Well, another Shark Week has come and gone, but it was jawsome while it lasted! 😀 My last 2 pieces I did for Shark Week include an adorable drawing of King Shark from the hilarious cartoon Harley Quinn. ❤ It seemed fitting since the new season just started AND it has my absolute favorite version of King Shark, voiced by none other than the always-awesome Ron Funches.
For the final piece, I wanted to mix things up and make a mer-shark. Mermaids are cool and all, but I would 100% want to be a mer-shark. ❤
I really enjoyed myself this year with Shark Week. We did so much at work to celebrate sharks, and I had fun nerding out with friends about sharks and watching as much shark content as I could squeeze in! 🙂
How was your July?? What are you looking forward to most in August? 🙂
Does anyone else look forward to when Goodreads posts your “Year in Books” at the end of the year? 🙂 I always think it’s fun looking back on things you’ve done throughout the year, so maybe that is something I’ll try to keep better track of in 2022 in general. For now, though, I’ll just let GR do most of the work.
This year I surpassed my goal of reading 30 books/graphic novels, and read a total of 45. (Though, let’s be honest, A LOT of those were graphic novels this year.) 😉
The SHORTEST book I read was:The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, at 118 pages.
The LONGEST book was:NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, at 692 pages.
Favorite Graphic Novel I Read This Year: I literally read all 34 volumes of the manga of Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama, so I think it’s a safe bet to say this one took the cake for me in 2021. 😛
How was your own year in reading? What was your favorite book/graphic novel you read in 2021? How many books do you hope to read in 2022?
So, I just realized that I never posted the remainder of my drawings I did for October’s Corpsetober art challenge. 0.o Whoopsie. Well, better late than never, right? 😉
Prompt 9: Fairies
With a prompt like “fairies”, I just had to use it as an excuse to draw another moth fairy. ❤ Prompt 10: Valentine’s Day
Watch out, she’ll steal your heart! 😛 I did not intend for this woman to look like 90’s Alanis Morissette, but apparently sometimes these things just happen. Prompt 11: The 80’s
Cute 80’s girl with Frankenstein’s Monster/Bride of Frankenstein fashion vibes.
Prompt 12: Anime or Manga
Originally I was trying to think of an actual spooky anime to do fan art of, but then I just decided to take an iconic horror movie like Halloween, and thought to myself, but what if it was an anime? Haha so here we are. I took inspiration for Michael and Laurie’s faces from Charmy and Noelle from the anime Black Clover.
Prompt 13: Retro Video Games – the 90’s
When I had to think of a 90’s video game with Halloween or spooky vibes, my brain instantly went to Banjo’s pumpkin form from N64’s Banjo-Kazooie. Specifically, the Mad Monster Mansion level. Not my best piece, but it was a quick and easy one based off a video game that I have so many wonderful memories playing.
I actually haven’t had much time to draw since I worked on these pieces in October, so hopefully I’ll get to change that soon. Too many hobbies, never enough time. What hobbies are you looking forward to this December? 🙂
Hello, December! ❤ It’s kind of bizarre to think that 2021 has already nearly come to an end. It feels like we were JUST wishing for 2020 to be over. What even IS time anymore since the pandemic hit? 0.o
I hope you guys all had a great November. 🙂 What was your favorite part of the month? Here’s some of the things I enjoyed most throughout November:
NaNoWriMo: NaNoWriMo was definitely interesting this year. This was the first year I’ve gone into it in 2nd Draft/Revisions mode, so it was a little more difficult for me to get my footing at first. I definitely added to my word count and fleshed out a lot of the bare bones areas of the book, but I also spent a lot of time moving things around and merging my new material in with the old. Near the end of the month I found myself less focused on the word count, and more focused on just doing whatever needed to be done. All in all, I may have veered off course as far as my original NaNoWriMo goal, but I still think it was a very successful month of writing/editing, and I’m proud of what I accomplished in that amount of time. 🙂
Buddy Read:Cupcakes & Machetes and I did a buddy read for Science Fiction month ofThe Time Machine by H.G. Wells. If you want to see what we thought of it feel free to check out our post we did about it.
Thanksgiving: We kept things very small, just immediate family, and everyone involved was vaccinated. I like laid back holidays so I thought it was really nice. ❤ My dad and I love Bruce Campbell, so we watched his new movie Black Friday.
Watching: My favorite shows I watched this month are definitely Arcane (on Netflix) and Dragula, Season 4 (on Shudder).
