johnnyshrine

[johnnyshrine]

★ 006 // “Dry Erase Crayon”

[johnnyshrine]

★ 005 // “Bead Doll”

[johnnyshrine]

★ 004 // “SMILE! :D” (reference below the cut)

[johnnyshrine]

★ 003 // “Testosterone”

[johnnyshrine]

★ 002 // “Spaghetti and Meatballs”

[johnnyshrine]

★ 001 // “Calendar”

[johnnyshrine]

★ The Johnny Shrine ★

Welcome! This is an altar dedicated to sharing a new daily creation relating to Johnny Joestar, the main protagonist from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run, in the year 2025.

★ the shrine's daily offerings: #shrineofferings ★ updates/non art: #updates

(Post last updated: 01/01/25)

★ Who runs this blog?

Just one guy! You can call me Sen. (he/they/it) ★ @mightysen (art/side blog) ★ @doorintosummer (personal/main blog I follow from)

★ What types of works will you be making?

That’s the beautiful part: it could be anything! For this devotional, I want there to be as few restrictions and barriers to my creativity as possible. There will almost certainly be a lot of works of visual art since that’s my background, but how they look and the tools in which they’re made may vary wildly and may get incredibly inventive. I have so many art supplies and resources I’ve been meaning to use, and I think giving myself a daily excuse to play around and have fun is good medicine. There could even be works that aren’t visual art, such as writing, music, who even knows what I’ll come up with! Some of these works will almost assuredly suck ass, some may be the greatest thing since sliced bread: I cannot guarantee which is which, but I will assure you I’ll show up every day with Something.

More questions and answers below the cut!

★ Why do this daily?

I have done a few private daily drawing and meditation challenges before, and it’s a rewarding feeling to have done a little something each day that adds to your growth. I’m also a bit of a recovering perfectionist, and I fear that if I gave myself a challenge that required more time (let’s say, a Johnny once a week) it might make me lean into my perfectionistic tendencies. I’m already well aware I can sit my ass down for 20+ hours and make something nice, I don’t need to keep proving that. I’m trying to do the opposite: I want to be able to loosen up with my drawing, make peace with making mistakes, be a little bit more vulnerable and sloppy and silly with my soul’s expression. My hope is that by the end of 2025, the vessel of all the collective art will take me into a greater understanding of myself and the world. Ultimately though, this is less about planning the perfect end goal: being present during the bizarre adventure I go on with this JoJo is truly where the magic lies.

★ Why Johnny Joestar? For starters: I think keeping the subject matter consistent is a really good benchmark to have from drawing to drawing. You know WHO to expect, but the shapes and colors and poses and methods in which he’s drawn may vary wildly, which should be fun to watch unfold. 

It also probably goes without saying, but you have to REALLY like a character to be able to commit to something like this. I have a very difficult time explaining in words why I love Johnny without it sounding esoteric, but I assure you I love him a supreme amount and I find a great deal of inspiration in him. His sense of determination is so captivating and I see such a beautiful light in him, so I want to hone in on that and pull off my own great feat! Hopefully my art and dedication will show you what my words struggle to say.

★ Will any other characters show up on this blog? Possibly! It’s not out of the question, but obviously whatever the art is, it’ll still be Johnny centric. You Cannot Escape Johnny. ★ Why are you doing this?

Despite the fact that I am posting these publicly, this is something purely for me. This is the most important step, one that I will have to remember constantly. My greatest expectation with this devotional is to have a death of the audience moment with these pieces, not caring if the art I’m making is “good” or will be “well received”, simply that it comes from the Heart, that is why this practice was founded. I don’t think it’s any secret that the overall collective of artists everywhere are in a place of burnout and dissatisfaction. My own personal distaste for my art lately has come from an anxiety of trying to fit some kind of standard that was self imposed by my own expectations and what I thought others wanted of me, stifling my creative spark by chasing after dollar signs and being a Presentable Brand™. I forgot art was fun. I forgot who I am. This daily practice is how I remember. This is my form of prayer, hence why I’m calling this landing place a “shrine”.

Admittingly, the timing is very ripe to do this in 2025. Steel Ball Run’s manga is finally releasing in English in May, and it’s incredibly likely the Steel Ball Run anime is getting announced on JoJo Day in April. The hype for these things isn’t something for me to cash in on, more like it fuels me and inspires me. I’ve had moments in my life where it felt very hard to go on, but having something to look forward to in the future would always reframe things. I want to keep living and doing my best so I can hold that hardcover manga in my hands and be there when the anime finally drops because this story and its characters mean the world to me! 2025 IS THE YEAR OF THE SPIN BABY, YEEEEEEEEEEEAH WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

★ Why post these publicly if it’s something just for you?

Good question. I feel like the last few years of my life, I’ve kept myself rather obscured, hidden and tucked away parts of myself that felt too authentic and embarrassing and vulnerable. My artistic judgement would be clouded by imaginary ideas of what my “audience” wants from me. But it’s 2025 now, I think it’s time we unlearn shame and do as we please. I asked myself in earnest what I wanted to do in the new year, and he replied “I just wanna draw pictures of Johnny. :D” so who am I to ignore that request? I would like to put a genuine part of myself and my expression out there so that the experiences and people I meet along the way are also genuine. I have zero idea where this challenge will take me, but maybe it might inspire someone out there, to which I share. I just want to be a little more fearless in that regard.

★ Do you have any alternative plans to do anything with the works produced here?

I have a personal project that I require a lot of still images of Johnny for, if that project ever sees the light of day, it will almost assuredly contain some of the art here, however at this time no concrete planning towards that has been made.

Merch isn’t out of the question (I do make that stuff for a living) but I’m really trying to approach this act of devotion as “expression first, outcome second”. Many such cases where I’ve started a piece of art with the sole idea of having it be Marketable and it really stifles you as a person. My hope is that if mass produced merch does arise, it’s mostly a happy accident that it ended up that way.

I also think that, assuming some of these pieces will be physical, it’ll be nice to surround myself with little pictures of Johnny I made. It’s a weirdly cyclical form of motivation, to see the face of someone who motivates you and realize you’re the one that put it there, so I hope that in of itself fuels me further in not just this practice but also my daily life. Go Sen Go!! 

★ Can I suggest an idea for a work?

Sure, feel free to send ideas to my Tumblr inbox, the only requirement is that it must feature Johnny Joestar, obviously. Prompts, poses, expressions, tools, what I draw on are all open to suggestion. Keep in mind, I am under zero obligation to do any of them and some of them might be difficult if not impossible to pull off if I don’t have the specified conditions available, but who knows, you might spark something in me! If your idea is used, it will be credited.

I’m gonna mention this preemptively since you probably would NOT expect it from someone who’s dedicating a year of their life to a SBR character, but: I have NOT finished reading Steel Ball Run yet. I’m about to start reading Love Train. So if you could do me a favor and not spoil anything beyond that in your asks, I’d appreciate it. <3 I will edit this section once I’m actually done lmao, my goal is to finish this month, on or before January 18th. (I sure hope nothing bad happens! :D)

★ Can I take an idea from your works and use it?

Absolutely, go right ahead! Credit if you want, but it’s not entirely necessary.

★ Can I make my own devotional challenge like yours for Johnny/another character? If you feel inspired by what I’m doing, feel free! Alter the rules however you see fit. This idea is as free as it makes you feel. Johnny is yours as well if you want him.

★ Will you continue this beyond 2025?

Time will tell! I make no promises, especially this early in the race. Let me live through this and see how I feel.