#Sort of a redraw of art i made in 2017

[tacoma-narrows]

2024 Art Summary!

That time of year again! Overall, I'm pretty happy with my picks for this year, I think there's a lot of good variety in the pieces here in terms of both characters and visuals.

As much as I really liked a lot of my pieces I made this year, I do sort of feel like my art has stagnated a little bit, and I want to try and fix that this coming year. A lot of my favorite pieces here like the ones for February, May, June and October were more experimental or outside of what I usually do in one way or another. This coming year I want to actually try to commit to shading more of my art, as well as maybe working on more stylized, less abstract backgrounds and scenes and stuff like that. We'll see how the year unfolds.

I also have all my previous art summaries and some more discussion about those below the cut as well if you'd like to give them a look

Again, happy belated new years everyone! Let's hope 2025 is kinder to us all <3

Here are all of my previous art summaries going back to my first one in 2017:

It's kind of crazy to me to think about how I've been drawing these silly little characters for 7 years now. And to think how I still have some of those characters from those first months of 2017. Despite saying that I feel like my art has stagnated a bit this past year, even I can't deny how far my art has come over the past years. Doing a few redraws of older pieces earlier this year especially helped to put that into perspective. Thank you to those of you who have stuck around with me and my art for so long. I know of a couple people here, as well as on Instagram, who have been following/mutuals with me since the 2017 Amino days and I really am so grateful for the support from both those who have been with me that long, and who I've come to know in the time since then <33

[ratcandy]

i have redrawn this same piece 5 times over the course of 8 years . why? because I can

take my hand. i'll show you my journey

^(most recent rendition)

this was the original 2015 drawing . yes it was made it mspaint. And I think edited in firefox or something. I'm uncertain. It's been a while!!! These two characters by the way are named Draak (the dragon) and Vulture (the lil fluffy thang with the mask). Their plot boiled down to the tried and true "experiments in a lab" thing.

2017 version. From here on I switched to IbisPaint. Yes I have been using the same art program for that long leaVE me ALONE Also I have no idea why the quality is so bad. It looks like that on DeviantArt (where it was originally posted) too. But I don't remember the quality being that bad. I dunno. Probably Eclipse shenanigans since D.A. has changed

also the "p.s" - which you'll eventually see become a "j.k." - was my signature. Do Not even Worry about it

oh hey the quality is better. Weird Anyway, 2018 version! Yay!

my favorite thing about the progression of these images is watching Vulture gradually lie down . lil man is just getting cozy.

2019, she figured out how to draw a chain properly!! Good for her!

also the background got more detailed so that's neat. Draak is turning pointier. I un-rounded him.

and, of course, the newest version is the first image on here. here it is again in case u forgot,

you will notice I completely changed Draak's pose. Why? Because I didn't want to draw him laying down. 👍 While Vulture decided to get comfier, Draak decided to get angrier. And honestly. Good for him

You will also notice the background got significantly Less Detailed. that is because I have regressed when it comes to drawing backgrounds hKSJDHGKJH I hate doin it. So I don't!!!

and um. Yeah! That was all. It felt like it had been a while since I drew these freaks n I've been redrawing some older characters recently anyway (and not posting them. because I didn't FEEL like it) so.

Yeah!!! That has been Clam's art journey so far . make of that what u will. I just like looking at my improvement over time . it make me feel all sorts of encouraging ways . n ensures I am not going nowhere as an artist.

i recommend redrawing old pieces sometime. It's fun :) n may give you a little validation in these Trying Times

[allegra-j-joann]

I've set myself a challenge, rather than be ashamed of and ignore my old art, I've sorted it by year and decided to redraw a few pieces from each so I can compare them, tonight i finished the first few

March 2017, one of the first pieces of digital art I made

August 2017

I hadn't yet discovered stabiliser settings or line thickness when I traced the pose from an anime base(please ignore the fact that I still can't draw draw plants)

December 2017

I was just beginning to figure out fabric and posing in a 3d space, and I remember making a deviantart account just so I could post this OC

[dhamcestor]

Children of Ill Omen

[syrupyyyart]

load me

[starberry-kat]

self portraits/icons over the years, wild to see how both my art style and perception of my own face has changed over time.

