Favorite Video Game, Mini Fieldtests, Upcoming Art- Patreon Newsletter July 31st (Patreon)

Hey Artnerds!

What do you guys do to relax?

Joseph and I have been playing AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative, and I gotta say, I'm hooked.  We watched JohneAwesome  play the first one as a Let's Play, and I fell in love with the interesting character dynamics and engaging story.  I like Spike Chunsoft games as a whole- I enjoyed 999 and I love the Dangan Ronpa series, so it's no surprise that I'm into Ai Sominum.  

As a rule we don't really have time to play video games for extended periods of time- just a few minutes in the evening before bed to wind down- but we've been making time to play Ai Sominum.  If any of yall are also playing it and want to geek out about it, feel free to message me on Discord!

Speaking of downtime, I almost always make time to read manga and comics in the evening.  Lately, I'm reading The Men Who Created Gundam although last night, I took a break to binge the latest volume of Skip Loafer.  While I'm enjoying The Men Who Created Gundam, I do want to warn yall that there's a lot of interoffice sexual harassment played off as a joke, which I found kinda annoying and offputting.  In the context, I feel like it's a callback to the type of 1980's manga that The Men Who Created Gundam is inspired by, and might have some feet in reality, but I wanted to warn you in case you're sensitive to it, because it took me by surprise, even as someone who reads a lot of shonen manga.

What I've Been Working On:

New Printer:

The new printer has arrived, it's been installed, and it's printing!  I even did a test demo to make sure the bluelines would disappear properly, and it's fantastic!  I have a review that I need to wrap up and get out there, but I wanted to let yall know that the Epson ET 8550 works well for printing dissolving bluelines and large format printing.

Penciling Chapter 9:

As I mentioned above, the new printer is in, so I was able to finish printing the last 5 pages of Chapter 9.  I've started the penciling stage, and the establishing scene has SO MANY DETAILS and SO MUCH GRASS so it's a little slow going, but I'm working on it! 

Creating Shorts:

I've been redubbing and editing snippets from the Watercolor Crash Couse into bite-sized watercolor tutorials to share on Tiktok and in the Youtube shorts!  I'll have them linked down below in case you're short on time and want to get your watercolor on! 

Supervision Fieldtest:

The fieldtests for supergranulating watercolors always take a really long time- it's a lot of drawing, inking, erasing, scanning, and then of course painting.  I mean like a REALLY long time- usually several weeks, not counting editing.  That said, these are also really fun for me because as yall know, I love drawing themed sets (Lilliputian Living, anyone?), and I treat these fieldtests as themed sets.  The newest Supervision set is one of my favorites, it's "time of the day" themed, and kinda follows Kara through a regular day.

I just think this one turned out really cute- particularly Kara preparing for lessons (the glasses!) and Kara holding Dusty! ,

These were a whole lot of work, but they're super cute!  I have so many of these little fieldtests (literally every time I review supergranulating colors)- do yall have any suggestions for what I can use the art for?  Maybe sticker sets?

Hand Cast

Way back in 2018, when I went to Japan, I visited the Kyoto Manga Museum.  They don't allow photos or video in the museum, so unfortunately I couldn't share all the absolutely amazing and inspiring exhibits with yall.  Yall have heard me talk about the Dash Exhibit in videos, but another really amazing exhibit was this gallery of plaster artist hands, each one holding their tool of the trade in the way that they naturally would (so some really funky grips out there).  To be honest, comic artists, commercial artists, illustrators- we're very rarely honored or remembered.  The hired hand behind your favorite childrens' books, an artist working behind a penname for decades, we're often divorced by the public from the works we create.  Many artists are also very private people, so aren't likely to demand the recognition or respect that they deserve, and those who are a bit braver are quick to get shot down (I speak from much experience).  So an exhibit like this, that really honored the artist, and honored their beaten and battered hands, was incredibly touching.

About a year ago, a Lunabean plaster kit went up on SlickDeals, and Joseph suggested we buy it and try to recreate what we saw at the Manga Museum.  Of course, I was down for the idea, and although it took us a year to do the cast, we finally did it!  I recorded the process, and we're waiting for the resulting plaster cast to fully dry, but I look forward to sharing my experiences with yall!  

