Happy summer everyone~!!

This artwork was originally drawn for somebody else’s artbook project in 2014. Years have past and the project was never completed, so it’s probably safe to post publicly now.

I definitely see some things in this artwork that I would do differently now, I still put hours upon hours into this piece and I’m really proud of it. It was inspired by my love of faeries, and nature I remember from my childhood, so it means a lot to me that way too~ x3

The project included a fundraising for the artists participating – I was raising money towards my education. So, I want to say thank you again to everyone who offered their support – be it kind words, or donations. It meant the world to me, and it still does.

You’re all the best and I hope everyone has a great summer!

…

On another note, it’s about one month until Ai-kon! It’s July 21-23. My mom, sister and I will be selling our artwork and plushies in the marketplace again this year. We’re really excited to be back!

This year’s Ai-kon was very, very different for me.
I was sick so badly last year that I couldn’t go – and in the 700-some days between the last Ai-kon I went to and this new one, a lot had changed. My art, the convention centre, the fandoms, the people I went with… even myself, as a person, along with the reasons why I wanted to go to Ai-kon.

As you can imagine, after such a long time of being away my art-table skills were very rusty and I apologize to everyone for not being sociable like I used to be. My sister had fallen and hurt herself on Friday morning during set up, and I was very concerned (even though she was more cheerful than I was, ha!)
But it was wonderful seeing all of you again – I don’t know many names, but I know your faces and I remember you. Even after all these years. It was great to see you all, whether you’d been to my table before or not. I really appreciated any support given even if it was just chatting about fandoms, because that meant a lot to me!

This weekend was more than me being an artist, though.
I’ve always felt like I belonged in the artist fair. I was content with that… I had never considered that I needed to balance that with being a person too. To some extent, I couldn’t before. But this year, I got to spend time with friends I missed dearly – friends whom are like family to me.
I got to learn about them, their life, and also learn about myself and some new things about being an artist.
I made new friends, and watched my sister participate in the Idolmaster vs LoveLive “death match” panel – many LOLs were had. And I am so grateful for that.

Now, for some contact details:

Despite what my pages say, I am possibly open for commissions. Please feel free to send me an email, message, note, etc about what you’re looking for and we can discuss the details then!

I do have some other sites I have posts on, so please take a look to the sidebar on the right for links.

Photos:
This year I will be posting all the photos my sister and I took on Facebook, in the Ai-kon group. Please keep an eye out to see if you’re there! We got a lot of LoveLive, Vocaloid, and Haikyuu cosplayers especially, but there are some others too.
I cosplayed as Edward Elric, and my sister cosplayed as Rin Kagamine (casual outfits, usually with a black jacket) so if you have pictures of those characters, please let us know!

I will also be starting to post new artwork soon, as well as a link to our online store when it’s set up.

All in all, I had an amazing weekend and just typing this blog post has given be a strong case of The Feels. I can’t begin to describe how much this year meant to me.
Ai-kon and the community it has never ceases to leave an impression on me, and help me grow as a person – this year was no different.

So, thank you everyone for the support – thanks to you, I get to come back next year and I absolutely cannot wait! :D

~Sloan
Designs by Sloan

To anybody who might have been looking forward to seeing us at the Expo/Trade Fair this weekend, I’m sorry to say we (my sister, mom and I) aren’t able to make it this year due to health issues.
Have a good time for us!

Last year, a friend introduced me to DrawPile, a program where you can draw with your friends (or stream, through the program). I need to set it up better, but I just figured since I don’t have much I can post these days, I’d share some of the things I’ve drawn on there~

(They’re from late-2015 to early-2016, approximately oldest to newest)

Lots of fanart, but some originals too.
Towards the end I decided I didn’t feel like sketching, and just wanted to colour. Wasn’t easy, but it’s more comforting for me somehow~

Thanks for looking!!

This is my first new upload of the new year, and with it comes good news:

I’m honoured to announce that I’ve placed as a runner-up in the Ai-kon mascot contest again!

I actually really missed drawing Aiko, and had fun finally drawing her again.
Last time I entered was in 2013, when I won the contest.
My artwork has changed a lot since then. I’m still very proud of my winning entry (despite the flaws I now see), but I’m also proud of this entry too. The anatomy has improved, and the design. Once again, I put a lot of effort in figuring out a “personality” for her, too~

The theme this year was imperial/royalty. I was really excited because of all the centuries and ethnicities I would be able to use for inspiration, but in the end I settled on a more contemporary/lolita/anime “Queen of Hearts” theme (because “Ai” = “love”). Though I wanted her to be energetic and friendly, I also wanted her to not be polite or elegant, but demanding and unique. Someone who isn’t afraid to be herself, despite being a princess~

To see my previous mascot entries, click here.
There are some other artworks there too, but the majority of uploads there are for Ai-kon.

Well, I think that’s it for now. Thanks for looking! :)

Hey everyone~
How are you all doing?

I don’t really know what to say right now. This is one of those years where it’s taken me a long time to get into the Christmas spirit. Are things alright with me? Well, I can’t go into detail. 2015, for us, has had a lot of pain and conflict.
I haven’t been able to be myself for a very long time… not just this year, but previous years, too. However, that’s changing.

As I’m writing this, I’m recovering from a flu bug – but honestly, this is the healthiest I’ve been in years. I’ve been 100% gluten-free for about six months now, and I’m finally healing, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I’m not sure how many people will understand me, but I finally feel like my old self again.

