Q3 Report

The salmon are returning and so, too, is my energy. 🐟 Or so I’d like to say. I am feeling somewhat reenergized with the return of autumn and my winter sports of figure skating and (women’s) hockey—I would follow along better with curling as well if I could take the time to figure out how—but this year has been quite rough on me mentally. As I’ve mentioned. I won’t rehash my struggles here.

However, that in mind, I’m happy with what progress I was able to make this quarter! I’m still frustrated I didn’t do more, but it’s more than I’ve been able to do all year, or even around the same time last year. That’s not bad!

I’m pretty happy with the finished work itself, too. 🙂 Of course there are areas I think could be improved, but given the circumstances, I’m working to the best of my ability, and I’m making sure I still enjoy the process. Naturally, I can’t improve as much if I’m drawing less. I have to trust in the journey. I’ll get through this.

I work so rarely with backgrounds, but I’d like to consider them more often. They help with conveying a mood or story, of course, but I also appreciate that they provide more options for puzzling together a composition and pushing values. Or perhaps it’s just that I miss drawing nature. I want to draw more forests and fields. (And seascapes, if I can figure out how to work those in here.)

If I can, perhaps I’ll set up some full painterly illustration YCH slots. 🤔 I’m not sure how much interest there is in these, though, so I anticipate full backgrounds will mostly be a self-indulgence.

Speaking of YCH slots, I was finally able to finish some of those first YCH comms this quarter, and I think they’re definitely going to be my focus over custom slots going forward. There are themes and kinks I’d like to draw, but I’ve been unable to get to them.

Offering YCH sketch comms in particular is, I expect, one of the kindest decisions I can make for my time management—and easing pressure on my time budget means a quicker turnaround for folks who commission me. 👍 They will still be a bit delayed while I get through the handful of custom sketchpage comms in my queue, but I’ll get things done.

I have been very excited to get back to inks. I may have said already, but I really love inking. Sometimes, often, I think it may be my favourite part of the art process (though perhaps I love it as equally as painting).

Unfortunately, I’m a bit slow at it (slower still, being somewhat out of practice), and I only seem to get around 2 hours of focus in a day. That combination makes for a very prolonged work timeline. Of course, the lessened focus could also be thanks to the heat during the past few months... but I think it’s a little more than that.

No matter! I was pleased to work on and finish two full colour pieces last month. I still think my colour could be more interesting… though perhaps I will keep the more experimental colouring to personal projects. I would like to do more with building colour through layering, which I tend to sacrifice for time when it comes to commission work.

On the topic of time management, taking a sketch or pose from a sketchpage and upgrading it to a full colour drawing is absolutely a welcome request! By that point, the most time-intensive portion of the process is already done. I’d caution against upgrading to a piece with a background in most cases, since I find it’s better to plan for the background from the very beginning, but getting full colour is definitely best for pieces where texture or lighting is important, such as with spandex, metal, scales, or whatnot. 🙂

And maybe I’ll draw some wet and sticky characters again soon...

Q4 quest list:

◻︎ Clear commission queue - I’ve got nine projects currently in the queue—two waiting on inks; the rest need preliminary sketch phases. I’m open for one more custom sketchpage, but other than that, the only new inquiries I’ll be taking for the rest of the year are YCH options. It would be ideal if I could start the next year with a clear slate.

◻︎ Studies, sketches, doodles - As the year winds down, I’m wanting to get back to basics as well as doing silly doodles. As I brought up earlier, I can sense I’m somewhat out of practice, and that observation frustrates and disappoints me. I need to get some terrible art out so I can get back to better things.

◻︎ Personal art - I have drawn nothing for myself beyond a handful of sketches all year, and that fact is starting to annoy me. I have some stuff set up; others clearly percolating in my mind. A lesson this year has been that I have to take care of myself. This is part of that.

Goodbye; thank you if you read this.

– Léo

This quarter, I…

• 📚 read: I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
• 🎥 watched: The Brutalist (2024); On the Waterfront (1954); Coyote vs. ACME (2026); Michael (1924)
• 🎧 listened to: Through Zero by Elder; The Landfill by Fruit Bats; Solaris by The Ocean; Hen’s Teeth by Iron & Wine; The Hidden Hand by If These Trees Could Talk