Reading: I only finished reading ONE thing this entire month, and it was my buddy read with C&M. Buuuut, I did also just start reading Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, which has been very interesting right from the beginning. 🙂
Video Games: I’ve been playing a lot of Mario Kart 8 this week. 🙂
Baking: Meh. I was pretty excited to try this no bake pumpkin pie recipe, but it was bland as hell, to be honest. I’ve only ever tried making 2 pumpkin pies in my life, both for Thanksgiving with my family, and both were terrible. The first one was when I was a kid, my dad and I made a gorgeous pumpkin pie but forgot one of the ingredients… SUGAR. D: So I guess failing at pumpkin pie is a family tradition at this point. lol
What are you most excited for in December? Any last minute projects or goals you have going on before the new year? 🙂
My mom and I like to try to get together for coffee once a week, specifically Biggby frozen coffees with extra espresso in them because we are absolute fiends for caffeine. Well, as of late, our girls’ day coffee adventures have only gotten better with the addition of a third member of our “Treat Yo’ Self” squad, that being my parents’ new resident fluff monster that they got a few months back. (Like this dog needed any more reasons to love going for car rides.) 😛
Update #2: Pumpkin Babies
Our pumpkin patch is already fast at work producing flowers and pumpkin babies for the fall. I think this pumpkin patch will always hold a special place in my heart, not only because I love pumpkins, but also because the first harvest was for our wedding last October. ❤ Hopefully this year’s harvest will be just as good!
Update #3: Writing Progress
Writer Girl Summer is going really well. 🙂 I’ve mostly been cruising along right on track to have my first draft complete by the first day of fall, so here’s hoping I can keep this pace up. *fingers crossed*
Update #4: Reading, Or Rather, a Lack There Of
I didn’t get much reading done in July, mostly due to a misplaced charger for my Kindle that has thankfully since been found. Also, when I wasn’t writing, let’s be honest, I was mostly watching a ton of anime. While my kindle charger was misplaced, I had to take a break on finishing Pet Sematary for my buddy read with Cupcakes & Machetes, I started reading Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House.
Update #5: Drawing
Other than completing the Drawing Shark Week art challenge I participated in, I didn’t get a whole lot of drawing time in since this summer my focus is mostly on writing. Buuuut I’m hoping to at least squeeze in a couple Fan Art Friday posts this month since my last one was *GASP* all the way back in mid-May??! I can’t even keep up with time these days it seems. 2021 is just barreling by at breakneck speed and it’s all I can even do to try to remember what day it is half the time. Back to the point though, it will be good to get some more practice in with Procreate and my iPad Pro. I’m still loving it, I just have soooo much to learn!
Update #6: Watching
July mostly had me been binge-watching the first 4 seasons of My Hero Academia with my husband, but I also started Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood on my own. We also enjoyed the 3 week Netflix event for the Fear Street trilogy of movies. I think we may have squeezed a couple other movies in as well, but the only one coming to mind at the moment is Gunpowder Milkshake.
Update #7: Baking
For my husband’s dad’s birthday I made a triple chocolate cake. My husband also really enjoys these honey cornbread muffins I make so I made some of those which we enjoyed with honey cinnamon butter. (SO good.) I also have an abundance of frozen blueberries I want to use up, so this weekend I made blueberry muffins. Aaaand if you follow the Sugar and Scream blog that C&M and I host together, you’ll have seen some pics of freshly baked bone-shaped snickerdoodle cookies we posted about in early July.
What shenanigans did you get up to in July? Any big plans for August? Hoping you all have an excellent month! 😀
Cue the confetti cannons and put on your party hats, it’s big, exciting announcement time! Behind the scenes, my BFF and blogging partner in crime, Cupcakes & Machetes and I have secretly been plotting and working on something we’re very excited to finally be able to share with you guys!
. . . wait for it . . .
It’s a brand spanking new blog that the two of us will be co-hosting! We’ll still be keeping our own respective blogs too, but this new blog is a fun new way for us to revel in our love for all things horror, fantasy and science fiction and to toss some fun extra things in as well, like our experiments in baking and other hobbies/interests. So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to our new blog Sugar and Scream!!
We welcome you to hop on over to join in on the fun with us!
What time is it? Art Update Time! 🙂 I have an amazingly kind friend at work who let me borrow her fancy IPad recently to practice some digital illustrating on something different than my current art tablet set up I have, and damn, did I ever enjoy myself! ❤
I’ve been watching/reading a lot of Attack on Titan lately, so I could hardly resist drawing some AoT Fan Art while I was at it. And where better to start, than with Captain Levi?
While I was drawing badasses from AoT, it only made sense to draw some Mikasa. It was also a nice practice at shadows/lighting. Definitely a far cry from perfect, but it felt good to be practicing. ❤
Playing around with shadows made me want to play around with some different shapes and colors which resulted in the dragon pictured below.
Practicing with digital art again feels so rewarding. I love learning new techniques and pushing myself out of my comfort zone more. What things have you been learning and/or working on lately? Who else watched the first half of the final season of AoT? I absolutely looooved it. I can’t wait to see how it all ends come winter when the final episodes are released. 😀
Well, one of the things I was hoping to work on was practicing with other mediums (copic markers and digital art to be specific) so here are some of my more recent pieces done with that goal in mind. 🙂
I’ve been on a Rupaul’s Drag Race binge for several weeks and it had me wanting to draw some drag queens, and what better place to start than with Divine? It’s just a WIP at this point though because my red marker I was using died. D:
I love costumes and weird outfits so I could hardly resist drawing the spiky outfit from the Rodeo music video by Lil Nas X. Plus he’s got the whole vampire theme going on in the video so that just made it even more fun to draw because vampire teefs. 😛
I haven’t actually seen The Mandalorian yet (I know, I know) but I drew the little cutie pictured above on a Thank You card for someone I know to be a fan of the show. One day I’ll get around to the show and I’m sure I’ll love it, so no spoilers please! 😀
Well, I finally did it! I started playing around with my art tablet and came up with this pretty lady in purple pictured above. I have a lot of practicing to do with digital art but I’m looking forward to working at it and trying to learn new techniques. 🙂 Here’s hoping I’ll have plenty of new digital art to share in the months to come!
