WinterSoul
@wintersoulart.bsky.social
840 followers 410 following 530 posts
Art of Crystal Carpenter, Colorado illustrator-sculptor who loves nature & myth. Part time dog shepherd. She/her. 🚫NO A/I or N/F/T. www.wintersoulstudios.com | patreon.com/wintersoul | wintersoulstudios.bigcartel.com | https://ko-fi.com/wintersoulart
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Quick pinned intro, since migration is happening! Hello, I’m an artist who has a love for nature, animals, and myth. On socials, I like to post a mix of art, life, announcements, and sharing other artists. Main website will always be the steady place for info on the art, hope you join me here!
Been thinking about yet another career change lately too. I kinda lucked out with prior experience working with animals, but it’s hard to physically/mentally sustain. Work life is a process. Hoping that you can figure out a solution that will fit you well & help you to find a little more peace!
I really hope that it doesn’t mean the art is over for you, & also hope that you wouldn’t have to take a job that you dreaded. I wonder if it would be helpful to brainstorm non-retail jobs? Not necessarily apply, but just put out the “what if” to yourself to feel out if it might be more comfortable?
Breaks my heart to see so many artists going through this kind of stress. The anxiety is familiar. When I was forced into a second job a few years ago, a regular paycheck did help the mental health a ton. It’s a double edged sword, a lot of balancing the need for art with the need to survive.
Yeah, I'm hearing a lot of people going through it! I think it's one of the puzzles of life. It's tough, because every individual needs a different solution. And these days, some chaos goblin turned up to hard mode for all of us. Hope you're able to stay afloat too!
Doesn’t help that my brain really hates disruptions in work flow, & it’s hard to get back after an interruption (which has to happen to work the other job). But the plus of the other job is that I’m more financially secure & I’m less likely to be a weird hermit. Oof, how to balance?!
So here I am today after getting a good chunk of work on one done, “I’m so excited, so close to painting time!” But then I write out each step before painting can happen… it’s still going to be a couple of weeks. 😓
Drives me crazy how long it takes to prep the dragons for painting. A lot of it is that they’re not normal casts, I’m customizing each one. Each different detail takes a long time to modify, and it can only be done in small sections.
Reposted by WinterSoul
Autumn Herald YCHs are back again, this year I made one of Nym as a sample! $75- $120 depending on character complexity, sign up and more info below! #Art #BlueSkyNightMarket
forms.gle/9AiLiUqVhpCC...
Digitally painted image of an anthro fox-like creature with feathered wings floating in front of a stand of yellow and orange autumn trees.
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While defending the luddite argument in Discord, I stumbled into this IMO succinct explanation for opposing generative AI:

At every step in the process, it impoverishes us.
AI impoverishes us at every step of the process: 
- data centers pollute our environment
- energy use drives up costs
- content theft robs creators of income
- the actual output is used to displace workers and depress wages
- using it harms our mental health and impairs our competence
- the flood of AI slop is damaging our sociopolitical landscape

All in service of making a worse product - and world - to enrich a handful of already spectacularly wealthy people
Yay, congrats to all of you, that's exciting news!
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🍁🎃🍂🍁🎃🍂🍁🎃🍂

Happy Autumn! I have opened preorders for a few autumn figures. These will be limited through October 15th. I also have glow in the dark Patch Cats that I will be adding in a few days.

🛒 VerdantSculpts.com
A montage of 4 autumn/halloween themed figures.  There is a skeletal dragon, a mimikyu with a pumpkin, an orange tabby cat with pumpkins, and a crow sitting atop a dragon skull.
Reposted by WinterSoul
Shop news: Big thing is that I finally added The Sun’s Path! This is for the framed original, no prints, as it’s meant to be viewed in person. Looking for just the right home for this personal piece!

