Hahaha, I didn't mean to be
gone for SO LONG!! But it's for a pretty nice reason
though- I've been having a Hot Meg Summer. My most recent
trip was a get together with some friends that I haven't
seen in person since pre-pandemic and we had an absolute
blast together. The first day we went to the beach and the
water was... so incredibly nice. Everybody but me got a
bit of varying degrees sunburn, but somehow my pasty ass
avoided it with ample sunscreen. Probably because I'm
incredibly paranoid from having some pretty bad sunburns
in my past. What I didn't avoid however was overexertion
combined with some (alcohol assisted) dehydration that
made my legs so sore. Woof.
We finished the day with a
PowerPoint party where we talked about Meow Wolf art
installations, Kids Next Door, Prehistoric Horses,
Dinosaurs in the Animal Crossing Museum, and mine which
was titled 'Monsters... In General'. Everybody else's blew
mine right out of the water, but I do think my title slide
is clever (probably spent too much time on the look than
the content)
The next day we went to a pinball
arcade and also had a fantastic time. I played through
multiple pinball cabinets with various themes, some Bubble
Bobble with a friend, through the entirety of House of the
Dead with another friend... This also segway'd to me
talking about one of the best House of the Dead entries,
Typing of the Dead on the Dreamcast to type out words and
sentences to kill zombies. I think it's basically the
same, but even in game, instead of guns, the protagonists
have...keyboards. Strapped to their shoulders.
Absolutely goofy as shit
concept, love it.
After the pinball arcade, we
basically just hung out, played videogames, I made
salmon and lemon chicken with wild rice and asparagus
for everybody. We talked, caught up, had a fantastic
time... Too short of a time, I miss everybody already.
I've also committed to a new
working schedule where I work a certain amount of time
then have a hard cut off after a certain time. It's
wild how a schedule with a clear beginning and ending
works so well, especially for an ADHD mess like me.
My only problem so far is
that after working, I end up taking a pretty long nap
which sometimes lasts like 3 hours if I don't watch
myself... It's kind of a problem and is making me
wonder if I should go to the doctor and get a sleep
study. I'm a generally sleepy person- I like to sleep,
can sleep anytime, and, if left to my own devices, can
sleep about 10 hours in a day... Which is usually not
normal.
... But other than that.
The schedule has worked out for me. And has helped me
finish a couple of products for my Etsy store that
I've been meaning to finish. Namely these dog
stickers! I've also put some cool etched glasses on
the page as well as given both sets of my stickers a
matte and glossy option!! (click on the images to get
to the etsy pages!)
I'm already working on
the sticker set right now. On my twitter, I posted a
little video preview- Check it out!
The focus of the stickers are some sea monsters from
the Carta Marina! Old medieval looking map creatures,
basically.
I know I'm not the fastest artist, which is kind of a
detriment sometimes, but that's why I'm focusing so
hard on products. I feel like if I develop a library
of items large enough to have some consistent sales
throughout, hopefully I'll be able to make a
consistent enough income to where I can keep my sanity
and do/discover what I love... And not feel like the
clock is ticking behind me constantly.
I might as well mention, while I'm here, that I also
take commissions. While I plan to make a commission
tab on the website, for now I'm just going to drop my
twitter post right here to see if anybody is
interested. I know that a lot of people who might
glance at this probably also have pages of their own,
so keep in mind I'd be willing to make assets for your
website, neat looking buttons, simple gifs, etc etc...
Hey, it's me, Meg! Comics
artist, cartoonist, and illustrator! You can see
various examples of my artwork at https://t.co/NT7syt2UIv.
If you enjoy my work, consider commissioning me!
Contact Me @:
💌mcoatesart@gmail.com
💌Direct Message On Twitter!
Thank you so much! pic.twitter.com/Dr7hvgHYCc
Overall, this summer I've been really happy and really
figuring out different aspects of what it takes for me
to continue being happy.
