆
The first time I played one of the cases from this series was at a board game
cafe that unfortunately (but understandably) closed down at the beginning of
the pandemic. Just that one session was enough to get me hooked, and I was
very pleased to receive one of the games for Christmas last year! I could
finally play again 🤩
We've made it through three cases so far this year 🔎✨
While the replayability of each individual case is questionable, since all the
details are revealed at the end, there are four games with ten cases each, for
a grand total of 40 cases to get through. I'd argue that one could still go
back and attempt to solve the cases again. 39 cases later, the details might
have been forgotten, and if they weren't, one could try for a better score.
Either way, even if you played a case a day, it would take you over a month to
solve them all!
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a multiplayer, cooperative
experience that challenges your logic and deductive skills, and requires a
scrupulous attention to detail to achieve a high score (we've never beaten
Holmes yet 😅). I recommend keeping pencils and paper in the box for players
to use for note taking, and as a way to chronicle your gameplay journey,
showing who you played with, when, and how you did. This is one of the few
board games I own that specifically gets requested on game nights. Goes to
show what a strong and positive impression it leaves on its players!
🎧 Music of the Month 🎧 Mika's Halloween 🎃 on Spotify
For my final recommendation, although it's now out of season, I'd like to
share my Halloween playlist with you! It's a truly eclectic mix that includes
everything from otome game themes to classical music, from 80s rock to obscure
oldies, and from Disney songs to movie soundtracks. The one thing tying all
these wildly different genres together is the Halloween theme! I hope you'll
enjoy this seasonal playlist, if not now, then next year 😄
Shuffle play is recommended here, since I've been casually building this
playlist for two years, without regard to how things are ordered. Tracks are ocassionally removed, but by and large, the
run time has only increased. I'm sure by next spooky season, it will have
grown even longer. In fact, if you have a favorite Halloween tune that isn't
already on this playlist, send it my way! I'm always open to new ingredients
for the musical brew~
Personal News: Growing Our Family
One of the activities we planned for our anniversary vacation this past
September was adopting some new pets from
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
💕 The pain of losing Sun this summer had finally lessened enough that,
instead of feeling like I never wanted to keep a dog again, I began to feel
desperate to share my love with a new animal friend. In the end, we welcomed
two dogs and a pigeon to our family 🥰 The following are photos of all our
beloved pets, old and new.
First we have Aoife, our home's gentle giant. She became firmly attached to me
from day one! She now follows me around the house, whether I'm doing yoga in
the den, working in the studio, or cooking in the kitchen. Of course that
means she sleeps with me every night, too~
This is Sora, who we rescued last year. We were content not knowing her sex
all this time, but she finally revealed it when we brought her new pigeon
companion home. Just seeing him in his separate cage, as we slowly introduced
them over several days, was enough for her to lay her first egg 🤯
Here we have Kumo, our little shining prince. His adoption timeline met so
perfectly with our visit to the sanctuary that he was never even publicly
listed for adoption. He's a calm, gentle boy, who nonetheless keeps strong,
pushy Sora in check.
Longtime readers may remember Kiki! She's our oldest pet now, though you'd
never know she was over 14 just by looking at her. She's still healthy,
energetic, playful, and spicy 😈 She's also an excellent beta-reader and
editor, as you can see here!
Finally we have Chappie, our little wiggle worm. She looks exactly like a
black & tan Australian Kelpie, though we won't know her breed for sure
until we do a cheek swab DNA test. She was cautious and shy at first, but
after a couple weeks she also ended up super attached to me 😅💕
So it is that we have a full house once again~ It's been many years since
there were so many of us: two humans, one cat, two pigeons, and two dogs. It's
actually been great for my daily routine and overall health. Taking care of
the dogs in the morning gets me out of bed when it was so easy to sleep in
before. I have new running buddies (the dogs, of course!) so I've finally
gotten back to my main sport after being derailed by illness and travel. I
even get up and move more often throughout the day, enticed by a coo or meow
or the squeak of a toy.
The saying is true: life is good, pets make it better!
Other News: Inaugural Inktober Retreat
Now we near the end of this double roundup post. While the trip I took in
September was of a personal nature, during the third week of October, it was
all business (in a way, the business of honing my drawing skills!) as I
attended the first ever Inktober retreat. I wrote a detailed review of the
Focus Retreat Center, where the
event was held.
Here it is on Google Maps, and also pasted here in its entirety, followed by annotated photos from my
trip.
I stayed at the Focus Retreat Center (FRC) for the third week of their
Inktober retreat in 2022. I'd never been to a retreat of any kind before, so
I only had vague expectations based on FRC handout materials and Inktober
retreat-specific information, plus hopes built up by stories I've heard from
people who have gone on various retreats elsewhere. I'm happy to report that
my stay here was everything I had hoped and much more!
