Below you’ll find answers to things I have often been asked, or things people have commented upon, that I thought I might address here.
Question Summary
Click on any question to be taken to its answer, or just scroll to read them all. If you scroll all the way down, you can leave me a comment with any question you might have! 💕
🌈 How long have you been drawing?
🌈 Can you teach me how to draw?
🌈 Can you draw me something for free/for charity?
🌈 I want to commission you, where can I see your prices?
🌈 Do you work for royalties/exposure/a percentage of sales?
🌈 What do you use to make art?
🌈 How did you choose your avatar?
🌈 Will you do a trade with me?
🌈 What do you use to edit your photos and videos?
🌈 Why didn’t you reply to my message?
🌈 Where do you get the clothes for your stuffed animals?
🌈 Where do you get your stuffies and teddy bears?
🌈 How long have you been drawing?
Drawing has always been my favorite thing to do with my time since as long as I can remember! But I took a serious interest in art as a career around age 12.
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🌈 Can you teach me how to draw?
I’m sorry, I can’t… for two reasons. One being, most importantly, that I actively dislike teaching. I find it stressful. The second bein that my work has a ton of shortcomings that I am always working to improve, and no matter how much people like my art I do not feel that I am sufficiently qualified to give classes to anyone. But I can recommend that you start where I did: with this book. Under $20 as of me writing this, its usefulness cannot be overstated, and it has a simple, friendly and approachable tone throughout.
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🌈 Can you draw me something for free/for charity?
I’m sorry, but my schedule doesn’t allow for this. While I have done fundraisers with my art before, they were started by me of my own accord. When I have free time I use it to draw for myself.
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🌈 I want to commission you, where can I see your prices?
As of March 2023, my commissions are permanently closed, so I have taken my Rates page down.
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🌈 How do I get a commission?
As of March 2023, my commissions are permanently closed. My apologies.
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🌈 Do you work for royalties/exposure/a percentage of sales?
As of March 2023, my commissions are permanently closed. I only do personal work these days, and I do not take requests.
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🌈 I’m not friends with/dating (insert name here) anymore, or I no longer identify with this character. Can you take down the art you drew of us together?
No, sorry. I never take down my artwork for any reason, except my own wishes. I determine whether it is posted to my galleries and how long it remains there. This, of course, doesn’t apply to commercial work to which I have explicitly transferred copyright of to you as specified in the contract I provide. However, I am happy to remove any reference to you in the art’s accompanying description, if any, should you so desire.
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🌈 What do you use to make art?
An iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate for most of my digital work. But I still rely heavily on my Cintiq 13HD and Photoshop CS for all post-processing. I very much recommend the iPad Pro as an art tool; it changed my life. For traditional work I use Copic and Posca markers, colored pencils, a spoon pen and Deleter brand ink, and a multitude of graphite pencils, blender stumps and inking markers –too many to list!
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🌈 How did you choose your avatar?
I picked it because squirrels are my all-time favorite animal. I didn’t see a real-life squirrel until I moved to the US, though. I never saw one in Argentina, where I grew up. So to me they still feel kind of exotic, and watching the ones in my backyard is a lot of fun.
You could say I’m sort of squirrel-like myself, a bit all over the place, easily distracted, and always hiding snacks! 😅
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🌈 Will you do a trade with me?
If you want to approach me for an art trade, you will have to do your half first (and only after I agree to do an art trade in the first place, please!)
Please understand that I only trade with people with a skill level at least somewhere close to my own, and who have a good track record for completing trades.
I take my trades as seriously as paid work. If you give a trade less priority because it’s an exchange of labor as opposed to money, please don’t approach me for a trade. My time is worth money, please give the time I put into your work the same value you’d give a money payment. It’s what I would do for you.
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🌈 What do you use to edit your photos and videos?
LINE Camera, Gif Toaster, Burstio, Square Fit and RAKUGA-cute. These are all iPhone apps and I wouldn’t know about Android alternatives, or if Android versions of them exist. I often use 2-3 apps for a single photo! Also, on LINE Camera I’ve definitely invested a lot of $ in frames and stickers over the years, as well as made my own stickers from transparent PNGs. So if you can’t find a sticker or frame I used, that may also be why.
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🌈 Why didn’t you reply to my message?
It can be one of two reasons. The most likely one is that I am bad at replying. I procrastinate and get anxious. I also get a lot of messages. But sometimes, a month, even two, can go by before I get back to even someone I consider a good friend. However, if the message is of an urgent nature, I generally try to reply right away.
The second reason is that the Internet is a mean ol’ place and I believe in curating the HECK out of my personal experience. I use common and uncommon methods to block upsetting or potentially harassing content in every platform I am on, as well as the emails I receive and the DMs I get. I also disable replies and asks on certain platforms altogether.
As a result, I may miss messages or comments. If you are a stranger and your first attempt to reach out is by sending a link, video, photo or sticker without context, I may not even look at the message before deleting it. I feel that any loss of interaction is a small price to pay for protecting my mental well-being online.
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🌈 I want to warn you about a commissioner/friend of yours/person you got art from or had your character drawn with. Can I do that?
Please don’t. If you send me anything resembling a callout, no matter how politely worded or well-intended it is, I’ll likely block you outright. This is not a rejection of you as a person (I’m sure your heart is in the right place) but a way of protecting myself of a behavior I often find to be toxic and dangerous.
If you feel that someone I have interacted with (whether recently or in the past) commited a crime of some sort, tell the appropriate authorities, NOT ME.
If a person is toxic or has abused you, by all means make a public beware if you need to, but do not send it to me. If someone is breaking a site’s TOS, tell that site’s administration. Block that person. Do what you must to keep yourself safe and happy without involving me.
Likewise, if you don’t like one of my commissioners, friends, or followers, just block them and don’t tell me. I remove toxic people from my spaces as I see fit, when I see fit, without influence from other parties. I encourage you to curate your own spaces for your mental well-being in the same fashion, even if this includes blocking me.
A FOLLOW, COMMISSION, AND/OR LIKE/FAVORITE FROM ME IS NOT NECESSARILY AN ENDORSEMENT OF AN INDIVIDUAL OR THEIR BEHAVIOR
Neither is one of my characters appearing in art with someone else’s character a form of approval of the behavior of the owners of any characters pictured alongside mine, or of the artist who made the art. Likewise, a small, occasional friendly interaction should not imply any of the above either.
🌈 Where do you get the clothes for your stuffed animals?
Many different places, since I have bears of different shapes and sizes! I’ve gotten them from the obvious sources (Build-a-Bear) but also from the baby section at Walmart and Target, lots of things from AliExpress, some from eBay, some from Etsy. I buy a lot of dog clothes for my bears, as well as real baby clothes and accessories. You are welcome to ask me about a specific piece and if I remember where I purchased I’ll tell you! 💕
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🌈 Where do you get your stuffies and teddy bears?
See this page. If you ask me where I got a specific bear, usually I no longer remember and/or the teddy will no longer be in stock. But the info there should help you find it, and I can probably remember the official name or brand of a teddy if you ask me, which can help you find it for yourself. 😊
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🌈 What is a “squelf”?
The character that I originally used to represent myself online was a squirrel-elf hybrid, with squirrel-elves being a common species in the universe of my fantasy book series, Meganeea. Many years ago, a friend of mine, Zorinlynx, referred to my character as a “squelf” and it stuck. So even though my little online avatar is a full squirrel now, I still like to use it, and people still call me that. 😁 Hence… “Squelfland”!
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