My dearest OC, Cobweb the Mime <3 currently paralysed and dying in the dungeons of Ravenloft after being pushed down a 230ft tower by a certain very rude vampire....
So as of 2025, I've been regularly doing digital art for five years! I started in 2020, after around four years of an art drought caused by GCSE Art killing all the joy I ever got out of art. So this has been five years of rebuilding skills I'd forgotten, learning what I enjoy, experimenting, and above all prioritising fun over any sort of feeling of obligation to prevent burning out again.
That's why I post only every once in a blue moon and have no consistent style to speak of; I draw only when and what I want, and avoid it becoming a chore at all costs. And it's been working! I've made some pieces I'm really proud of, so I thought I'd make this lil post to reflect on the last five years, picking out some pieces and fondly critiquing some and giving myself permission to brag about others. Thank you lovely lovely people who follow this blog, even though I post so infrequently. <3
So! Starting with 2020, this was the first piece I ever did digitally:
TMA fanart, because TMA was the whole reason I started drawing again in the first place! I had trouble focusing on podcasts when I first started listening, so I needed something to do with my hands and there was only so much Mahjong I could play before I got bored. So I bought myself a tiny tiny drawing tablet (SO small, I didn't realise how much of a difference it made until I got a bigger one and suddenly everything was so much easier), and drew this.
It's cute! I remember having so much fun drawing all the little details - the books on the shelves all representing a fear each, the post-it notes (the phone number is for the Domino's nearest the Institute, haha), the little tape recorders - and I'm still quite fond of Jon's appearance. You can tell I had NO idea how lighting worked, or how to use lighting to create mood. But it's cute, and it's the one that started it all, haha.
Onto 2021, with a couple of my favourite pieces from that year:
I experimented a bunch that year!! The first image was for a Big Bang, and I think that's the piece I learned I really adore texture and I want it EVERYWHERE. A lot of my pieces that year were done entirely with the scratchiest brush I had, just for that lovely texture. That piece stretched me a lot, drawing two people's full bodies with a full background and so many different materials... woof! But I ended up so so happy with it, and I'm still very fond.
The other one was an experimental style which I ended up really liking. That year I'd challenged myself to draw at least one thing per month (with the caveat that I could quit at any time if it became too much like a chore) and I managed it! And it lead to a lot of very fun experiments and styles and outcomes that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise.
2022 was a very light year for art, but I still made something around once every two months. This was the year I was writing my dissertation though, so that's totally fine. But these two pieces, oohh I really love them. This year was a big year for learning how to use light and shadow effectively.
2023 was a great year for art. I learned a TON that year, and created pieces I'm still so damn proud of. That first image was the first real study sort of thing I'd ever done, and it was so much fun. It's based off Germanic Warrior Looking at a Roman Helmet by Osmar Schindler, and studying that painting triggered my hyperfocus sooo fast. I think I blinked like three times in the what, four months it took me to draw that. It was intoxicating and so much fun and I was sooo relieved when I finished and it was exactly how I wanted it to look. Still so proud of it, just unfortunate now what fandom it's in and what piece of shit author it's associated with.
The second piece I drew like, the day after I finished the first one. I needed something super chill and fun so it's just a screenshot study, but that sorta comic book-esque style with all the heavy black shadows just came out of nowhere and I haven't been able to recreate it since. But I looooove how this piece turned out. Also the rocks!!! The rocks turned out so good guys, they look so realistic and I have no idea how I did that.
2024 was also a pretty light year for art, but I made some of my favourite pieces ever. The first one was an art fight attack for my bestie @ninneko19 of his wonderful character I'm obsessed with, and I really like how it turned out. It was suuuuuch fun expression practice, and I love that guy. The hearts behind him are bc of ME, bc I'M obsessed w him. Mwah mwah.
The second piece is my beloved OC Juno. He's so sad all the time </3 so I got his permanent depressed face down p well, bless his heart. But I looove this piece, it's exactly what I picture Juno actually looking like. It took a billion years bc I tend to agonise over every single thing until it's perfect, but I love how it came out. Kissing him on the mouth and also crying abt him.
Finally 2025!! This is the only thing I've drawn so far this year, but I looooove it. Another study, this time of Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel, featuring my dear boy Bash who suffers so much every day of his life. His hair, horns, eyes, etc etc are made of gold and silver and copper, so the metallic textures made me a little insane but in a good way. I LOVE rendering metal, which is good bc I give so many of my ocs random metallic body parts and features, lol. The background on this one is a little iffy, but hey. I'm not here for perfectionism I'm here for fun, and I gotta freaking remember that.
Hopefully I keep going another five years!! Planning to do art fight again this year and maybe try push myself a little with it (I usually draw one (1) singular piece during AF lol). Was also toying with the idea of opening commissions, maybe if I push myself during art fight and see how I actually fare when drawing multiple things under pressure for other people. We'll see! Thank you for reading this far if you did <33
My sweet anguished barbarian, Bash <3 aside from his skin, his body is made of valuable gold, silver and copper, making him a constant target for hunters.
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