​May has been a busy month. I've been keeping myself busy during this time, using different tactics to motivate myself to create, learn, and improve. At the beginning of the month I was feeling particularly low and unmotivated, though my mood has since improved and I have a few goals and tasks to focus on in the coming months.
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How are all of you dealing/coping/doing? What are your tricks, if any, to get yourself to focus?

I've had to remind myself that naps are okay, if I need to reset. I'm learning to not push myself too hard when what I really need is some rest. 

​We're at of the end of April in the year that has been a thousand-year blink. It is a vast expanse of time that has vanished between breaths. I see the work I have done over the last few months and think, "Wow, I made that so long ago." Only, upon checking posting dates and timestamps, I discover a week, or maybe two, has passed. The months have become emotionally heavy.

At least, that is how it feels to me.

What has it been like for you?
How are you holding up?

​March has certainly been a trial in productivity and I have been trying not to drown in the waves of anxiety. I've been trying to keep the depression at bay, but in the last few days I finally realized part of the reason I have been feeling so low... I haven't kept it at bay.

Not at all.

I'm focusing far too much on the news, and really need to take steps back. More so than I thought. Depression is finding a way to settle in but, thankfully, it rarely stops me from creating. I can work through it, I just need to be careful and take more breaks. Plus, I know why it's here this time.

This pandemic, and the state of the country, are making a mess of my mental space. I need find some higher ground and remember how to breathe. I'm not drowning. I'll get through it.
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We'll get through it.

Click Here to Enter!

​I'm running an art raffle on Twitter, with the draw on April 25th!

Three (3) people will win a free coloured sketch from me, of a character of their choice.
Anyone can enter! ❤

Art will be in a similar style to the image in the original post (see above). Character can be your original, an avatar from a game, or one from your favourite show or even book. Make sure to have a visual reference if you win! ✨

To Enter
⭐ Follow me on Twitter, and
⭐ Retweet this post

The Draw
⭐ April 25th 2020 at 1:00pm PDT
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Winners will be chosen randomly. 
Check it out on Twitter!

To those not on Twitter: Sorry! If there's enough interest I may hold another either on ko-fi or through my blog. Let me know if you're interested in that, or have any questions. :)

February!
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I'm sharing the February Art Update earlier this month, since I'm travelling back to Canada(!) on the 27th to celebrate my mom's birthday on the 28th. I haven't seen my parents in the year-and-a-half since I moved to California, so to say that I'm excited for this trip is an understatement.

Any art-stuff I complete during the next few days will just be bumped to March's Update, though anyone following me on social media (or Ko-fi) will get to see anything I share.

I'm not promising that I'll be posting much during the trip, though. There will be parents to bug, dogs to hang-out with, and newborn puppies to care for. (The tiniest of sub-woofers, just born on the 23rd.)

Over the end of January and beginning of February, I took on a couple commissions. At the same time, I had a few larger/long-term projects of my own. This was planned, but it left me wanting to do something else after a long week of working.

The result was a 20-30 minute sketch done entirely on the tablet, using ArtFlow. There was nothing in mind when I started other than "draw an elf". For a sketch, it turned out fairly well. I made a note to come back to it eventually because, while I like it the result, it doesn't capture quite what I wanted.

​Something wasn't perfect. But it would have to do, for now.