#last fanart i drew of them was back in 2018 lol

[maalidoesart]

you are not alone

[turoce]

Seana’s 2020 art highlights (a thread)

(Note: this is a reupload of a thread i did on twitter a few years back. so these are really old.)

January: i didn’t draw anything complete that month.... closest thing i could find to finished is this art i made of my OC, Angelord. man. remember when i drew my OCs? [2023 note: it's..... funny you say that. you would try to start up an original comic for the entirety of next year.... not that it ever came to fruition.]

February: i finished Link’s Awakening that month. i drew Marin bc i thought she was cute. i wish i could get motivated to draw fanart of recent video games i finished more... this is probably the last proper traditional art i made this year... after this, it’s mostly digital.

March: look. i’m attempting anatomy... and i failed lol. i remember being like “how do you draw woman” after drawing this... i mean. i still wanna know how to draw woman, so i guess i haven’t changed lol. [2023 note: I STILL DONT KNOW HOW TO DRAW WOMEN]

April: wait NVM here’s another traditional piece i made this year. he was an adoptable i made... but nobody was interested in them so he’s with me for now. i’ll try and redesign them, either to sell them or to keep him. [2023 note: i never sold this guy.... i was lazy and nobody values points these days. probs for the best because scamming children with virtual coins is probably not a good idea lmao. at the same time, i wish there was an easy way to buy and sell designs+commissions without having to get a credit card or paypal or something.]

May: another month where i didn’t draw anything. buuut i did some plush sketches to reference so das dat. [2023 note: you'll probably be able to name most charas here, but who's the guy i drew the most? that's Matteo, he's a little pink vampire and i made him through Gatcha Life.]

June: ah. the month where i started digital art. this was fanart for my friend’s OC. i didn’t know a lot of features of digital art so it looks like shit LOL not the first digital art i made ever, but it might as well be. [2023 note: i actually received my tablet around 2018, but i never had time to draw on it because i had 1 hour of screentime every day. this restriction was finally lifted in 2020 (because online classes) and i finally had time to venture out into the world of digital art...]

July: i made a lot of stuff this month, but to shorten the list... i finished the plush of my OC, Matteo. i wanna make another plushie... maybe with Suitcase.

this was also the month i joined the OSC... oh hell. it’s been 6 months?? [2023 note: 2 YEARS BITCH. ITS GONNA BE YOUR 3RD ANNIVERSARY if i didn't get so tired and started to hate the community so much.]

August: ...ergh. lets get over with this month quickly... Object OCs this. Object OCs that.

occasional Algebians.

i do not like the art here... it really shows that i’ve improved. ok let’s get outta here. [2023 note: i fucking despise the person who asked me why "they were old" to my humanizations of the Dangos. this is why i refuse to join another public server ever again and might have contributed to the delay of my human drawing skills.]

September: lots of Taco II. i seriously liked her a lot. still do, but the love is a bit more spread out between characters.

oh. and i watched ONE that month. cool.

October: i finally found a style that i could weld. hooyah.

don’t ask why i drew my friend as a cat maid... i thought it was funny ok.

September: the month of gift art. nothing else to say, but i like the thin lines. yes, ‘thin’. ...god i need to think of better things to say. [i would then realize i said the wrong month, and unlike tumblr, i cannot edit tweets once published, so my only option was to delete the whole thing and start over. or just say this:] did i just say September... oh for fucks- no i am not fixing this i’m already tired of this just imagine i said November ok

December: best art of this year so far (doh) nothing to say. just... happy that i improved. can’t wait to improve even more.

[hey look! i was in the 2020 JnJ christmas video! thats me! me!!]

aaand, that’s all for this year! man, i thought i was done with improvement. i can’t believe i proved myself wrong. usually other people do that for me lol. lets see if i can disprove myself again in 2021.

[osopine]

i forGOT TO MENTION ABOUT the deatball fanfic one earlier bcus i was distracted making milf lesbians comic anyways

basically the author wasnt into bl publicly when i found out about the fanfic and they followed me on twitter bcus i drew fanart of that au like. once and we became mutuals for like months

till one day they unfollowed and blocked me bcus they accused im bl (maybe bcus i followed bunch of ososan artist without notice if they're bl or not lol.....this shit like around or before 2016 yknow) and i was like what the????????????? alright ok whatever and i do my own till i found out after second matsugames i joined (2018??) that i heard from old mats server that the same author confessed from another server that they're bl and apologize to antis who likes the fic and i was like LOL??? and then last year i found out they followed me on my twitter acc and i revenge them back (with the power of block botton)thank you for listening my ted talk

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Is it just me or... was vld.... like, addictive? I consume tons of anime, comics, books, series, movies etc ANYTHING and the last time i felt is was when i was around 14-5 yo with naturo 🤨 2-3(?) years later im still....... holy fuck dare i say UPSET and EMPTY about vld. Is it just me???

Hi, anon, thanks for the note! I’d never interacted with Voltron franchise prior to VLD, but this show really pulled me in too. I had some favorite episodes I would rewatch when I could, and even after all this time, I’m still here writing fanfic for the VLD universe and exploring older Voltron iterations!

I doubt I have an objective perspective to explain “why” VLD was addictive, but I have some personal assumptions:

I think the ATLA-type animation and visual direction was probably the best the franchise has enjoyed so far, and that it represents above-average quality for American-based cartoons. From what I’ve gathered of older iterations, Voltron’s visual quality has been questionable for many years. So it seems like having ATLA-levels of animation and visual design really opened up this old franchise and drew in a much larger fandom per its stronger attention to aesthetics—which ultimately feeds the fanart and fanfic machine. The fact that VLD also injected some visible representation helped to draw in larger crowds. So I really think there’s something important about the visual quality and diversity in cartoons that helps to pull us in and connect with them.

It was a very accessible show in that it was rated Y7 and available to stream, and also was 78 episodes released over the course of a few years. So from 2016-2018, a large potential audience (from young to old) experienced fairly rapid injections of fully animated content to binge. 

Between those rapid binge injections, we also had members of the production team creating content and feeding fandom with art, teases, tweets, conventions. VLD also had books and comics published. This created even more of a consistent hype for the show and fed the larger circuit of fandom interactions, theories, other posts, etc. And there’s definitely an addictive, dopamine kick in finding like-minded fans to enjoy a community with.

I think the voice actors significantly enhanced the accessibility of the characters, making memorable characters even more memorable and lovable too. 

The sheer expanse of the VLD universe and character cast offered different possibilities and focuses. Voltron franchise isn’t as much of a fandom content generator like Marvel, for example, but VLD universe definitely hit a sweet spot that brought a lot of people together for different reasons, in a pretty short amount of time. We can explore quite a few things in Voltron universe because of just how big it is! Not every franchise has such a breadth of topics and content.

So maybe some of these elements could be things to look for when searching for a new show or story to get lost in? And the VLD show itself, with its mix of space and magic and several possible outcomes, on top of its humor and angst, had a lot of potential. I think the potential of VLD haunts and feeds the fandom, even to this today. Maybe its unrealized potential is why many feel there is a lack of closure too with this show. I know I lean heavily on writing fic to get to ideas or concepts that provide closure for me personally.