[sketchy-scribs-n-doods]

@softladyhours​

Hi! Omg hi lol! Markiplier fandom I have returned to you once more. I’m going back to my roots lol

Okay so, sorry this is a tad late, I've had lots of irl stuff to deal w because of the global panini, but I've had some free time this week to finally get to this! I’m hoping to make up for it with sheer volume of content to give you lmao >:)

You're very lucky I got back into Mark's content like last month lol, otherwise your ask would have oh so tragically stagnated in my ask box. Since you've reminded me of such a lovely little tidbit from this blog's past, I drew up a little something special for ya:

A redraw! Of sorts lol. I like to think my art has improved a bit since, what, 2017? 2018? But anyway, it’s them! I may do a few more sketches of them here and there if more inspiration strikes hehe

And as you asked, some headcanons for you as well:

- Dames does in fact use his cane when he snaps (think of it as instinctual lashing out when he's distressed instead of the peppy absentminded way Wilford will pull out a gun), though I think with all that goes on with the rest of the egos, he's probably learned his way around a knife or two to balance his out his skill set. The cane isn't always stained, but it's not particularly uncommon to see it sticky or crusted with red. Sometimes, when he's having an off day, someone has to advise Dames to go 'polish' it clean before it gets too grungy.

As for the Colonel, well:

- I think he's primarily called Dark, as ours is, but certain egos can get away with calling him the Colonel sometimes (usually Dames, but also egos he'd be more inclined to respect like the Host,  Dr. Iplier, etc.), so it isn't unheard of to hear him referred to in that manner. Plus, it's just very obvious in the way he holds himself that he was once a military man.

- The Colonel only sometimes wears suits. More often, you'll find him in a well fitted button up and slacks held up by suspenders. On rarer occasions, he'll wear a greatcoat or suit jacket over this ensemble.

- Since this Dark is made up of William and Celine instead of Damien and Celine, he lacks the portion of suave charm and wit that Damien brought to the table. Instead, he strikes me as a man that would have a more gruff, stoic charm, kind of like the older uncle everyone in the family just instinctively respects because of his strong bearing and self assuredness he exudes. If he's keen to make a good impression, he has the vibe of good solid drinking buddy you can fuck shit up with, type of guy not easily taken aback. You get the feeling he's tough but fair and has seen enough shit to not tolerate any bullshit from anyone.

- Everyone knows that Dark is a bit soft around Dames (not to say he hasn't caused the poor man emotional distress on occasion, this is Dark we're talking about), but he's also got that rough lumberjack dad vibe around some of the less powerful/overtly hostile egos like Erik. He isn't necessarily nice, he's more the 'fair and wise advice giver' type. Like an emotionally repressed parental figure that isn't particularly good at comfort but is very well versed in helping you get your life back in order. Very tough love and reality check sort of guy when he's trying to be supportive.

- That said, the Colonel is fucking big. This mf is built like a brick shit house on top of being some sort of conglomerate of eldritch horror, so when he's angry he's fucking terrifying. Our Dark is a powerful demon twunk in a suit with manipulative tendencies. This Dark is a demon beef cake that roars like a fucking feral bear when he's angry. When things are bad, they're bad, and the other egos tip toe around him the way a child would around an angry father (and if any notices that after a while the Colonel stops blowing up like that when Erik is around, well, it's not like anyone is complaining, character growth and all that).

- The Colonel can't stand himself sometimes. Just fuckin hates his own company every now and then. I think in general this version of Dark is just much more volatile than the one comprised of Damien and Celine. While siblings can bicker, the tension between what's left of Celine and William has got to be fucking insufferable. I don't know what the fusion equivalent for our Dark would be, but the Colonel definitely seems like he would have problems similar (if distinct) to Malachite from Steven Universe. William and Celine just aren't very good for each other anymore, especially not the forced together remnants of their souls bound by dark magic, and it really shows sometimes. If you thought our Dark seemed horrible, the Colonel is downright intolerable sometimes, even to himself. Learning to deal with it is a long, continuous journey for him, and he's had many, many, many bad slips that he fails to process in a healthy way. It's a long while before the rest of the egos start to be able to trust him (or at least trust that he won't threaten/scare them the next time he blows up).

- Everything has it's ups and downs though, and when things are looking up the Colonel is a surprisingly good listener. The other egos may be periodically afraid of and threatened by him, but Dark just as easily slots into the space of protector and trusted confidante when the need arises. There's something almost maternal in the way he guides the others, yet blunt and no nonsense. It doesn't reduce the healthy dose of fear and respect the others have for him, only further solidifies his capacity as a leader to them. Dark is surprisingly soft in these moments, and everyone he's lent an ear to treasures the experience.

- Dark sometimes indulges in painting his nails. No one ever dares ask him about it. Except Dames, only to say that he likes the black, but thinks that pink is much more Dark's color.

- When he's feeling more stable (and far less neurotic), and if the egos are lucky, the Colonel will sometimes sit and listen to old tunes play on a record player as he whittles away at a piece of wood in the common area. The rest of the egos will gather 'round to read, knit, nap, whatever they like to pass the time with. It's as close to family bonding as they tend to get in the early days. And if the Colonel is lucky, Dames will play along on the dusty old upright piano that sits in the corner. The small wood carving in his rough hands is always a gift for Damien when this happens. Very carefully, no one ever reacts to this, save for Dames and his enthusiastic gratitude.

