Hello everyone! My apologies for being M.I.A. for so long. My life has been really busy this year--due to both very good (getting engaged) and very bad (my oma's sudden death) events--so I haven't been able to check up on dA like I usually do. I've still been making art and have several active projects, but today I wanted to stop by and let everyone know what's going on with me and artist alley.
Some of you probably noticed I didn't have an artist alley table at Anime Oasis in May. The signups back in December were an utter fiasco and I was unable to secure a spot. Signups for artist alley have become more and more stressful over the years (especially for Anime Oasis), and participation in general has become much more 'work' than 'fun', so I decided I should take a break.
Therefore, while my absence from AO's artist alley was not intentional, I will be purposefully skipping out on Fandemonium's and Tomodachi Fest's artist alleys this year. I had so much fun at AO as a 'normal' attendee that I really think I needed this break. I'm not sure now if I even want to try to attend artist alley ever again. As I mentioned earlier, my life has become really busy and other things are shifting to the fore.
I do intend to continue with my art as usual, striving for improvement and accepting commissions as time permits. Taking my leave of artist alley actually allows me to pursue art more whole-heartedly, so it really seems to be for the best.
To all my regular artist alley clients, I will be happy to continue working with you on new commission projects. Just send me an email at Denise.Mikarts@gmail.com if you want to set something up!
Thanks for your time, everyone. お元気でね！
Journals286
Newest
~Please Be My Friend~
3 min read
Hello everyone, it's been over four years since my last journal entry here 🤯 In that time, I got extremely behind posting artwork, but successfully graduated from Boise State University with my BFA in Illustration and Japanese Studies, then I got caught up posting artwork, and have all the while been working steadily on my creative career! What I want to talk about today is even more recent than all of that, though. I'd like to announce my first dA subscription tiers!
It was important for me to ensure a subscription here wasn't quite the same as on Patreon or Twitch. There are some similarities though:
💜 Discord Access: I think it's actually great that this is shared among all support channels. That way, no matter what your preferred platform, you can join the exclusive Studio Mikarts server and become a part of our awesome group! I post updates there that don't go anywhere else, and I highly encourage members to share their art, too!
🤍 Coloring Pages: This reward is shared between Patreon and deviantART. Both platforms are set up so that pages are free for members and can be purchased a la carte by non-members. I'd love for you to share your colored pages in the Discord!
❤️ Custom Emoji/Emotes: These are available to anyone in the Discord server. If you have Discord Nitro, you can use them in other servers! They are also available to Twitch subscribers, usable on any Twitch channel.
The rewards that make a dA subscription unique are part of the second and third tiers: Chibi caricatures! If you become my Jolly Friend, I will draw a chibi caricature for you every year! If you choose to become my Best Friend, I will draw one every quarter!! And if you aren't sure what is meant by a chibi caricature, here are a few examples:
Rewards aside, joining Studio Mikarts will mean you're helping an artist make her dreams come true 🥰 You'll be providing funds to keep the studio running--things like art supplies and hardware upgrades--and you'll be supporting me psychologically, by letting me know you really believe in what I do and would like me to continue 💖 Art doesn't happen in a vacuum. It can't exist without a community of suppliers, creatives, and viewers. Like most artists, more than anything else, I want to reach people with my work! Thank you for becoming one of my dA Friends and making that happen!!!
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Catching up for 2020
2 min read
I am SO FAR BEHIND on submitting my artwork here! I'd like to blame it on returning to university, which has indeed had a major impact on my online activity, but I started getting behind last fall, months before school started, so that's definitely not the only factor.
Whatever the reason, I'm very behind and I'd like to get caught up before the new year turns. DeviantArt (I'm training myself to use the new brand capitalization; I really prefer the old version though...) has been my art repository for 16 years and counting so I don't want to skip anything that I might like to look back on as part of the overall progression of my craft. STILL! That means I have a lot of work to do. I have work from 2018 that I want to submit, plus everything I made this year, which is quite a bit!
