Day 21: photo study and master study 🎀

Two studies of a lady with super long hair and in a loose dress, she looks out into the distance

Day 22A: sequential figure movement studies

Lady seated on the floor, crouches and steps up and walks off.

Day 22B: figure and portrait studies of 4 people seated, crouching and lying down

Four companions hanging out?

Day 23A: more figure studies, breakdowns and portrait

Lady crossed legged on the floor seated, big body stretch handstand pose with one leg in the air, portrait study with hearts and construction breakdowns

Day 23B: My Ladyship ⚔️

Knight in armour kneeling to his lady who is also in armour with a cape. She holds a sword over his shoulder as if knighting him while he holds his sword vertically in both hands.

Half of day 12’s gesture drawing session

Just sharing these here because people don’t like my sketchy things as much

Kimo Quest Week 2: Sienna and Tera with acorns

Sienna with a frog hat and acorn hovering above her left hand and seated back to back with her sister Tera. Tera is seated facing us with her left hand also with a hovering acorn. Sienna is smiling (traditional artist) and Tera (digital artist) is wary.

Finally finished as it was left at the lineart stage for ages!!
Gosh when I finally put together my Kimo7 timelapse video, I wonder how long it will be!! I had to save out 4 videos already as my file was getting too big…

Leonie rambles about…

I’m trying to relax but there’s more things to do or unplanned, stressful, disappointing, confusing, frustrating, lonely, overwhelming happenings and rejection thrown in my way in waves…! That is life and I’m trying to care less, struggle less and expect less…and rely on myself more with things I can control somehow. Easier said than done…and I am repetitive as I process things…

I’m just trying to do my best, slowing down, processing my feelings, managing day by day and not be “too intense/anxious” onto others in my life. Maybe I need more friends I can rely on too without forcing anything…hope it happens :<

Vague career advice I shared with Angela who is just starting her art career

She reached out as she was asking a lot games industry people for advice. I don’t know her beyond the email conversation we had but here is some of what I rambled. I also checked with her if I could share what I wrote. Maybe it’s of help to someone else and so that I can refer people to this if someone else decides to ask the same things again.

And I’m more of a text message person while voice calls are more draining and makes me anxious!!

• On advice with being a concept artist and illustrator in the games industry
  • I am not particularly specialised as a concept artist or illustrator so I don’t have specific career advice for it
  • sadly for me, I don’t think I’ve succeeded financially as a well known concept artist or an illustrator
    • I don’t really have an incredibly engaged, substantial audience either
    • though huge audiences does not at all represent financial success
    • not sure how to help you during these increasingly hard times with the volatile industry/layoffs, how it’s always super competitive and general advice can be quite vague
  • I don’t really know what career advice or insight you’d want as that feels like a heavy, broad, scary question for someone else’s career and life :’)
  • story/lore heavy, fantastical, fantasy, historical kind of bosses, worlds and projects seems to be what she’s aiming for – it’s not exactly what I do
• finding jobs/work
  • personally I have been struggling to freelance and get consistent jobs – mostly dry/nothing
    • due to my art styles or lack of work suited to me
    • probably I lack the network too
    • I’m probably too expensive
    • it really is a matter of who you have the opportunity to know
    • and if you’re able to rise to the occasion as a reliable, positive, competent artist that meets their needs/market/audiences/standards/art styles.
  • job boards/ commissioning sites and freelancing
    • reddit communities are out there but quite competitive from the looks of it
    • I don’t have much experience in those and with finding commissioners so I can’t say
    • I don’t do enough commissions nor am I marketable to be financially viable
    • people approached me in the past with work but that’s incredibly rare and usually it’s nothing for years and not expected. Or it doesn’t work out.
    • please do ask other freelance artists who are more experienced in this to help here
    • dry periods suck
      • freelancing before my first studio job was a struggle with most of the time/ a lot of the year being dry and finding nothing working out for me
      • I was fortunate to have food/base living support and being stingy with my savings
      • the rare freelancing work and back when I was contracting for Hipster Whale – they happened after my first studio job. Even then it was irregular and I was just hanging in there / afloat
      • always in survival mode…
  • Quoting is also a stressful process for me
    • because I question my self worth each time I have to value and quote my own work
    • I don’t have the opportunities to do it often enough to be desensitised to that
  • Keep targeting studios you want to work for when job positions become available
    • (or perhaps cold email studios that match your art styles/work with your updated portfolio every 6 to 12 months with new work).
    • keep striving for game projects and studios and teams that match your work
    • do concepts/art/personal projects you’re excited about and will thrive at doing
    • you don’t want to end up doing work you hate doing – don’t put those pieces in your portfolio
  • Please make the most of your connections at your internship, at industry events and conferences
    • it’s where you can get to know other gamedevs/artists/creatives you can work with and/or work for
    • do reach out to more concept artists and illustrators because everyone’s journeys are different. Maybe they have better advice suited to your needs too!
    • don’t try to use people either, people sense this!! At least be upfront with your intentions
  • enjoy the journey (making sure you survive financially through other means as you find somewhere to land your feet)
  • ghost jobs are fake job positions
• I would refer you to my blog/old podcasts where I actually detail my journey since 2011 along the way
  • through feast and longer famine periods (though I started posting since 2005)
  • I don’t have the emotional energy and time to look back and recall my struggles due to the things I’m juggling at present :’)
  • better to reference my past self’s rambles as it was more fresh for past Leonie
• Still the “not feeling enough”, “feeling irrelevant”, “falling behind”, “feeling like a fraud and stagnant” and “feeling resentful/envious that other artists seem to be more successful/popular/charismatic/thriving” doesn’t fully go away
  • comes back in waves especially during the low, struggling times
  • definitely tough, scary and it feels hopeless
  • All you can do is just keep doing what you can control and that is a fight in itself.
• I don’t have a study schedule as that stresses me out
  • I tried rigid time schedules and time blocking but I keep it loose and chip away at things slowly now
  • Just doing what I can with the limited energy and time I have
  • There’s always people who spend more time than you studying
  • studying for the sake of studying is also unhelpful.
  • Focusing on one or two things for a long time without getting distracted by everything and by what other artists are doing is important.
  • make sure you protect the joy in learning and creating and to not burn yourself out (burn out is not great from my many experiences of it…)
• Just make sure you’re not too hard on yourself as things are quite tough in general and you are doing your best :’)
  • also take people’s experiences (including mine) with a grain of salt as everyone’s luck, opportunities, skills, paths, passions, journey, upbringing, etc is different
  • you just do what resonates and works with you and your strengths best
• also with hand/wrist pain – when you’re in pain you should rest
  • when you’re pain free there are some hand exercises shared at my resources channel at my discord that I do!
• All the best with your exciting journey and hope you stay strong against the uncertainties of the industry
  • I hope you find a place/stepping stone to land and keep on rolling with your art as you start your art career 😀

Personal update

It’s intense work times today and also after the easter break eep!!

So now I need to figure out how to relax and juggle all the things I want to do!! I feel a different kind of pressure!! I have to make the most of this somehow…

Well I do want to play a game, keep at it with all the kimo related stuff, practice blender and life/housework/repair/cleaning things…but I don’t want to be always working and get overwhelmed. And can I do all of these things???

I need to decompress from “intense, work mode” haha

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