May Rundown + and what I'm liking right now

Hi. 

I have plans for May and I thought you might be interested in them, so here they are. 

:)

Ok, maybe "plans" is a big word.
I have intentions. Yeah. 

Also, I thought I'd do the thing where I share some of the things I'm enjoying right now?

But first, art. 

I had grand plans for 2020.
I was going to make this year the year I focused on creating paintings. Lots of paintings. Big ones.
And then, stuff happened and bam. It's May already.
So before this year is halfway done, I decided it was time I truly focus on those paintings I was hoping to make.
That means toning done some other things, such as maybe not being as consistent with instagram and uploading fewer Youtube videos, but if that means I ultimately manage to create more and spend more time on my art, then it is worth it. Plus, that means more content for Patreon!
I have a hankering for painting and creating more ambitious work, and I am less excited about sketching and sketchbook work that I was previous years. I can feel myself evolving and changing, and I desperately want to explore that and take my time with bigger projects.
I even started thinking about creating a comic!
That is not a project for any time soon, but I'm excited by that change in me, as I used to be quite adamant about the fact that I wasn't interested in that sort of venture. 

In summary : I have started working on a few big painting.
That means I will have some thumbnails, work in progress shots, final sketches, and new paintings to share with you all this month!

Sneak-peak of the sketch for one of the paintings I am working on right now. 

Those of you who watch my videos will know this already, but I have stepped back from uploading to Youtube this month, to take some time and work on better content.
[You can watch this video for more info]

I am working on redesigning my channel at the same time, and might need your input regarding a few assets I want to change, such as my channel banner and video intro and outro. I am working on a few designs I might put to a poll at some point. 

If you have any ideas on things I could do to improve my videos and channel, I would love to hear it also!

I rarely do this kind of thing, but I have been asked by a few people a few times, and since I discovered a number of things I am now obsessed with in the last month or so, I figured I'd share them with you! 

📻📻📻📻📻📻📻📻📻📻

First off, podcasts.
I have a number of podcasts I listen to regularly, and have been subscribed to for a while, such as Criminal, BBC Outlook, Stuff They Don't Want You To Know, Welcome to Night Vale and Behind the Bastards.
But in the last few weeks, I discovered a series of podcasts by the same creators, and I am binge listening to them every day.
If you enjoy podcasts that pretend to recount real events, paranormal experiences, mystery, and maybe a little cosmic horror in the mix, I strongly recommend you check out :
- Tanis
- The Black Tapes
-  Rabbit
- The Last Movie

These are all fantastic. The voiceacting is brilliant, the writing is wonderful, they are generally a really good time, and I personally find them very compelling.
Do you know these podcasts? Have you listened to them? What do you think of them?
And what do you like listening to at the moment?

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Next, music.
I started listening to music while painting again recently!
This is not something I do often, as music tends to distract me more than podcasts, strangely.
I only like music that makes me feel strong emotions, and I have a very overactive imagination, which leads to me imagining a lot of things when listening to music, and I can't focus on anything else. Plus, I am very picky with what I like, and get bored of a piece of music fairly quickly (maybe because I do that thing where I listen to the same thing on a loop for days on end, haha).
So I don't listen to music a lot. Especially not when I work.
But recently, I've found a liking for doing so again, and I thought I'd share my playlist with you. :)
Here's a link to my current Youtube favourites :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC58E389DA428BCF0

Warning, don't expect any consistency of style in there, it's absolute chaos. :D

What do you guys do when you create? Are you a music or podcast person? 

In my playlist above, you'll find my current obsession : Pilotpriest.
I discovered their music via the Astartes video project, which is INCREDIBLE.
Here's a link to the channel :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFMtdiQILuTZr22sKUeAOOA 

The 6-part series was created by ONE PERSON! It's centered around Warhammer lore, but you don't need to know anything about any of it (I sure don't) to still enjoy the work. It's gorgeous. Particularly the last scene in the series. Very Beksinski.
Passion projects like that are what creativity is all about, in my opinion.
Passion oozes out of projects like this, and get my blood pumping. 

A painting by one of my favourite painters,  Zdzisław Beksiński.

There is an exaltation particular to passion, that I personally feel when I paint, and transcends any other feeling I've ever had, and that is what drives me to creating.

🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮

Last, Games.
I recently discovered a few games on Ipad that I have been loving.
Tormentum is fantastic.
http://www.ohnoo.com/tormentum.html
It's a point and click puzzle game inspired by Beksinski and Giger. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

And my current obsession : The Rusty Lake games.
http://www.rustylake.com/
These are a series of puzzle games with a fairly creepy underlying storyline.
I definitely recommend those if you like weird puzzles (but not completely devoid of logic either), and fantastical and cryptic stories.
A lot of their games are also free! with no in-game purchases required. Which is amazing.

Anyway.
This is it in the list of my favourite things this month.
If you enjoyed this, I would love to make a post like this every month, to tell you a little more about what I am loving and what I am excited about, both in my work, and in my personal life. Let me know!

I would also love to hear about you, and what you guys are enjoying right now! So feel free to leave me a comment!

In the meantime, I hope you are all as well as can be,
Take good care of yourselves peeps,
See you soon <3