With the way the show ended back in 2018, VLD fandom experienced a mass exodus. So it’s possible that it’s not just the show that has left us feeling a bit empty, but simply the realization that the fandom environment changed pretty drastically pretty quickly too.  

The good news is that Voltron is a legacy franchise! Many fans remain still, and it’s likely that we’ll see Voltron rise again in some shape or form in the future. Over the course of decades, the Voltron franchise has never truly died. 

It’s possible too that maybe a new franchise might still catch your attention in a way you never expect! While VLD is over, I do think it’s good to keep having some optimism for the future—that something will enamor you just as Naruto and VLD did, or that you might at least find peace with your relation to VLD.

Also, there’s nothing wrong with continuing to favor something from the past over something running in the present. I’m still a big Transformers fan even though I’m not active in the fandom for it and have had some disappointments with the franchise. I often rewatch older Transformer shows over quite a few shows running today, lol. That’s the nice thing about fictional content. It lives and stays with you for as long as you want it to.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll even come up with the idea for the next great, addicting franchise!

[mcrmadness]

Madness draws: my dä fanart from when I had my (arts) comeback in 2018

For years I didn’t draw anything because of a personal (art crisis) and because I simply was studying and working so much I just had no energy left for arts.

In 2018 I was done with schools and studying and dropped out of the school I was in at that moment, and also the horse stable I was working at (school related stuff) was sold and closed its doors so also my work ended. For the first time in almost 5 years I was actually free. The longest holidays I had has was 3 weeks summer holiday in 2016, I think. I had another in 2017 but of that I actually was having health issues (nothing serious) for 2 weeks and then had to be in school for the 3rd one, after which I even got the flu.

So I was SO excited when I finally was free the first day of November in 2018. After I had got enough sleep and rest, I started to find my creativity again. And I started to “daydream” before falling asleep every night, I started to write fanfictions in my head and I started to draw, too. Partially it was also because for the first time in years I had an online friend I enjoyed talking with and we had similar interests, aka dä and Bela/Farin, and that inspired me a lot to draw even more - but unfortunately that friendship did not work out in the end and we’re no longer friends.

Anyway, most of these drawings are very much Bela/Farin related again because I talked about that a lot with this person and I often asked what they’d want to see and then drew it if the idea was something I could carry out.

This is not the first one I drew but maybe the 4th or so. I’m just putting this here first because it’s the most “innocent” aka not too much shippy stuff rubbed into the faces of my followers who don’t care about that. There’s 5 different drawings + 1 comic behind the read more link. All of these, apart from the comic, where drawn into my old sketchbook.

About the drawing above - I didn’t use pencil for these first ones at all yet, I just drew them with the fineliners as I was still a bit rusty as the last time I REALLY drew anything was in 2013 aka over 5 years ago from 2018, so I had to actually look at my old comics and drawings to even figure out how to draw these characters anymore. And I think the last actual time I drew in this style was in 2011 even. And that is very visible from the first 2018′s drawing I did! ↓↓↓

This is the one - and wait, I have an explanation!

So with this person I mentioned, we just constantly had this playful debate over whether Bela is “bottom” or not - and honestly I couldn’t care less about that because I no longer read any fanfics. I do write fanfics - or a fanfic - but only for myself and as an asexual I have never been interested in writing about certain themes so I never need to think about the whole top/bottom stuff anyway. I used to read smut before until I one day just realized it’s SO BORING and uninteresting to read, started skipping all smut scenes and wanted to read fluff but all the fluff was so quickly and badly written because everyone wanted to write smut only, that I was left with absolutely nothing to read. So it was the old story again: I started writing/drawing the stuff I wanted to read and see.

However, back to the top/bottom topic, I always base my opinions with everything over how things are in real life and with these guys, if you look at how they are in interviews and on stage, the dynamics are not just plain black&white. I’ve never seen there anything that would indicate that just one is “top” or “bottom” whatsoever which is why I kept saying imo they’re more like just switching if you listen to their jokes. Remember: I don’t read any fanfiction and don’t give a fuck about smut (lol at the pun) and honestly, even tho I understand those jokes they do and say on stage, I wish not to have any visuals about any of that “activity” in my head.

So, to support my “they switch!” opinion, I drew this, just for fun. And it is the official first drawing I did in 2018. I just needed to fire back bigger than I could do with simple text messages :D

***

Moving on. The person in question was very fascinated by the idea that Farin would be a vampire and not Bela (to support their top/bottom views...) which is why I drew this:

Also a very quick one, without sketching anything before drawing with fineliners. This and the first image of this post both are very small in real life actually, the signature is about the same size in every drawing so you can see from that that they are actually pretty small.

Talking of the signature: The funniest thing to me about this IS the signature. Because I was so rusty I didn’t even know how to write it anymore :DDD You can compare it to the signature in the other drawings because in them it’s better. Why it’s so funny to me is because it should say “Aada” but it looks more like “Hella” which means “stove” in Finnish.

***

Next one was something I saw in my head and wanted to draw - I think this one was also done without sketching it at first:

Kinda simple, right? :D I just wanted to draw something with heavy shadows and they’re meant to be watching TV at night. I guess it came out pretty okay.

***

The next two I drew based on one of my old fanfics I wrote years and years ago. I’m a bit annoyed that I decied to draw these into my SKETCHBOOK when I could have used just paper I use for drawing but I guess I didn’t know yet where I was going to end up with these and drew them into the sketchbook because of that. I thought I didn’t sketch these at first but I have found photos of these with sketched with pencil so that means I started sketching my drawings at this point.

So, back to the fanfic, it’s one of the longer ones I wrote (but still not that long even) and set to happen in the late 80s. There was some drama in the story because of Bela’s drug use and Farin was very harsh and Bela left altogether. For some time they had no idea where each of them were but then one very rainy night they both were on a walk at the same time and happened to stumble upon each other for the first time in weeks or so. I can still see those scenes so vividly in my head and here’s my artistic view over those scenes:

Yes. I love drawing stuff like BRICKS.

I have used my Promarkers with the second image, the paper was not the best for them which is why the black looks awful.

What comes to the image... it really annoys me to look at that because how the FUCK that is something I have drawn? And it’s legit based on something I have written. ME??? Like wtf. My aroace ass just can’t handle me writing/drawing fluff like this. I have days when I need to see fluff more than anything and then have to produce the content because can’t find it from anywhere else and my brain is simultaneously like “flufffff 8))))” and “boohoo whyyyyy how staaaaaph D:” because I am so afraid of being connected to what I draw. Like. If I draw or write fluff, it doesn’t mean I would be a romantic person nor allosexual nor alloromantic, right? Because I can also draw a comic or write a story about a murderer and it doesn’t make me a psychopath either. It’s the exact same thing.