- Dark has a gun on him at all time that he rarely needs to use. He doesn't much like pulling it out, it tends to scare Dames.

- When Dames gets scared, or upset, or just all around has a very bad day, the Colonel learns to always be aware of it when it happens. Later still, he learns how to help with it beyond stern words and frustrated, fumbling attempts at care. After the early days have long become an embarrassing and unpleasant reminder of their sharp learning curve, if the other egos tend to occasionally find Dames and Dark asleep and tucked into some quiet corner of the manor together, well. The Googles happen to have a very secure cloud to upload the ensuing pictures to.

- Overall the this version of Dark has a different edge to him than our Dark does, meaning that the egos in this au have to deal with an angry emotional abusive bull in the early days rather than regular Dark’s deceitful and psychologically manipulative nastiness and snake-like tendencies. Not to ignore that, but I am a softie at heart, so I like to think that eventually the Colonel (and regular Dark as well) learns to process his trauma in a less destructive manner and treat the other egos, a found family of sorts, much better in the long run. I’m always a sucker for character development lol.

Hope ya’ll find this interesting! God knows I haven’t thought about this au in ages lmao, so anyone feel free to hmu about it, I love diving back into old interests when the mood strikes. ^-^

[nightsmudge]

"Riddle Keep Riddle Keep Why do you creep? Through time and through halls Through darkness and walls?" Riddle Keep is an enigmatic being, tending to speak in utter nonsense and rhymes, while at the same time seeming to have some sort of untold omnipotent knowledge. Their body is made up of literal garbage, old straw, and abandoned household appliances, all sewn up and packed together in burlap cloth and a suit. Due to this, it's believed that they initially didn't have a physical body, so they created their own from whatever scrap material they could find. They possess the power to travel to multiple universes, but they tend to only stay in one, and instead send out their two associates to scout and keep watch over the multiverse for them. One is called the JudgeR, an equally unstable and strange being who destroys worlds that have been deemed too dangerous to exist. And the other Kuela, a playful and mischievous being who watches over and sometimes befriends significant residents in a universe. He seems to be the most levelheaded and stable of the three. It is unknown why they exist or what their goals are, but those who have seem them feel a sense of foreboding, and warn others to stay away from the tall spindly figure with the burlap face, despite the fact they seem to be harmless. ------------------------------------------------------- So this was a fun but incredibly tedious art assignment Basically, we have to create an animation or animatic of something using charcoal, all while doing ever single frame on the same page by erasing and redrawing stuff, that way the past frames could still be faintly seen and be a part of future frames. And I figured using a mystical and strange universe-traveling being would be perfect for the shifty and unpredictable nature of charcoal. This project was a headache and it took forever to complete, but I love how it turned out Btw, the design for Riddle Keep just popped into my head randomly one night back in 2017 as I was about to drift off to sleep, like an image flashing before my eyes

[espytalks]

ive been drawing for quite a while. and looking through my old art, i found ive been drawing online for a whole flippin decade. wow.

so here’s 10 drawings ive done over the last 10 years, with commentary. it’s a long one, though, so be careful.

2010:

I had to dig through my deviantart for these first two. This pikachu is the first thing i ever posted online! i remember drawing this in ms paint with a mouse. i remember being very proud of this, and in a way, i still think it’s cute. it has a “drawing my kid done that i hung on a fridge’ vibe. 

i didn’t do much around this time. i barely knew how the internet worked, and i mainly read instead of drawing. i did some pokemon sprite edits though, for some reason. i remember really liking doing that.

2011:

i’m pretty sure i drew this mew in gimp. also with a mouse, because i had no idea tablets existed. ive always been super into pokemon, and around this time i think i was watching a lot of mickey mouse cartoons? it’d explain the weird style. 

i’m impressed with the shading, though. i did the best with what i knew, and what i could figure out on my own. not pictured is the hundreds of mickey sketches i did around this time, or the self insert oc i made lol.

2012: oh no it’s pony time. i spent about 5 years drawing primarily these things. kinda wish i hadn’t in hindsight, but ah well.

i had this program on my ds that i could draw and post my art on, and i was using it a lot around this time. a lot of my art has this sketchy look to it, because of that. i remember i had quite a few followers on it, or at least i think i did. i dunno if that website still exists, or if anyone even uses it anymore.

but anyways, this drawing is super cute. ya can’t go wrong with a sleeping pone. i forgot the cutie mark, tho. i always forget minor important details like that. either that or i drew her as a filly. can’t remember.

2013: yeah, i think this as vent art? can’t remember, but i drew it on that same program. i put a lot of effort into the perspective. this was based on my room at the time, btw.

