Girge tries to answer some questions in today's AstralSounds update (And Rerk makes a pest of himself as usual)
AstralSounds turns 7 years old this week! To celebrate, I'm running an AMA on the AstralSounds Discord server (here) all day tomorrow!
I will start accepting questions at midnight (PST) tonight, and the AMA will stay open for 24 hours
Happy New Year from AstralSounds!
Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game
Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.
(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use
2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)
3. What ideas come from when you were little
4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw
5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself
6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)
7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate
8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in
9. What are your file name conventions
10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw
11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what
12. Easiest part of body to draw
13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing
14. Any favorite motifs
15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)
16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing
17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what
18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken
19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)
20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy
21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways
22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any
23. Do you use different layer modes
24. Do your references include stock images
25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by
26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended
27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with
28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)
29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically
30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated
this is cool ..! idk when ill have time to answer but feel free to hmu with some of these numbers
Hey Leigh! You've been making your webcomic for a long time now! I'm still working on concepts for my own on and off (reworking my theses into the webcomic). Is there anything you like and don't like about making Astral Sounds? I was thinking of getting Clipstudio Paint for it (heard a lot of ppl think it's easier to make it there than on PS) but I heard it was switching over to a subscription based program like PS (I could be wrong though)
Oh boy, it has been a long time since I started AstralSounds. Nearly 7 years! There's a lot to say I like and dislike about it at this point. I really enjoy seeing other creative folks getting excited and inspired by what I've been putting out in the world. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment when I finish a new page, or look back at all the work I've done on the comic overall. I enjoy the process itself, figuring out how to make the next scene work visually, and learning what does and doesn't work just by trying stuff out. I've grown so much more as an artist just by constantly working on a project like this.
The main thing I don't like is the silent (or sometimes less silent) pressure to keep updating, even when life hits. Most of my readers are very sweet and understanding when I have to take a hiatus, but I still feel guilty stepping away for too long. I don't take as many breaks as I actually need to. Even if I never ever got a rude comment (which I have), website algorithms demand constant updates. If I don't post semi-regularly, I lose readership, and lose what small amount of extra income the comic provides. It's a tough balance to strike.
As for Clip Studio Paint, I actually don't know that much about it. I keep wanting to test it out some and try to transition at least part of my process over to it, but I haven't had the time or energy to learn my way around the program. I do hear a lot of great things, though. My understanding of the subscription system they've introduced is that they are still doing a pay-once model, but you can subscribe to gain access to new features as they roll them out. I might be wrong, though.
Anyway, I wish you the best of luck with your own comic! I'm so excited to see what you do with it! I always adored your very early concepts from your thesis, and I simply love seeing projects grow over time. Just watching your main character design and overall artistic skill and style evolve over the years has been so awesome!
(To the rest of my followers, please go check out @delespi's work! Looking at her art always brightens my day 💜)
Come on down to pick your own pumpkins at Patches' Pumpkin Patch!
Just a small photo shoot I did yesterday with my little potato man. I love his cute dumb face!
This will be the final comic page of 2022, while I take a holiday break. AstralSounds will be back in January!
Long before AstralSounds, my online presence started out in the Invader Zim fandom. My main OC at the time was Scitch, an Irken rebel who struggled with her mental health. The art and stories I created of her were the typical sort of adorably cringey teenager stuff you'd expect, but Scitch turned out to be a valuable outlet for a lot of my issues at the time. So while I haven't been involved in the IZ community in ages, I still have a lot of fond feelings towards Scitch, and occasionally create other iterations of her for different projects. Every year, I try to draw art of her on the anniversary of the day I first created her, October 5th. Today, Scitch turned 16 years old.
It's the first day of Halloween, so it's time for a new icon
Still gooey, but now it's sugary candy corn goo! So everything's fine!
It's fine.
Some quick vent art I turned into an icon. Been dealing with a lot of nausea-inducing anxiety recently.
This ended up as a sort of a spiritual successor to my Pride art from last year. I guess my alien-sona regularly oozes goo when stressed. It's canon now.