april 2020

hi again folks. sorry for the slightly late update, i've been having muscle spasms in my neck still and it makes it almost impossible to sit at my desk and draw. i should probably be taking the relaxants i was prescribed more faithfully, but they make me very very tired.

usually i like to do april fools' day themes for these images, but it just has not been a very good time in the world and i haven't felt very jokey.
instead for this image i chose to draw a pill bottle because i'm starting a small deluge of new medications for mental health issues. i'm sure a lot of you are aware that psychiatric medication usually makes everything worse before it makes anything better, so i'm going to be a bit... not better. i was working my way up to streaming some work every day before starting these, but the first one i started caused an immediate adverse reaction, and my neck started acting up again at the same time, so a day's break turned into over a week of nothing getting done.
it felt more than a little inappropriate to make art that was like, virus-focused, even though that's still where my mind is a lot.

i didn't do nothing last month though... i finished shading fresh meat's page, two of the three commissions i had left from december, and the folie a dupe strip i had been working on, and i continued refining catharsis's outline.
i'm going to try to keep plugging away as long as the muscle relaxants do what they're supposed to and make my neck calm down in the next few days. i'm now covered by some form of health insurance again, and i spent 75% of march waiting to see a primary care provider i'd scheduled with before moving, so hopefully follow-up appointments if i need to be taking the relaxant long-term won't be an issue.

i'm going to still try streaming often when i work, but for this month, i will be putting a poll up for the streams on sundays. i'm used to drawing every day, and it's been really frustrating because i miss losing hours of the day focused on stuff like this... so there have been a few kinds of art that i've been craving anyway.

i think that's all i have to say for now. please try to stay safe out there and thank you for the continued support.

EDIT: oh, i forgot to say, i'm doing better from the coughing/vomiting issues from last month. it was the blood pressure medication my previous doctor gave to me. she didn't want to try taking me off of them when i suggested that might be it, but i weaned myself off before seeing the next doctor just to see if it got better. i also don't have high blood pressure... apparently i was just having a lot of panic attacks that were spiking it, probably related to moving. the neck thing is still here but it's less on my plate now.

DOUBLE EDIT: i did actually try drawing something more april fools' day oriented first, also. the perspective wasn't really working itself out easily and i wasn't into the concept anyway so it got scrapped. the sketch looked like this: