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(quick traditional sketch w/ digital color)

I just rewatched Captain Marvel for the first time in a while the other day, and was reminded of just how utterly fierce Brie Larson is (and also really hoping we get more Maria Rambo in the sequel plz)

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“What do you call ‘em Max? Yabos? Max likes your yabos. In fact, he loves ‘em!”

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Coffee is v important. 

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The first in my aforementioned “people dancing to music they love” series where I ask my friends to send me a video of them grooving to their favorite song and I used it as inspiration for a piece. Here’s the gorgeous Jenna jamming to the song “I’m Brave”! (Painted in Clip Studio Paint/Photoshop)

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I am terrible at consistently posting my art in one place so here’s a bunch of things I’ve created/finished recently!

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Some art therapy from my sketchbook. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, sometimes it’s just a wisp.

No matter what demons you’re battling with, you are NOT alone. And you are SO loved by so many. Always, always, always keep going. You might not see it now, but you ARE strong enough. ---- *Suicide Prevention Resources* 24/7 Crisis Hotline: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org 1-800-273-TALK (8255) (Veterans, press 1)Crisis Text Line

Text TALK to 741-741 to text with a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line for free, 24/7

Veterans Crisis Line Send a text to 838255Vets4Warriors

SAMHSA Treatment Referral Hotline (Substance Abuse) 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline 1-866-331-9474

The Trevor Project 1-866-488-7386

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(CW: 9/11 - but a positive ending, I promise)

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I remember being in second grade, and everybody being dismissed suddenly in the middle of the day. My mom picked me up from school, but instead of going home, we drove all the way to Jersey City, to an area being run by the Red Cross to wait for the last ferry coming in from the city that had my dad on it, who worked a block away from the towers. I was too young to remember vividly the previous NY skyline before that day but I remember adults remarking on the difference in the view so I looked to see if I could imagine it. The skyline from that day is still the only one I can remember. There was still some smoke in the air, but most of the sky outside the city was clear and blue and sunny, a remarkably pleasant afternoon on any other day. I knew something really big had happened, and people had explained it to me, but I was too young then to quite grasp it. But every day since, I have understood more and more, from growing up with friends in the Muslim communities to attending college in NYC and shutting down people who thought it would be ok to make jokes about it (ugh) to the constant civil unrest my generation has grown up in.

To anybody and everybody lucky enough to be alive today, this is my reminder that we’re still here, we’re still capable of positive change and empathy and optimism. You don’t have to fully understand why things are the way they are. But as long as we are here, we might as well try to create more light and we can keep learning along the way.

#neverforget

#butkeepgoing

💕

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“Becoming”

Been making a lot of short comics lately - which is honestly something I’ve never done before - and posting them on my personal instagram (I just love the idea of “swiping” through the images) since I don’t have any like, actual photos of events while in quarantine and I’m not a big selfie person, but I wanted to share some feelings/revelations I’ve been having lately. The format of the panels is a bit off out of context, but I’m proud of this one and figured I’d share here, since I’ve not been great at updating this page. I also think I want to really learn more about short form comics, but I have no idea where to start as I don’t have any sort of formal art training. Anybody out there have any tips?

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Still in the process of several WIPs which I’m hoping to really dig into within the next week, but in the meantime I downloaded Clip Studio Paint after many recommendations and I LOVE IT. Will likely be heavily utilizing it for my aforementioned dancer series, because I’m really obsessed with how I can capture movement with these brushes. (Ex: This is the closest to my actual hair texture I’ve EVER gotten in a stylized format and I’m so dang happy #curlygirlproblems) Here’s a little doodle of me in my fave quarantine outfit #comfy that I made to test a couple of the watercolor brushes. I’m definitely going to get lots of use out of this program, esp. as I learn more about it. Yay! Finally, it’s a good day.

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A recent commission of a friend and her childhood friend in a scene from her memories of growing up. I absolutely LOVE doing this kind of stuff, especially since I feel like I am constantly drawing scenes from my past that I don’t necessarily share or finish (I really should) just to get the images out of my brain. Also had a lot of fun experimenting with light and color in this! 

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Just started a project based off of this lil messing around illustration I did a.k.a. I finally figured out how to use dry brushes in a way that feels like ME and am excited to keep exploring (especially drawing curly/coily hair which can be SO frustrating using lineart.)

Fun fact: I am a professional dancer/dance teacher and am addicted to using improv as an active version of mindful meditation. HIGHLY recommend if you’re bad at actually sitting still and meditating, like myself, but crave that type of physical mindfulness.  More to come in this vein, hopefully. :)

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Keep watching this space for fun lil comics, original illustration, WIP sketches and any fun commission work I might create! 

Mostly digital, but sure to have a touch of traditional art because #neverforgetyourroots.  Thanks for following along!