My February Journey

Art, Books, and New Discoveries

Feb 28, 2025

Whats up! Another month just gone. 🤯

February has always been my favorite month, not just because of the winter and snow (if there is any), but because it's my birthday month!

This year, I had plans to celebrate on February 5th with a trip to IKEA to pick out some fake flowers with my parents. I was so excited about getting beautiful hanging flowers for my space, but reality didn’t quite match my expectations. Most of them either looked too plastic or were crushed together in a way that made them unappealing. In the end, I only brought one home, and though it wasn’t what I originally imagined, I have to admit, it looks fantastic in my studio!

The day didn’t improve much when I decided to buy some LEGO instead, only to find out that just hours after I checked, they were out of stock. Definitely not my luckiest day!😑

But it wasn’t all bad. My brother and his girlfriend gave me a plant they could no longer keep because their cats wouldn’t leave it alone. Luckily, Kili doesn’t seem to care about it, so it’s safe and thriving. Yay for unexpected gifts!

This month, I also continued my Patreon membership for Philip Sue. His landscape paintings are breathtaking, every single one tells a story, and his Arcane-inspired piece? Absolutely stunning. His work is something I aspire to, creating a single image that feels like an entire tale on its own.

Speaking of learning, I’ve been speeding through courses by watching them at 2x speed, and it’s been paying off! I managed to complete two out of three of David Coleman’s courses on Creature Art Teacher. My favorite so far has been "Drawing with Life, Energy, and Story", highly recommended! Just one more course to go, and I’ll have finished the set. 😁

I also got my hands on the first Character Design Quarterly issue of the year. I’ve been collecting these since Issue #3 in 2017, and they never disappoint. This one featured Feefal’s art on the cover, and it’s gorgeous! As always, the magazine is packed with inspiration.

And speaking of books, I added a new one to my collection: Framed: Environment Design by Marcos Mateu-Mestre. I already own Framed Ink, so when I found out about this one, I had to get it. It’s much thicker than Framed Ink, and honestly, a bit overwhelming with how much information it has. My brain nearly shut down trying to absorb it all, but I know I’ll learn a lot from it.

On the art front, I’ve been keeping up with daily ink drawings in my little square sketchbook. As of now, I’ve managed to stick with it for over a week, much longer than my usual streak of four days! Maybe I’ve found my sweet spot?

I’ve also been creating digital art for my videos and podcast. Unfortunately, my latest video podcast didn’t do well. Experts say video podcasts are great for growth, but I haven’t really seen the results. My "Draw With Me" sessions actually get more views, even if the engagement isn’t great. Still, I had fun making the artwork, and that’s what matters most.

Lately, I’ve been debating whether to buy the new version of Clip Studio. Rebelle’s support team completely ghosted me when I sent them real footage of the issues I was having, which was disappointing. I don’t really want to support a company that ignores its users, even though their software is great. But then again, I also told myself I wouldn’t go back to Clip Studio after their fiasco... decisions, decisions.

As for my newsletter, it hasn’t been going well. Less growth, fewer views, low open rates, and almost no engagement. I know most of you read it via email, and I love that! But for those who used to follow on Substack’s app, I have no clue where they went. I know my writing hasn’t been the best lately, and I refuse to give away free stuff just to boost numbers. That only attracts people who sign up and never actually read anything. So, I’m thinking about switching to a biweekly schedule instead of weekly. That way, I’ll have more time to draw and maybe write something more useful.

On the anime side, I’ve been forcing myself to get through Fire Force Season 2. It’s not bad, but it’s not really grabbing me either. Only four episodes left, though! I also watched "The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep" movie on Netflix and really enjoyed it, especially Jaskier’s expressions! If you have any anime recommendations, send them my way!

So, that was my month, ups, downs, and everything in between. But overall, I’d say it was a good one!😊