wintersoulstudios.bigcartel.com

#BlueSkyNightMarket #BSNM #TraditionalArt #Tarot #artistshop
Shia the cat shows off a rare original piece from Winter Soul Studios. The framed artwork is of The Sun's Path, a personal interpretation of the tarot card. An original painting of a long-haired fluffy cat, confidently walking around an ancient temple. Sunflowers have overgrown around the temple steps. An abstract sun is ablaze above. My interpretation of The Sun tarot card. Traditional art. Acrylic on illustration board, 24k gold leaf.
As always, I know originals tend to be big ticket items for the most avid collectors, so shares are much appreciated to help me find a good home! It would be awesome if I could find a home for it this year, since Shia's upcoming vet bills are going to be crazy. Thank you to all who share 💕☀️🐈
Also shifted the bonus sticker for the season. I don’t think he’s been a bonus sticker yet? Plump orange guy, for pumpkin season. 🐈

More to come later, I have a couple of more things planned for the Ko-fi side of things!

#BSNM #artistshop #shopsmall #giftideas #supportartists
A sticker of the "nebula cat" character created by me, called "Red Dwarf". He's an orange spotted cat, based on the tiny wild cat called a Black Footed Cat.
Shop news: Big thing is that I finally added The Sun’s Path! This is for the framed original, no prints, as it’s meant to be viewed in person. Looking for just the right home for this personal piece!

wintersoulstudios.bigcartel.com

#BlueSkyNightMarket #BSNM #TraditionalArt #Tarot #artistshop
Shia the cat shows off a rare original piece from Winter Soul Studios. The framed artwork is of The Sun's Path, a personal interpretation of the tarot card. An original painting of a long-haired fluffy cat, confidently walking around an ancient temple. Sunflowers have overgrown around the temple steps. An abstract sun is ablaze above. My interpretation of The Sun tarot card. Traditional art. Acrylic on illustration board, 24k gold leaf.
Reposted by WinterSoul
Incidentally I have MANY different kinds of treasures you can take home. Anytime you buy something tangible I know my real media is viable. Pewter is coming due for new casting! Masks are great projects too.

www.paleopanthera.com/masks
www.paleopanthera.com/artforsale
www.paleopanthera.com/foundry
A photo of a pewter skeleton cat paw resting on a dark rainbow stone. The wrist bones form a bail so that it may be worn as a pendant. The skeleton cat paw has been reproduced from a wax carving and is substantial rather than delicate. Open edition linocut prints of a tiger twisting in a perfectly circular pattern. The prints are technically monotypes; each one has had different color watercolor washes applied and different colors used for ink lines. A pink rubber linocut stamp is at the top of the picture; below it is the resulting print. The artwork is of an American lion (P. Atrox) jawbone fossil. The style is full of thick heavy lines. An example raven mask using a pattern the artist sells on their website. It is made of EVA foam, is all black, and the feathers have been "drawn" on using a woodburning tool to melt the feather shapes. It has bright gold eyes that have been painted on mesh to maintain visibility.
That was the advice more experienced people gave to me! More important than whether or not it's good or bad though, has been the learning process. Each time I make a comic, I've learned a lot that I can carry into the next ones!
Thank you! Admittedly her fur is very fun to paint ☺️
A former friend swore by House of Leaves. I never made it fully through the book because the friend who recommended it & I had a falling out, but I trust his recommendations for art/writing/etc. One of these days I'll get over myself and finish it, lol!
Now I'm obsessed too, what a great color combo! Those neutral, deep browns with the lovely vivid colors, it's just so good. <3
Quick digital sketch, just to get in the swing of doing art again! Last week I did double vax. It was about 3-4 days of feeling like 💩, followed by 3 days in a row of migraines. So I needed an easy thing to ease back into art!
Cat’s Breed? Circle.

Breed description:
-Perfect shape.
-Round round round.
-Not fat, just squishy.

#CatsOfBluesky #ShiaTheCat
A digital drawing of a grey tabby cat being silly by rolling into a circle shape and standing on her head. Her breed is "Circle".
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Jane Goodall was a visionary who transformed our understanding of animals and inspired generations to care for our planet. Her legacy of compassion, courage, and hope will endure.

Sit tibi terra levis
Dangit, on Monday Shia woke up to a UTI, so her treatment has to be postponed.

Pro: Gives me a little more time to figure out how to fund this. Con: Everything is up in the air now, need to be flexible, but my brain sucks at flexibility. So thankful my managers are super understanding!