Greetings Amazing Acolytes!

We’re at it again with another weekly update! We’ve got the regular briefing on what’s going on in the studio, some of our own entertainment recommendations, and a little uplifting section that hopefully brightens your day. We love doing these newsblogs each week and we hope you like them too!

1) A Scene from Our Upcoming Web-Comic! -

From the Department of Comic Development

This week, Pixie and I wanted to give you a sneak peek at one of the early scenes of our upcoming web-comic Soul Canvas as we continue to build the world and story. This shot is Terric and Aurianna as they are running away from some guards in the center of the city. Currently, we are still hard at work developing this comic for release hopefully around Summer 2023. However, we still wanted to give you an extra special sneak peek of some story stuff in progress. We hope this at least piques your interest for our story and, if it does, please make sure to keep up with all of our newsblogs for more updates about the characters, world, and story of Soul Canvas as you follow along with us during its development!

2) The Hilarious and Amazing New Anime that Should Be on Your Watchlist –

From the Department of Animated Storytelling

Just a few weeks ago, I discovered a brand-new manga by the name of Spy x Family that has been an absolute joy to read. Its art, story, characters, and dialogue, all made by the stellar creator Tatsuya Endo, immediately made me keep reading through absolutely every volume. When I found out it was going to become an anime, I knew Pixie and I had to watch it! I tell you what, so far, we have not been disappointed at all with how well this manga has translated into its anime form. It has expertly kept all the exceptional comedy, incredible story work, and dynamic characters that made the manga so great. You must check this one out for yourself as it has assuredly earned an official 9 out of 10 Bear & Pixie rating. Trust us, you’re absolutely going to want to check this one out for yourself. If you’re interested in seeing it, you can watch it through Crunchyroll if you have an account. You can click on the poster below to check it out for yourself! [WE ARE NOT SPONSORED BY ANY COMPANY. We are only giving you a genuine, un-sponsored recommendation.]

3) Artist Shout-Out -

From the Artist Relations Department

Our pick for Artist Shout-Out this week is none other than comic book artist Chris Sprouse. Chris is one of those artists who is a master at penciling and inking who works on tons of different Marvel and DC comic projects. He has the uncanny ability to make every piece come to life with an amazing sense of realism. Each illustration is beautifully intricate and detailed down to every stroke of the pencil and pen. His stuff warrants a follow that’s for sure so make sure you go to the links to his Instagram and Facebook below to do so. [We are not sponsored by Chris Sprouse. We are only fans and genuinely wanted to give a shoutout.]

Artist’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris_sprouse_comics/

Artist’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100049662308376

4) The Importance of Not Getting “Lost in the Weeds” -

From the Motivational Messaging Department

As Pixie and I have been continuing work on Soul Canvas, one of the many temptations that we struggle with is getting lost within all the planning and worldbuilding. In many ways, we aim to create worlds that we hope many people can get lost in and want to spend lots of time in. Sometimes though, as we get lost in all the worldbuilding and planning of this story, our overall progress gets impeded by some planning that is honestly rather superfluous. I’m not saying that worldbuilding and story planning in general doesn’t have its merit or place within storytelling. You need to be good at both for any story to be successful.

However, something I learned a long time ago from professional illustrator and storyteller Jake Parker himself is that we as artists need to “build our cathedrals” and not get lost “filling up our fields of creativity with rock piles and finely crafted stones.” Basically, Jake was talking about this “worldbuilding trap” as something that is really enticing. We keep gathering up our amazing materials to be used to build our incredible story “palaces and cathedrals.” Pretty soon though, we find ourselves in an infinite loop of building up more and more materials and never actually get into the cathedral building itself.

This trap is very pervasive within the creative process and has affected both Pixie and I at many different times. Right now, it threatens our progress on Soul Canvas as well. One thing that we both are reminding ourselves those is to not get “lost in the weeds” of filling up our fields. We do need the materials, but there’s a time and place for getting those materials and a time for using them to build our cathedral. We can’t wait to show you our finished cathedral. We are anxiously and excitedly building it one brick at a time. As we go through this process, and if you go through this process yourself in your own life, let us all remember how important it is to build our cathedrals and not to endlessly pile up materials. We must all seize every opportunity to create what is in our hearts and accomplish our dreams. So let’s get out there and build acolytes!

5) One of the Best New Magic Stories Around! –

From the Storytelling Division of the Comics Department

About a year ago, as I was watching one of my favorite YouTube channels “ComicBookPalace,” the storeowner of the Comic Book Palace in Haverhill, MA recommended a comic in one of his episodes that sounded quite interesting. That comic is Excellence. Written by Brandon Thomas and illustrated by both Khary Randolph and Emilio Lopez, Excellence follows the character of Spencer Dales. Spencer is born into a high-status magical family who are part of the Aegis. This secret society of black magicians are ordered by their unseen masters to better the lives of others but never allowed to better their own lives with their magical power. Spencer has been groomed his entire life to take over his father’s position within the Aegis. However, Spencer also sees that it isn’t al it’s cracked up to be. Obviously, the system needs to work for all people and not the select few. To accomplish those, Spencer’s got an uphill battle ahead of him, but he’s got skill, and the tools, to overturn the system for good. Will he accomplish his mission? Or is the system too rigged against him? I can tell you one thing for sure; this comic should be on everyone’s reading list. The story, characters, and setting are all expertly crafted and deeply engaging. After reading the first volume, you just want to read more and more. This comic earns a very solid 9 out of 10 official Bear & Pixie rating as an excellent story that everybody should read and experience. You can check get the first volume on Amazon by clicking on the picture below. [WE ARE NOT SPONSORED BY ANY COMPANY. We are only giving you a genuine, un-sponsored recommendation.]

That's it for this one! Thank you for reading our newsblog. Our sponsor for this newsblog is…us! We don’t accept sponsors for our email list, and we never will. If you feel so inclined, it would mean a lot to us if you would like to support us in making our dreams and stories a reality. Ways to support us are all outlined below. Thank you so much for your time and love. Hope you have an amazing week!

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/bearandpixieart (Best way to support us is by supporting one of our kickstarters whenever we launch them. Please follow us here to get notifications whenever we have a new project!)

Sharing Our Newsblog: https://www.bearandpixieart.com/blog (Second best way to support is by sharing our newsblogs with anyone you can. They are free and designed to be a source of fun and light to anyone’s week as they get to see our journey in real-time and share in the mutual enjoyment of interesting or creative things that are inspiring us now.)

(Third best is to follow us at any of our social media links that are listed below).

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bearandpixieartstudio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bearandpixieartstudio

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIdz6TxE8nMfnChPFtXohjA

Our Website: www.bearandpixieart.com

Warm hugs and happy wishes,

- Bear & Pixie