Alongside the pain and the healing, other good things have happened. I’ve been able to trust, relax, and be honest. I’ve been feeling more happiness and inspiration, and I’ve been able to laugh with all my heart. I’m feeling excited for the future again, to get my life on track so I can get where I want to be.

And, most importantly, I’ve found that there are people around me who are kind.
They are kind enough to let me rely on them when I need them most, so that I don’t have to shoulder the burdens all by myself. I can’t begin to describe how appreciative I feel.

So, with that, I’m just going to say:

I wish you all a very happy holiday, no matter where in the world you are or what you celebrate. I’m thankful for each and every one of you! I hope this December has and will be absolutely wonderful to you, and I hope the New Year has happiness, health, inspiration and friendship in store for you!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

~Sloan

I’ve been feeling pretty rough these past few weeks; I haven’t felt like doing much of anything.
Recently I finally started feeling inspired to draw again – for myself and for work – and my productivity is finally catching up with the inspiration and motivation needed to create artwork.
It’s a nice feeling.

(I’ve also been neglecting my online messages – I’m very sorry if I’ve kept you waiting and I will respond soon.)

While not feeling well, my mom, sister and I watched Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Now we’re watching the first anime too. I’ve seen the first anime plenty of times, but it’s been a few years at least since I’ve watched the entire thing, so some scenes still managed to surprise me. I feel like I’m able to understand the anime better this time around.

We haven’t rewatched the movie, Conqueror of Shamballa, yet… but I felt like drawing that Edward again. Especially since the movie apparently reached it’s 10 year anniversary (though I haven’t known of it for that long :P). This picture has it’s issues, but it was supposed to be a quick one, so the anatomy is probably off and such. But I like the colours and textures since that’s different from how I usually paint~

I imagine this picture is sometime between the end of the anime and the start of the movie. ;v; Hopefully the next Edward I draw is a happy one!

Thanks for looking and have a great week! <3

IMPORTANT: My friends lost their dream home to a fire last April. Please take a minute to view their GoFundMe as they’re looking to rebuild. Donations to them are appreciated, but if you can’t, please share the link anywhere you can. Thank you. I also posted about this on Facebook with more info.

I’m a little late in saying this, but I’m sorry to say that I’m not able to attend Ai-kon this year.

For the past while, mom, sister and I have been dealing with some health and family issues. I haven’t even been posting online as much.
While we will be okay, we simply couldn’t attend this year, especially since we’d have to travel (we’re not in Winnipeg).

Despite the rational side of not being able to attend, we’re all missing the company and atmosphere that Ai-kon has. That’s what we looked forward to for years now, and it’s odd not having that in our life this year.

However, we will definitely be back at Ai-kon next year with renewed passion and new products, so please look forward to it, and thank you again for the support! :D

Have an awesome weekend everyone!!
(Whether you’re attending Ai-kon or not!)

~Sloan, Shevi and our mom
(Designs by Sloan, Dash of Creativity and Colleen)

I was thinking last night about how I’d really like to have a Fullmetal Alchemist t-shirt. They exist, but the ones I’ve seen either don’t suit me, I don’t like the fabric, or I don’t like the artwork (actually, there was one case where I liked it except it wasn’t in my size). ANYWAYS! I decided that I’d just have to make my own FMA shirt that fit what I wanted.

I like vintage/muted/natural/flowery clothes, and one of my favourite FMA illustrations by Hiromu Arakawa features the brothers on the train tracks. So with those inspirations in mind, I started doodling ideas and came up with this rough artwork.

I plan on finishing it, but I wanted to post it and get some feedback for a change. I like how it’s going, but I feel that there’s some things I’m probably not thinking of composition-wise, or I’m not entirely sure how to fix (Alphonse looks a little too static to be walking, but considering he’s a suit of armor I’m having difficulties drawing him lol). I might expand the finished image to fill the whole canvas.

I may be asking for a lot, considering how rough this is, but any feedback, in the comments or critiques (wow, a first for me) is welcomed. ^^’

Thanks in advance.

IMPORTANT: My friends lost their dream home to a fire last April. Please take a minute to view their GoFundMe as they’re looking to rebuild. Donations to them are appreciated, but if you can’t, please share the link anywhere you can. Thank you. I also posted about this on Facebook with more info.

Hello! I would just like to say a quick thank you to everyone who stopped by our booths at the event this weekend. My mom, sister and I greatly appreciate the support – whether it was buying something, offering words of support or even just taking our business cards – and that’s an understatement! I feel like I always say it, but it’s true. So very true.
We had a great time, and we’re looking forward to next year. ^^

Just to recap…

This is my website where I post most of my artwork. You can also find my art on deviantART, and email me at sloan @ designsbysloan.com (with no spaces).

To read the webcomic that I draw the weekly comics for (Scurry & Cover), you can visit official Scurry & Cover Facebook page.

To find my little sister to see her adorable artwork, you can visit her deviantART page.

To contact my mom, Colleen for crochet-related goodies, you can send an email to arti @ arti-bytes.com (with no spaces), or visit her website.

We are hoping to open an online store soon, so if there was something you wanted but couldn’t get this weekend, keep an eye on my blog or dA for updates! : D

Thanks again and I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. ♥

~Sloan

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Update 3/13/2015: Hi! I just wanted to let everyone know that I am now on Facebook!
Check out my Facebook page here.