#2020summary

[samisoffthewall]

[foreverunfound]

2020 summary - why it didn’t totally suck

*long post warning

This photo was taken at the begining of this year. And I wasn’t totally aware that shit was about to go down (no one was I guess). I visited my boyfriend’s home with him, we saw a lot of nice snow, sunsets, drank some alcohol and had fun. Sounds good.

It’s pretty how I can show everyone millions of photos from past few years, but this year - there are almost none comparing to others cause all year was passing under ‘THE COVID’ sign.  I’d love to say it did not affect my life but it’s not true at all. I’m not usually into long posts, but this one is gonna be long.

So like everyone else I lost my school to online learning, so we could be more safe. I was stressed, like checking statistics every day stressed. And I think I wasted way too much of my energy on stress and fear. I really almost forgot how did it feel  when everything was ‘normal’. But then some good things happened on contrary to sad shit, and that was nice. So here is my 2020 summary:

1. I got a job. Not even one. I tried 3 different kinds of job. And they were all okay. Good for me.

2. I moved out of really terrible flat I was living in and changed it into better one - plus I finally moved in with my boyfriend.

3. Istarted excercising on daily baisis.

4. I DID MANAGE TO QUIT SMOKING AND NOT GET LIKE TOTALY FAT - I see it as like, really biggest success here guys :)

5. I learned to constantly work on myself and rest when I need to instead of quitting.

6. I got to know new people, even opened up a few times.

7. I tried a lot of foods I wouldn’t eat a year before.

8. I started saving money.

9. I improved at drawing, really really good.

10. I got new hobbies like entmology

I didn’t manage to build a perfect boyd, or soul, or mind. But I did manage to build a sustainable every day habits and learned how to take a break from them without ruining everything. And it’s enough for me.

I hope 2020 was good on you, even though it was harsh on everyone.

[mskoll]

Deviantart | Artstation | Instagram | Commission info

[dnaeri]

Here’s my #2020summaryofart ! Glad I posted something every month this year, and more than 1 post too! That’s impressive considering everything I was going through. Thank you all so much for supporting me, and I welcome all the new faces in my following. I’ve made a lot of friends on Instagram this year, and I look forward to all our future conversations. I am proud of all of you for making it through this clusterfuck of a year, it’s so good to see you here. . ✨ HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR ✨ I wish for so much love, wellness, success, and happiness to each and every one of you. . #2020 #2020yearinreview #2020summary #happynewyear #happynewyear2021 #happynewyearseve #2020 https://www.instagram.com/p/CJeWhtnl-ZV/?igshid=1fdk7y1wavywr

[fancifulrealities]

Welcome to 2021! What a year it's been, for many reasons. I'm not going to get into all the crazy that happened this year, so I'll just do a quick recap of my 2020 art stuff! - January: I launched my Patreon, which has been sadly neglected. (But more on that later) - February: I hosted a livestream in which I drew this snail thing. - March: I got a computer and started playing Neopets again (which I have since discontinued) and doodled this fanart of one of my pets. - April: I and my partner moved to Florida for a (very) short time, and while there I drew Red Eye Reach as part of a copycat challenge on Facebook. - May: A redraw of one of my AhraKalvyn characters, Kahna, which I felt was overdue. During this time my partner and I were in transit. - June: I received my very first patron on Patreon and drew this as a gift of appreciation for them. During this time my partner and I were still in transit, but we're nearing the end of our journey. - July: This month was dedicated to the Garbage Gryphon Challenge, which I had so much fun with. This was also the month I started my new job. - August: This month was mostly dedicated to getting settled into our new place. It needed some renovating and that took most of my spare time. - September: Continuing renovations on the new place this month. Nesting the end of September, my grandmother passed away quite unexpectedly. Her favorite animal was the hummingbird. - October: Spookittyspook took over a portion of this month for Inktober. The rest was taken over with Halloween festivities, and I ended up not being able to finish the challenge this year. - November: This is when I started doing OC Switch Ups, which have been a lot of fun to work on. I will continue these into the coming year, and probably use them for reference sheets in the future. - December: at last we come to the end, where I spent some time on some high detail pieces, namely Sakura's Wind God and this Phoenix. I've also spent a portion of this month working on an exciting new project. But I'll tell you more about that later. ;) ... Happy New Year everyone! #happynewyear #happynewyear2021 #2020artsummary #2020summaryofart #2020summary #2020recap https://www.instagram.com/p/CJhD_aZpBvN/?igshid=f8pl4rtv2mkg

[valyensongbird]

#2020summaryofart This year was really good in the art field for me. What about you? 😉 #2020summary #artsummary #art #traditionalart #inked #ink #dragon #cute #fantasy #dragonart #fantasy #furryart #valyensongbird #valyen #songbird #songbirdarts https://www.instagram.com/p/CJgDFNGhqDs/?igshid=jqhm1h5928t2

[imaginarytoon1]

Before the start of 2020, I remember thinking, "Goodbye, 2010s. Hello, 2020s," or something similar to that. To be honest, I wasn't neither excited about or dreading a new year. I was actually...kind of neutral about it. Don't ask me because I don't know why I felt that way. Maybe it was because I was more focused on school starting back up and getting myself prepared for any new challenges? Or maybe I was tired of guessing whether 2020 was going to be a good or bad year? (Like I said, I have no idea.)