And in fact: I had a comic book character who was called Micro the Insane Murderer because that’s what he was. Also I once wrote a story about a serial killer but she was also insane. But for whatever reason it’s much harder to show people fluff I have written or drawn than my fictional serial killer stuff... I guess people just easier assume that you’re an allo, thanks to anormativity, but usually don’t think you’re a psychopath just because your OC is :D

***

The last one is the comic that has a Halloween theme as it was around Halloween and the person I talked with still wanted to see/read something where Farin is the vampire instead. So here’s something that was my first B/F comic in 7 years. I didn’t remember how to do pretty much anything anymore and the coloring is a bit off, and I was really still just trying to figure out how to do all this again :D

At that point I think my head was still filled with fanfiction stuff so the comic also is full of (hurt/comfort) drama - and a long-ass “backstory”. You can see that from this on I have moved to more humorous stories. Sometimes I draw occassional fluffy comics when I’m really on that weird mood (usually 1-2 days/month thanks to the uterus and hormones), but my main focus is on the humour and I wish to make people laugh.

But that’s about it. I think I have now posted everything here, the newer ones I have posted here after drawing them since 2019 but this post is the “missing link” between those old old comics and the newer stuff :D Then I of course have all the other traditional art like potraits and such I did in 2009-2012 which I have never shown here. Maybe I should post those too?

[samrosemodblog]

Looking back at my art from the 2010s. I went through and picked 1 piece I drew/wrote from each year that I felt either showed off my best art, my most iconic art, my best improvement, or was simply a personal favorite of mine.

There were a lot of possible choices and it was kind of difficult to narrow it down to 1 per year, since each piece tends to encapsulate so much more than just a single moment per year. Especially with stuff like Motherly Scootaloo or Aria’s Archives encapsulating so much history in a single picture. But under the Read More are my choices at the end of the decade:

     1.) My Old Drawn Blog # 53

Man, the years before MLP existed were really weird for me. I knew I liked drawing and telling stories, but I had no consistent direction on what I wanted to do with my art. I was still jumping between different comics and ideas, and in 2010 I was going through some of the worst depression I’d ever felt in my entire life. I hadn’t even had the experience of being kicked out of the first place I tried to move out of home to yet. It was wild.

As for the ‘joke’ that seems ‘so obvious’ in this post, I had a running gag back then of the face the Flower makes, known as the ‘screaming window’ face. I drew it whenever I needed to draw something screaming in pain or fear for maximum comedic effect. Maybe I’ll bring it back some day lol

     2.) Silent Ponyville

I couldn’t NOT put Silent Ponyville on this list. I was gonna have both 1 and 2 as different spots, but I wrote them both in the same year. That seems insane to me now?? Like WOW, I just WROTE those fics and then they became fandom-wide phenomenons. To the point where even in 2019 I’m still getting people drawing fanart of it, or people telling me “Yeah, I got into Fanfiction because I read Silent Ponyville”.

I don’t know if I’ll ever make a creative piece as universally known in a fandom as Silent Ponyville again, but I sure would love to make an original piece of art that is as beloved as Silent Ponyville one day, if not more so. It’s a testament to the fact that if I put my mind to it, I can create a really amazing horror experience, and I know I do plan to do so again some day.

     3.) Pirate Dash x Dead Rainbow Dash

Who doesn’t love shipping wars that get large numbers of people involved? This is probably the second most involved in the ‘community’ I got, though it was certainly the better experience of the two. And it was all just for silly fun at the end of the day.

And funnily enough I never ACTUALLY shipped these two, I just thought the reactions from the creators seeing them be shipped was hilarious, so it just kind of grew from there. It was all fun and games at the end of the day, and made for a good memory, and a pretty dang ambitiously drawn pic for the time!

     4.) If Twilight Wasn’t a Princess

2013 was surprisingly sparse as far as ambitious projects or art pieces go. I was in full swing with Motherly Scootaloo, and nothing really ‘amazing’ happened in 2013 for the blog. Which was surprising. But Season 4 of MLP DID happen! And it started with the Princesses going missing, and authority over Equestria being transferred to Twilight as the next closest Princess around. And with Cadance ruling the Crystal Empire, I thought, who did that leave to rule if Twilight HADN’T been able to temporarily take the role?

And judging by the length of the comments section on DA, a lot of people found the idea hilarious as well lol. Blue Blood NEVER showed up again for the entire run of the show, and it’s a shame because there was a lot of hilarious joke potential they could’ve done with him. But ya know, the show is what it is is, and this joke still makes me laugh.

     5.) My Time

My first original music video, with a song I had commissioned and everything! While it wasn’t my first video involving music and MLP, it was the first time everything was mine in one way or another. I wish I could write music, but the ambitiously talented AllLevelsAtOnce and Queen Mickey the Sass Master made this project well worth the time and effort put into making it!

And of course, it encapsulates the kind of futures I wish the CMC had acquired, with Sweetie Belle finally achieving her foreshadowed talent of singing. Apple Bloom built the stage, and Scootaloo likely would’ve ended up the choreographer if not for her baby. Sadly we shall only ever have fanon for that.

     6.) Demonloo

Love or hate the wedding arc of Motherly Scootaloo, this will always be one of, if not my top, favorite panel from the entire arc. Scootaloo looks just so appropriately menacing, and the effects placed on her are glorious. And then of course, I love the little twist of “That’s not just an audience visual effect, she actually looked that way in the comic” rofl

Motherly Scootaloo was a trip that got weird with my inclusion of magic and magical beings from the show, so much so to the point that if I were to ever remake the whole thing one day, a LOT of that would be toned down. Probably to the point Chronus wouldn’t exist. But hey, things are the way they are, but I will forever love the art of this arc.

     7.) A Motherly Scootaloo Christmas

If there ever was a picture that basically summarized the entirety of Motherly Scootaloo, it was this picture. Pretty much ever major character of the stories over the years was in the picture (minus Starlight) and showing their relations to everyone pretty much. I remember this picture basically killing me when I was drawing it, but was really proud at the time of how it came out. Of course, I could see how to improve it now, but I’m not gonna lol

It’s still crazy to me how many years Motherly went on for, and how much time and effort was put into it. But I’m still glad I did all of it over those years. It taught me so much about art, and about myself, and in the end, taught me the skills I needed to make art a true career for myself. And I’ll always love it for that. And introducing me to the best friends I’ve ever had, of course.

     8.) Twilight-Midnight is PISSED

Look. I recognize the Aero crossover had some convoluted issues with it, but god DAMN if I didn’t enjoy drawing that fight scene! I GENUINELY loved every panel of it! I can only hope that in the future the fight scenes I draw will be just as fun to draw as these were. And as visually impressive!

That’s ultimately why this won my pic over say, the time-glitch arc with her Mom. The explosions, the action lines, the visual foreshortening, I’ve never seen such visual improvements in a single update from me quite like I have these entire scenes. When I push myself to be amazing, I can pull off some fantastic art, and I need to do it more!

     9.) A StarTrix Christmas

2018 had a LOT of really good choices. Like. Too many choices. So many art pieces I was super proud of, so many pieces that showed growth as an artist, was a personal favorite, that people loved... So in the end, I went with the piece from the end of the year that is still a piece I hold up as truly a cultivation of how much effort I can put in to a picture.

Also it’s Christmas related. I LOVE Christmas. Never enough Christmas.

