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PROJECT'S MAIN STORY ON HOLD… FOR NOW

It's safe to say that I've been using 2019 as something of a recovery year, after the extended job hunt and other events that happened last year. I’m finally returning to a [new] state of normalcy, but within the time I've gathered my footing, I've been chipping away at other personal projects -- one that will remain private, and some I hope to complete and share eventually.

Rest assured this hasn't diminished my interest in seeing the main story of DEITIES to fruition. But focusing on other interests has helped me adjust the way I prioritize progress on DEITIES, and also reconsider the format I want to use to share this story. I'm not sure how it's going to manifest yet -- though I have ideas and want to experiment -- but I do know that it's not something I'm ready to juggle while trying to completing these other personal projects alongside my full time work.

To help set expectations, public progress for the prelude and main story for DEITIES Project will remain limited for a bit longer.  I have a "end-of-year" goal for at least one of my projects to help lighten my load, and after that I'll have a clearer head to revisit the main story and work out a timeline I can manage without burning out.

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WIPS OF MORE UPCOMING COLOR TESTS...

While I'm making the call to hit pause for the main story, I'll still be drawing content as it comes to me for the project. Currently, the main content has been in the form of color tests for some side characters in the deity roster. That's still going on, and in fact I have quite a few that are still in progress, many which I’ve shared in my Ko-fi gallery:

Why I've gotten some midway progress on all these deities, I'll explain in the next section. But once my motivation to draw returns I'll have enough to work thru that should keep the tumblr remotely active.

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DEITIES PROJECT FLASH TALK AT COMPANY MEET UP

So for context, about two weeks ago I went to my company's annual Grand Meetup in Orlando, FL -- and you can see my highlight stories regarding the event on my personal Instagram. Alongside all the other new hires, I was asked to give a flash talk presentation about any topic I wanted, for a maximum of 4 minutes. Literally any topic you wanted.

And well… this happened:

(All photos courtesy of my awesome co workers who did me a solid favor!)

It's not every job that gives you the opportunity to talk about personal projects regarding the Egyptian gods! With only 4 minutes to work with, I ended up introducing the room to 36 of the gods, as they appear in DEITIES Project. I had visuals for all of them too -- which was part of the reason I did some quick color test for the ones that I hadn't drawn since my Inktober runs. I'm debating on whether I'll share a PDF of the slides, but it was an overall fun experience for me to share with my colleagues and work friends.

Also as a reminder -- as I realize I don't mention this often, but my company happens to be Automattic -- i.e., the same company that's acquiring Tumblr in a couple days. I know there's a lot of mixed feelings and skepticism about this acquisition, and I'm not here to act as some PR spokeswoman. But from my own personal observations and perspectives from within, I think it's worth giving it a chance to see what happens.

Not to mention, I would not have shared my deeply personal project + nerdism for Egyptian mythology with a bunch of my professional peers, if I didn't feel encouraged and comfortable enough to do it. The work environment is a true upgrade from what I had before, and I'm in a much better place thanks to their openness to give me a chance when I applied nearly a year ago. So I'm happy to have had this opportunity, and optimistic about what's to come.

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OTHER UPDATES

I'll keep these last ones brief as they're either minor or a bit more speculative regarding DEITIES:

- For new content, I'll continue to post on tumblr, art twitter, and my art instagram, though they may be a bit async. The DEITIES instagram remains dormant until I can motivate myself to sketch with pencil and paper again.

- I'm starting to really miss interacting with followers and answer project-related questions, but I'm also not ready to re-open the askboxes quite yet. When I have the headspace for it, I'll revisit ways to consolidate ask from it's 3 platforms (Tumblr asks, Curious Cat, and Instagram stories), and to be open to answer what I can.

- The DEITIES Spotify playlists are still being worked on gradually! And while I generally don't like to share them early, I'll make an exception and link the two I'm trying to polish next -- a Set and Osiris joint mix, and a villainy playlist for Yamm. These mixes aren't public yet, and any tracks there are subject to change, but feel free to give them a look or listen. 

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