Kit Lit - Xhuuya Designs

“Grief changes shape, but it never ends.”

A painting done to ease an immense sadness as Rachel Anne Puwc had to say goodnight to their sweet Abby. I’d only met her a few times, but my heart aches at the loss.

A sad post but a painting that was somewhat cathartic.

So.

What I've been working on?

Completely changing my approach to my business.

As I've mentioned recently, a lot of my desire to do pet portraits and most of my art (versus design, they are different ya know?) has been somewhat destroyed by the recent AI trends. Instagram and different platforms constantly advertise it to me, push it, and I see people charge nearly nothing for it. Realistically, design can be very expensive in both time and materials, and I can't just...do that. It doesn't sit right with me in any way really.

Aside from AI and the lack of ability I have to control it's presence in art, I also have struggled these last few years with a few things that have made it difficult for me to see success. A lack of focus due to both ADHD and my inability to believe that I can't do Everything somehow. The amount the people around me have to hear "I can probably do that too" is terrible. I've had to be realistic with myself, to stop that voice, to remember why I want to do this and the things that actually work for me (especially when I consider my mental strengths and weaknesses)

What have I been doing Consistently? Selling to bookstores, making designs for bookstores, creating stickers and merch to sell wholesale! So I'm going to focus on that! Expand what I know and what I've really enjoyed doing!

Plus, you know me, and books are a big part of my life! We don't have a library for nothin!

I've had to be a bit realistic in a few key things though: my logo is a an old one, connected to my love of foxes, but doesn't really do anything for the new direction. The name is also difficult to pronounce or remember for most (not exactly ideal for business right?)

So the name change (wow Dylan, how come you get TWO name changes- a bit of humor for those of you that know me there)

A new logo to match more with the new name too. Might still be a bit of a work in progress, but I think I like the direction.

If you drop by and check it out, I apologize for the fact that it's in a bit of a shift here and there, but I'm working on getting everything together!

I appreciate all of you. Those of you that have been around since the beginning, and stay around still as I always go about shaking things up. Can't let it get boring and all that, right?

Love you all! More to come soon.

Let me know if you want to see some progress shots of my process for logo concepts and designing materials!

Hey y'all,

A long overdue update.

I’m trying to get my Etsy back up and going, wondering about my Kofi and whether I should do that too, and trying to balance what I want from an entire rebrand and website overhaul.

I’m tired of all the AI art in animal portraits. I feel so...tired. That's the only word that comes to mind that encompasses all of it in a general sense. I put so many hours into them only for some ai program to churn one out in seconds and for it to blow up on instagram or wherever. I get accused of doing it when I try to promote my artwork legitimately done through hard work, and get my requests to share taken down for it. You can show your work, record it in every step, even record it on video, and still people will report you instead of the accounts actually cranking out ai art constantly.

I’m over it. I’m done with them.

I’m going back to more graphic design and focusing primarily on book inspired designs and helping independent bookstores specifically. It's what I want to do and what I've been doing for years with some local businesses, and it's always been the most fulfilling thing for me.

So when I start to share my stuff for that? Any shares and follows (even if not buying anything or if you don’t read or whatever) would be super appreciated.

Thank y'all for sticking with me. It's been a weird few years, and I've tried a lot of stuff, and the art world just seems to be constantly changing. It's not always friendly changes sadly, but I'm trying to roll with it anyway.

Much love, and another update soon.

Another WIP of this handsome boy, Tommy.

Was hoping to be done faster but I’ve actually stopped myself rushing a few times now, and committed to enjoying the process.

The fuzzening continues!
I’ve been on Mastodon lately and honestly being authentic and not fighting a damn algorithm has reminded me of better times on the internet, but for the sake of all these other sites…
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Guess who is starting to do kitty art from again!? 😺😺

This is Tommy Tutone who I got to see and love on when visiting with recently! Someone should get him and his bonded brother REO Speedwagon! They’re wonderful little beebs

Hope you like it! It’s the beginning stages and I’ll show progress as I complete more 😺

I’ll of course try to be posting more in general too.

Much love y’all!
-xhu