And as much as I hate FriendLight Glimmer, I still ADORE StarTrix content. It’s the good food for me, one of the rare things that the later era of G4 got right for me. And since I can make them be however I want in fanon, making them a GOOD loving couple was top priority for me, and I just adore them together. I truly do. And this picture is beautiful because of the love I put into it.

     10.) Fate of the Lost Princess

I couldn’t NOT put Fate of the Lost Princess on this list. It’s too important to me, means too much to me, and shows my growth as an artist the most. And of the pages of Fate of the Lost Princess I have done so far, the piece of Tina and Noah on a bus stands out the most for me because, I ACTUALLY managed to make it look and feel like they were on a bus! I was so worried about this page and I spent so long working on making it look right, and in the end, I succeeded in a way I never thought I could!

It feels good to end the decade on my original webcomic, showing just how much I’ve grown as an artist. Going from a successful fanartist, to a successful original artist, that still does fanart on the side, but I’ve grown into my own person now.

I’ve lost track of how many times I tried to start an original comic, only to stop working on it and let it fade into obscurity. Fate of the Lost Princess is the most effort and work I’ve put into an original comic before, and I’m so proud of myself for not only getting as far as I have, but proud of how much effort I plan to put into it in the future, and how much effort I’ll put into the comics beyond Fate of the Lost Princess.

It represents everything that is me from the last 10 years, and I hope it’ll be the fantastic start of the 2010s I want it to be. And I couldn’t have picked something to be more proud of to wrap this decade up with.

[luupetitek]

I did the thing! Lately a lot of artists post their 10 years of art progress meme, to celebrate that we're starting a new decade. I liked the idea, so I made my own \(*´▽`*)/ 10 years! Who could have thought! My art journey is of course longer, but those are probably my most intense art years x3

More about my art journey under the cut!

2006/2007 was the moment I discovered manga and anime and after joining the fandom, I started writing fanfics and slowly drawing more often. I was inspired by all the stories I could watch and read and by all those cool characters. I also get to know more people who also liked to draw. My first love was InuYasha, and right after was Death Note, which you can see even here ;)  I joined my first art community, deviantART, in 2008. Thinking about making my own manga, but I've never drew any page, staying on the first stage of planning everything.

In 2010 I was still drawing. Drawing even more. All the time! Usually on my lessons :v As you can see, I drew mostly traditional, usually fast pencil sketches, or more fancy, inked and color pencil ones :v But that was the year I got my first graphic tablet! It was terrible, but I was happy I could finally draw digitally... with Paint x'DDD oh my good, yes. My first graphic program was window's PAINT. Still it was fun! But, as you can imagine, my works weren't too good quality (you can see them in the scraps, lol), and i didn't have many tools to work with. So I stayed with my fancy Faber-Castell Polychromos color pencils 😎 I was no longer writing fanfics. Nonetheless, I didnt stop writing at all, I started chat rpgs with my friend! Beginning with Death Note characters.

2011 was the year I started thinking about my art carrier even more seriously. Taking some private and class art lessons. Not for too long, but I was introduced to other art styles, mostly realism. Still practising digital art and my own art style too. I also started doing commissions this year!

2012 I changed my high school for a school with an art class :D I also started taking some private lessons from a skilled artist, who could teach me not only traditional, but also digital art and liked manga too. I think that's the year I made my biggest and probably mostly visible art progress. I was drawing ALL THE TIME. I was no longer using Paint, but Paint ToolSAI and then Photoshop. I got a Wacom Bamboo tablet (which I still have and use up to this days). But what's even more important: I was not only drawing, but also observing. I was looking at photos, at people around me. Noticing how their bodies move, how do they look like, how their body parts and their clothes look like. Drawing from references and from the world around me, sitting in a subway and drawing people sitting next to me. I was learning the anatomy, shapes, gestures, shading. I LOOOOOVED sketching and making full pencil pictures! And still, even though I don't draw traditionally anymore, sketching is my most favourite part form the whole drawing process cx Oh! And that's the year I started to play on a rpg forum with a ttly original story and when Drill was made! ♥ My first true original character, that I'm proud of and that I still love~

2013 was busy with my preparations to get to the art university! I still drew a lot, mostly the rpg characters and some practice sketches, but now also big format pencil and paint pictures for my portfolio. I felt in love with aquarelles 😍 and was practising them together with pencil sketches and digital art. I also did my first, short animations : > And did a project with the whole movie clip for the Disney's song "I'll make a man out of you"! I had a lot of fun AND I GOT ACCEPTED INTO MY DREAM COLLAGE!!! ＼(≧▽≦)／ Like, seriously, it was my goal since my middle school, when I first saw their ad in a subway, lol

2014 More art! More digital! More aquarelles! More OCs! Generally the only thing I was drawing that time was rpg characters and uni projects xD Started experimenting more, connecting traditional art with digital art

2015 Same, just drawing those OC's in many ways and having fun~ RPing a lot and... OH! Is that? Yes it IS! It's RAVENIA! It's the year when Vasdorl was born ٩(♡ε♡)۶And my love for drow ofc!! I was introduced to DnD and fantasy and there was no going back from that path. I joined the drow community on tumblr and discord to meet more people with the same interests.

2016 IT'S RAVENIA!!!!! And the real start of the drow era! That's also the year when "Vicous Vasdorl" comic started! And when I began working on my BIG "Escaping the Underdark" game project, as my final uni project ♥ I came back to doing commissions and developed my comic "simple style"

2017 More drow! More Ravenia! More Vasdorl! And of course MORE OF MY GAME, that was taking most of my time as I already was too late with it. It was such a big project for just a one person and I had to take a one more semester to work on it. Drawing all days and all nights. Generally I was just waking up, working and going to sleep and that was my life back then. That was also the moment I learned how to do good digital sketches, as I was drawing A LOT. Especially while working on my animations. (Drawing them traditionally just to remake them digitally was too much time-consuming. So I completely stopped doing it. I was abandoning my pencil, and replacing it fully with tablet pen). AND I DID IT!!! I graduated with the highest grade possible and I finished my game! \(^ヮ^)/ I started doing plushies and chibis and went more into doing commissions.

What about those last 2018 and 2019 years? I guess you know them well. I had more problems so I stopped doing my comic and focused on doing commissions. Doing commissions and from time to time drawing our dear Ravenia characters but I didn't stop in my journey here. Working on comms was a perfect way to experiment more and go out of my comfort zone! Drawing many different things, many different characters and of course backgrounds! Which I always hated doing and now I don't have anything against. Experimenting with light and perspective. Mastering my skills and my anatomy knowledge. Making art trades and gifts. Having fun with you on streams x> Just trying to push myself a little bit more foreword and learn something new with every picture~

Woha, that's a really long description xD' But for the TLDR people: It was a long journey! But I'm very proud of it! Starting from manga and anime, with traditional works and doing mostly fanarts. And slowly going to digital fantasy, not using any traditional techniques anymore, to draw my and my friend's OCs. I spent most of my life on making art, 12 years on deviantArt, 5 years on being here and sharing it with you and 10 years on learning as much as I can. Still learning and trying to improve even more!