2014: i believe this was for a new artist’s training grounds on eqd. i must’ve had a tablet by now, cause i can see tapering in the lineart. it was a big deal for me, and it sucks that i can’t remember what the first ting i drew with it was. i think it was some sketches.

but you can definitely see some improvement by now. i was really getting used to drawing this one thing. but a lot of people following me seemed to like my art back then. it was called cute, and expressive and cartoony. 

i think this was around the time i was at my best, as far as notes and interaction goes. 

2015: *megalovania intensifies*

i was super into undertale at the time. and 2014-15 was when i started to try and draw other things aside from ponies. you cal tell my poses and anatomy is mega awkward and kinda bad here, but this was a major improvement for me. 

2016: i was a fan of steven universe since it first aired, but i very rarely drew fanart for it. but as i was getting more comfortable with drawing peole, i got more ambitious with the characters i tried to draw.

i also from around this point on tried to get better at traditional art. and i think this was the first inktober i tried, but i don’t think it was the first i finished.

i really liked this drawing. and i may or may not have a wip redraw of this going on right now. wish me luck!

2017: KNOOOOOXXXXX I LOVE YOU, YOU PRECIOUS BOI

this is my favorite drawing. i peaked here and i will never be as good and pure as this single icon i did. it’s purple, he’s happy, it’s PASTEL AND SPARKES!!!!

i also got super into bendy and the ink machine this year, which sparked a renewed interest in trying to improve in drawing, and also led me to create my favorite oc ever.

i think i improved a lot around this time. my shapes and anatomy became cleaner and more consistent. on a technical level, i think this is where i started getting really good as an artist.

2018: i don’t think i improved a lot this year. i honestly feel like ive stagnated since then, and depression hasn’t helped. 

it’s a tough choice between this and the hollow knight drawing for best drawing of the year, but this is my personal favorite. sorry, mm, but mickey will always win out in my opinion. i know ya liked the other one though, and it’s also really good. 

i like how this turned out, and i’m so glad it’s got the most notes of anything else ive drawn. it’s pretty, and i love the style. this is how i wish i drew all the time.

2019: and finally we have this.

i don’t care how poorly this did. i was proud of myself for doing this. it’s cute and pretty and i like it. I created a vague story where she’s a little astronomer who’s like, caged for some reason, but now she’s free.

in hindsight, i think i coulda done a lot better, but i still like it. it’s one of my favorites that ive done this year. i wish i drew more this year, but the last few months ive been super depressed. it’s been hard to want to draw anything, and i feel so uncreative and mediocre. 

i’m hoping next year i’ll be better, and i’ll have stuff in my personal life more sorted out, and i won’t feel as bad.

this was nice, though. i’m glad i looked through my old art. maybe i’ll figure out what i’m missing, and get back on track. and maybe i’ll finish these wips i have going on lol. we’ll see.

happy new year, everyone. and may this next decade be even better for us all as creators, and as people.

[starrbirrd]

My best friend and I met in 2012 in sixth grade, and we hit it off right away. We were both interested in Warrior Cats, Naruto, Drawing, Writing- all that. So of course we made stories despite being wee babes, and I decided to draw my friend a “book cover” for hers! Well, it became a tradition of sorts to redraw it every few years, and I figured I would show the art over the years to show how much progress has been made, and to hopefully encourage others to keep drawing no matter how bad they think their art is now! There’s more than one picture, so I placed everything under the cut to keep things from getting too long!

No idea why tumblr decided to flip them around, but this is the first one I drew! Probably around 2012/2013 or so. Look at that hair! Those eyes! I was super proud of this back then, and honestly, I think that was what kept me drawing all these years- I was never ashamed or embarrassed of my art when I was younger even if it was horrible, not like I am now. I was confident and happy with it just because I could actually draw things, and my family never discouraged me from it or told me the pictures were ugly.

Circa 2015, I think? The eyes got better! But the hair...Absolutely did not, and would you look at that face? The body looks like a rectangle- and yet again, I was still so proud of this and happy that I could make things for my friend! I remember spending hours on these drawings because I had to make sure they were good enough, so I guess that much hasn’t changed!

This one is around late 2016, maybe m ore in 2017. Everything improved so much! Plus I really enjoyed the idea of it being split, but I obviously didn’t know how to really do it back then. I look at this picture now and think, “That split is horrible. Those eyes are huge. What’s up with those shoulders???” but I still remember loving how far I’d come from before.

And finally, this one, drawn 2019, an hour from 2020. Look at how different it is from how I started out! The eyes, the hair, the addition of more than just an upper body, the fact that it’s digital. I’ve come such a long way in what feels like such a short amount of time. If you showed this picture to my twelve year old self, she would think it was absolutely amazing. Of course, I still see every little thing wrong with it, even if it was a quick sketch. I know I still can’t do hands, I know I still need to work on clothes, and angles are the death of me. But still... I’m proud. If you showed me art from years ago and I didn’t know it was mine, or if I had drawn something like that today, I would think it was ugly or call it a failure. But look at those ‘failures’ and look at where I’ve gotten today. Look how much better things are, and how I’ve become 12 year old me’s greatest dream.

