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Drawgust 2020 prompt list I made because I couldn’t wait! Theme is Super Natural, a mix between fantasy and nature. Let me know if you’d like to participate too!

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“Sometimes you have to fight for the things that are worth fighting for.” Quote from the Secret World of Arrietty (AKA The Borrower Arrietty) by Studio Ghibli

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Quotes from Raven of Teen Titans for my Magick Words series

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Rosie the Riveted

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I am back, baby!

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Clean Enough to be Healthy / Messy Enough to be Happy:

I LOVE this phrase! It is one of the personal mantras I use the most. My perfectionism and anxiety always comes to a head when I try to clean. I never really learned how to clean much growing up so as an adult it was always incredibly overwhelming.

One of the things I would get hung up on is... how clean is clean? Where do you draw the line between landfill and sterile? It sounds like a weird question, and maybe it’s obvious to lot of people, but for me it always resulted in focusing on unimportant details and not actually getting anything done.

This phrase, along with “It doesn’t have to be perfect, just better than it was” (which I will probably do soon as well), have both made it much easier to focus on what really matters when it comes to cleaning.

Now if only I could get off my lazy butt and practice it more!

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Perfect is the Enemy of Good:

Perfection is a lie, and the pursuit of it can be self-destructive. As an artist it’s particularly easy to get caught up in the idea of creating perfection and destroying what is good in the process. Flaws can be beautiful, embrace them.

This piece came about as an attempt to help break out of an art rut. Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m losing interest in Magick Words. After spending some time journaling about it and discussing it with my wonderful sister, I realized that I was beginning to get a bit too formulaic with my art.

When I first started Magick Words, it was intended to be experimental. I wanted to be able to try out new styles and techniques when I wanted. Somehow I lost sight of that. It’s been really showing in the quality of my art, too, for which I’m very sorry.

When I decided I needed to try something different, a painterly style immediately popped into my head because I’ve never really done much like this before. Then when I went to look at my list of phrase ideas, this was the top of the list and immediately jumped out at me. And for the first time in a while I felt really excited to work on a Magick Words piece instead of worrying about other projects I’d like to do.

Speaking of other projects, though, I do have some new things coming up soon that I’m really excited for, so stay tuned!

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I AM the Man Who Can:

One of my favorite quotes from the Wonder Woman movie. I know this is quite late for riding the hype train on that movie, but I still think the fact that it exists is a wonderful thing.

Simplified the armor a bit, obviously. I’ve been on kind of a faux vintage kick lately, like the Jem and the Holograms one. Hopefully it’s out of my system enough that I can still keep playing with other styles and not rely too heavily on it.

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Laughter is the Best Medicine

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It’s Show Time!

Jem and the Holograms fanart.

Sometimes when you're feeling sluggish and having trouble getting started, shouting an enthusiastic catch phrase can be just the kick in the pants you need! Or if shouting’s not your thing, you can do what I do: write it out in your journal after making out a list of what you’re planning to do.

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It Always Seems Impossible:

Quote by Nelson Mandela

Inspired by Mountain Goats that seem to defy gravity, balancing on even the most precarious ledges. 

How often do we tell ourselves that we “can’t”? Our desires are more achievable than we like to admit. Just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

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You’re such a talented artist. You’ve definitely earned a follow and I’ll be sure to be reblogging tons of your art.

Thank you so much! It means a lot that you took the time to send me this, and it really made my day.

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Broken, but not Worthless:

I am broken. I don’t function the way other humans do, and I can’t do some things that other humans can. Many may disagree, or even take offense with the word “broken”—I can understand, and would never impose such a label on others. It’s an imperfect fit and carries with it many negative connotations. Broken things are thrown away. Broken things cause pain and frustration when they fail to meet expectations. Broken things are simply not as useful, as ‘good’ as non-broken things. But I am not a thing. I am a person. My value doesn’t come from some predetermined purpose given to me. My value is inherent because I value myself. My purpose is what I choose for myself. Kintsugi, for those who are not already aware of it, is the art of repairing things with gold or other precious metals. More than just looking beautiful, it’s about embracing imperfections, highlighting them as it works to mend them. For objects, things, it restores them to their original purpose. For people, for me, it means working on myself so I can follow my own purpose.

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Flexibility, Love, and Trust:

Good news, everyone! It seems we've finally cracked the code on my illness that's been going on since October '17. It appears to be just a vitamin deficiency. I've been on supplements for a while now, and have finally started to see improvements. This means that Magick Words can resume it's normal schedule without any interruption. And I can have my life back! I can’t tell you how happy I am right now.

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It’s No Use Going Back to Yesterday:

Memories are just another fantasy that can distract us from living in the present, in reality. It’s important to learn from and honor our past, but it’s easy to get lost in hazy, nostalgic dreams. But memories are just reflections of a time that doesn’t exist anymore. All we can do is keep moving forward.

Probably going to be seeing a lot more fanart pieces from me going forward, because I’m hoping to start tabling at conventions in 2018! I still plan on doing original art as well, though.

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Just Ride This Wave:

One of my first personal mantras that I still use a lot is “everything is temporary” or simply “its temporary”. I haven’t quite managed to come up with a cool image for it yet, though, so it’ll have to wait. However, this phrase captures a very similar idea.

When we’re caught up in our emotions, whether the result of a bad situation or because our brain chemistry has gone haywire, it’s easy to believe it’ll always be like this. There’s been times that I’d forgotten what it even felt like to be happy.

But it IS just temporary. Feelings are not facts, and this too shall pass. Sometimes all you can do is hold on tight and ride it out.

And that’s ok.