🎨 art & chai ☕ Issue #5

Diwali books, Ghost Roast ARCs are here and a time for some 'firsts'!!! 💓📚 🍫🧇

I finally received my comp copies of Diwali In My New Home and also received the advance reader copies (ARCs) of Ghost Roast! And celebrating some ‘food firsts’! 🎉

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i) After 6-7 months of waiting and a couple of failed deliveries, I finally received my comp copies of DIWALI IN MY NEW HOME! 🪔 I am so happy to see these in person! The colors are so bright and holding this book in my hands feels amazing. 💛

DIWALI IN MY NEW HOME comp copies!~

ii) I also received my copies of the GHOST ROAST ARCs/AREs (Advance Reader Copy/Edition)! 👻 ARC or ARE are advance copies printed to check how the colors will lay out in the final book and to see how the finished book would look like.

Depending on the publisher/imprint, the first 30 or so pages are colored and the rest of the book is printed in black and white. ARCs/AREs are also sent to book reviewers, other writers and artists, cartoonists, etc. so that they can read a copy and share their review online! It helps with the book’s marketing and publicity closer to the release date. 😊

For Ghost Roast, the colors have come out beautifully and the book is so compact to hold! Its hard to believe it was printed this small (a normal size for a GN) because I colored it on my PC, so the pages were laid out quite large and I zoomed in a lot while coloring it. 😂

I should be able to show some sneak peek in the future but for now please check out the book as a whole! 👀

Ghost Roast AREs!

iii) I designed my second surface pattern design this week! I am so VERY HAPPY with the progress I’ve made from my first design.

I drew this using some Gulmohar tree’s flower petals which I picked up from a park during my walks. With each round, I’d notice some good-enough-not-yet-destroyed petals and picked them up one by one. It was a new experience drawing using references I collected in person. 😊

Let me know your thoughts in the comments! ✨

And this design is available as a phone-wallpaper on my Ko-fi page for monthly supporters! (You can subscribe to it and support me for just $1 each month and get access to sketchbook pages, early-access artworks, BTS on projects, phone wallpapers, etc.!)

The colors look so bright!

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i) Last month, I attended a friend’s wedding and it was a beautiful event! I tried to click some okay-ish pictures of the beautifully-decorated venue to share here! 🎉 The pictures I clicked don’t do it justice.

Beautiful light-decoration at the wedding venue!

ii) Last couple of weeks very quite exciting as I experienced some ‘firsts’ when it comes to food!

LOVE for pocky and waffles! 😍

I ATE POCKY FOR THE FIRST TIME! 💖💖💖 And BOY!!! Do I LOVE POCKY!!!!!

Pocky has become my go-to snack (when I REALLY must eat it, trying to keep snacks-consumption in a limit) and it was just a wonderful surprise to find it in a shop near me!

A Starbucks opened up close to my home and I went for a visit with my mom! We were in a hurry to head back home, so no in-cafe pictures or even coffees (must say, Starbucks is pricey,PHEW!). So, we only ordered a slice of their chocolate cake to-go and, it was yum! To be honest, nothing spectacular but a first-Starbucks (in my city) was due! I’ve only been to Starbucks a total of 3 times in my life now. 😂

AND!!! I HAD WAFFLES FOR FIRST TIME!!! 🧇 SO. VERY. DELICIOUS!!!! It’s just a lot to process having such delicious snacks close to home! But, I’m looking forward to more waffles in my life now. 🤩

Food pics below!~

Pocky, chocolate cake-slice, waffles!

That’s it for this time!

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Until June! 💛