Autumn Weather Here I Come!

Autumn is fast approaching and I am so ready for it. Cooler weather, the changing leaves and all things apple cinnamon and pumpkin spice. I can't wait to start wearing sweaters and scarves. The weather for this week has dropped into the low 70's and I'm already breaking out my sweatshirts and sweaters.

This last month has been super rough for me. My health issues haven't really been resolved and more issues keep piling up. Doctors have a few ideas of what could be wrong, it's just a matter of figuring out what it actually is and how to treat it. I used to be able to get 2-4 different art projects done a week and now I am lucky if I can get 1 done. Marketing and making connections with fans, customers and etc has become more and more difficult too, especially when you can't keep your thoughts together. Unfortunately, it seems like this could be my new normal. It sucks and it's made things really difficult but I know that with time I'll figure out how to work with it. My husband and family have been super supportive through it all and have helped out tremendously. I don't know what I'd do without them.

Despite my health issues I did manage to do a little bit of work last month. I designed a new coloring page for my patrons on Patreon. I have never drawn a hairless cat before and I decided to give it a shot. Turns out I kind of like hairless cats. Because I love all things fantasy I then had to add something special to the cat and gave her a flaming tail and mane. She looks absolutely awesome. Sometimes when I design a coloring page I like it so much I have to color it and that is exactly what happened with this one. Remember Disney's Hercules? Well if Hades had a cat I think this is what he'd have.

I also worked on Reggie's story a little bit. These illustrations are unfortunately not as detailed as the usual but give you a nice close up of her pet salamander Leia. Leia is based off of my black cat Xena. She is a little pudgey, lazy and loves to sit on my art supplies and projects to try and get attention. The second illustration is a close up of Reggie when she's in the creative zone. Everything gets tuned out and she's in her own little world.

Last month I also started illustrating a children's book for a client. I won't be revealing any illustrations yet as currently we are just working out the initial sketches for each page. Once I start adding the ink and color I will be sure to share some of the pages.

I also finished a mixed media commission for a client that turned out absolutely awesome. They had first commissioned a piece earlier in the year featuring Lady Liberty. It had a decoupage background made up of negative words such as racism, fake news and sexism. Where Lady Liberty stood everything was made up of positive words like science, community and education. Lady Liberty looked sad and exhausted as if the state of the United States was wearing her down. This newest commission featured Lady Liberty again but with more determination and hope. She is looking down at a family of bald eagles and she can see the kindness and the hope for a better future.

Lady Liberty 2: Hope for the Future

(Left) Lady Liberty: The Storm     (Right) Lady Liberty 2: Hope for the Future

I've also gotten some of my greeting cards from the last few months printed and my Smart A$# Animal series has been printed as postcards. Keep checking the website and social media for updates on when they're available for purchase. It'll be really soon.

My goals for this month are to create at least 2 new illustrations about Reggie, at least 3 new coloring pages (1 will be for Patrons), to have all the pages for the children's book drawn and inked by the end of the month and lastly, to reach 200 followers on Facebook and 600 on Instagram. We'll see how well I do reaching these goals. Some of it will depend on whether or not my health improves. We'll just have to wait and see. I hope you all had a good August and you have an even better September.