Illustration / My entry to Lara Carson’s DrawThisInYourStyle Challenge + LeonieUpdate!

Posted on Posted in Fanart, Illustration, LeonieYue, PersonalUpdate, progressupdate, Reflection Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In this little LeonieUpdate:

  • DTIYS Art Challenge illustration process
  • personal update and ramble on:
    • whether narcissists have true friends
    • on managing autistic burnout & motivation style
    • other interesting finds!

Lara Carson’s LightBoxExpo Draw This In Your Style (DTIYS) Challenge [original art piece]

I did this when LightBoxExpo was ending and I was half alive, half asleep then :’) So I actually finished it during LightBox but delayed posting it since the deadline was the end of this month instead!! Thank you so much for the amazing, fun challenge Lara! It got me motivated to try something different (:

I treated this art challenge as a stylisation experiment and fun colour study since she uses colours so incredibly and vibrantly well! And I haven’t drawn a flower demonic lady before :0

I keep thinking that her flowers are galaxy flowers ✨

Leonie rambles time (lots of housekeeping)!

  • Generally it’s been mixed bag of horrible cramps, sleep was all over the place and feeling poopy in the past handful of days :’) But grateful we got to eat homemade, delicious Japanese curry ^o^
  • I was testing Sketchbook posts on Thursdays last week but it didn’t work out too well; going back to Sketchbook Wednesdays for patrons!
  • I was going to do another DrawThisInYourStyle but the due date happens to be during the week I’m taking a break from posting (next week)! Ah well. Currently somewhat stressed out since I don’t have an art buffer anymore so I hope this break allows me time to build things up again :’)
  • Rather than waiting until I’m horribly burnt out to take breaks from posting, I’m going to take regular, scheduled 1 week breaks every 2 or so months to minimise and manage my burnouts better. Let’s see how that goes! :0
  • I’m excited for these regular breaks from twitter and instagram too!

Notes on Do narcisissts have friends?

  • healthy friendships have compassion, shared interests, intentions & values, kindness, warmth, respect, trust, connection, communication, appreciation and lots of learning together
  • but narcissistic people are not good at it and it’s more about high school social dynamics and they often see themselves as the blameless victim despite often causing the drama
  • feels like you’re always complimenting them and being babysitter for them
  • feels superficial, devoid of deeper conversation
  • they control friendships to their convenience and sometimes you won’t hear from them for weeks, months, years
  • they only reach out if they need something or need someone’s company
  • other times they feel slighted because you didn’t go out of their way to help them (yet they refuse to ask for help and expect offers of help)
  • you feel burnt out from such a friendship; you’re only their friend as long as it’s convenient for them and until someone better comes along (connection, money, reputation, etc) and they discard you
  • as time goes on, you get thrown away and stop responding, accept reality and let them go
  • they are hypersensitive and feel like people are out to disappoint them and out to get them; much hypocrisy and drama
  • friendships end often and are one way streets; if you need them for a sympathetic ear they’re bored and not interested
  • they use people for own agenda and transactional
  • they are surrounded by yes people and allies, ego strokers, enablers and people who make them look good
  • they pretend to be best friends with people they barely know
  • they don’t make friends but take hostages, using people like tools and leech off others
  • they give you an empty feeling and they are deceivers full of smoke and mirrors. Don’t give them the benefit of the doubt
  • they hold grudges forever and if they feel wronged and will go against you. If they can’t get what they want from you their true face appears 🙁

Notes from How to avoid autistic burn out (is it possible?!)

  • I relate to it a lot and how I often push my body to the limit and beyond, working in bursts of energy. I get super productive and then burn out bright and fast, become a zombie with lasting fatigue 🙁
  • in most places you can’t operate in a cycle of a few days of intensity and then days of resting. I end up working overtime for a handful of days and then recover for the next handful with freelance.
  • long stressful periods makes recovery time longer
  • playing games, watching youtube and movies may not help – it helps me sometimes if it refreshes and re-energises my tired, grumpy, overstimulated brain :S
  • not let neurotypical people call you lazy and selfish for taking care of yourself and not mask anymore :<
  • hearing struggling autistic people on how they’re not enough, get fired, fail other’s expectations, get rejected, how no one cares if you’re autistic and they remain unemployed makes me sad 🙁
  • it’s true, I have to drain a huge amount of effort to mask myself, to seem “normal” and I don’t have much energy left to do much socialising during or after work. I need lots of solitary recovery time :0
  • gosh do I have chronic fatigue??? He says much pacing needed to manage autistic burnout
  • I do burn out depending on how long social time gets
  • suggestions that were made to manage burnout:
    • power nap of 15-20 minutes
    • taking walks and breaks away
    • conversations and social moments (I don’t know about this one; it depends)
    • exercise and to be present with your body
    • ensure that there’s recovery breaks where you do nothing productive
    • yoga
    • let your mind wander, meditate and watch enjoyable things
    • listen to good music that’s in tune with your feelings
    • pay attention to your body and arrange a rest day for yourself
    • self massages
    • learn what your strengths and weaknesses are about how your work and how you’re overcompensating
    • split things into high energy and exhausting tasks
      • versus low energy tasks and energy recharging tasks
    • striving to progress things slowly; you don’t have to be productive all the time! It’s okay (:
  • how there’s physical, mental and emotional burnout:
    • mental energy is to do with concentration and focus levels and making sure things are flexible, 10 minutes at a time and enjoyable to keep yourself going
    • physical energy is managing your body, aches, pains and making sure you exercise, sleep well and eat well
    • emotional energy is to do with being aware and managing your mood and feelings? How you tolerate stress and how you recover (whether it’s through solitary activities or social ones)
  • Leveraging Autism To Find Motivation Through Tough Times – What’s your personal motivation style?
    • rewards/punishment doesn’t work for me too! I need an endpoint and that motivates me to keep going and be done with it 😀
    • being noticed, trusted, respected, supported and acknowledged that I could do challenging things (with realistic end goals) is encouraging too :0

Other interesting finds

Thank you so much for reading and take care!

Here’s some music for you!

Whoa it’ll be October tomorrow! May you have a low stress and brave week ahead! Let’s keep juggling with life :’)

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