I QUIT MY JOB!! I'M A FULL TIME ARTIST!!

No, your eyes do not deceive you lol. I really did quit my job. Those of you who have been following me for at least the last year (especially on twitter) know how much my job was draining me and making me miserable because it was just soo monotonous and didn't align with any of my career goals at all. I've been skilled in every single function of the job for a while and so wasn't being challenged anymore. And on top of that, they made it clear that they were never gonna hire me because of my poor attendance due to a health condition that I had no control over, even though I was the top employee for 2 out of the 2.5 years that I worked there. It was a slap in the face every time I applied for a full time job. And it really sucked the life out of me working a job that didn't fulfill me at all that wasn't even paying me enough to get approved for an apartment.

So I finally worked up the courage to give a week's notice and honestly, soon as I did, it was like a huge weight off my shoulders. It's crazy because I was so terrified to do it for so long, afraid that I would fail, and yet I felt so many doors open soon as I did. My mood just instantly improved. I started brainstorming all the plans I could finally make reality. I've had nubs as fingertips for like a year and after I emailed my resignation, I grew beautiful white nails in like three days lmfao. I bet my hair is gonna be a lot healthier now too because it's been breaking off since last summer from the stress of feeling stuck! Now I feel so free... Even though I'm arting full time, I do still have another job that I'm working full time, but it's a fun stay-at-home job that I actually enjoy, so I can dedicate 40 hours a week to art still. And I'm actually going to be making more money than I did at the job I just quit. So that's the plan until I find a new job with benefits (idk, I might just stick with this plan cause it works so well for me) but we'll see how I feel after a couple months. Btw, after a couple months, I should be able to get approved for a nice 1-2 bedroom apartment finally! I want my damn art studio!!!

Anyway, today was my first day working for myself (eeeee!!!! it feels so good to say that!!!!) and I have to say it went exceptionally well. I actually worked like I was on the clock and didn't take a million breaks like I usually do when I'm so exhausted from working the previous job. I managed to finish my fourth piece of the year! So I'm still ahead of myself from last year. It was the second to last Valentine's piece, and of course when I finish the last one, my 2019 Valentine's Day box will be complete and for sale in my shop. I'll give more details about that at a later date. Just so you guys know, I couldn't come up with a name for this piece, so I decided to make a giveaway out of it. Whoever can come up with a dope, catchy name for this piece will win a free 8x10" print of whatever piece they choose from my print shop! A lot of people have already made some suggestions but I still haven't found one that really grabs me. While thinking of a name, keep in mind that the girl in this drawing is heartbroken and bitter! lmao.

Now for the bad news. Due to what I believe is Mercury Retrograde (lmao), I'm having all sorts of technical issues that are affecting certain art-relating things if you know what I mean. I'm not currently able to film for youtube. Which really sucks, because I film EVERYTHING I draw at this point. And I love interacting with my subbies. But unfortunately, my camera hasn't been allowing me to record for longer than five seconds at a time, which makes it pretty much pointless. Also, my external hard drive, where I save all the videos for my timelapses, hasn't been letting me access any of my files. It keeps telling me to enter my password, and I've never ever had a password for it. According to the company that made it, the only way to fix this issue is to format my drive, which will delete everything on it. And that's just not an option for me. I'm really just riding Mercury Retrograde out and hoping everything will go back to normal once Mercury turns direct, as it usually does.

Aside from all that, I'm still working every day, and now my commissions are fully open (those with deadlines and those without). I've updated my guidelines a little bit, nothing major. I'll be able to take 2-3 commissions per month (depending on what type of piece it is) so definitely secure your slot NOW.

New additions to the shop:

"Unnamed" Original

Side note: I finally purchased some plastic covers and rigid mailers for those of you who order small prints and stickers that don't need to be rolled up inside a long ass tube lol. So that's something.

Have a productive day everybody :)

Captivated by the booty

So the past week has been kinda crazy lol. I'm gonna be honest. I feel like my social media and engagement as far as my art has been in a slump for a good 3-4 months. The algorithms are driving me nuts. Especially instagram. I went from averaging 200-300 likes to averaging about 50. My stories views went from 150+ to about 30. My art was getting no exposure whatsoever. And my twitter engagement has been low for years, but it was even lower somehow??? And I try not to get discouraged by these things but at the end of the day, 100% of my promotion is done online at the moment. So that's how I sell art. If I'm not getting my work seen, I can't make money and I need that to be happening so I can get closer to becoming a full time artist and being able to sustain myself with my work.

I think anyone who creates original work completely from their imagination knows that "trendy" art is a lot more popular and sells easily. Like artists who just recreate cartoon characters that already exist or something are the artists who get the most exposure and most people throwing money at them. Which is equally discouraging. Pretty much, whatever is popular to the general public is what makes money. I know whenever I do a celebrity portrait, it's gonna get way more attention than a doe fairy or whatever. And along with celebrities and cartoon characters, nudity and NSFW artwork is also super popular. I hadn't done a piece like that in over a year, and I had this particular photo of myself that was really kinda calling my name. And I thought it would be a good piece to add to my Valentine's themed collection.