Be proud of your failures, guys. And keep your old art. Don’t give up drawing, either. You’ve got a long way to go, but you’ll get there, but keep at it! If I can go from up there to this, you can do even better.

Happy New Years! Let’s see where I am come 2021!

[crqstalite]

( GLOW UP )

So unlike the rest of you, I’m 14. Meaning I was four at the beginning of the decade. I don’t have drawings from then and honestly the stuff I made years ago I can’t find. Instead, I had to go rifling through my old accounts to find my VERY old DeviantArt account (ConfectionalyYours for anyone curious enough to go looking at an old account I thankfully took everything down from when I moved accounts, and then starr-lani for anyone who wants to see pre-tumblr starr.), and this is what I found during my treasure hunt I deemed safe for my eyes and yours.

Explanation beneath the cut, but the dates for these pictures are: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2018 (later), early 2019, late 2019.

First off, my first actual drawing that I can find. Or paint-over. Obviously a base was used here and it’s for an old next-gen Percy Jackson fanfiction that actually did have over four poorly written books on Wattpad. It was...surprisingly popular if I can remember correctly. The black haired girl was supposed to be a daughter of Hades (Nico and Thalia’s specifically...I hate myself for this honestly), and the orange haired was a daughter of Hephasteus (Leo and Calypso, but Calypso was dead in this fic apparently? I’m not even sure why.). First LGBT couple I ever had though, so good on ten year old me.

Second one was from actually two years ago today. For a Voltron fanfiction that garnered some popularity on Wattpad and Archive of Our Own (if you’re curious, here’s the account it’s posted on >> euphoria_starrs). Honestly, it’s bad and I haven’t touched it in literal years only to crosspost it on AO3 sometime in 2018. According to me, here’s her profile:

“Name: Megan Cordellia Age: 17 Gender: Demigirl Species: Pureblood Galra Height: 5"6 Weight: 121 _______________ Paladin of: former paladin of the blue lion Bayard: sniper rifle (she shares this in common with Lance) Preffered weapon: staff Relationships: New paladins (friends), Alleria (sister of a sort), Sydney (half-brother), Sombrina (friend), Zarkon (past friend; new enemy) Megan, like in the original series, is a Galra female who stayed with the alteans after the death of her mother, father and sisters. However, Megan is outspoken and ready to fight for what she believes in, and will not hesitate to call you out. She can be rash and often not as understanding as you may believe, however she is a Blade of Marmora, and has gone through extensive training and conditioning to the battlefield and results of it. She has a hard time empathizing with people, and that makes her unlikable at times. Unlike Alleria, she has been awake from stasis for two years now, and was a major part of Keith's training, even if he didn't know exactly who she was, and Megan was still conditioning herself to being in a new era. Kolivan and the other Blades do not know she is from another era, however.”

I’m personally horrified, but take that as you will.

The third picture is of the three characters I wrote about from the second picture, from my Next Generation Voltron AU. All Klance kids (I was a horrid person back then, I’m being honest here). The anatomy was so bad, not to say I can’t improve from my most recent works, but I cringed trying to even pick which picture to use from that year that wasn’t going to burn your eyes inside out. 

Honestly these characters had like no character development, and years later trying to pick apart this mess, I cry knowing that I’ve improved tremendously in my writing.

The fourth picture is of the second princess of Altea? Another Voltron OC (I was addicted to it as soon as it came out), named Alleria (so bright, I know). I think she was supposed to be connected to the second character somehow, but the details of this AU allude me so badly. I hate that I deleted so many stories and left myself without even a basic explanation of who these characters even were. I didn’t even write much in the description, other than that it was a redraw of something. Of what, I don’t know.

The fifth picture is a very long story. Short answer is that they were fusions of my friends when i was really into Steven Universe. There are three versions of it, if you’re brave you can look at the first two, 1 , 2  . I personally despise it, and I’m not even friends with some of the people included anymore. Honestly, I had improved quite a bit since the first one was designed though.

The sixth picture is the most recent thing I’ve done. Khaak and Lana, you’ve probably already seen it today. But now I’m even more proud of it looking back at everything else I’ve drawn in the past few years. Obviously my anatomy, shading and coloring has improved (though I have so far to go to even compare to a few of my favorite artists in the SWTOR community here) and so has my storytelling. I don’t know what my roaring 20s will bring for me, but I proud of how far I’ve come art-wise, as a writer and as a person. A happy 2020 to you all!

[alisterfoxdraws]

Original art | Galaxy cat

A sort of redraw of a sticker design I made in 2017. I said "sort of" because I changed it so much you barely realise it's a redraw!

Check out my other cute art or follow me on Instagram for more doodles and WIP!

