Shorter Than The Easel: Art Blog

Hey there, I'm Christina. I'm a digital artist trying to turn her passion into a career. Or at least a sorta sustainable side job.

[shorterthantheeasel]

It's a new year and I've got a fun idea to revive my channel. With AI seeping into everything we see and interact with, I think it's time to make that teaching series I wanted to do. Drew up a pngtuber to make recording some parts a little easier(drawn in Procreate on my iPad Mini 5). I want to teach what I know as an artist and help you learn that anyone can make art.

[shorterthantheeasel]

Where Have I Been?

I'm back! Kinda.

It's been some time since I was last on here. Honestly, it's because I stepped back from art. I started treating it more as a hobby and using my art skills for illustrations in my books and cover art. I started shifting my focus to writing and pursuing publishing books and becoming an author. It's been a fun journey and I've learned a lot, especially about formatting books.

I've been having so much more fun since the switch. Last year I released a short story collection called "Dark Pine: Tales of Terror". The year before that I released a poetry book I'm debating on taking down, but I illustrated every poem. This year I'm working on a handful of other books and having a blast doing so.

In the process I let this profile fall to the wayside, but I at least wanted to come back to say I'm still here. I haven't vanished or run off. Nothing happened to me, although I did get sick twice so far to kick off 2024(it was two colds, still dealing with the congestion of the last one as of typing this). BUT I at least wanted to let people know I'm okay, I didn't disappear. I just focused on something else and forgot about this profile and was focusing on my author one @nanoficto92(which I've been debating on whether to keep since tumblr's seemed quieter these past few months).

[shorterthantheeasel]

Heads Up to Artists

Since scam job offers are popping up again, I want to give people an idea of what to look out for in these emails.

These scam job offers will look like typical job offers. They'll look relatively legit. But there are things to look out for.

Since they tend to pose as big studios, double check the email address. They'll usually be very close to the actual studio's email address. Sometimes the studios they're posing as won't have addresses for people to contact them, so make note of that if you do go to look for a studio one of these scammers will be posing as.

The email itself, again, will look like a typical job offer. It will look relatively legit until you get to the bottom.

If it says they found you through instagram or ArtStation, that's a red flag.

If it says they'd like to do an interview with their HR through apps like ICQ, Telegram, or any other app like that(They'll usually describe the apps as being like Slack), that's a red flag. These are chat apps where they can delete the chat log at any time. There's no way to get it back once it's gone. So they rely on that.

If you do get into one of these "interviews", after realizing the email was a scam(don't worry, I've been there and was lucky to catch on when I did and have others around me to get their opinions), ask them questions. They'll start off with typical interview questions. Nothing too invasive. Nothing looking for any personal info. But they'll eventually start talking about tech. They may say they will send you a personalized laptop that will have the programs you need installed on it already. They'll say they want to send you a check for you to then pay for the laptop with a "trusted seller"(and they will put emphasis on the trusted seller bit if you keep asking). This is where they ask about what bank you use. Don't tell them anything. Just keep asking questions. Say things like you need to think about it and ask if you can contact them the next day. If they think you're catching on they will more than likely delete the chat. That's what happened to me.

I know from experience what even partially falling for these types of emails can do to you. I remember feeling used, feeling stupid, I almost completely gave up making art because of it because of how horrible I felt. But I've since made it almost a duty of mine to keep people updated every now and then on any changes to the email formats these scammers make(since I still get a ton of these emails even though they knew I caught on). I don't want this to happen to anyone else. They don't care how big or small of an artist you are. They just see a target.

Please be careful. Stay safe. And if you can, report any accounts posing as these big studios when these emails pop up.

[screenshotsofdespair]

[baked-barbie]

I want this on my tombstone

[happyheidi]

dream home. ♡

[shorterthantheeasel]

So the slow season at work turned into no season. Money is understandably getting tight now.

I have some commission options open on my site, watercolor pet portraits and pencil portraits. I only mail them within the US for now. There's also a limited slot count for the pet portraits. Links to my shops are also available on there.

[shorterthantheeasel]

Why I decided to finally treat art as a hobby

I'm not giving up making art, but I finally feel like I don't need to make things perfect. I'm not making it for an audience. I'm not worrying about what other people think.

But also, I don't think it's what I really wanted to pursue. And thinking back on things, I see that now.

When I got that gig with RAW Natural Born Artists back in 2018 I was excited. It felt like everything I'd worked for had finally paid off. But when it came to being at the gig, I was expecting to feel in my element. This was a room full of other artists and creatives. And I felt so out of place. Granted, they also didn't market it as a craft show which they kind of seemed to be pushing it as more during the event. If I knew that I would've added signs saying things were only display and things like that. But I felt so uncomfortable. And my friends and family looked so proud. And yeah, it felt surreal to be there and see my work on display and all that. But it just wasn't for me. And I think I realized that that night.

It was always something I loved to do, but for fun. And while it feels like it took too long to realize that. It does feel like a fresh start being able to focus on other things and pursue my other interests.

I'm still leaving commissions open for now and keeping my shops open as other ways to make income on the side. But they aren't going to be my focus. They're mostly there to help me in times like now where work is slow and I'm tight on money.

[hydro-homies]

[spoken-not-written-deactivated2]

only 6?

[shorterthantheeasel]

Things are a little tight at the moment and I'd really appreciate whatever support I can get. Aside from having time off due to family stuff, this is also my slow season at work. So money really isn't coming in.

You can also support me through anything on my site https://shorter-than-the-easel.creator-spring.com/?

