Sketches of Shay

brief personal update + delays

hi guys, just want to give you a quick update with what's been going on and why I haven't posted on YouTube, shared the livestream calendar or shipped the stickers out yet.

An account of mine was hacked. (EDIT: It already has been recovered! just dealing with the after shock and residual fear) If any of you have gone through this, you definitely know how scary and distressing it is to have your identification information compromised.

I'm currently going through the process of reco...

big sketchbook dump (+stuff from my "ugly" life drawing sketchbook) apr 19th-may 3rd: life doodles, y2k witch, print thumbnails, rarity concepts, and more plein air

hi patrons! here is a absolute crazy silly amount of sketches, doodles, and life drawings from the past couple weeks.

I've been feeling so much more inspired lately, feeling more connected to what I'm doing, and my excitement has been growing a lot for my current projects. It feels like I am truly connecting back to my old creative self :')

Y2K Witch

The initial draft of the story is currently in progress! Included in this sketchbook dump are some lil sketch...

Sketchbook Club Prompt May 2025

hi friends! we're taking a splash into underwater worlds and wonders this month!

Prompt: "Marine May🐟"

Draw, paint, or create something inspired by the prompt "Marine May"! Take this as your sign to participate in "Mermay" (a popular daily challenge of drawing a mermaid), draw your favorite crustaceans, design an underwater kingdom, research into marine biology, or make fanart of your favorite Y2K mermaid IP! Whatever you'd like to explore in your sketchbook related to the se...

what I learned from painting everyday for a month 🎨💡

Happy May, my friends!

This is the first installment of my free, bi-weekly newsletter, sharing whatever I'm pondering at the moment! (art mindsets/what I'm learning, sketchbook club check in's, book and media ramblings, life stuff and how it connects to my art etc.) After reading, let me know what you think and if you want to see more!

Yesterday marked my last day of partic...

Introducing the May Print of the Month! 🐂✨

Starting May 1st at @ 10 AM EST, meet the brand new art reward tiers: Pastry Chef and Muffin Mail!

I have been wanting to open a print club for the longest time and one of my main goals for this quarter was to start the print club, so here we are!

Each tier will start with 25 slots for the month of May 👍

NEW TIER INFORMATION

Both Tiers are open to US and International Members. For now, prints will be shipped in the same packaging ...

May Sticker of the Month! ⚔️🐂🍃

hi patrons! here is the sticker design for next month!

To receive this sticker, sign up to the Sticker Bun Tier or continue your Sticker Bun subscription anytime during the month of May 2025.

ALSO make sure to sign up on Desktop, NOT through the Apple App! The app will charge you more for the tier. You can always cancel and re-sign up ...

2025-04-28 18:01:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Character Design Livestream 4/22/2025 Recording

hello patrons! here is the full recording from yesterday's livestream, along with an attachment to all of the notes and decisions you guys made for the character design. our internet cut out JUST after the stream so my apologies for the delay!

We ended up drafting a design of a sea-side character who works with medicinal herbs and potions to help sea creatures and (reluctantly) the occasional human. Due to time constraints, I just managed to do a sketch of the character, but I plan to f...

NEW VIDEO! designing paladin applejack! ✿ mlp x d&d design project pt.2 [Early Access + Ad-free]

hey guys! sorry for the double post for today but here is the next installment of my MLP D&D Design series, introducing Paladin Apple Jack !

It was supposed to be shared last week but life happens lol Regardless, I hope you enjoy the video and learning more about this version of the character. She is currently my favorite pony of the mane 6 (it switches between her and pinkie all the time) so it was really exciting personally to re-imagine this character.

Let me know what you ...

Plein Air April Diary Days 13-19 Halfway through!

I feel like I am sort of getting the hang of things with my new supplies and setup, and have actually painting outside more instead of the still life's! It's still incredibly challenging, but fun to see how my approach changes with each day.

Let me know how Adventure Ap...

monthly sketchbook dump! march~april : cowboy oc's, mlp, quick concept paintings, and tax stress doodles

hey patrons! it's that time again to share what's been going on in my sketchbook! It's been all over the place these past couple of weeks. It's been a place to just jot down ideas and sketch things out quickly before I forget them lol

• some bill and saul doodles and character exploration

• soooo much thumbnailing! too many ideas for paintings but I'm trying to focus on just a few things this month

• quick 20-30 digital concept p...

  2025-04-19 12:00:37 +0000 UTC View Post

Paladin Apple Jack Design- COMPLETE! (well... mostly!!)

hi patrons! here is the next installment of my MLP D&D Design project: Paladin Apple Jack ⚔️

This time I also wanted to do more of an atmospheric painting along with the character design sheet and portrait to push my painting skills and put this character into an environment. I included the wip here (unfortunately I don't think I will be able to finish it for the video but you guys will get to see it as soon as I finish it <3)

I also haven't fully finished the portrait ...