Oh- Before I leave, I wanted
to ask any of my artist/art adjacent followers. I've
thought about moving my portfolio (from
'megcoates.com') to artstation. My current
professional website is hosted on Wix and there's been
some complicated news surrounding them... It'd let me
get out the important portfolio images as quickly as
possible, make it so when I leave wix I wouldn't have
to make some different website by scratch, free up
webdesign desires to this fun site only, and save a
lot of money.
The cons I guess are... it
wouldn't be a True personal website, which I've always
been told is the portfolio ideal.
Let me know what you think below! Thank you for
reading.
Last weekend, I visited my
grandpa in close proximity for the first time in a year!
He’s my last grandparent and his house has been a constant
for me since I was born... He’s had both doses of his
vaccine and my mom (who’s visiting too) has had her first.
I’ve missed him so much and it’s been so
incredibly pleasant to see him again!
It’s also worth mentioning that
within a couple of days of getting home from visiting
Grandpa, I also got my covid vaccine! I asked the
pharmacy to put me on a backup list where they’d call me
if somebody didn’t show up for their appointment or if
they had more doses than they scheduled for. I thought it
was unlikely, but here I am, post shot! If you’re reading
this and you haven’t gotten your covid vaccine, check
around if your local pharmacy has one of these lists that
they use to prevent vaccine waste.
While I was visiting, I also
started playing around with a 3D sculpting program on my
iPad called Nomad. It’s pretty extensive and I’ve made a
couple of simple sculpts with it. My goal is to maybe
upload some to blender and work with them from there. It
also occurs to me that I've never posted any of my WIPs
pictures from my various blender projects. None of them
are complete (or even necessarily full projects past
'practice') but some of them are pretty neat, I think.
Here's a handful of them!
I've also been toying around with metaballs on Blender,
which is a neat way to sculpt with shapes! Here's an
example of a model I'm working on right now using mostly
metaballs.
(It's of my dog, Charlie... I love that boy.)
Anyway, I hope y'all are doing well, and have a great week
:)
3/21/2021 - It's getting warmer... idk if I'm ready for
spring, but here it comes.
Hourly Comics Day
I participated in hourly
comics day the other day and I thought I'd share the comic
over here! Hourly comics day is an event between artists
in which they make comics based on their hourly activities
on a specific day. Usually they're a little more specific
than mine (time-wise), but I'm just glad to have gotten it
done. I have a tendency to wildly overthink my comics and
the more I can let go, the better. (like how I let go that
I misspelled 'bouquet' and changed tense mid comic U_U; I
might fix that later, but who knows)
I might try and make more "blog"
comics in addition to blog posts, because sometimes things
are better said via pictures than words. It also gives a
little interest factor to a life that is honestly pretty
predictable these days.
In these comics, I reference my
dog, Charlie, who is My Problematic Fave.
P.S.- I got the haircut & the soup. Also, in my comics
I reference a friend who streams- Find Angela Here- She's a
stellar artist, plays videogames, and also is working on a
speedrun of a terrible game for some reason. 2/13/2021 - Cold and Rainy
Rough Start
This month was kind of rough for
me and I can't entirely pinpoint why. Perhaps I was
feeling so energized by the prospect of the new year that
when the excitement left, I was just left with empty
reality.
I think a big part of why it
lasted so long is not fully respecting myself when these
downturns begin. I get in these ways where I don't want to
do anything. That doesn't only include productive things,
but also participating in my various hobbies, eating,
hygiene, socialization, and basically anything that might
give me any out into feeling anything different.
And so I start going to bed a
earlier, waking up later, and wishing the time in-
between wasn't so unnecessarily excruciating. When I get
like this, I listen to podcasts incessantly (the most
passive of all mediums), using the chatter to block out
any chance of having thoughts of my own, giving me
temporary, but kind of unhealthy relief.
This lasts quite awhile, and in
my moments where I can't muster anything, I search for
reasons why I might feel this way. These depressive
episodes comes at least once a month. It can last from a
couple of days to two weeks and it disrupts everything. I
have a theories of why it happens- certain
triggers or hormonal cycles... But at this point in my
life, I'm not sure if I need to look at it as a solvable
problem or a chronic feeling I have to work my life
around.
