Lexxy's Draw Blog

Emerald City //

I’ll be exhibiting at ECCC for the first time this week (March 1-4), and have created a con-exclusive green and rose gold foil variant of my GenCon print to commemorate it!

Quantities are limited, so please visit early!

To Dust //

I’ve missed SAI

I’ve been feeling really nostalgic about Homestuck recently and while this is a sketch from sometime last year, I just realized it never ended up on my tumblr.

I’m not sure I could say definitively either way--they both have their pros and cons, and are both perfectly capable of facilitating work of a professional caliber!

SAI is lightweight, simple, and cheap (<$60 USD). I find the default brushes and stroke quality to be better than Photoshop’s, and despite it’s small size, it offers a lot of basic PS-like functionality (layers, blending options, clipping masks, as well as saving in PSD format). It really only functions on a PC, however, and I find the support for the newer Windows operating systems to be lacking. It’s also really not geared towards editing and polishing, nor is it particularly good with large files. I think it’s a great option for people just starting out or who have a very limited budget, as well as folks who work more painterly and with fewer layers. It’s still my favorite program for sketching, though I haven’t been able to use it much lately.

Photoshop is often considered the industry standard (despite not technically being geared towards drawing and painting--the default brushes leave a lot to be desired), and it is certainly a powerful and robust program. I’m able to create and edit massive files, both in dimension and layer content, and it facilitates mockups, drafting, and rapid iteration much more effectively. But for all its capabilities, its complexity can be very intimidating, and budget computers might have trouble running it smoothly. Plus, it’s subscription based, which really adds up over time and can totally screw over lower income artists. PS is an advanced tool that can work magic when you know how to use it, and something you should be proficient in if you’re looking to get certain industry jobs.

So I got laid off a month ago, along with a significant percentage of my studio, and I’ve been trying my damnedest to give myself a proper break after months and months of near-crunch rates of output. I WANT to draw, if only for myself, but my usual methods are just... exhausting and unfun due to the burnout.

As a result, I’m taking a page from some of @yoshiyoshitani‘s brilliant twitter threads and just trying to get back into the joy of drawing with some techniques that don’t trigger these not-so-distant memories of stress and overwork. This is probably the first thing I’ve been able to finish since the layoff.

GenCon 50 //

As usual, I’ll be exhibiting at GenCon in Indianapolis (August 17 - 20), but this year is a little extra special! The show is celebrating 50!!! years running, so I designed a limited edition gold foil stamped print to commemorate.

Only 50 will be made, one for each year of the show, so be sure to stop by my table as early as you can if you wanna snag one!

Boonberries //

Gigantic //

The game I’ve been working on for a little over three years is on the cusp of emerging from it’s beta testing chrysalis and we’re celebrating this awesome milestone with brand new key art!

My illustration cohort @thatssodagley and I collaborated heavily on this piece, working on our respective contributions in parallel to each other over the course of two or three months and stitching it up seamlessly at the end. I’m really proud of the finished product, and really proud of how far the game has come in the meantime.

We’re doing an Arc Preview Weekend in preparation for releasing on a new platform for PC users who don’t have (or prefer not to use the store for) Win10, and will have more news on our impending launch soon!