Thank you for being with me through that time ( ˘⌣˘)♡(˘⌣˘ ) And hopefully we will be able to continue it through the next 10 years! Let's see what the future holds ;) ____________________________________ You can find me on: (@Luupetitek) Deviantart | ArtStation | Mixer | Ko-Fi donations

[theveryworstthing]

i don't want to be rude, but I don't really get what's going on in the 'fight is harder every year' comic...? can you explain?

hello anon.

you’re not being rude and you’re not the first person to ask me this. to tell the truth i’ve been putting off answering this question because i drew that comic three years in a row and every year i got the exact same question multiple times. so after the first year answering it i got Tired. but even though i didn’t draw a part this year the questions have really ramped up with no signs of stopping and every tenth comment on the trilogy is someone going ‘lol what’s that bird thing?’ or ‘what is this fanart for?’ so i feel it might be necessary to explain it. i’m the author/artist. it’s on me if the narrative wasn’t clear. apologies.

these should answer everybody’s questions.

first of all, it isn’t fan art. stop with that y’all. not everything is fan art.

second. what the heck is it? it is a new years comic. it is a metaphor for the transition into, and hope for, a new year. that is literally it. the things the monster says and the ways the mage gets beat up directly tie into personal crap that i went through in the year that i drew each part.

here’s a more in depth version of what i just said (warning: these characters were always just Concept Mist in my brain and were never meant to be big fleshed out people so this might not make sense to anyone who isn’t me).

the monster is the personification of time, specifically a year. it is a phoenix-like creature that starts off small and hopeful, reborn and ready to travel with the mage for the rest of its life. as it develops from the victories and hardships endured throughout its life span, it matures into the monster that the mage must slay. sometimes this monster is more docile and ready to move on, sometimes it fights to the bitter end. either way it must be killed to be reborn and shed the past so that it can live as a present that hopes for the future.

the mage is the personification of living through a year. they care for and travel with the monster while watching it change/enduring it as it changes them. at the end of the year the mage burns the twisted accumulated past off of the monster and leaves only the tiny (but always there and always powerful) hopeful core intact and ready to try again.

and then they both try again.

because what the fuck else are we supposed to do.

the third comic reveals that the mage and the monster are the same animal, the only difference being who has to carry which burden. the monster offers to trade places with the mage so that they can have a much needed healing and rebirth, and the new mage takes on their vow to face the future with hope and compassion.

the entire trilogy was me coping with three very awful years

now third. and i know you didn’t ask me this but a bunch of people have, am i gonna make one this year? no. i said last year that that was a good stopping point so a trilogy it stays. i almost went back on that and wrote up a draft after so many messages but tbh, 2018 did not leave me in a place that was conductive to making sweet hopeful comics and i was out of new things to say about the concept that weren’t needlessly dark. it was better to take the lesson from my old comics and move forward. maybe someday i’ll revisit the characters but not now.

for everyone who didn’t quite get my comics, i hope this helps. for everyone who did and got something worthwhile from them, i’m so glad my work could reach you. for everyone who leaves notes or asks complaining that they’re tired of seeing my awful long posts every year, it is completely free

to.

block.

me.

[kuno-chan]

1, 2, 7, 19

Yes, yes, yes!

1. How did you find the show

Waaaaaay back like in early 2018, I think, I saw an article about it. Probably talked about Aaron Ehasz and Avatar and I remember I looked up their website, wonderstorm and there was the splash page with art and that they were making a show. At the time I was “hmm, mental note to keep an eye out for this.”

Fast forward months later and I think it occasionally popped up. Finally, I got into the show like a month or two prior. I’m pretty sure it had to do a lot with my tumblr fam. We tend to migrate through fandoms together and I’m sure it started largely because @thethiefandtheairbender caught wind of it and was reblogging stuff. I was seeing character designs and I just really slipped into it.

2. First impression of the world and characters

Looooved the character designs. They were what really like… hooked me in on the show. It’s what made me really look into it. Actually use my twitter account and everything. The character designs, especially for the elves, were amazing.

What officially put it’s claws into me was Runaan though. He was the one that grabbed me and would not let go. Pretty sure I drew the first shirtless Runaan fanart ever. It’s in my art tag actually lol

7. Scene that made you choke up or cry

The first one that ever made me tear up was the scene where Harrow is saying goodbye to Callum ;A; When Callum throws the bag down and gets a hug in? he knows this might be the last time.

(and it was so I cry more)

19. What you’re looking forward to see more of in the next seasons

RAYLLUM.

Like, really, Rayllum. I also really want to know more about Rayla’s background and, particularly, her relationship with Runaan. It was the first relationship I cared about most. Even before Rayllum. Runaan has had such a highlighted, but also small part of the story so far. I really want to see that expanded. Bad. The storylines primarily concerning Rayla, Callum and Runaan are what I’m really excited to see and I love them all so much.

[twilightvolt]

And so, another year has come to pass.....almost. ^  ^

Remember when i said i was branching away from Digimon back when i drew up Venom fanart? y’know, “I wanted to be more than what i used to be.” that being “a Digimon artist.”

2019 was basically just that. lots and lots and LOTS of fandom hopping.

If last year was me recovering from the pain and crippling anxiety of 2017, then this year was me finally getting up again, learning to stand up and live for myself rather than in fear of those i shouldn’t care about anymore. life still hasn’t been too kind to me even though, compared to last year, we’re in a better space. but i’ll get into more detail about that while i go through everything month by month on the clock.

Before we begin, if you’d like to see the previous years, here’s the links!

2018:https://twilightvolt.tumblr.com/post/181732950569/i-kinda-was-saving-this-for-when-i-had-the-time-to

2017:https://twilightvolt.tumblr.com/post/171806337539/a-3-month-late-art-summary-featuring-art-that-i

Might wanna grab your popcorn, my dudes. this is a long one.

January: On the Web

Coming out of 2018, things were pretty ok if i remember. i don’t remember much from this month aside from a few doodles i did like this one from when Spiderverse was the hottest thing. this was one of the last things i drew in my old style. before i decided to officially change things up in the next month.

February: Gotta Kick it Up

Pokemon Sword & Shield were announced and things were hype! oh, how things soured as the months went by. lol

But yeah, this was me taking that experimental sketchy pencil style from that Smash Bros. drawing and rolling with it all the way! it’s become my new go-to style and even though it’s still hella sketchy at times, i feel like it looks better in comparison to my old ink outlined drawings.

March: The Overdrive Dweebanoids

Oh right. my old Ben 10 phase that lasted for a millisecond in 2016 returned with a vengeance. and it was glorious. lmao

It spawned an AU that i didn’t delve into much, but if i ever get that spark for my favorite alien watch bearer, i’ll get back to it.

April: True Blue Lizard Bois

My Ben 10 streak continues and i was crankin’ out art left and right for it. i luved all the “doodle dumps” i made, but this drawing was wholesome and i picked it because of that.

To some extent, this could be a comparison between my past and my present. that being Overdrive!Ben being what, at the time, was my current obsession while Digimon!Vivi was a representation of where i used to be, back when i was starting out and entering Digimon OCTs on Deviantart.

May: Return to the Realm of Sleep ~HD ReMIX

Now THIS i feel was one of the grandest drawings i’ve done this year. hell, i even made a wallpaper out of it.

like, it was just a redraw of an old drawing from 2017. but to me, it was a way to tell me just how far i’ve come since then. and i couldn’t be happier.

