March Newsletter
Greetings, folks!
Given the state of social media, I decided to revisit my newsletter, like many of my peers for whom being an artist on the internet right now is proving... challenging. I've found myself bouncing between different platforms over the years, deciding somewhat erratically what gets posted where, which is incredibly difficult for anyone to keep up with and doesn't provide me with a reliable archive of my work. My portfolio is always there, but it's difficult to see what new art has been added. So I'm going to start trying to document what I've been working on, with maybe a bit more behind the scenes explanation, in this here newsletter!
I'll see how long I manage to keep up with it this time.
Right now my plan is to try to send one every month, or probably more likely every two months, depending on how much I have to share. Lately I've been spending a lot of time on job hunting, so I haven't had as much time for art!
Anyway, on to the good stuff.
I ended 2023 by frantically scrabbling to finish my last gift for the yearly Fandom Trumps Hate auction so I would be able to open up a new one this year. (My auction is currently open as of writing this, and will be until March 9.) I had a lot of fun drawing characters in the Hades style, which I had not done before despite getting really into the game and beating it last year. I did multiple expressions and broke up the art into pieces so they could be animated, and I can't wait to see what they end up looking like after they've got their motion graphics and effects added. Sprites for video games and visual novels is something I've always been interested in, and this definitely made me want to revisit some old ideas I had years ago...
Every year I absolutely have to sign up for the holiday gift exchange for oofuri, which is an all-time favorite anime of mine, and I was extra excited when I got my hands on the requests because several of them were right square in my wheelhouse. I have a lot of fun coming up with a whole premise for the story when I do exchanges where I have a fleshed out AU concept. It's extra fun for a sports series in a mundane modern setting; I love getting to throw the characters neck deep into an action thriller or high fantasy or a favorite video game. It's easily one of my favorite things to do. (I will never ever stop making Pacific Rim AUs and you couldn't stop me if you tried. But, like, why would you?)
Another passion of mine is OCs and drawing kissing. This one is pretty self explanatory, I think. One of my goals for this year is to work on original characters and stories more, so I'll try to do things like this more often, possibly with more juicy background info. That's the plan, anyway.
I went a little feral at the end of January working on a short comic and then a bunch of new illustrations for two of my favorite Fire Emblem characters, which I compiled into a sketch zine for itch. You can get it here: https://kayzowl.itch.io/allies-or-enemies
I end up revisiting these characters pretty regularly because I imprinted on them a bit as a lil bab. It took me a long time to figure out how to draw them, though, so naturally I got carried away when my ability finally hit a level I was satisfied with. And I've been meaning to draw more short comics! So it all worked out really nicely. I always have a lot of fun compiling my sketch zines, making a pattern for the filler pages, designing the banner and assets for the itch storefront... I find it really satisfying when it all comes together. And it looks nice on my portfolio, too!
I also made myself a phone wallpaper, which I shared on my ko-fi. Sometimes you gotta make things just for yourself, because it gives you those good brain chemicals.
For upcoming things, I'll be doing the online Fire Emblem convention EmblemCon in April! I'm in the Commission Alley this year and I'll have a small discount, which I rarely ever offer. I'm also going to try to stream during the event, so if you've ever wanted to watch me draw, you'll have a chance! http://twitch.tv/kayzowl I'm not sure how often I'll stream going forward, it depends on how much it stresses me out I guess. But I had a lot of fun when I first tried it years ago, so if I've got commissions or projects I want to stream, maybe I'll get back to doing it more.
I want to wrap up this first newsletter by talking about some things I really like that I've watched or read recently! First is The Winter Knight by Jes Battis. I really enjoyed this book a lot! It's a mystery wrapped in a modern Arthurian retelling with a fun blend of diverse and queer characters, an urban magic system, and really interesting worldbuilding that weaves together mythology with the current day. I found the prose atmospheric and refreshing, and of course loved all the characters. They're messy and endearing in the best way.
I never got super into dramas as a young weeb, but every once in a while I hear about one that intrigues me enough to watch, and Extraordinary Attorney Woo is the most recent. It's a Korean drama featuring an autistic attorney as the protagonist, and I am so glad I decided to check it out. My favorite thing about it, aside from her slightly unhinged ride-or-die best friend, is the way the show developed the relationship between Woo and her boss. He started out mostly well-meaning but kind of an ignorant ass, and quickly learned how his behavior was kind of shitty, kicking off his journey of growth into a much more supportive figure in the protagonist's life. Watching it happen, in an organic and believable way, was really satisfying for me. If you've got netflix, I definitely recommend giving the show a watch. They portrayed a whole bunch of things about autism well, at least from my experience.
The other show I've gotten really into is one that's gotten incredibly popular: Hazbin Hotel (and Helluva Boss, the spinoff webseries). This one definitely has content warnings for very good reasons, and initially I had some real cognitive dissonance with the adult themes from such a heavily stylized cartoon. But once I'd watched a couple episodes and had time to re-calibrate my brain I realized how desperately I wanted this kind of mature show. I've been getting increasingly frustrated with the censorship and purity culture that's evolved as all the mainstream television and streaming platforms cater their content more and more to appease advertisers and marketing teams, and appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Niche art for small audiences is so incredibly important right now. We need more weird art, made by humans! Much more weird art, about all kinds of things, where the creators have control over their own story. Hazbin is not the right fit for everyone, but it certainly is for me right now. I love the way it complicates black and white morality and the all-or-nothing structure of the society the characters live in, I love how deeply flawed every single character is, and the music is just so fucking good. It will probably be my hyperfixation for a good long while. It definitely isn't perfect, but nothing is, and I'm enjoying the heck out of it.
Anyway that's all I've got for now. I'll be back in a month or two!
Keep being weird, friends.