In my previous post, I wrote about posting less and making more time for my friends/family. During this time, I was wrapping up some Kofi exclusive content (which is a post for another time!) while thinking about how a lot of my time gets eaten up transferring files from PC to phone and then opening up the Instagram app in an attempt to make a reel or optimize a post.
Around this time, I ranted out loud and found myself in one of the most doomed doomscrolling moments I've ever experienced. It dawned on me that IG could be listening. At this point, I was quite fed up with how Meta apps have evolved as of late and that I really wanted to minimize my time on Instagram. So instead of talking about the recent Kofi uploads to focus on how to transfer files (to both my PC and to this blog!) I contemplated announcing my Instagram leave.
This ended up not happening. Instead, I spent last week sick with a sore throat and thinking about the small group of followers (some who know my IRL) who probably wouldn't come over to Tumblr to see what I'm up to. No longer having my art as accessible to them made me sad. That, and, there's the convenience of being able to open the app IRL and just show someone what I've drawn digitally in the recent weeks.
So I decided that starting from now, I'd just post a lot less. And more laconically.
But my efforts to save, glaze, and transfer some older images were not in vain. I took a nice little trip through memory lane. Yes, back in the days I drew on my Galaxy Note 4 phone, uploaded directly to Instagram, and got a dopamine hit off of the growing feedback. Back when the algorithm wasn't so screwy.
Here are 12 of my favorites:
[this one's untitled actually. i think i'll call it "deconstruction" since that was the first hashtag] 08/03/2018
The very first doodle posted on Instagram actually wasn't a digital drawing. Just a good ol' pencil and sketchbook paper sketchy sketch. Fun trivia: this was also the first time I took a blaze of the happy green flower. You can see my fondness for those *starry* shapes from the very get-go.
[weirdfood - cake] 08/20/2018
I still wasn't labeling what I drew. But I definitely was enjoying odd food and the like. Still do to this day!
[i think i'll call this one illuminati cracked] 10/20/2018
One day I wanted to try more "detail." Also, this one doesn't have a background. (This reuploaded version has been Glazed to make it harder to feed into AI, so I think it created a texture/ added some "elements" to what would've been just a transparent background. It should also be noted that every throwback picture in this post has also been screenshotted and Glazed.)
[this one's @$#%*&!!] 05/16/2019
Come to think of it, I too would be tweet-screeching if I were a bird perched diagonally without care for my center of gravity for more than a minute. ^^"
[trying to #actnatural...] 06/15/2019
While I'm not the proudest about.... whatever's going on with the shading and some texture elements, I couldn't help but want to share this drawing with the squirrel posing on her head.
[ramen-itis] 07/01/2019 (and yayy I started [ ] inggg)
On another note, I miss using patterned "tones." Noted; I'll do that more often sometime~
I liked (and still do!) adding random faces and absurd elements into whatever I draw. I think the fish in the upper right corner was just me doing that usual thing ^^"
[personal goals] 07/02/2019
Inspired by some TV head/humanoids, as well as the "I hate my job" song by Jbdubs. Haha, the description for this was so profoundly written: "How interesting is the blurry line between self-discovery/actualization and being so caught up in your own standards/ideals that you disintegrate into a collage of caricatures... *Cough.*" Oh. I guess past me also internally laughed at this sentence.
[work is going swimmingly] 12/07/2019
And in the opposite direction, I present to you a fish with stellar performance and probably a betta working memory than a goldfish! (badumtsh)
I could see the dedication of past me trying to add details to show that this fish is looked after pretty well, likely as they are the office mascot/pet. In retrospect, I would've added a hammock. (At the time, my main experience with caring for fish was a goldfish!)
[**THUMBS UP EMOJI** AAAAA HOW DO YOU TYPE THIS pffet hold on I'm irl dying of laughter mission accomplished...?] 02/10/2020
Derived inspo from konosuba and MHW (monster hunter world). This one stuck out to me as I am getting back into Wilds, hehe!
Had it not been for the struggle of referencing my friends' and my armor pieces, I would've also been dying of laughter while drawing this.
[off with the wig!] 03/12/2020
The layout of this picture was inspired by the ending song/animation for Carnival Phantasm of all things! I likely drew this some time after watching the Enter the Florpus movie.
[check out my nest] 03/26/2020
Here's a lucky money pigeon. Also note how I've started to play around with line art colors more~
[Continue?] 04/11/2020
I will end this compilation with something I posted around the start of the COVID quarantine period. Drawing through uncertainty as an artist is a timeless theme, I think. Even as I shift focus, frequency, and where I share, I'll continue my doodles.
