Of Paints, Painting, and Framing Art- February 2024 Patreon Newsletter (Patreon)

Hey Artnerds!

Painting Comic Pages

Beginning OT

Last Friday, I had my first Occupational Therapy session to work on my hands.  I've mentioned having arthritis over the years, amended that to arthralgia due to Sjogen's, and have finally started working on undoing the damage done by years of heavy drawing and autoimmune issues.I haven't talked about it much, but I've been drawing increasingly less since we moved to Destrehan as the pain got worse.  Often it gets better as the weather warms up, but during the winter it can act up so badly I can't open jars or doors.  I'd hoped the Plaquenelle would help with the pain and inflammation, but since that hasn't made much of a difference, I'm excited to learn stretches and exercises to help.  If yall are interested in what OT looks like for hand health, let me know, I don't mind talking about my experiences.

Livingston Parish Library Comic Con

Saturday I had the pleasure of returning to the Livingston Parish Library Comic Con.  I did so well last year and had such a good time, I was really excited for this to be my first pop up shop of the year.  I also taught a workshop on Making Merch, which I've shared with Art Nerds below! 

Sell Your Art- Making Merch class: https://www.patreon.com/posts/99211243?pr=true

Sales were a little slower this year than last year, but the weather was SO beautiful and they had a lot of really fun things going on outside (food trucks, the Acadiana Circus, etc) I can't be mad about it.  

One thing In-Person shows is making increasingly clear is that I need to work harder at getting my stickers, postcards, art prints, and books into physical shops.  I need to make making my work available wholesale to shops a priority this year.

Getting Art Framed for a Family Benefit

Joseph's aunt is having a fundraising benefit to help pay off the costs of her colon cancer, and Joseph asked me if I had any pieces I could donate to the auction.  Honestly, while I wanted to donate something, I was at a bit of a loss- my work is kinda hit or miss down here, and I wanted to donate something people would want.  I told Joseph to pick, and he selected the Louisiana Magnolia and the Iris.

Before donating the art, we needed to have it framed and brought it down to David's Art Center.   

Having your art professionally framed changes how you see it.  Seeing someone else treat it with professional care and courtesy made me reevaluate these pieces, and seeing them framed with such attention to detail elevated them from loose watercolor illustrations to art someone might hang in their home.

Reducing My Video Schedule

Throughout February, I reduced my videos to one per week to allow myself time to work on longer projects and perhaps give people time to watch these updates.  Slowing things down to one update a week takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders and allows me some wiggle room to work on comic pages as well.  I'll probably keep this schedule change.

Upcoming Reviews:

I'm currently working on some paint reviews!  When reviewing paints from tubes, I like to swatch while they're still wet, let them dry for a week, swatch again, and increasingly, I'm trying to include a fieldtest with the review.  As you can imagine, this takes awhile to complete, and means I'm often working on a few reviews at a time.  Here's what I'm working on:

Meiliang Pigments TUBE watercolors

So with this review, I also wanted to do some side by side swatches like I did with Paul Rubens, so I pulled out my old Meiliang half pans for some swatchin'!   I still need to work on the fieldtest before I can wrap this one up, but I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts with yall!

Superior/Art Whale Tube Watercolors

Supervision comes in TUBES?!  That was news to me, so I had to try them out!  I comparatively swatched these against their Artify/Superior student grade and Superior Master Level paints, so we can really get a good feel for these paints.  I still need to do a fieldtest with these, but I can't wait to talk to yall about them.

BOTH of these paints are potential candidates for future painting people art kits.  I wanted to find good paints that are affordable and available in a wide range of colors to include with possible kits.  I can't say anything for certain until I've fieldtested these paints to make sure they're up to snuff.

Backer Exclusive & Early Access:

Selling Your Art- Making Merch presentation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/backer-exclusive-99211243

Early Access! New from Paul Rubens! Qaiomei & G4 Halfpanapalooza Reviewza! https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-new-98611594

Tips for Painting on Cheap Paper: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-for-98569838

Learn at Your Own Pace! Recommended Reading for Beginner Artists: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-at-98569451

Printable Valentine's Lineart: https://www.patreon.com/posts/backer-exclusive-98431426

A Lil Slice of King Cake Timelapse & Tutorial: https://www.patreon.com/posts/backer-exclusive-98294027

My Favorite Watercolor Brushes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-my-98202351

New to the Public: 

Selling Your Art! How to Prepare for Your First Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw5a8yftTaw

As Good as PWC? ShinHan Korean Watercolors Full Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CNjnPwbqlY

Easily Influenced by Let's Make Art! Trying Out Art Kits & A Floral Workbook by Sarah Cray: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHUkYjOm5f8&t=3s

For Fans of Cottagecore & Hobbitcore- Sketchbook Tour- Flipping Through Lilliputian Living 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8SCjjZZMmg&t=10s