This was also the month i rebooted my DA after a long time of inactivity!

....Iiiit didn’t really work much, but i’m still working on it. though i highly doubt it’s worth it considering most of the ones i used to hang with there are either people i don’t wanna associate with or people who left while i was gone. seriously, it’s a ghost town there.

June: Art Fight 2019 ~Dreams Vs. Nightmares~

Ahh, my second year of Art Fight. for this year’s event, i wanted to be a tad more grandiose. like drawing up this banner. i like being extra and stuff even if it kills my drawing hand, so yeah. lmao

...

Florida thunderstorms are friggin’ terrifying. idk HOW anyone can get used to that.

July: - BREAK DOWN -

Oookay, it was hard picking my favorite attack this year cuz i pretty much was satisfied with all of them. but i had to go with this attack because the artist i drew it for was someone i really admired for years and i’m just happy i could finally have an opportunity to draw them something. like, i luv how it came out, so yeah.

This was also the month i forced myself to finally do the thing and let go of the constant fear i felt towards certain people i used to hang with. while remembering 2017 will never NOT hurt, i can’t let that fear rule over me forever. i have to take control and not let it stop me from doing what i want. and that’s exactly what i did.

August: Ricky ~Sapphire, Emerald and AlphaSapphire

Oh yeah! after Art Fight ended, i returned to Pokemon randomly cuz i wanted to go back to my roots for a moment. revamping Ricky, formerly Ragna, and Yagami was something i’ve been meaning to do for awhile and it reignited a waning love for a series i started growing distant towards since Gen VII.

I used to really like Ricky’s old design even though i barely ever used him. but i guess this just shows how much more original i’ve gotten in terms of character design. ^  ^

September: Heartbeat Inferno

Now, i haven’t really talked much about what’s been going on life wise for most of this post, but trust me when i say irl, things weren’t really.....happening. like, it’s hard when you live (or rather, lived now) in a place with little job opportunity and you have NO experience whatsoever. the lack of progression must’ve hit something in me, so the week i drew this was me just....shifting moods, feeling everything at once. one day i’d be agitated as hell, the next i’d be so depressed i took a some odd hour nap and didn’t wanna get out of bed. like, for most of this year, i haven’t felt this stressed out and frustrated with myself. so this sudden crash was kind of....unwelcome.

But this drawing was a fresh change though, if i’m being honest. i’m not usually this uncaring about how clean the coloring job is, but i like it! i’d choose that other drawing i did for my friends’ birthdays, Skirmish at the Cable Club, but this one had a more personal drive behind it.

October: - PAPERMOON -

beastarsbeastarsbeASTARSBEASTARS--*COUGH COUGH AHEM* I MEAN....hai. :D

Continuing with my Pokemon shenanigans, i drew this big piece which was something i had in my head for years now, but never actually acted upon it cuz i always felt it was too big of an idea to work on. i’m happy i’ve managed to capture what i envisioned originally.

As for interests, i’m sure most of my current followers can deduce that i quickly shifted gears to Beastars as soon as the anime was released and so far, i regret nothing. it’s spawned a metric butt ton of new art from me and the way i see it, this phase ain’t stopping as long as this series continues. brace yourselves fam, i believe i’ve finally found the successor to my Digimon phase. lmao

Like, damn, i had a tough time choosing art for this month. i was stuck between this, - SMILE/WILD SIDE - and Slip Into Madness. so many good drawings i was satisfied with, y’know?

November: The Future is Now

I was SO planning on putting something else here, but then suddenly i just kinda had this urge to redraw that uggo gouache painting of Miyagi from highschool. and it turned out so good that i had to. like, really. lmao

As with the redraw of Dream Drop Digital’s key art, it was a reminder of how far i’ve come since then art wise. and i feel like i’ve accomplished so much this year because of it. ;w;

December: Winter Lights

And now we’re back to the present time. after over a year or so of living in Florida, we’ve moved once again back up north a bit. yet another clean slate, but things seem to be looking up despite the rather large bumps in the road the past week or so. lately i’ve been feeling that seasonal depression starting to set in, but i think i’ll be fine as long as i stay positive. cuz y’know, it’s not being happy all the time. it’s just knowing that things will get better someday.

One of the other reasons i drew this drawing was cuz i REALLY wanted to have something Beastars related on this clock. this series (and Legoshi in particular) really inspired me, so i had to leave a wedge open for my boi.

Looking back at the beginning of this decade (as 2020 would mark the next one), i realized that the 2010′s were basically me becoming more artsy. finding enjoyment for a new hobby that quickly became something i’m now more passionate about than video games which i didn’t think would EVER be the case.

Funny enough, it all started in the RP section of a little forum for an MMO called Wizard101. i was only in middle school at the time and, to tell you the truth, i had no idea i’d be going at it for this long. thought i’d just do it on the side but not really delve into the art world more.

But despite all the trips and falls, fandom drama or otherwise, i wouldn’t change anything if it meant i wouldn’t have the friends who’ve stuck by me in the aftermath of those times.

I may not be really succeeding in much, but it’s the small steps in life that matter most in the end. these past few months in particular was me getting fed up with feeling sorry for myself for not doing the things i was interested in in the past, getting over my regret and making plans for starting something new even though i know i’ll suck at first and not worrying so much about how others might perceive me.

And just like how life was changing for our resident grey wolf this first season, mine seems to be doing the same. and i believe this decade ended on a better note than i thought it would during the past couple years leading up to this.

Here’s to a new decade! ^  ^

~ For a future I want to believe in. ~

[ooops-i-arted]

2018 Art Goals

I did a post last year so why not keep the tradition going, it helped me focus.

So, what did I accomplish in 2017?

I kind of varied with posting stuff on time but I think I did okay.  I can keep working on this one.

I did more sewing!!  I did SO MUCH sewing in November and December especially.  SO MUCH.  I still have a few things to post, actually.

I kept drawing.  I kind of fell off the wagon on drawing for a while and I think my art suffered but I kept going and I’m proud of myself.

One thing I really worked on this year was just to keep going.  Even if I thought something was crap, I drew it and posted it.  And every little bit helps improve - practice makes perfect after all.

I did get better at drawing hands this year and I’m more comfortable tackling hands now - even if more often then not I still draw the lazy way, with no individual fingers.  But even that has helped me pin down more realistic hand/finger positioning.

I did stay on top of using reference images.  Mostly to justify my overabundance of SWTOR screenshots.

I‘m still lagging behind on facial diversity, both giving individual characters their own distinct face and making PoC characters actually look PoC.  I intend to keep working on this.  (If nothing else, Finn needs more fanart love and I need to step up!)

So my goals for 2018:

Honestly “continue what I started from last year” pretty much sums it up but I like being specific and blabbering on so

Drawing is the biggest one for me right now because it’s pretty good stress relief and it’s also the easiest to do.  Inktober was really good for getting me in the habit of drawing daily or almost daily, even if it’s just a quick sketch, so I want to keep it up, focusing more on producing stuff than perfectionism.  And I want to keep challenging myself with the stuff mentioned above - hands and facial diversity most obviously, but I’ve also started trying to do more with profiles, especially lips, and making them look less flat.

