Thanda ✨

Thanda ✨

@thandaart.com

Yaiza A. Deserio ✨ Illustrator & Board Game Artist ✨ Clients: Treecer, Riot, Dark Horse ✨ Contact: thandaart@gmail.com ✨ https://thandaart.com/ https://www.artstation.com/thanda

5K followers369 following1.9K posts

Hey, this isn’t going to be easy to write, but I truly believe it’s important to talk openly about mental health and the times when we’re struggling, just as we share our happy moments and success stories. So, over the past 2–3 years it has become increasingly difficult for me to paint or draw.

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Anyway, thank you for supporting me over the years, even when I’ve barely been able to create any art lately. I hope that, in the future, I can share more beautiful pieces and silly little animals with you to brighten your days. Thank you all for everything 😊💜

PS: I’m not sure if I’ll post this on Instagram too, where most of my followers are. Somehow, Bluesky feels like a safe space for me. Also, I don’t really want my friends or family to read all of this and know how I’m feeling.

Hey, this isn’t going to be easy to write, but I truly believe it’s important to talk openly about mental health and the times when we’re struggling, just as we share our happy moments and success stories. So, over the past 2–3 years it has become increasingly difficult for me to paint or draw.

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I also wanted to write this as a way of apologizing for the times I haven’t replied to your messages or comments, or have let you down in some way. I’m truly sorry. I know I haven’t always handled things the way I should have, but I just didn’t have the energy to do things differently.

It’s even taken me weeks to write this. Sometimes, when people talk about me, they say they admire my perseverance. But honestly, it's a lie. I’m exhausted, I don’t feel like I can deal with anything anymore. Never trust everything you see on social media. It’s not the full picture of our lives.

Hey, this isn’t going to be easy to write, but I truly believe it’s important to talk openly about mental health and the times when we’re struggling, just as we share our happy moments and success stories. So, over the past 2–3 years it has become increasingly difficult for me to paint or draw.

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I once read that you need to be in the right headspace to create art, and I feel like I haven’t been there for a very, very long time. I don’t know how to find my way back. Sometimes, I wish I could at least feel angry or sad about everything I’ve lost, but I just feel nothing.

This has been frustrating me for a long time, but after months of reflecting on everything that’s happened over the past few years, I think I’m finally starting to understand what’s happening to me and why. I’m slowly finding my way back to myself, changed but still passionate about creating.

Hey, this isn’t going to be easy to write, but I truly believe it’s important to talk openly about mental health and the times when we’re struggling, just as we share our happy moments and success stories. So, over the past 2–3 years it has become increasingly difficult for me to paint or draw.

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And that’s another thing: I’m making more money than ever, I could never have imagined earning this much when I started, yet somehow I've less and less money. Everything is getting more expensive, everything breaks and costs a fortune to fix, new fees, rising shipping costs... It just never ends.

And I haven’t mentioned the legal battle I had with the Spanish tax authorities, which eventually led me to take them to court. In the end, the court ruled in my favor but for years they kept demanding a huge amount of money from me, adding even more stress to everything I was already dealing with.

Hey, this isn’t going to be easy to write, but I truly believe it’s important to talk openly about mental health and the times when we’re struggling, just as we share our happy moments and success stories. So, over the past 2–3 years it has become increasingly difficult for me to paint or draw.

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I’m already a very anxious person, but I think not feeling safe in my own home has only made things worse. A lot of times, when I come back from a convention, I just sit in my car because I don’t want to go home. I have to force myself to drive back.

On top of that, constant issues with manufacturers have left me feeling really burned out from producing merch. I’m tired of the quality of my products being affected by things outside my control, even when I’ve spent a ton of money. But I love creating merch, but it's getting harder everyday.

Hey, this isn’t going to be easy to write, but I truly believe it’s important to talk openly about mental health and the times when we’re struggling, just as we share our happy moments and success stories. So, over the past 2–3 years it has become increasingly difficult for me to paint or draw.

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Shortly after the covid lockdown, my grandparents’ health began to decline rapidly. Until they eventually passed away, I helped my mother take care of them. Our entire lives revolved around looking after them and organizing our schedules to make sure they were never alone.

I’ve also spent the past few years dealing with a family member struggling with severe mental health issues and addiction, who has repeatedly threatened me for money and tried to break into my house. After years of trying to help, I finally set boundaries, but things have only gotten worse since.

Hey, this isn’t going to be easy to write, but I truly believe it’s important to talk openly about mental health and the times when we’re struggling, just as we share our happy moments and success stories. So, over the past 2–3 years it has become increasingly difficult for me to paint or draw.

It’s something that’s been slowly progressing over the years. Lately, even sitting down in front of a paper feels almost impossible. It’s like the part of me that has always made me want to draw and paint, since I was a child, has slowly faded away, and I don't know how to bring it back.

I often think about the Nothing from The Never Ending Story. That’s what it feels like sometimes, as if I can’t feel anything anymore and nothing really matters to me. And somewhere along the way, the spark that once made me want to create art just disappeared.

It’s important to realize that we, the players, are no longer the customers of video game companies. We’re just a source of money. The real customers are the investors, and no matter what, the companies need to keep them happy and show them that their investments are paying off.

Aftermath@aftermath.site

Electronic Arts closing BioWare, laying off hundreds: aftermath.site/electronic-art...

I love video games. I’ve been playing and creating them for as long as I can remember. But the reality is that capitalism has corrupted this industry just like it has everything else. Thankfully, we still have small studios and indie developers who genuinely care about video games as an art form.

Thanda ✨ reposted

Inspired by my walk along the river a few days ago. The sky was full of geese gathering for their upcoming winter migration. It was a beautiful scene paired with the first colors of fall and a lovely sunset sky. It's also be the Patreon print for October🧡

Thanda ✨ reposted

helping my mom sell her hand knitted cardigan. Sadly it turned out way to big for us and we both would hate to see it staying in the knitting corner and not exploring the wild like it should. Measurements are in the second picture (sorry only in cm) but I'd say it’s something between XL to XXL.

Thanda ✨ reposted

Use reference. I’m serious. I get it that somehow you or someone convinced you that using reference is “cheating.” It’s not. You are just hindering yourself.

So, I definitely need to buy a new iPad. Mine works perfectly but there’s apparently no way to fix the issues with the pencil 🫠 Now I’ve to take 2000€ out of my savings and I honestly don’t know whether I’m more sad or absolutely furious.

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And I’m a “successful” artist. I’ve worked for big companies, I’m a professor at an art school, I’ve an online shop that’s doing really well and I travel to cons all over Europe that bring in a lot of money. I live very frugally, and even so, I’m still living pretty much paycheck to paycheck :D

So, I definitely need to buy a new iPad. Mine works perfectly but there’s apparently no way to fix the issues with the pencil 🫠 Now I’ve to take 2000€ out of my savings and I honestly don’t know whether I’m more sad or absolutely furious.

I understand capitalism, just because I understand it doesn’t mean I’m not pissed off that something like this is allowed to happen while we’re constantly being told to recycle and reuse, only for the system to make it impossible because everything is designed to be last as little as possible.

And, above all, I’m just so tired of not being able to save any money because everything keeps getting more expensive, and every time I manage to save a bit something breaks, or a supplier screws up an order and refuses to replace it, or whatever. There’s just no way for me to save, at all.

Thanda ✨ reposted