A pig in the bath and other June highlights (and stickers to win!)

Behind-the-scenes look at my June: mentorship pause, new brushes, a Notion deep dive, and slow summer plans.

Hello, happy July!

This is a repost of the monthly newsletter I sent out to my website subscribers. I like sharing them here too. Hope you don’t mind.

Wait, is it July already?

I’m back home after a few weeks away, and to be honest, my routine was totally out of sync. It took a few days to readjust. I wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped, but I did host live sessions: one on Instagram and two on Substack.

You can rewatch the Instagram one here, while the Substack replays (here) are available for my paid readers. Doing both was a good experiment, and I realized something important: I might prefer Procreate livestreams over sketchbook ones. I think Procreate gives me more control. Talking while drawing, especially in a second language, is so hard!

Mentorship

I’m still working through the AOI mentorship, although I hit pause this month. I started feeling like I wasn’t delivering my best work. I also want to shift energy into developing some middle grade work. So no major updates this time… except this cute little piggy taking a bath.

While I gave myself a bit of breathing room in my mentorship work, I did make space for some writing.

Notion aka explaining the unexplainable

I spent the first half of June in Poland, where I wrote quite a lot for my Art Career Strategy (at least that’s the title for now) series for Substack. In the series I explain some of the business terms I learned while working at a startup and how I apply them in my creative work. I’ve mapped out 15 topics I want to explore. It’s taking longer than I thought (how is my ADHD silly self even still surprised by that?), but it’s finally starting to take shape.

One chapter is all about how I plan in Notion. I’ve decided I will make my Notion planner available for purchase, so I’ve been redesigning it and making it less chaotic (and more pretty)

Here’s what I’ve learned: it’s hard to explain something you know intuitively. Especially when it involves a bit of technical knowledge. I love Notion, but explaining it without overwhelming? That’s a challenge.

All of that writing time was intense, but it reminded me how much I enjoy creating resources. Which brings me to something I did finish recently…

The new Wet Media brush set

I released my second Procreate brush set a few days ago! It’s still available (click here) with a discount code until Friday (add WETSUBSTACK10 at the checkout).

This one took longer than I expected (again… patterns, anyone?). Mostly because I couldn’t stop tinkering. I wanted these brushes to feel like tools I’d actually use in my own work. That meant a lot of test paintings, endless tweaking, and some brushes that never made the cut. But I’m proud of how it turned out. And I’m starting to get more confident with the process of building and sharing tools like this.

After all that, I’m ready for a slower pace. Summer always tends to quiet things down online, and I’m going to lean into that.

Slow socials and a summer plan

Since social media always slows down in the summer I want to spend the next two months focusing on behind-the-scenes work: finishing the Art Career series and (I think) developing more Procreate tutorials.

Would that interest you? Still not sure whether it’s better to record a video or offer a step-by-step PDF guide. What do you think? And is there anything specific you’d like me to cover? Just hit reply. I’m always open to ideas!

Speaking of summer breaks, I’m also planning a short trip Kraków. I’ve been many times, but it’s one of those cities I always enjoy coming back to.

And while I’m in slow mode behind the scenes, something is happening online…

Giveaway time!

In case you missed it, I’m running a giveaway to celebrate reaching 17K on Instagram. It’ll run through the month of July, and there are three prizes.

I decided I don’t want a typical tag-a-friend, algorithm-boosting kind of giveaway. I know it might not be as popular because of that, and that’s okay. I’d rather the winners be people who genuinely care about my work and not join just because it’s free.

If that sounds like you, you can join here

That’s all from me for now

Thanks, as always, for reading and for letting me share this creative journey with you.

Talk to you soon,

P.S. I’d love to hear from you. Just hit reply if you feel like sharing. I always enjoy reading your messages.