As for as which fandoms I’m drawing for, Star Wars obviously.  I’m sorry but you all have to keep looking at my SWTOR OCs for the foreseeable future.  I also rewatched the LotR trilogy over break, so you might get some of that, and I’m toying with the idea of picking my Hobbit Soundtrack Project back up.  And I’ll try to keep throwing in some Rebels now and again because I know you guys love it.  (If nothing else, I have a huge collection of incorrect quotes style posts I want to draw.)  I do wanna keep making funny stuff no matter what because I love making people laugh and also making myself laugh always makes me feel better.

I want to keep sewing.  Maybe actually finish the projects I’ve had on the back burner for forever lol yeah right.  The next Star Wars movie is the Solo film and obviously I will be wearing my Han Solo cosplay for that, so no new cosplay this year Eru save me from temptation there are just so many beautiful costumes.  I guess finishing Han’s blaster holster would be a good thing to do.

Experiment now and again with stuff (like calligraphying Tengwar on a LotR blanket).  For example once it warms up I was thinking of playing with tie dye, maybe making a fun scarf.  Just trying new stuff now and again.  And trying to keep myself from going perfectionist nut on it.

[iolite-sunstone-blog]

I didn’t plan to do this, but seeing other’s work inspired me. Out of these 12 I’ve posted 5 of these on Tumblr (February, April, May, November, December). I have mixed feelings about 2017 but hey, I’m looking forward to what 2018 will bring.

* Template Credit *

(Click to view in higher resolution)

See under the cut for each month + resolutions for 2018. (Very long read)

January - A drawing of Kidou Yuuto for a close friend of mine for their birthday. It’s a scene from a fic that I also made for them, and this was within the time I had gotten back to Ina11. 

February - Again, birthday art but this time for one of my favorite Youtubers. I had a lot of fun drawing this actually.

March - It was an entry to a group on Instagram that submitted monthly works based around a theme, and the theme of this one was a redraw. I redrew the first entry of my OC Alsteria Loretta which I submitted to the group back in May 2016 (so it’s about a 10-month difference).

April - My first OneShot fanart and also my first proper attempt at lineless art. It sticks out like a sore thumb in this art summary—but it aged well.

May - Another entry for the monthly group thing, with the theme of “mermaids” because of MerMay. This was my attempt at mixed media, with the traditional linework and digital coloring. 

June - The theme for this one was “Beach” so I drew my OC Elery Moreau with an ocean floor background that was hell to do.  Personally, I think I peaked at this point? Then my art went downhill.

July - This was for a contest on Instagram which I won third place for. It’s a drawing of Alluka and Killua Zoldyck taking a selfie but I only put Alluka in the summary up there. The characters themselves looked fine but the background was shit lol

August - The Instagram group was really the only thing that made me do digital/mixed media for a reason (if not school). The theme was “Superpowers”, so I drew three of my elementalist OCs. The one shown is Cheyenne Fleur.

September - In the group there is a collaboration month, and I collabed with mikee_mia on IG for September. The theme was “species swap”, and we swapped the species of their angel OC Carmen and my mermaid OC Kylana (the one featured in the summary). They did the art (which was on paper), and then I lined and colored it. 

October - The theme for this month was “Halloween” so I drew my OCs Valera (the one in the summary) and Zacharie trick or treating. For the entirety of October I didn’t do any digital art (I did this on the 31st,,), so I used an soft/oil pastel look which was easy.

November - Cuphead became popular around end of October to November so I did watercolors for Hilda Berg and Cala Maria. I also hadn’t done watercolors in months, but it was really nice to go with a new medium. (And I was very happy with the outcome of both!)

December - The last two OCs I made in 2017: Limoncino and Maraschino, my cupsonas (I’m a little of both). I did a lot of art for December and I could’ve chose others, but I chose this one specifically because I liked how it turned out way better than I imagined. 

I know it would’ve been better to post this at New Years Eve but hey, I wasn’t actually planning to do this in the first place. But seeing others’ art summaries inspired me.

2017 wasn’t the best for me in many aspects, including art. After I made the entry for June I just… fell out of art? I lost a lot of my passion and confidence in general. This slump of mine stopped me from doing Inktober 2017 I did the first 3 days before leaving it entirely and it stopped me from doing projects I planned for myself. I hadn’t been enjoying what I was making for a while until late October. 

These aren’t first world problems or anything. 2017 still had its good sides (this year I went to a convention after 2 years + cosplayed for the first time) I just thought about it for the past two days, and now I got my resolutions in mind. I’m heading to 2018 with a fresh start, a new found passion, and a strong drive to do my best. I hope to improve as much as I can. It sounds cliche but I do want to be able to make 2018 a great year.

One resolution relating to my art is that I want to keep this blog alive. I’ll post things every other day and maybe a bigger project or two when I can. I do want to prioritize irl things first though so yeah. (I also hope to start talking about my personal projects on here.)

TL;DR: I’m going to do my best for 2018. Hope you guys stick around!

[xennariel]

fanfic asks: all.

lol Thanks! This took me forever.

1. Do you have a word-count goal for 2018? - Not really, but another 100k would be nice to achieve.

2. Will you participate in any fandom exchanges or fic challenges, etc?- Hopefully Royai Week again and Royai Halloween week since I just was feeling crappy and was too busy to do it last year.

3. Do you anticipate writing for a new fandom in 2018? Which one? - Not really. I have been meaning to delve into WoW fanfiction for a few years now, so maybe that, but it’ll probably just be FMA and my own stuff again because I’m a loser. lol

4. Do you think you’ll stop writing for a fandom in 2018? Which one? - Who knows. It seems like my fics aren’t entertaining anymore or whatever, but I lost quite a few readers in 2017 so that may end up being a deciding factor in whether I continue FMA fanfiction or not. As of now, I don’t think I’ll stop writing for the series though.

5. Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet? - I would really really like to finish Through Eyes of Flame, but it still has a long way to go and, again, because of lack of readers, my motivation to write it is very very low. I’ve had the next chapter halfway completed since September and every time I look at it to try to write for it, I just give up and work on something else. I’ve been working on that fic for almost two years and I just want to finish it already. I think I posted a snippet before, but here’s a bit of the chapter that’s been halfway done for months now:

Red light crackled around Gluttony’s wounds, each bullet hole closing within seconds. No matter how many vital points Riza hit with deadly accuracy, it all proved futile. The hulking homunculus held her off the ground by her throat as she continued to struggle and fire bullet after bullet into its skull. She grit her teeth as Gluttony’s hold on her neck tightened and the click click click of her gun’s trigger indicated she was out of ammo. She dropped her hand to her side and the gun fell to the ground with a clatter.

This was it. This was how she was going to die. She would no longer be able to protect Roy. But at least he would live. He would not be incriminated for what they were doing here. He would go on, working toward their goal without her, and that was enough for her.

6. Which yet-to-be-started fic is first on your list? - I would love to start writing the Royai mermaid AU I’ve been thinking about a lot. Also perhaps my “Riza was an alchemist the whole time” au. I’ve had so many ideas for those that were stewing around all year, but I didn’t start them because I wanted to finish TEoF first.