[vynru]

A redraw of this monstrosity. Or, the old one is a monstrosity (time-taken-wise, it’s not that ugly either). I quite like this redraw, actually. It took me from the 11th of May until now– which is a little more than a month. Long time, huh? Of course I wasn’t able to draw for all of that time, but let’s take a look at the old version from 2017…

This thing. This freaking thing took me almost two years.

This is not an exaggeration. I used to have a habit that every single time I made a significant change I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep (I pretty much always did), I would save the drawing as a new file. This means that between 2016 and 2017 I had saved countless of different files of the same drawing, numbered from A1 A2, etc, to D51, and because of this, I was able to check how long each phase of the drawing took me.

But then, here goes: The sketch was made before the 25th of April 2016 until the 12th of April 2017. Yes. A full year to make a sketch. I wouldn’t call it sketching, though. I used 3D models in CSP and countless of pictures I made of my own hands and family members who posed for me, which I traced, tossed out, and tried again because I couldn’t cobble it together properly or just wasn’t happy with because 3D models look stiff and real people don’t translate well to an anime-ish style. I’m pretty sure I somehow managed to learn my first bit of anatomy by screwing around with this single drawing for a full year. It’s kind of a shame, really. Because of this ridiculously patient perfectionism, I don’t have any completed trashy drawings of where I first started anime-style. And I really would’ve loved to redraw something that’s just objectively horrible instead. But ah well.

The line art was done between the 12th of April 2017 and the 6th of September 2017… almost 5 months. In this time, I’m pretty sure I redid the shoes (the line art ended up being traced & edited over pictures of my own shoes (these became Hiroshi’s, but I mostly made the shoes thinner and added that rectangle, which was a zipper on my real shoes) and my sister’s (Naoki’s), both of which I had stuffed with toilet paper to appear filled on the pictures). I redid a bunch and had no muscle control from being very inexperienced in drawing digitally, so I would often spend hours and hours on just a tiny portion of the drawing (I also wanted the lines to be p e r f e c t and just refused to use any stabilization tool). It was honestly starting to feel like a world map I was working on.

Then, it took me over a month to do the base colors, from the 6th of September 2017 until the 22nd of Oktober 2017. Again, not working on the drawing all the time, bad muscle control, just having no knowledge whatsoever about colors and being way too perfectionistic for my own good was to blame for this.

The shading, surprisingly, only took me from the 22nd of October 2017 until the 4th of November 2017– a small two weeks. Apparently, I had somehow taught myself the basics of drawing anatomy/anime in only one illustration. It sounds like some sort of strange online scam, but I swear, it has got to be the most inefficient and tedious way to practice something. Almost two years could have been spent filling so. many. sketchbooks.

But now, over three years after I started this drawing, I was finally able to recreate it without tracing anything and using very little reference except for my own drawings. I’m usually not against using reference, but I wanted to use as little as possible for this specific redraw just to see if I could “stand on my own legs” this time.

And honestly, I’m extremely happy with the result. I even managed to pick colors I like a lot without adjusting them with a filter (I didn’t do that in the original either… which is very visible OUCH), so I think I can safely say that, after over three years of drawing digitally, I’ve finally “finished” this drawing… Until I redraw it again, that is! Because I definitely won’t just let go of this now that I’ve put just so. much. time into this drawing, so I’ll likely keep coming back to it every few years to see how much I’ve improved.

[fishcakes707]

I was looking through some old art of mine and I found some really old drawings I made in like 2017. I really liked the character’s designs and thought they had potential to be even better, so I decided to redraw the characters. The original characters were made in honor of myself, one of my cousins, and my sister. They were all human, but they also had some sort of animal feature to them. So when redrawing them, I wanted to try and draw them with the animal features, but ended up cutting them out because it just didn’t look right. I the thought it’d be cuter if I tried to give them all a hair style that represented their animal features. The yellow and blue characters, who were a bear and a fox, turned out pretty great in my opinion, but I think I could’ve done better for the pink one who was a bunny originally. I could’ve done pigtails, but I wanted to go with a bun sorta style like I did with the other two characters. So I thought I should give her half buns, but I don’t think I drew them that well. I don’t really plan on making these three drafts complete drawings. I was gonna, but I kinda lost interest. I did really like how the blue draft came out, so I might come back to it on the future. It’s funny because I thought initially predicted that I’d be the least happy with that one whilst I had high hopes for the other two. Oh well, I don’t mind it too much. Anyways, I hope you like these drawings and have a nice day or night.

