I'm Back! January 7th, 2025 (Patreon)

Regularly scheduled uploads have returned, and with a bang, starting with my M Grahams review!

This review includes watercolor and gouache swatching but not extensive gouache swatching. I was surprised by what I found- while I really like M Grahams and have several colors in my palette that see heavy use, I found that for me, it's not a good fit as like, a standalone if I could only buy one sort of paint for me. That said, I don't know that I could ever be one brand loyal as there are too many neat specific colors with good properties from too many different brands!

I've been sick for the past three weeks, and while I'm still recovering, I'm feeling much better!

What I've Been Working on:

Christmas Portrait for Joseph:

I started this illustration before Christmas, but the demands of the holiday meant I had very little time to paint it before Christmas. The day after Christmas, I started feeling absolutely terrible, and spent the next couple days in bed. When things started to improve, I thought I was just dealing with a Sjogren's flare up, but it ended up being a little more serious than that. When I felt a smidgen better, I tried to get some paint on paper (because I find watercolor to be very therapeutic, and thought doing something relaxing might help me recover faster, as Christmas is always stressful for me). I have to say- don't paint while sick.

While the portrait turned out alright, I literally FORGOT HOW TO PAINT, because being sick ramped up my ADHD symptoms, including my executive function disorder. I forgot my watercolor order of operations! To deal with this, I took notes on what I wanted to do, and then did that- something that usually (but not always) happens automagically while I'm painting.

I think I ended up having a Sjogren's flare up and then ACTUALLY getting sick with either the flu or RSV after, because I took a Covid test and came up negative.

Editing Video backlog

When energy permits, I've also been picking at my backlog, as it got a bit behind during December. This has been pretty low-key, mainly:

Mostly putting files together

Screening

Very short Voice Over when necessary

So much screening

Uploading

So you can look forward to two Easily Influenced reviews (including a bag for artists), a look at Golden Maple sable brushes, and a look at Hitoto watercolors in the near future!

One thing I have felt up to is so much drawing! Mostly digital sketches for an ongoing series I've been working on for a couple years celebrating Louisiana foods. You guys have seen a lot of the fruit of that labor already, but I wanted to share some new sketches with yall.

Gumbo- Inspired by Cajun Mardi Gras

I've never had the pleasure of attending a Cajun Mardi Gras, just like, rural river parishes Mardi Gras with homemade floats and recycled throws, and big deal city parades like Endymion, Zulu, and Rex, but I'd love to! Cajun Mardi Gras is different and may feel more like Halloween- people get dressed up as fools, play tricks and jokes, and collect the ingredients for a community gumbo. So I could not resist drawing Kara collecting all the necessary ingredients for gumbo- there's a chicken leg, a bag of rice, okra, and an onion. She might have to make several trips to finish that gumbo!

Red Beans & Rice

This one's a little bit of a cop out, in that Blue Runner makes a dang good canned red bean base. I like to combine a can of creamy style with a can of regular red beans, add in andouille or tasso, and season with Tony Chachere's and liquid smoke. In my family, it's tradition to have a slice of homemade corn bread with your red beans and rice.

Alligator

Now what can I say- St Charles Parish is the home of the Alligator Festival, and I have grown up alongside gators my whole life. Whether it's petting them in kindergarten, visiting the white gators at the zoo, seeing them basking in my back yard along the canal, or watching our resource officer chase them out of the pond in high school, I love alligators and have a healthy fear and respect for them. Kara might be doing something foolish, but then, every swamp tour I've ever been on has been led by a guy who has a pet gator who flops over for tummy rubs and allows them to throw marshmallows (I guess they look like eggs and gators love eggs) and chicken legs into their mouths. I've been on four swamp tours in my life, and while four isn't a lot, that's a lot of old Cajun guys with overly familiar gators.

Okra

Okra is related to hibiscus, mallow, and hollyhock, and has gorgeous flowers. Personally, I love okra fried, but it's also delicious smothered or in gumbo!

Rice

I feel like it wouldn't be a Louisiana meal if there was no rice. I'm not a big bread girl, or a pasta fan, but I do enjoy some rice. A cheap staple food that grows well here.

Doberge Cake

I'm kinda iffy on this one, although you'd think I'd love it. Joseph's a fan of doberge cake though, so I drew this one for him as he and Kara share February as their birthmonth! Doberge is made up of many thin layers of cake (often older cake, so this can be a way to reclaim old cake) with pudding or frosting in between. I think I've only had it with icing, because I would LOVE it with pudding.

What's up tonight?

I'm teaching a watercolor class tonight on painting fireworks bookmarks, and if you're feeling creative or inspired, you can paint along.

But in general, I'm trying to lay low, keep it casual, and ACTUALLY recover, so it will be awhile before I record more videos. Fear not, I have a nice backlog of reviews and tutorials to tide yall over until I recover! My pets also managed to catch the ick from us. Bowie's doing well- he got over it fast, and Basil has seen a vet and is on antibiotics, but if you could spare any kind thoughts for my guys, I'd appreciate it.