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State of the Studio [March 2026]
3 days ago
General
Let me start off by saying Happy Transgender Day of Visibility! I'm about 5-6 months post op from top surgery and I only continue to feel happier and happier. It was genuinely one of the best decisions I've made in my life, and I'm extremely grateful that I had the savings and insurance I did to cover it. I had to wait 10 years, but it was so worth it.
I've talked quite a bit before about my studio space and the trouble I've had with arranging it and with organizing it. That's something that I fear will continue to be an ongoing project, but I've recently come up with some ideas that I'm going to try. One of them has already improved things a ton, and that was brought on by a tip I saw from a redecorator. They suggested generally that you should always try to use what you have first instead of trying to go out and buy a whole new system you don't even know will work. So, I've had quite a bit of time to think and trying out some new ways to use items I already had has been working.
Now that I finally have easier access to my study materials, I have art books from many movies and "how to draw" book resources, I do plan on setting aside time specifically for using them. Sitting down to study and apply what I've learned. I've been pretty happy with the stylistic direction that my art has been moving in, but I also want to keep sharpening my skills and improving, learning is something I enjoy very much and there's always something new to learn. That's also something that will never stop.
My plans for conventions unfortunately continue to be the same, with needing to recover from surgery, my PTO at my day job got pretty much depleted, so I'm working on rebuilding it. That limits my ability to travel for shows, and I'm still in pretty much the same place as I was merch wise. I really want to debut a lot of new items the next time I table at a con. Still figuring out what those are going to be. What I'd like to do is keep commission openings to be rare for this year, to allow myself more time to make things in my universe with my characters and for merch specifically. Also, while shipping and material costs have gotten a bit better, the state of global affairs and the US economy still makes me hesitant to go for anything too big.
Lastly, I will be starting to upload again very soon, I know things have been super dead on my accounts, but I have actually been working on things. Some of those things just ended up being more detailed projects and I've also needed to mentally stabilize myself. It's been hard to find the brain power to come up with art descriptions when the world is on fire outside of my door. I'm doing what I can, and that's also something important to keep in mind. What you can do is good enough. You are still doing something. Don't ever forget that.
-Raynier
I've talked quite a bit before about my studio space and the trouble I've had with arranging it and with organizing it. That's something that I fear will continue to be an ongoing project, but I've recently come up with some ideas that I'm going to try. One of them has already improved things a ton, and that was brought on by a tip I saw from a redecorator. They suggested generally that you should always try to use what you have first instead of trying to go out and buy a whole new system you don't even know will work. So, I've had quite a bit of time to think and trying out some new ways to use items I already had has been working.
Now that I finally have easier access to my study materials, I have art books from many movies and "how to draw" book resources, I do plan on setting aside time specifically for using them. Sitting down to study and apply what I've learned. I've been pretty happy with the stylistic direction that my art has been moving in, but I also want to keep sharpening my skills and improving, learning is something I enjoy very much and there's always something new to learn. That's also something that will never stop.
My plans for conventions unfortunately continue to be the same, with needing to recover from surgery, my PTO at my day job got pretty much depleted, so I'm working on rebuilding it. That limits my ability to travel for shows, and I'm still in pretty much the same place as I was merch wise. I really want to debut a lot of new items the next time I table at a con. Still figuring out what those are going to be. What I'd like to do is keep commission openings to be rare for this year, to allow myself more time to make things in my universe with my characters and for merch specifically. Also, while shipping and material costs have gotten a bit better, the state of global affairs and the US economy still makes me hesitant to go for anything too big.
Lastly, I will be starting to upload again very soon, I know things have been super dead on my accounts, but I have actually been working on things. Some of those things just ended up being more detailed projects and I've also needed to mentally stabilize myself. It's been hard to find the brain power to come up with art descriptions when the world is on fire outside of my door. I'm doing what I can, and that's also something important to keep in mind. What you can do is good enough. You are still doing something. Don't ever forget that.
-Raynier
💜
