I started working on a new Smol Monster/Watcher painting this week, and came to the point in the process where I have to start thinking about whether I’m going to use watercolor pencils or paint, whether I’m going to outline in black or brown ink, or something else. I decided that I wanted to do a nice sepia outline, but realized that many of the details on this piece are particularly small and I don’t have a Micron pen in size 005 (extremely fine point). So, off to the craft store I hied myself to see if I could find one, or if I would have to order one.
I, um, came back with rather more than a single pen.
Oops.
In my defense, the india ink and dip pens were *right there* and I’ve wanted to use them again for a while, and my old ink was drying out and well, then I needed cleaning solution, and something to use for an inkwell until I can get a real one, and then I needed storage for all of this, and….
The last week has been BUSY. The studio moved across the house (we swapped the master bedroom and the studio because I needed more workspace and better light, and we didn’t need a gigantic room just for sleeping), and while it’s about half unpacked still, it’s also already worlds’ more functional than the old room.
The cats are slowly forgiving us for the the upheaval. Slowly.
I set up a separate bank account just for business things! I set up a Square account so that I could take credit cards wherever I go and have an online shop and “buy it now!” buttons that I could use on my website and elsewhere! I sold a Watcher painting the same day I listed it!
I also discovered in the process of that last part that Square’s partner, Weebly, who they run the shop segment through, requires you to include an address and telephone number on receipt emails. While the address is doable, since I’m planning on getting a mailbox to have an address to ship from (I don’t like giving out my home address), I have phone-triggered PTSD from a couple of old jobs, and that’s a total dealbreaker for me. I have an email address that I use for communication and a screaming refusal to give a third-party organization money to let them tell me how to run my own business and life. If I wanted a company telling me how to do something, they have to pay me, not the other way around.
Still, I should be able to use Square itself for credit cards, though I’ll have to test it. I still have PayPal and, as annoying as they are, they do have the ability to create “buy it now” buttons, so I’ll probably be using that, instead. We’ll see.
In the meantime, I’m also working on some Smol Monster portrait miniatures, which I think are cute, at least. I hope other people do, too. They’re on 3 x 3 in. squares, and are in 2 inch boxes, so they are little. They’re fun, and I love them.
(The smallest one is the first one, and I messed it up, but I’ll let y’all see it, anyway.)
I am absolutely not thinking about doing these for a Sponsor-A-Monster program AT ALL. Nope. Definitely not. (I totally am.)
Still haven’t been able to get on the road. The weather has been “I had to turn the heat back on, for the love of gods!” grade miserable – cold, pouring rain, all that – but it looks like it should be hot and sunny for at least the next week, and once that sun comes back out, I am grabbing some road snacks and my camera and getting out there to see what I can find. I require a pilgrimage to find an obscure roadside god or weird place or SOMETHING. It’s been far too long.
there was another. This time, there were more of them, these strangers Watchers.
Now, it seems that the Watchers seem to be getting curious about the Smol Monsters, and I don’t know about you, but I’m getting curious to see where this all goes…
I was walking through the Woods one night, and saw a strange, pale creature walking along the road. The Wood was silent as snowfall, despite being a clear, spring night, as if all the other creatures held still and quiet as it walked. It nodded slowly as we passed one another, and continued on it’s way. As it passed out of sight, the trees seemed to sigh and the Wood released the breath It had been holding, and the owls and chorus frogs began to call once more…
I have a suspicion that my new friend here may have other friends somewhere in the Woods, as well, and I am looking forward to meeting them.
You must be logged in to post a comment.