[web1995]

the above image, while working well enough standalone, actually requires quite a bit of context, unlike many posts on this site. it is a screenshot of the sexy characters category page on the parody wiki, which is a site for articles about crossovers, spoofs, and parody scripts written in wiki-page format. it seems to function as a type of fanfiction and creative writing space, and to be curated informally. anyway, of the characters above, soleil spacebot is the only one that seemed totally unrecognizable 

clicking her parody wiki page is where things begin to get truly strange 

Soleil Spacebot is one the main characters in Nelvana's 1986 Animated Television Series, The Spacebots. She is the eldest of three sisters and has a crush on Sam Spacebot.

this information seems reasonable enough, and like it might be about an obscure but existing cartoon. soleils page has some basic information about her and some miscellaneous, confusing crossover information, like every page on the parody wiki. it lists her in various other categories, including “capable characters” and characters who are 19. at the time of beginning this post (early 2017), there were three drawings of her, with a similar style, and no screenshots. 

beneath these drawings are two pictures made in dollmakers. 

there were no other pictures on the page. visiting the spacebots page itself reveals the following: 

The Spacebots is a Canadian animated series produced by Nelvana. It ran from September 13, 1986 to November 28, 1992 and ran for 91 episodes. It features fictional characters including heroes and villains. The background music from The Care Bears Family is used in all episodes of the TV Series.

it also lists a cast of several characters, with credited voice actors:

the other characters have pages of varying complexity, with pictures in the same style. at this point the spacebots cartoon still seems like something that could exist, but googling it turns up only results from this wiki and similar wikis.

spacebots is mentioned on numerous cartoon, parody, spoof, movie idea, and similar fan wikis. 

if the spacebots cartoon never existed, it begins to raise questions. someone putting their original character in the sexy characters category on a spoof wiki isnt so startling. neither is someone framing this character as someone from an existing show-- this wiki and similar have pages about non-existing media

however, the level of detail and specificity is alarming. these characters have voice actors (some who turn up google results, some who dont) linked to them, with lists of other voice-acting work theyve done (including cartoons that dont seem to exist either). looking for more information on the spacebots turns up a page on a very badly organized nelvana wiki with more elaborate airing dates information. 

The Spacebots is a Canadian animated television series produced by Nelvana, which aired between 1986 and 1992 in syndication; on the ABC network, The CBN Family Channel from 1988 to 1992 and The Family Channel from 1992 to 1998.

by the way, this list of nelvanas programs has no mention of spacebots. 

at this time, on revisiting her page on the parody wiki some months after finding the information detailed in the first part of this post, several new pictures had been added— like this screenshot of soleil in the sims 4: 

there are various other tracings, redraws, or dressup game pictures of her: 

one of the new images is labeled “soleil spacebot in the reboot” and there are reboot designs for soleil’s siblings elsewhere on the parody wiki, as well as this image (from the youtubescratch wiki page for the spacebots) of a reboot poster: 

this is completely new— the person or people responsible for spacebots is actively working on the spacebots worldbuilding, creating new promotional materials for a nonexistent 2015 reboot (”The Spacebots (Reboot) 2015″) of a nonexistent 80s-90s cartoon. 

there are multiple spacebots reboot posters, but no information about the reboot itself yet, other than a page mentioning it being from 2015. this raises the question of whether soleil’s creator will continue adding to the worldbuilding surrounding their fictional show by citing more information about the reboot, or whether more information about the show’s plot and characters will be revealed (still no wiki pages or pictures for the character named “sour venus” which is disappointing!) or whether the additions will end here. 

spacebots’ storytelling medium and its metafiction layers are fascinating. the fiction here is as much the show’s premise, and the original characters existing within the cartoon’s story at all, as it is the circumstances of this show’s existence— voice actors, animation companies, airing dates, a reboot, and proper “credits” for nonexistent in-show music. 

so much more information is offered about the show’s production than about the actual plot and characters of the show. the fictional production may be the creator’s area of interest, rather than their original characters (though soleil IS listed as a sexy character and many painstakingly created images of her exist). 

the mode of publication is interesting too. spacebots doesn’t seem to be advertised anywhere else, only on these wikis, which have their own fanbases. the youtubescratch page says it was created by a “Miss-Trina-Mouse” (edited by others occasionally) which is also the username on an empty deviantart account created 9 months ago, by someone who says she is female and canadian. “trina mouse” seems to be a fan character for tom and jerry (apologies if trina mouse is an existing character; i do not remember every character of tom and jerry). 

(picture from the ideas wiki) this may be the closest thing to an avatar of the creator of the spacebots that currently exists, if Miss-Trina-Mouse is indeed the creator and not a new collaborator. Miss-Trina-Mouse is the creator of trina mouse’s page, and evidently the person currently updating spacebots pages with new or “corrected” information. on this page, the airing dates have been changed to other particular airing dates:  

(from this page’s edit history, for easier reading) the first page version is from august 25, 2016. the second edit was finished on march 30th, 2017. Miss-Trina-Mouse has evidently been working on spacebots for some time, and has continued to do so. the page itself was created on june 13th, 2015, by an IP address that may or may not belong to Miss-Trina-Mouse. 