What have you guys been working on lately? Any fun projects or new hobbies you’re practicing at?
So, recently I stumbled across some old and very rough concept sketches for some fantasy creatures/beings and decided to slowly start inking and coloring them for fun. It had been years since I’d done the initial sketches so it was fun looking back on them and spiffing them up a bit. 🙂 So if Merfolk, Gorgons, and flying rats are your thing, please enjoy the following images!
I decided to take inspiration from the Frilled Shark for the coloring and gills on these two Deep Sea Merfolk. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoy this color scheme for them. 🙂
This Mer-Person, however, I wanted to play with color a little bit more. I liked drawing the fins and whatnot on these guys, so maybe there will be more Merfolk to come in 2021. Who knows! 😀
It is both a tedious pain in the ass and very fun to draw Gorgon “hair” (aka: Danger Noodles) (aka: snakes). My attention span was not made for such things but I did thoroughly enjoy drawing these ladies. ❤
Again, this is all just concept art so please don’t mind how rough all these pieces are. 😉
I love rats. I also love bats. Needless to say, I would love to have a little rat-bat minion to ride on my shoulder and fly around town with me. Especially if that little rat-bat had purple fur like this little guy. Also, ignore the laws of aviation. I know his wings are too small but he is cute and that is clearly what really matters. ❤
Okay, so I’m a little late to the party on this Tag, but in all fairness what even IS time in 2020?? I sure as hell don’t know! 😛 I saw this wonderful post from Lair of Books and decided that I, too, wished to join in on the fun. Better stylishly late than never, right? 😉
1.) Best book you’ve read so far this year?
Probably the same book I’m about to give as the answer for the following question, too. 😛
2.) Best sequel you’ve read so far this year?
Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo. Loved this book. Great characters, great twists and turns, and great worldbuilding.
3.) New release you haven’t read yet, but want to?
Even though I’m still not finished reading Dread Nation (not the book’s fault, but mine) I went ahead and bought the book’s sequel Deathless Divide, by Justina Ireland that was released earlier this year. Definitely looking forward to reading more of Dread Nation and then diving into this one.
4.) Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?
I didn’t have anything that instantly sprang to mind (mostly due to my own lack of research of new releases) but upon a little digging I discovered that we can, in fact, have SOME nice things in 2020. As it turns out, the fifth (and apparently final) volume of Monstress is coming out in October! 😀
5.) Biggest disappointment?
Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest, and I will explain why in the next question because it really does apply to both.
6.) Biggest surprise?
Probably how much I was disappointed by Boneshaker (pictured above). Zombie Steampunk shenanigans should have been my jam, but I just could not get into the characters, especially the main 2 characters. I was so sick of reading how “smart” the son was when he pretty much gave me zero evidence of that himself. And the mom just felt so flat. Like, we knew who she was married to, we know she wants to find her son, but other than that, there isn’t much I can say about her, unfortunately. And as much as I adore worldbuilding, I think they went a bit too heavy with setting the atmosphere compared to the actual plot and character development. I really had high hopes for this one but it just was not my cup of tea, sadly. 😥
7.) Favorite new author (Debut or new to you)?
Ilona Andrews. New to me, and such a treat. 🙂 Looking forward to checking out more of her books, especially in the Innkeeper Chronicles series.
8.) Newest fictional crush?
Ya know, I hate to be boring on this answer, but I don’t have one from the books I read. Unless you want to count Henry Cavill’s portayal of Geralt in The Witcher. I mean, it started as a book series (that I have yet to read) but who can deny how pretty this dude is wielding a sword, kicking all sorts of monster ass and brooding all over the place??
Though, by that logic, I could make a similar argument for Charlize Theron in The Old Guard, based off a graphic novel series I *also* have yet to read. Fierce. Badass. Warrior. QUEEN. ❤
9.) Newest favorite character?
Zoya Nazyalensky. She may not be a new character to me since I read the original Grisha Trilogy back in the day, but it was new to me just how much I enjoyed her character in Leigh Bardugo’s King of Scars. Really good character development.
10.) Book that made you cry?
A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness. SO. MANY. FEELINGS. This book is so dark and beautifully done. Grief is such an ugly and complicated emotion and this book captures it perfectly.
11.) Book that made you happy?
Giant Days is always such a feel-good and fun slice-of-life style comic. Sometimes there are sad parts, but overall it’s a comfort read for sure. ❤
12.) Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)?
I don’t know . . . I really couldn’t pick one right now, sorry! D:
13.) What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
Definitely sooner than before the end of the year, but I need to finish my buddy read with Cupcakes & Machetes for Gideon the Ninth! Enjoying it so far, just have a lot going on right now and an attention span in tatters.
How has your year in reading been so far? 🙂 Let’s talk books! ❤
IgnitedMoth 