March Stickers have been shipped + April Sticker is now available! 🍎

hi patrons! happy to share that all March sticker orders have been sent out today! Thank you all so much for your continued support for my work last month <3

I also want to remind you that we have over 50+ slots available in the sticker club for April! Sign up or keep you...

Plein Air Diary day 7-12: feeling more confident, Levitan study, new setup and supplies! 🖼️

hi patrons! here is another update to my plein air adventures for Adventure April!

I've decided from now on, I will be purely working in gouache! Most of the struggle so far with this challenge has been the supplies portion, and I figured keeping it simple and consistent for the rest...

Sketchbook Club Meeting April 11th, 2025

hi patrons! in case you missed it, here is the full recording of today's Sketchbook Club Response Review Stream from the Discord Server!

art featured in the thumbnail is by Dan/Skullizzard from the server ✨

We covered ALL of previous Febru-fairy prompts we missed last time and ALL of the Monsters and Mythology Prompts! YAY! I feel good about not being behind hehe. You guys did AMAZING work for these past two prompts, I especially love all of the backstory and lore to a lot of th...

[Early Access] why art isn't fun anymore (and how you can change that)

hi patrons! here is a brand new video for your viewing and listening pleasure this week! as always, ad-free for my patrons <3

Will be posted publicly tomorrow, Friday, April 11th, 2025.

Brief Summary of this video:

This whirlwind of fear, perfectionism, learning overwhelm, comparison, and financial pressure are all linked to your art and is killing your drive and enjoyment with creating. In this video, I talk about my own strategies and method...

2025-04-10 18:39:25 +0000 UTC View Post

MLP x D&D Character Design Video Project Poll- Who's Next?

as I am wrapping up on Apple Jack's design this week, I need your help deciding who's next!

To recap: I am redesigning each of the Mane 6 characters as D&D characters, each with their own class and abilities (and hope to actually make character sheets for each of them so that you can play as them in your own campaign!)

Here are some recent sketches of Paladin Apple Jack and what my initial full line up cast of characters looks like:

2025-04-08 14:33:18 +0000 UTC View Post

how I made art fun again + reconnecting with my sketchbook(s) <3

hi patrons! here is my sketchbook response page from last month for the Monsters and Mythology prompt!

Something really clicked with this drawing process, and I starting to feel a rekindling for using my sketchbook more like how I used to a couple years ago. Here were my intentions f...

Plein Air Diary: Days 3-6 finally made it outside!! + using watercolor + I need to upgrade my setup lol

hey guys! here's another update to my plein air escapades as part of the Adventure April Sketchbook Prompt this month!

These past 4 days were really experimental and really reinforced to me that I need a better setup for painting on the go, I'll keep y'all updated on the things that I purchased and how they've helped me!

In the last photo, this is my current setup! At home I just paint on a flimsy foldable table. It comes up to my mid thigh so it's definitely hard to ergonomically...

Sketchbook Club Prompt April 2025

hi patrons! grab your hiking gear, walking shoes, it’s time for an adventure! 🌈🏃‍♂️

Prompt: "Adventure April⚔️"

Draw, paint, or create something inspired by the prompt "Adventure April"! Take this as your sign to go outside and create with friends, or stay cozy and cool inside by drawing your own adventure! An adventure can be from visiting a new coffee shop to illustrating a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Here is your sign to use your art to explore new storie...

new tier illustrations!

hello patrons! I just updated the tier illustrations and they look pretty sweet 😉

I really love how they turned out, and I think they would make really cute stickers as part of a sticker sheet or just one off designs. Should I make them into stickers for a possible summer shop opening? Let me know what you think!

I plan to update my patreon banner as well with a new illustration I'm planning (hint: cowboys) (okay that was a pretty big hint), but until then, I'm st...

January 2025 Sticker of the Month!

hi patrons! I am here to share the January Sticker of the Month to ring in the New Year of 2025🐍🎉

I feel like I always say this with each new sticker but this one is definitely my new favorite. This sticker is inspired by the upcoming year of the snake, to bring in the new year shedding old skin and embracing new adventures!

To receive this sticker, sign up to the Sticke...

2024-12-30 23:06:49 +0000 UTC View Post

see ya in 2025 (post hiatus, updates, and future plans!)

SORRY GUYS OMG repost for correct access !!!

hello patrons! just want to send out some important info and expectations regarding this Patreon so y'all know what's up, and just say a huge thank you for all of the support this year! it's been amazing so far posting to this Patreon and being in the server, and after working out a lot of kinks I know that 2025 will be even better!

GENERAL UPDATES

Steven and I will be taking a short hiatus from this page for the rest of...