I resubscribed as a Core Member today. There were two reasons. One, I was finally ready to let go of my previous username and move on to the name I use everywhere else. I've been animegirlmika, then AnimeGirlMika, for my entire tenure here. From now on, however, I'll be known by my studio name, StudioMikarts! I'm in line with all of my social media pages, my blog, online shops, and even my business cards, at last!
The second reason I returned to being a Core Member was to regain the ability to schedule posts. I'm the kind of person who works best in long, concentrated spans, rather than smaller, regular intervals, but my preferred work style normally results in a huge pile of notifications for my watchers. Now that I can schedule posts, I can still get everything submitted all at once, but set it up to release one deviation per day. Gentle snowflakes, not a roaring avalanche 😆
I'm not making any promises, but now that I'm paying for DeviantArt, I'd like to make it a habit to post my work here as soon as it's done. I may just be too busy when school is in session, so failing the above, I'll at least make sure to post my work during winter and summer break! Please look forward to it ❤️
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Journey into 2017
2 min read
It has yet again been a very long while since my last update, nearly two years! Life has not been uneventful in that time and I thought it would be a good idea to put up a journal entry that covers the big news, especially since much of it directly affects my artistic endeavors. I don't want to spend too much time on this, however (I have art to create!) so I'm just gonna bullet it out :3
Considering all that transpired in the past year alone, 2017 is not just another chapter in my life. It marks the beginning of an entirely new book. There's so much I've left behind, some of it completely unexpected, but now the pathways are clear and I can finally pursue dreams that I nearly abandoned. It won't be a simple, easy journey, but it's the direction in which I've wanted to head for a good long time.
- In February of 2016, I parted ways with my former employer. shumphrey made it possible to eliminate the need for my day-job so that I could finally make art my number-one focus and build it into a real career
- On April 1st of that year, I officially entered my 3rd decade of existence as a physically independent lifeform
- After lots of research, work, decision-making, contracting, and other unexpectedly difficult efforts, the culmination of my wedding planning was realized in Snohomish County, WA, USA on the day of autumn equinox, 22 September 2016
- Starting on the first business day of this year, I finally began working full-time as an artist
Considering all that transpired in the past year alone, 2017 is not just another chapter in my life. It marks the beginning of an entirely new book. There's so much I've left behind, some of it completely unexpected, but now the pathways are clear and I can finally pursue dreams that I nearly abandoned. It won't be a simple, easy journey, but it's the direction in which I've wanted to head for a good long time.
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Artist Alley Update
5 min read
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Five Favorites (Meme)
5 min read
I saw this meme in cpalamara's journal recently and thought it would be fun to participate 
Here's how it works:
If you want to participate, feel free to make your own journal version or even post your results in the comments here. I'd love a glimpse into your favorites!
And now I will commence with my meme results!
Page 1 (All Favorites) First Deviation:
Page 2 (All Favorites) Second Deviation:
Page 3 (All Favorites) Third Deviation:
Page 4 (All Favorites) Fourth Deviation:
Page 5 (All Favorites) Fifth Deviation:
What do you think? Get a nice peek into the type of art I like? A lotta fan art here XD If you participate in this meme, let me know so I can check yours out!
Here's how it works: - Go to the first page of your deviantART favorites (I'm choosing the All section, otherwise I wouldn't have anything lol).
- Post the very first deviation listed.
- Proceed to the second page of your favorites and post the second deviation listed.
- Repeat this process for the third, fourth, and fifth page.
If you want to participate, feel free to make your own journal version or even post your results in the comments here. I'd love a glimpse into your favorites!
And now I will commence with my meme results!
Page 1 (All Favorites) First Deviation:
Page 2 (All Favorites) Second Deviation:
Page 3 (All Favorites) Third Deviation:
Page 4 (All Favorites) Fourth Deviation:
Page 5 (All Favorites) Fifth Deviation:
What do you think? Get a nice peek into the type of art I like? A lotta fan art here XD If you participate in this meme, let me know so I can check yours out!
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