August 2026 Log

For some people, it's practically fall as soon as September hits. But I have a feeling this heat is going to linger on for longer.

August is usually a 'break month' after an active Artfight season for me, so I mostly spent it thinking and making small tweaks.

Break timer helps with computer breaks

A confession; during artfight I did a poor job at taking breaks. A large part of it was wanting to push for a higher amount of attacks, but it resulted in several day breaks mid-event, and a week off at the beginning of August due to wrist strain. So for this month I've been experimenting with using a break timer.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was gonna stick to this, mainly because a lot of attempts to build habits in the past fell flat. For a run down of what I was looking for;

• Not ignore-able - Having it be too easy to dismiss would cause me to just ignore it, defeating the purpose of a reminder
• Runs in the background - Needing to start it up all the time will likely cause me to forget it
• Picks up inactivity - This way if I'm putting on music in the background or grab a snack from the other room, I don't come back to a blocked screen

The last one caused me some problems since KDE plasma and Wayland don't play nice with a lot of break timers. Either the program wouldn't pick up any mouse activity, or it wouldn't detect inactivity at all!

The one I settled on is Sane Break. Meets all the above needs and plays nice with KDE. It's also a more gentle reminder compared to other apps; it'll give you a heads up a break is coming. When it starts you get a 30 second window to wrap up what you're doing before going to a full-screen block. Less intrusive than an immediate block, less ignore-able than a pop-up notification. So far, it's sticking. I feel like I'm (finally) getting into the habit of taking breaks & stretching in the meantime.

There are a few drawbacks, mainly;

• Notifs use flashing by default. you can turn this down/disable it, but keep this in mind if you're a photosensitive user
• There's extra setup if you plan on using this on GNOME that's noted on the github
• Weird logo. Less important, but the eye is kinda ugly looking

And also there's one bad habit I haven't been able to kick yet; when the breaks come up (especially the bigger breaks) I move to my phone. I guess there's something to be said here about 'cellphone obsession'. I find leaving it away from my desk helps avoid this, so maybe I should start leaving it further away when I'm on my computer.

Polymer Clay Surprisingly Good for LPS customs

In the past for LPS customs, I've used apoxie-based clays to do most of my sculpting. I like the durability, how easy it is to blend into the plastic (self-adhesive, smooths with water). But there's a few drawbacks;

• Have to base working time around curing time, leaving larger gaps between sculpting & painting.
• Wasted material if you mix too much
• Needs extra protection (gloves) to work with.
• Annoying to clean
• Expensive & not easy to get in stores near me.

I've seen a few customizers (notably LPS Emily and Hello Studios) use polymer clay, so I wanted to try it. It'd cut back on waiting around & let me jump into projects faster, cut back on the waste, and is easier to get my hands on.

LPS can survive in the oven at lower baking temps; Guides I'ver seen recommend baking between 210 F to 225 F for 10 minute bursts (I bake in a toaster oven for craft use to play it safe). I use super sculpey since it bakes firmer. Technically polymer clay isn't self-adhesive, but in my first tests I didn't have much issue blending it into the figure? Still, I'll keep sandpaper & liquid sculpey on standby.

What's great about polymer clay is there's almost no need to plan around baking times. It only cures whenever you stick it in the oven. And even so it's only 20 minutes of curing & cooling vs 2-24 hours between sculpting layers

The main drawback is it's brittle. This is a quirk of under-baked polymer clay... which is hard to avoid if you want to safely bake an LPS. Using something firmer like super scupley, or flexible like cosclay can combat this, but I think I'll avoid using it for more delicate parts (or bake those separately). It also doesn't smooth well with water. Isopropyl alcohol works, but you should be careful of the fumes it gives off & using too much can make the clay crack

My first custom with polymer clay is Io! But as an axolotl. Something that didn't require a lot of planning.

The Roots 26 interest continues... for now

It's no secret at this point that Roots 26 / IIDX is my main fandom right now. Arguably the thing that saved my art motivation. This month I wrote Cyclist No.9, a short fic based on my Eiri headcanons. Also, I'm still playing Tomodachi Life & redrew a few of the characters based on outfits I gave them in-game. Here's my favs from that set;

That being said, I'm wondering if it's time I should return to my OCs. I think my art motivation's recovered enough to the point I'm starting to miss working on them. I want to revamp more of my older OCs, finish up bios that have been WIPs for years, maybe finally give them proper stories too.

Plus honestly, I'm loosing interest in fandom-spaces. Stuff like watching the fanbases for certain indie shows devolve into drama, or people turning activities (especially self-shipping) into a 'who's the most dedicated' competition really put me off. I'm not leaving fandoms or quitting fanart yet, but I'm thinking about how I want to handle them going forward.

Libraries are Great

I've been visiting the library more frequently. I'm making it a goal to leave the house at least one time per week to not hole-up. Local library's great for that since it requires me to leave the house, it's free, and I get to pick out something to read/watch/listen too. A win all around!

For some recent notable reads;

• Beastars Manga - After watching the Anime, I wanted to go back and read the manga. I've been enjoying it a lot. The artstyle is very whispy & dynamic and makes me want to revisit pen and ink again. Though unfortunately, my library doesn't have the whole series. So whether or not I'll finish it is up in the air.
• My Brother's Husband - A slice of life manga about family, loss, and dealing with homophobia. I feel I don't really see a lot of media that covers these topics outside of western YA, so it's interesting getting a glimpse into the state of queer tolerance abroad.
• Maus - Tbh I don't know if I was mentally ready to handle this one (it's a memior about surviving the holocaust), but especially with the rise of book bans in the US I feel there's an urgency to read challenged books more than ever. It's a difficult story; the topic of genocide is ever more eerie. But I feel better for having read it than to continue letting it sit in my backlog.
• What We Fed to the Manticore - A collection of short stories from the PoV of Animals. A lot of the stories are tragic. But the final story ends on a hopeful note.

I'll end this section with you should pay a visit to your local library if you can & check out their resources. On top of books, you might be able to borrow movies, CDs, Audio books, and even physical things.

Diamond Painting - Not for me

For some context; after some family complications earlier this year, mom wanted to start doing 'family nights' every so often where we'll work on craft projects or watch a movie. This resulted in starting a massive diamond painting kit. Diamond painting nights didn't pan out, so it sat unfinished on the kitchen table for months.

Anyways, early August I decided It's time to finish it and get the table clear again. It's part of the reason I started watching Anime again.

Honestly diamond painting isn't for me. It takes a very long time, especially if you're switching between colors constantly. It takes up a lot of space. Diamonds tend to pop-off especially during warmer weather. The pieces are tiny & easy to loose, and a mess to clean up if you knock something over. And it's pretty straining? Hand-intensive activity (which in restospect... might've contributed to post-artfight pain) and eyestraining to look at once you have a lot of pieces in. I guess I can see the appeal, but I don't see myself wanting to pick up another kit anytime soon.

In terms of family craft projects, I think it's better to stick to smaller things.

Other Things

• Filled out 100 Questions for artists. Very long survey, I don't know if I want to do ones this long going forward. But I guess it let me yap a lot about my art.
• Brought a Lemon Dill Tilapia Bake to Skep & Myrtlertibe's Small Web Potluck. It's my first time trying a bake like this. Still much to learn.
• Looked at some of my old comic originals one night. It's bittersweet. Sure I was working my ass off in college making them, but I was happier and more enthusiatic about art back then. They're 3-6 years old now, how times have passed...
• Still thinking about that comic strip idea. I think I'll at least write out a few ideas before deciding if I want to do it
• I've been feeling a writing itch lately. Mostly for short stories.