And my Venmo and Cashapp are both Cdehaan92 if you want to support and just want to send a buck or two.

[everythingfox]

Would you listen to his song?

[lakeman1014]

The world is going to hell in a handbasket and this gets 28,000 likes.

Really?

[scarabesque]

And yet you gave it a reblog. Curious.

[saftey--ng-returns]

[shorterthantheeasel]

It's the first day of the new year and I've officially started treating my art as a hobby and even just saying that feels like a relief almost.

As much as I still loved making art before making this decision, it was burning me out. I felt like there was an expectation to be perfect and for the art to be presentable. That Glam Rock Bonnie picture was the first thing I finished working on after coming to the realization I needed to treat art as a hobby. And let me tell you, I felt so free working on it. It was something I was working on for fun. I didn't initially plan to post it when it was done but I loved how it turned out. But the moment I made the decision to step back from being the artist and just make something for fun and not worry about how things went, it became such a fun piece to work on. I tried things I normally wouldn't with my art. And the end result was so much better than I could've ever hoped.

Yeah, the comic I'm working on still involves me drawing the comic, but it feels like a completely different ball game compared to just making art. It's more along the lines of story telling. And I love to tell stories and write and it's the perfect blend of my favorite things to do. And I do have full on stories I'm working on too. It feels good to finally be able to focus on those projects.

I feel like I can finally experiment and try new things

[shorterthantheeasel]

To distract myself from a lot that’s been going on in my life I decided to give Bonnie the glam rock upgrade he deserved

[gustingirl]

let me analyze you, choose some men and i’ll tell you what you need the most

[proficientatfreakness]

[shorterthantheeasel]

I got "a nap"

...

yeah, that's pretty accurate given how things have been going lately for me

[shorterthantheeasel]

2022 Plans for my art

I'm switching to it being a hobby.

I think that's honestly what it's always been, I just never really realized until slowly over these past few years. After years of it basically being what I'm known for and being "the artist" it became the only thing people know about me. I'm the art person. It's never about me anymore. It's about the art. And honestly, I love writing. I miss writing. And I feel like I can't if I'm trying to push myself to be "the artist".

When I was a kid and I said I wanted to be an artist I was laughed at and told it was too difficult to get into. Granted, that was back in the 90's, so social media and digital platforms weren't even a thing. So I get it. But astronaut and fire fighter were acceptable answers for kids to say and artist wasn't?

My backup was always writer/author and it was laughed off as well.

It feels like while art was always laughed off, it was the one that was pushed. Not the writing. Heck, not even my love for music and singing. I devoted most of my life to art and becoming an artist.

Well, I did it. I'm an artist. I mean, I never said I wanted to be a famous artist. I make art. I have shops. I've done a handful of commissions over the years. And I took part in an art show back in 2018.

I think that show is really where this realization came from. You'd think it would make me feel like "yeah, this is me. This is what I've been working towards." I felt so out of place and just not comfortable. I like making art, but I don't think the artist thing was ever actually for me.

Not to mention the writing classes I took initially when I swapped from a Studio Art major to an English major with an emphasis on writing. I loved those classes more than the art classes. Even the thought of having a book or comic sounds more exciting to me than an art show. I mean, I was excited to get that art show back in 2018. It showed my family that I was serious about this and they finally took it seriously because it felt like they just gave up believing it was possible for my art to even get me anywhere. But it just sort of plateaued after that. I need a change.

I need something different.

And I think it's finally time to let myself just have fun making art and keep it a hobby.

[shorterthantheeasel]

I'm back, kinda

Gonna be honest, really haven't been thinking about tumblr these past few months. Between work, aunt life, serious burnout, and just a lot of planning for other things, tumblr pretty much fell on the back burner.

Not to mention, every time there's a new notification on here whenever I check, there's actually no new notifications. Don't know if that's a bug or just something the platform does as a bit of false hope for people that haven't used it in a while like how Venmo will be like "hey, you haven't used the app in a while, here's five to ten bucks to come back". Only difference is that Venmo actually does what it says it'll do and tumblr just shows you notifications for imaginary posts that don't exist.

I do miss blogging. Maybe I'll start just focusing on that instead. I don't know. But I'm not sure if I'm going to be keeping this tumblr thing up. I'm starting to feel the same about tumblr now as I did when I originally deleted my first tumblr. So I think I'm just going to blog every now and then while I mull over the idea of possibly deleting my tumblr.

[shorterthantheeasel]

I Gave In

After watching Drawfee and seeing the Kyle brushes I gave in and got the cheaper subscription for Photoshop. I wanted the brushes and they did not disappoint. Started playing around with a couple brushes. At least now after a little more of using it I can add Photoshop to my list of programs I can use. It definitely opens things up to more job opportunities since, despite it being 2021 and so many good programs like Clip Studio are popular and more mainstream a lot of jobs still mostly look for people that primarily use Photoshop.

Going to be playing around with it more later, unless I luck out and get the day off since my work schedule changed. So far I'm loving the ink brushes in the Kyle brush set. Copier Rat is definitely one of my favorites.

[shorterthantheeasel]

Burnout or Boredom?

I honestly can't tell anymore if it's burnout or boredom that's making it hard to get back into my projects. It's not like I don't enjoy the projects, I love them. They're things I'm excited about. But I just can't bring myself to really sit myself down to work on them. It's like "do I really want to?"

Maybe I just need a refresher or something. I mean, I've been thinking of doing pet portraits and more traditional commissions. Maybe I just need to take a break from digital art for a bit.