Miss-Trina-Mouse does not seem to be the only person working on pages related to the spacebots, however. the edit history for a page about a nonexistent spacebots animated film, “operation system shutdown” reveals it was created by a Sarah61, edited by a Tobina the Tomboy (who has a detailed profile page on the animalcrossing wiki) and eventually edited by Miss-Trina-Mouse as well: 

whether these are aliases belonging to the same person, a group of friends, a group of acquaintances, fans of another person’s work, totally spontaneous or planned privately in detail all remains unclear. 

Tobina the Tomboy’s profile has pictures in a similar art style to the original soleil drawings, and says she is female, and canadian (like Miss-Trina-Mouse, which makes me wonder whether they are friends or perhaps alternate accounts of the same person). Tobina also lists her favorite animal crossing characters and overall seems to be an ordinary real profile. she has a similar profile on the mysims wiki, listing favorite and least favorite characters from that. i am not screencapping it, because it seems to simply be someone’s self-created public profile without any particularly unusual elements. Tobina and/or Miss-Trina-Mouse could be the spacebots’ creator(s), though, while Sarah61 is too common of a username to search easily, despite being the page’s creator. 

(i have little interest in seeking out more information about these contributors beyond what they make immediately available on their profiles, since it appears that they are ordinary nonfictional people with an interesting fictional hobby) 

perhaps it is silly to look so deeply into this project, and to want to know more about it so badly when it seems like it is something its creator(s) made for fun, and doesnt seem sinister in any way. however, the format is not like anything i have come across before, and the level of detail startles me almost as much as the difficulty in finding those details. the spacebots can only be sort-of understood by reading fragmented pages across many different wikis and every wiki reveals more information, some which can be searched to discover more about, and some which turns up no other results. there is even a 1987 NES video game mentioned on at least one wiki: 

everything about the spacebots, its presentation, and its continued existence is fascinating. looking into it has been a wild ride to say the least, and the amount of meticulous creative energy put into it is nothing short of admirable. 

if spacebots has been created in this way, how many similar unreal shows are out there, in the same format? i know little about wikis of this type, so is this a common creative method on them? is spacebots the creation of one person, or is it collaborative? does the original creator still have control of the concept or is a fan— fans?— permitted to update freely? is the initial creator still working on spacebots wiki pages at all? will more information about the spacebots reboot become available? how long has this been going on? is spacebots more like an art project, an ARG, informal original storytelling (like someone explaining their deviantart OCs), or something else entirely? 

i will close this post with a synopsis of the spacebots, found on the youtubescratch wiki page: 

The six Spacebots and their allies live in a sci-fi futuristic city called Spaceland. They have their magic powers, magical stars and magical hearts and they have to stop Commander Zurg and The Freakalien brothers from wrecking havoc and planning to destroy Spaceland. 

i hope that reading about my attempts at putting them together has been as interesting as i found making those attempts in the first place, and that the spacebots wiki pages will continue updating 

[jghermit]

Well, here we are. Once again we’ve come to the end of a year and the start of another.

This time last year, I made the decision to draw and post every day in 2017, which for the most part I accomplished (there were only two times I was late, which is better than I thought I was gonna do). While I was doing this year-long endeavor, I came to a realization about my art: While having a lot of reblogs and likes was nice, the number didn’t matter. If for whatever reason only one person liked or reblogged something I drew, then I was happy because I made some sort of impression on that one person. And if a piece got no notice, then that was okay, too; as long as I was happy with it, then all was well.

I still remember the first week or so after starting that my little sister suggested I redraw the first thing I drew this year. While it wasn’t a bad idea, it wasn’t until today that I decided that I wanted to use this last drawing for the year as a chance to do a quick reflection instead.

Like for a lot of people, 2017 wasn’t the best year I had. I can’t say for sure if it was the worst year, but I will say with certainly it was the most difficult. Between the death of a close relative, coming to terms with my own mental health, and other family issues, it’s been rough. And that’s just my own personal experiences, as a lot of stuff has happened outside my little bubble as well, and I will say the future is not too assure in that aspect.

But at the same time, I experienced a few good things, too. I participated in my first zine in a community that I’ve been a part of for a long time now, and getting to help work on that was a lot of fun. I also joined both the Jacksepticeye and Markiplier communities this year as well, and I will say I’m so glad to be a part of them, as crazy as they can get sometimes. Plus, I have a lot of drawing inspiration for next year, and a strong desire to do more speed paints and more time consuming projects in the near future.

As uncertain as I am for 2018, I feel some confidence going into it. So thank you everyone who has shown their support throughout the year regards of how you’ve showed it. It always means a lot to me, and I can only hope that next year will be better for everyone.

So until then, stay safe and have a Happy New Year!

[365/365]