Welcome folks! Let's go over the February report, ya? This one is a bit of a doozy beccause there was a lot that happened last month. from making art progress, to holiday celebrations, and even the new Avatar The Last Airbender series was released! For today's blog post I'll be going over all the happenings which will also include a new product release and a sneak peeks of what I've been doing to celebrate and maneuver the ups and downs. Enjoy!
Animation WIP
First thing's first, I've been putting a lot of focus into expanding my portfolio for storytelling outside of commissioned work including a superhero comic, animating "The Fishbowl" and writing my own children's book. But because of all these projects, It had been awhile since I exercised my muscles for animation. So lately I've been dedicating some of my attention on human anatomy which has been a sector I struggled with the most. I've always preferred drawing landscapes, plants and animals but the more I practice, I'm beginning to see the fruits of my labor which makes me more excited for what's to come. With some of my future projects including actual people as opposed to cartoony fish characters, it'll be critical for me to put my attitudes towards anatomy aside and listen to my own advice of pushing myself outside my comfort zone.
In case you didn't know, March 8th is International Women's Day and to honor women across the world, I decided to make this sticker sheet from a series I did last year. The reasoning for the name of the set is because the Gumamela flower (also known as the hibiscus flower) has been known to be the symbol of love and beauty all across the Pacific.
In a society that uses beauty standards to pin women not just against each other but also against themselves, I wanted to make this set to remind us that all bodies are beautiful and deserve to be loved.
Sticker sheets are now available to order on my website and free shipping is available to anywhere in the US. Each 4"x6" vinyl sticker sheet comes with seven original designs, are dish washer safe, are 100% made in the USA and 100% support businesses of color.
Valentine's Day
I'm one of those people that thinks that relationships with someone else are great but there's nothing that beats a relationship with yourself . I am happy and shameless to say that I had a wonderful time taking myself on date. I had a great time soaking in a hot spring, eating a delicious dinner and ended the night watching Madame Web. I'm a very big fan of the Spider verse especially when it comes to the women of Spider verse but I'm sad to say that I did not like the movie. Was I upset about it? Absolutely not. Why you say? Well, to be honest, I had very low expectations for it. So in many ways, it was everything I was expecting and I had a wonderful time. With that said...
STUPID CUPID STICKER SHEET STILL AVAILABLE!
This 4"x6" vinyl sticker sheet comes with 10 original designs and are dish washer safe.
Order today to receive your stickers just in time for Valentine's Day!
Sprinkled with a little bit of dark humor, this silly set is inspired by all the broken hearts around the world, the anti-Valentine's Day rhetoric and singles awareness day.
Love can feel serious but life's too short; why take it seriously?
My Netflix ATLA (Avatar the Last Airbender) Review - No Spoilers
As someone who is a HUGE fan of the cartoon series, I, of course, HAD to make an occasion out of the the Netflix release. As a super fan, naturally, I had my Azula closet cosplay ready along with my buffet table of ATLA themed foods which included (but was not limited to) Cactus Juice (Aloe juice), egg tarts and Fire Flakes (spicy Cheetos). So down below, I decided to leave a little bullet point review for anyone who is interested. And in case you were wondering, yes, I did like it and I am very much looking forward to second season.
Visuals:
When effects were bad they were really bad, when they were good, they were amazing.
Choreography:
A+ on the fight choreography. You can tell the actors really utilized their martial arts background and training
Story separate from the IP:
Amazing and still emotionally engaging
Story attached to the IP:
This is the part I feel most strongly about. You can tell they heard some of the feedback from the actors' thoughts on Avatar and they referenced the comic book in ways that I think normal people would’ve missed. They mixed up a lot of the timeline and skipped over parts that I thought would be critical to the story but after giving it thought and discussion, I realized that there are some things that were problematic and they weren’t a positive representation in the original series. We’ve learned that television and movies have actual impacts on how we perceive ourselves or how we perceive society and I like how they changed those parts knowing that Avatar has been a common TV show that families watch together. Not just fandom die-hards.
Audio:
I’m hoping with season 2, they will increase their budget for the audio because there were some parts that made me cringe like the stock audio monkey noises for Momo but the new composer did an amazing job paying homage to the original soundtrack while also writing beautiful complimentary music. To be honest, before I watched the show, I listened to the soundtrack to gauge my expectations and I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed.
Acting:
Actors that stuck out, Zuko, Sokka, Uncle Iroh and Gen. Zhao (sorry, Katara!). Although I really feel like throughout the series the actress really began to fill out her role and I’m excited to see her acting progress.
Pros:
Creative discretion 100% in the hands of Asian creators which allows Asians to have 100% autonomy over how they’re perceived. Amazing representation. Makes me seriously wonder what the original creators meant when they said that they left due to creative differences.
Cons:
Tacky effects in some parts, Not a fan of some of the CG, but there were scenes that felt more visceral because there was a visual to some of the darker concepts that weren’t shown in the cartoon. The costuming (specifically for Yue) wasn’t my favorite.
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2024 Goals and Age Restriction settings on YouTube - SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL!
For this video, I talk about some of my goals going into 2024 and somethings I've been doing going into February. It's been a journey playing around with the YouTube settings to see what work best for the Algorithm. For those who don't know, YouTube makes it so you have to set an age restriction for anyone that wants to comment on videos even if there is nothing explicit. I wonder how much commenting really contributes to visibility. So far, it seems like restricting the age of my videos seems to have a more negative impact than positive. To all the 18+ out there, hope you can still support and enjoy it anyways! This is definitely something I'll be considering for future videos.
Lunar New Year Ups and Downs
This year, it is the year of the dragon and they say the year of the dragon represents power, wealth and strength. I think that definitely resonates with me but not in the way that I expected. I am always someone who tries to stay optimistic and is a strong believer in giving attention to the positive things in life but I would be lying if I said that I had a strong start to the year. In a previous post, I talked about how excited I was to be apart of a Lunar New Year event and was looking forward to vending in Seattle. I was also going to be designing the poster for said event. Unfortunately due to a combination of car troubles, miscommunication and bad weather, the event ended up getting cancelled. Shortly after that, I learned that Sakura Con decided to cut out the Art Show Gallery this year which was a pretty big money maker for me. To add the cherry on top, going into the New Year, I was already dealing with big losses in my personal and professional life.
MY LATEST TWEET:
But now that time has passed, I think I'm really starting to see where my true power, wealth and strength lies. In some ways it feels like my strength was, or maybe is being tested so that I can better be empowered for struggles in the future. Even though things didn't work out in some aspects, it left me with more time for client work and personal projects. As a result, I feel I have been gaining wealth in a variety of other parts of my life in addition to the literal sense of the word. So I'm hoping that if I can stay strong and flexible through the rest of the year, fortune will continue to be on my side.
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Weekly Twitch Streams Starting Soon!
That's right, folks! I'll be getting back into the groove of things (at least for the month of April). Starting April 4th, 2024 I've committed to doing livestreams every monday from 3PM to 9PM at https://www.twitch.tv/goldfishglub. Whether or not I continue that schedule will be dependent on how burnt out it makes me at the end of the month so wish me luck!
I also wanted to apologize for my past livestreams not being recorded! Truthfully, I totally forgot to save them and unfortunately with Twitch they only stay on the platform for a certain amount of time! I'll do my best to remember next time! But if you ever miss a livestream, you can always be sure to check in within a 30 day window to catch the recording. You can also be sure to follow me and turn on notifications so you can tune whenever I go live.
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