As a
vegan, I wasn't sure if FRC could accommodate my dietary needs, but there
was plenty to eat (in fact, I couldn't stop myself eating too much!) and I
never needed to prepare/source my own food to maintain my vegan lifestyle.
The retreat was all-inclusive, so three square meals, snacks, and drinks
were included, and the dining area was open 24-hours, so if I needed a
late-night snack or hot cup of tea to get me through my last Inktober
drawing that day, I was able to satiate myself freely.
My room
was spacious and comfortable and quickly became my main workspace as I
marathoned 25 Inktober drawings over six days. We were allowed to roll in an
electric standing desk and office chair and mine fit perfectly at the foot
of my bed. I came to rely on the desk to mitigate as much physical strain as
possible; I would sit for one drawing and stand for the next. This kept my
chronic low back pain, and other complaints that crop up during long work
sessions, at bay. Other cool features in the room: digital thermostat,
remote-controlled lighting with brightness and warmth settings, and two-way
window shades so you could let in natural light while maintaining privacy. A
couple downsides to the room(s): the floors were squeaky and the walls
paper-thin. I was able to hear my neighbor clearly and I felt overly
conscious moving around too much later in the evenings, for fear of
disturbing others. At least for sleeping, the bed was super comfy, so I just
used my usual earplugs (normally to block out nighttime city sound) and the
thin walls weren't an issue.
Something awesome for my room in
particular: it was next to a bathroom! The bathrooms are shared (Poo~pourri
recommended!) and a bit small, but the water pressure/heat was good. I have
long, curly hair that takes half an hour to wash properly, but even on wash
day, the hot water lasted! I don't even get that at home!
FRC is
situated facing a lovely park that was full of gorgeous autumn leaves,
fluffy grey squirrels, and little chirping birds during my stay. I really
enjoyed my evening walks through the area. There were also plenty of
conveniently close businesses and facilities, such as a police station,
visitor information center (just walk in any time for free Malone
postcards!), a drug store, and a post office. Walking around Malone is easy
to do (the drivers were extremely considerate of pedestrians; I'm used to
having to walk around the back of cars that don't stop until they're sitting
on top of the crosswalk, but here every car I met stayed well back until I
had passed) and full of interesting sights, especially the architecture. The
only time I needed vehicular transportation was on my way to/from the
Adirondack Regional Airport (which FRC generously facilitated) and when our
group went out on hikes. I tackled two trails while I was in Malone, both
beautiful and just the right amount of challenging. The relatively easy
access to hiking is another point in FRC's favor, if you're like me,
inspired by nature and rejuvenated by physical activity.
I think
the greatest compliment I can give FRC is that the positive, inclusive, and
healthy atmosphere they actively foster is no doubt the reason I was able to
achieve my goal of completing 25 Inktober drawings during my stay. And
because of that, I was, for the first time in many years attempting the
Inktober challenge, finally able to complete all 31 drawings! If ever
circumstances come together again the way they did this year, I would return
to FRC for a future retreat without question. I highly recommend it!
The start of my trip from Boise to New York!
The glittering New England ocean was beautiful from the plane 🤩
My room for the week!
The desk I worked at for 24 of the 25 drawings.
The desk got this high, so even tall people can use it standing!
The gorgeous view from the Azure Mountain fire tower.
The fright of climbing the multistory tower is worth it!
This pen holder was 3D printed by request for me by Pete, co-owner of
FRC ✨
I never knew I needed this but now I can't do without it! Thank you,
Pete 🥰
First of the Inktober retreat goodies: a t-shirt!
Other Inktober retreat goodies: supplies for next year, including a
Moleskine sketchbook!
My workstation setup for most of the retreat.
I collected so many pretty leaves while I was in New York 🍁🍂 And I
loved the rain!!
My evening walks in the park through crunchy leaves were the best~
Picturesque scenery right outside the retreat center!
A view from the front entrance.
Watching Moon Knight (told'ja it's my fave) while working.
Malone is a beautiful place in autumn.
My Inktober theme was gryphons, and here were some outside the post
office!
I had to buy tape to protect my pen-rest finger, which was getting raw
from so much drawing 🤕
One of the many delicious vegan meals that were served: tofu pad
Thai.
Being presented with my certificate of attendance, just after I gave my
concluding speech 😊
So grateful to this group for making the retreat amazing!
Bonus Inktober retreat goodie: a hoodie!
Of course I can't not send local postcards to my best!
Just before I left, my new friend Vika brought me to visit Lake Placid
✨
It was a rough journey home, but it still had its moments!
And that's it for this double-month's roundup! So many events to report, so
many memories to share, I hope you enjoyed the read 😊✨ Thank you for
sticking with me to the end. Until next month, stay safe and be well~!