I noticed the wave subsiding
after I was invited over to my parent's house for some
vegetable soup and cornbread. It was the warm and cozy
meal with familiar people who care about me that broke the
loop, and got me back on track.
I think that should be my goal
going forward- Paying attention to ways in which I can
break the loop and stop my spiral.
Going over and having the dinner
also made me think a bit about the roll food plays in love
and support. I didn't really cook until I started living
with my boyfriend. Only then did I feel any desire to do
so regularly and it gave me an insight as to why
people go through such trouble to cook big elaborate meals
(besides, y'know... survival). It's about caring for a
person enough that you want to give them something that
both sustains and delights them... And the great part
about cooking is that usually when you choose to cook for
another person, you're also cooking for yourself and
giving yourself that same gesture of care, even if you
didn't intend it that way.
I just think that's a beautiful
way to try and take care of yourself when you don't feel
like you deserve it. Maybe through this process, one day
you can feel like you do
This post might have sounded a
little melodramatic... and I'd be hard pressed to argue
with this. I feel melodramatic when I get these waves of
depression and feel guilt for feeling as bad as I do. But
that sentiment and not acknowledging it doesn't make my
brain interpret chemicals differently, so I guess I'm just
going to be melodramatic sometimes. Thank you for
understanding.
1/30/2021 - A Cold Quiet Day Where My Brain Can Breathe
2021 New Years Resolutions
Okay, I've been thinking about my
resolutions a bit, and I've decided on a couple. I might
dip back into them and add more or rethink the wording on
some... But for right now, I think this is a good list!
Find a Way To Make Money w/o Descending into
Hopelessness
A lot of these are self
explanatory.... and I think there's a couple of points
that could be replaced with a blanket ~Be Mindful~
statement, but I feel like that word has really lost
meaning for me over the years. But the sentiment is
still true- I want to be more present overall.
Less autopilot, more learning, growing, and planning.
For those who feel weird
about New Years resolutions, I want to share something
kind of personal! I felt similarly for a long time,
thinking to myself, "Why make a bunch of goals that I
might not finish by the end of the next year and
potentially disappoint myself?"
Then one year, when my mental
health was at it's worst, I felt desperate and really
needed big in my life to change. In a frenzy, I wrote a
long list of things I wanted to work towards in the new
year. I think I maybe followed through with about 1/4th
of them. But. The 1/4th of the ones I was able to
complete were really important ones! Like making a
professional website (I did), and minimizing
self-harm (I almost never now) among other things.
I also noticed that the goals
I didn't follow through with, but remained important to
me, slipped into future resolution lists. Because the
learning and the growing never stops and I feel that
life has a way of eventually showing you what is really
important to you.
P.S. One more dumb anecdote... when
I made that "first" resolution list, while stapling the
stickynotes I wrote them on, I accidentally stapled my
thumb... And my first thought was, "Ah, yes, the
blood pact."
... This is wildly unnecessary for a list, don't do it-
I certainly wouldn't on purpose... But I thought it was
funny and I was able to project my own dumb meaning onto
me making a mistake.
12/30/2020 - A Grey, Pleasant Day - Happy New Year!
Meg's
First Blog Post
As I am writing this right now,
this web page isn't actually published, but that's
honestly okay with me- I'm trying to take this slow. I'm
making this website to redefine the way that I interact
with the internet, distance myself from social media, and
help me empty my thoughts a bit.
I hope you enjoy this fun little
space I'm trying to carve out in the internet. It's
clearly still under construction, but I hope to have some
of my artwork on here, as well as reviews of different
media that I enjoy. I'm sure it's purpose will grow and
evolve over the years, but for right now, it's a fun hobby
and experiment.
It's almost the New Year, which both
exciting and terrifying... especially considering the type
of year that has just passed. I haven't thought of it yet,
but I was wondering if I should maybe post a resolutions
list on here to reference and follow throughout the
year... that might be my next post. Regardless, it feels
nice to talk to the void for a moment.