Of course, 2020 has proven to be a chaotic year. There were the Australian bushfires, the rise of social unrest (ex. the protests that began after the death of George Floyd), and, obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic.

For those who're wondering, this year was just a year of ups and downs for me. Some of the good parts about 2020 were:

Creating a TeePublic storefront to sell some of my artworks

"Discovering" things for me to read and watch

The Ancient Magus Bride (anime and manga)

The Girl from the Other Side (manga)

The Boy and The Beast (anime film)

Erased (anime)

BNA (anime)

Cells at Work! (anime)

Beauty and the Beast (1946 Cocteau film)

Over the Garden Wall (2014 animated mini-series)

Wizards (animated series on Netflix)

The Matrix (1999 film; assigned film to watch for one of my Fall 2020 classes)

Strange Days (1995 film; another assigned film)

Videos posted by The Take (YouTube; highly recommend)

Going to my first Deaf social event

Finding out that I'm graduating college around May 2021

Taking a creative writing class for the first time in years

As for the bad parts of 2020? Well, this is the part where I feel like I want to ramble because I rarely do that on social media and websites like DeviantArt. I apologize if what y'all are about to read next upsets y'all in any way.

After spring break of this year, I had to deal with so many changes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, whatever in-person classes I attended became online courses. My response to that transition? I honestly had mixed feelings. Some of my professors were--and still are--exceptionally skilled with doing technological tasks while a few of them weren't. I had to deal with a lot of issues such as lack of clear instructions for assignments and the class structures slowly falling apart (due to disorganization). That not only made me feel frustrated but also like I'm walking on eggshells. (Believe me, I've dealt with stressful situations when I started going to college. However, I think it's safe to say that some classes are better off as traditional face-to-face courses.)

Second, I think the number of problems with my mental health increased after the start of my spring classes. Because I was pressuring myself to get good grades in all my classes, I spent more time focusing on my schoolwork. In fact, I spent so much time doing just that until it got to the point where it was hard for me to relax and do fun stuff. Whenever I do anything that's not school-related, I'd feel guilty afterwards. And when I feel motivated enough to draw something or make a video for my YouTube channel, the motivation would just...vanish. I can't tell you how difficult and awful it is for me to experience that.

When you throw anxiety AND depression into said experience, it's especially worse. I'd feel like I'm not only letting myself down, but also the people who view my work. While I don't want to leave anyone hanging, I don't want to present something with terrible quality. I try to think realistically in terms of finding balance, but it's difficult. It's because of the fact that there are things beyond my control. What I can control is how I choose to express myself and help others. To put it simply, I put on a "mask," suppress my feelings, and act like nothing's wrong. I even believed that if I help other people more than myself, then things would run smoothly for the both of us. If I let the "mask" slip or if I show a shred of emotion, I'd attract unwanted attention (or, worst of all, be judged). It's an internal war I have to deal with. Maybe not on a daily basis, but it's a thing that happens.

Finally...I consider this point to be the hardest part to write about. Actually, it's about as hard as the previous one. On the morning of October 1st, I was experiencing emotional stress when I received a call from my mom. Around the same time I'd fallen asleep the previous night, our dog had a seizure. It had an extremely negative effect on her health, and my parents realized it was time for her to be put down. Because I was at school when I got the call, I had to keep my emotions bottled up until I said my last goodbyes. As y'all can imagine, it was a difficult time for me and my family. We didn't want our dog's life to end that way. But at the same time, we didn't want her to suffer anymore. Like I said, she'd been living with us for sixteen years (which is a long time for a dog to live). I would like to think they were the best ones she'd lived, knowing that she was well taken care of. Love your pets, everybody. Just love them. Dog, cat, rabbit...common or peculiar, whatever y'all have, treat them with unconditional love.

(RIP Katy: April 21st, 2004-October 1st, 2020 - You're the best first pet I had.)

In spite of everything I had to go through, I'm still hanging in there. I'm doing okay. Right now, I'm learning how to open up to other people and not be too hard on myself. There are things I care about, want to do, and see. Maybe those are the reasons why I choose to keep going as well as do what I can. At the same time, I'm learning to slow down and take baby steps.

If y'all have made it to this point, I really appreciate it. It really means a lot to me. I don't know what else to say, other than "Thank you and stay safe."

[galinetumasyan]

2020 in 9 squares. Wow I really like warm colors apparently. In 2021 I’m going to expand my palette 😅 #illustration #2020summary #posterart #watercolorpainting #colorpencildrawing #60sinspired #mod https://www.instagram.com/p/CJRx4b0BXrv/?igshid=yh0qbqtk7pwb