So....basically....I did a painting of my ass. Keep in mind, I knew people would be into it, but I never thought it would blow up the way it did. I never thought it would give my art and social media the boost that it did. Let me go over everything. Just the progress pics I was posting was getting more likes and RTs on instagram and twitter than any of the finished pieces I've posted since my Bae Park painting. So I knew then something was happening lol. Then the messages started. I got SO many private messages and comments about the booty pic, you would've thought men never saw an ass before. Seriously though, they were a little too horny-- I'm sorry, hype over a half-drawn booty cheek. I had to tell a few of them to relax actually. Then people started telling me they were interested in purchasing the original or prints before I was even finished! That's never happened to me before... I'm always amazed by artists who sell an original before it's even completed.

Anyway, I finished the painting. It came out just as amazing as I imagined it would, also rare. It's something I feel really proud of. And it's the first PIECE I've ever done that didn't have a face in it. After I posted the finished piece on twitter, it really blew up. Now this is a relative blow up because you have to remember, I do NOT get RTs and likes like that on twitter. This one got way more than I ever have on a post. I could retweet my art 30+ times over a span of six months and not get this much response from it. Then when I posted the 60 second timelapse on instagram, went to sleep, and woke up later that day, it already had 3000 views. I did a double take when I looked at my phone. By the next morning, it had 6000. It's two days later and it's now sitting at 13000. And of course the new followers have been rolling in. My instagram went from a measly 100 profile views to 1800+. I've gotten a ton of warm, sweet comments and compliments. It's all been kind of overwhelming.

Of course I think about the fact that it took a photo of some ass to get people excited again about my artwork... which is a little bothersome. But at the end of the day, it still brought exposure to my other work and me as an artist in general. They came for the booty and then stayed for everything else LOL. And I just might take advantage of this and draw something sexy whenever I feel like my art needs a little push. I have NO shame lol. Of course, I'm gonna put this piece on absolutely everything. Prints, stickers, totes, phone cases, shirts, etc. But we'll start with prints :)

"Juicy Fruit" prints

Don't forget, this piece is apart of my Valentine's collection, so it's on sale for 30% off during the month of February. Just use the code: THEWAYYOUMAKEMEFEEL at checkout :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVHhmMrUu2o

Have a productive evening!

Valentine's Day is coming....!

Good morning, everybody! Hope your day is going well so far. I'm currently blogging from my bed, about to make my way to go view an apartment. I'm really hoping this is it for me. Apartment hunting is honestly sooo draining. Especially when you find something so perfect and affordable, but a million other people peep it too, and they end up finding a tenant before you're scheduled to go see it!!! (That has happened to me a lot if you can't tell). I'm just so ready to be comfy in my OWN home with my OWN rules. Not to mention having a space that I design and decorate myself. Something that's actually presentable so that I can start making art vlogs and other youtube videos that actually show my face because I'm no longer embarrassed by my surroundings. Sigh. And my art studio?! It's gonna be so fucking amazing. Ugh.

Anyway, I'm working on a lot of upcoming Valentine's themed projects like I said I would. Already finished one, the 4th installment of my 2019 Valentine's Day series. For anyone who hasn't kept up with my blogs or social media, my Valentine's Day series is something I plan to do every year and it's basically a collection of male public figures who inspired me somehow in the previous year. This year, the first year, those men were Jay Park, Riz Ahmed, Michael Jackson (he's gonna be in it every year so just be prepared for that lmao), Mac Miller, and Aminé. I finished Mac Miller finally a few days ago. Worked on him for almost three months! I was definitely procrastinating on it for a while because I was worried about fucking him up. But I think I did a decent job and I hope everyone else thinks I did him some justice too.

Now I just have to try and get Aminé finished before the 14th lol. I can definitely pull it off, just don't wanna rush it. But once I do finish it, I'll have the full set of prints on sale so you can buy all five together if you'd like. I'm already brainstorming what ideas I'm going to use on my 2020 collection lol. I've already got a few men picked out. There will about seven next year. I'm going to do a few more Valentine's themed characters too. I finished a Queen of Hearts character a few days before I finished Mac. I think she's kind of cute lol. She'll be on sale too soon. All of my Valentine's stuff will be discounted during the month of February. Just use the code: THEWAYYOUMAKEMEFEEL at checkout :)

Make sure to check out my tutorial on how to shade shiny round objects, as well as the timelapse videos for Mac Miller and Queen of Hearts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg7XhsmHyiU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYo-ZrtBOTk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GMWMatAqLQ

Everything that's new in the shop this week:

Mac Miller Original

Mac Miller prints

Queen of hearts original

Before you leave the site today, you should visit my "Contests & Giveaways" page! I recently came up with a month-long art challenge for artists who are in a slump or just would like to practice on different drawing techniques and challenges. And there's a little incentive to get it all done :)

Have a productive week!

#sale #prints #youtube #queenofhearts #completedpiece #timelapsedrawing