Student Grade Showdown- Meeden Unbox & Swatch

I think I might be nearing the end of the Student Grade Showdown, unless yall can toss me some links to some sets you're curious about.  I still have a BUNCH of Miya palettes to review (need a lot of time to do that, since I have so many), and I want to revisit the Cotman set and compare them against Phoenix watercolors, and I have a palette coming in from Target, but other than that, I think I've covered most of the bases, and I've certainly reviewed way too many cheapy dye based sets.

Nearing the End of the Student Grade Showdown

I say this at some point in basically every video, but it's so true,particularly for the reviews- yall, my amazing Artnerds, make these reviews possible.  I use the funds from Patreon to buy the art supplies I review, whether it's hitting up 5Below and exploring what they have to offer to ordering a bunch of interesting sets from AliExpress.  If it weren't for your monthly support, there is no way I could have reviewed MORE THAN TWENTY student-grade watercolor palettes (!!!!) since August 2021 (!!) without your support.  That's like..a little crazy to think about, isn't it?  The above image includes one photo (either swatches or the paints) from most (but not all) of the sets reviewed during the Student Grade Showdown, and it kinda makes it a bit easier to visualize just how many sets we've dissected, and how many sets yall have helped me review.

While many of these sets were 'cheap' (around $20), not all were, and most fell into the $30-$40 range.  Without yalls' support, I would not have been able to review a fraction of this.  Of course, I didn't buy like 20 sets at one time.  They were bought here and there, a few each month, some ordered on Amazon, some from AliExpress, some purchased in person.  Only the Grabie set was sent to me care of (by Grabie), and we haven't just reviewed student grade palettes this year- this represents just a small glance at what we've talked about on the channel.  It's a little mindblowing and very humbling, and I just wanted to tell yall I'm really grateful for your support, and I hope you find it worthwhile.

Recently Finished Art

Backer Exclusive and Early Access:

Early Access: Worth Your $$? 5Below Watercolor Sets & Papers- Unbox & Swatch Review: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-69479198

Early Access! 5Below Haul- Tech, Art Supplies- and Reviews!: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-art-69476951

Early Access- Limited Edition? Watercolorsnacks Van Gogh Palette- Unbox and Swatch-Student Grade Showdown:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-van-69145630

New to the Public:

Tuesday, July 12th: Recommended Watercolor Supplies-Watercolor Crash Course- Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn7oU1f_f58&t=4578s

Saturday, July 16th:  All About Color Mixing- Watercolor Crash Course Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyXeSIXZ-O4&t=19s

Tuesday, July 26th: Watercolor Techniques- Watercolor Crash Course Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmLoyJQ1Bek

Saturday, July 30th: These are Awful! Artist Loft Watercolor Palette (Pebeo)- Unbox Swatch- Student Grade Showdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xFksZbEeoM&t=1s

Favorite Shorts:

Old Art Vs New: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OVIEz7w2SSk

A Little Artshare: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/83u19gCbhy8

First Vs Most Recent Kara: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lEJTCHLiAD4

My Favorite Watercolor Supplies to get Started: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y06VE9n51sg

Watercolor Paper Breakdown: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kccJhbyNy04

My Favorite Watercolor Brushes: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1QXxQ_w7-a4

Demonstrating Different Watercolor Brushes: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rT5RyoCNJ9k

Talking about Watercolor Paints! https://www.youtube.com/shorts/htTsbnLRmyE

Watercolor Binders Hold Your Paint Together: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Uh1CurUc2PE

A Short Chat About Handmade Watercolor: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hGeJovrhqCM

Working on the Cover for 7" Kara Chapter 9! : https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UpFq_jBsx5g

Penciling the First Page of Chapter 9: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fZE_r47b5uI

Penciling the Second Panel on the Comic Page: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/F76SkyjUUEs

Watercolor Color Mixing Tutorial- Warm & CooL: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wsAl7OEmtXc

Mixing Colors in Watercolor: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qoEuiXc5QkE

Using a Color Wheel to Practice  Color Mixing: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/chIkuaFgN3Y

Mixing Beautiful Secondary Colors in Watercolor: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/D7bbz1v24g4

Watercolor Color Mixing Tutorial Automic Mixing: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BLmNUvfKfdI

Optical Mixing with Watercolor: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/l3cLv1tuxzQ

Opacity and Transparency in Watercolor: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GnItZBcqHXA

Watercolor Granulation Chat: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JXuLzaV3Rs8

Why Granulation is Awesome: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fYF3DzODN2Q