Traci Shepard @tashepard@witches.town

Hello Mastodon. I'm an illustrator with a focus on animals and monsters from folklore, and I just restarted my art blog on that same subject. Today was the first post in over a year but if you're new there's over 400 entries in the archive to check out.
https://arcanebeastsandcritters.tumblr.com/
My day job is killing me and living and transition expenses are piling up so I'm going to try and have a go at making a living off this art stuff, so have the standard Patreon link
https://www.patreon.com/tashepard and a Twitch stream for drawing (and some WoW) https://www.twitch.tv/tashepard/dashboard
#Mastoart #art #monsters

So I've been thinking about print versions of the Compendium and, like, I'd want to add value that's not freely available online but I'm thinking not counting the PKMN and the Lovecraft and the April Fools stuff I still have over 400 entries. Like, I could make *several* books out the content I've already made.

"Hang on, I've got to pause the stream while I google 'Garfield Super Saiyan'
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...
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There are at least several pages."

Streaming today's critter https://www.twitch.tv/tashepard

"It's easier to buy two Gameboys than it is to make one friend." #Wonderful

Just learned a "chain" is a specific term for 22 yards, so now I pass that along to you.

I've been stuck on the Endless Halls stage of the Lucid Nightmare mount questline for a while and I've been debating streaming that one night because I feel like me gradually losing my goddamn mind would make up for the repetitive visual content.

How does a country still so up its own ass about getting out from under a monarchy two centuries ago keep falling for this dynasty bullshit

I just had the terrifying realization that I can pay for the in-game shop mounts with gold if I convert the tokens to Blizzard balance instead of game time. :v
I still want to finish getting the spider mount first but this'll probably be my next project after that's done.

I forgot how many quests the Blood Watch gives you at once

Fungi are goth plants

I kind of.... hate all the classes with plate armor so I've never played through with one and doing so now realizing how few transmog appearances I have for it. I'm learning to appreciate the variety the level-scaling allows when I can just take my lvl 45 character and bounce from end-of-vanilla zones to a starter area like Bloodmyst Isle and I'm still getting viable experience from quests.
(I always tell myself I can just come back at 110 and steamroll over all this stuff for the same gear but once I'm embroiled in the current endgame grind I never actually do it. :/)

Okay, here's a thing I did not realize about the level rescaling in the vanilla zones: I knew they all scaled up their maximum to 60, but I hadn't realized the previously level 40+ zones have also scaled down to 40 minimums, so once you're in that range you can do them in any order. Or skip them entirely, looking at you, Thousand Needles.

Fun fact: Mickey Mouse and Cthulhu both debuted in the same year.

Finally warm enough to have the patio door open at night

I have a similar theory about how Frankenstein created the line between legends and pop culture but I never really fleshed that out.

Discussing the difference between cryptids and folklore and it's not strictly an antiquity/modernity thing but I feel like the hard dividing line might be the invention of photography. The telling of cryptid stories thrives on and revolves around positive proof or lack thereof, their payoff requires documentation in a way folklore never does or is expected to.
Though Hannivers and other hoaxes like that predate the 19th century, so there's some grey areas to it.

It wasn't on purpose but just realized I'm real close to doing a rainbow spectrum with those

Teaching myself using vector layers in Clip Studio with some folklore- and cryptid-based pin ideas.