7. Will you change anything about the way you interact with other writers? - Definitely try to comment more. I comment every chance I get, but sometimes I still can’t figure out what to say or have a weird anxiety build up that makes me not want to comment, so I want to work on that and make sure every fic I read gets at least an “I liked this” or something. Also if I wasn’t so anxious I’d strike up conversations more often on here with other writers, but I feel like I just annoy people so I avoid talking to anyone unless they talk to me first. It’s stupid, I know, but I just feel like they’d message me if they wanted to talk to me, you know? I need to work on that.

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is 2018 the year? - Ummmmm… I don’t think so? Well, scratch that, I have a lot of horror/tragedy/angsty ideas, but I can get very dark and I have found that I hold back quite a bit with fanfiction in that department. Like… I feel like people would avoid me and not read my stuff if it got that dark so I tend to just write fluff and minor angsty one shots. I even held back on my fic Hollow because I felt like it was getting too dark so I cut a lot of stuff out, rushed it, and lightened it up a bit. I realize people like angst and such, but I worry about scaring off readers. It’s weird. SO, with that said, I would like to write some kind of fic that’s super dark, but I don’t know if anyone would read it. That’s what my original novel is for. lol

9. Short term goals… what do you hope to complete this week or in January? - I would love to get the next chapter for Through Eyes of Flame finished and posted by my birthday (Jan. 31). Other than that, I have no plans, but that might change if people send me prompts or something. An anon keeps sending me the prompt “May wasn’t there on the Promised Day and Roy has to burn Riza’s wounds closed.” I like the idea, but I’m not confident enough to write it. I know nothing about the nitty gritty medical details that would go into that so I feel like my attempt would be bad and unrealistic and honestly the only outcome I could see would be Riza dying anyway because burning an artery and just that whole area is bad news and wouldn’t end well, especially because Roy would probably be nervous and have shaky hands and mess up.

10. Will you keep a record of all the fics you write and/or post this year? - Probably not beyond posting them to FFNet and AO3. I never really thought about keeping a record of the stuff I write.

11. Would you like to try any new fanfic genres or tropes in 2018? - I think I answered this above, but more Angst and stuff in that vein.

12. Will you change anything about the way you edit or rewrite in 2018? - I want to get better at description and make my prose sound nicer. Right now, my writing is very straight forward and not flowery at all. I don’t necessarily like flowery writing as sometimes I have no idea what the author is trying to say if it gets too flowery and purple, but I feel like my writing is very lackluster and missing something. So I’d like to get better at showing and not telling more often.

13. Aside from fanfic, are there any other fan works you’d like to try creating? Fanart, or fanvids, gifsets, or podfic?- I’d love to get back into drawing far more often. I used to draw all the time in high school. I gave it up for so long after I graduated and I miss it. I only drew a few times last year, but I’d like to pick it up far more often. Like, maybe even do a monthly request type thing where I take requests once a month and draw for people instead of going for, like, five months and then being like “I feel like drawing, send in requests.” I’d just like to do it more often.

14. Have you ever lost large chunks of your work in the past, due to not backing up your work? Will you change your methods in 2018? - Oh yeah. I’ve lost so much stuff because my hard drives have crashed several times in the past, like, ten years. All my old original writing was lost to the void in high school when my Mac’s hard drive crashed for the first time. I did manage to print some of it off though, which I found recently, but it was only a fraction of what I had written in my high school years. It honestly wasn’t great anyway, but it’s still upsetting to lose stuff I worked on for years. It’s why I use Google Docs mostly now and I do have a thumb drive that I download stuff onto occasionally now.

15. Do you foresee any personal or professional obstacles in 2018, that would keep you from creating fanworks?- I really really want to finish my original novel, so fanfics might take a backseat to that if I feel like I’m not keeping up with it well enough. My dream is to be a published author, even if that means publishing myself. Also my dog isn’t doing so well recently and if his ailments progress as rapidly as they seem to be right now… Well I hope it doesn’t come to anything serious, but losing him might take a huge toll on me and I know I’ll probably fall into a serious depression for a long time. Which is why I want to finish my original novel as soon as possible, because I know if I lose him I’ll never finish my book, at least not for a few years.

16. Do you have that one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? Will this be the year, come hell or high water, that it WILL get finished and posted? - Nope, I always post stuff, even if it’s a WIP multichapter. I tend to be proud of stuff and want to get it out to share it asap. It’s why lack of hits/comments/shares upsets me a lot of the time. I wouldn’t share my work if I wasn’t proud of it, but lack of hits and response makes me feel like everything I do is shit.

17. Do you typically answer all comments/reviews individually? Do you plan to change the way you interact with your readers this year? - Yes, especially on AO3. It’s a little harder on FFNet since you have to PM the person and I didn’t even realize you could respond like that until recently. I definitely plan to thank and respond to people individually more often so they know just how much I appreciate their comments.

18. Do you typically post multi-chapters as you write, or finish it all and then start posting? Would you like to change your posting method?- Honestly, I really should write the whole damn thing and then post it, but I post each chapter as I go. My problem is that I have a difficult time staying motivated to write something without feedback from people. It’s why writing my original stuff can be so hard at times. I really would like to finish a thing before I begin posting though because that way if I lose motivation, I don’t disappoint people by either not updating for a long time or never updating again.

19. Would you consider non-fandom writing events, like NaNoWriMo or writing contests?- I did Camp Nano where I managed to write 25k words for my original novel. It’s what really helped me get going with that. I wanted to do the actual NaNo event, but was depressed and busy during that time. I would like to do both this year though and maybe finish my book then (though I’d like to be done with my book sooner than that.)

20. Any plans to work on original fiction this year? - Yep, as I said before, I want to finish my book this year. Even if no one reads it, it’s been my dream since middle school to finish and publish it and this is the time I’m going to actually do it. No more sitting on it wishing it would just magically be written for me. Even if people don’t like it, I’m going to finish it because I like it.

[ichabod1799]

I Found My Illustrations Stolen and Sold Across The Internet

So I was scrolling through my phone on YouTube Sunday morning - part of my weekend routine. When I see a video that grabbed my attention. "The Babadook Explained." Though it wasn't the title that grabbed my attention. It was the thumbnail they used. An illustration of the Babadook. An image I'm all too familiar with, right down to every single ink drop. I have it framed in my hallway, I walk past it everyday. I made it. 

(Top: My Babadook Poster illustration.   Bottom: Youtube Film Comics Explained Babadook Video Explained Thumbnail) I didn't mind them using it at first. I was a little flattered. I clicked on the video and scrolled through the description. That was then when I felt disheartened. No credit to the artist. Though credit was given to the music used in the video. Just not the illustration used in the thumbnail. I did leave a comment saying they probably should give the artist a credit. But I have yet to hear back.

It's not the first time it has happened and I have seen it a fair amount of times. Sometimes I get a message out of the blue asking if they could use my image in a post. I always say yes as long as credit is given. It’s a simple thing you can do that really helps out a lot. For me you don't even need to ask, just go share it around and credit. 

However it's a problem if they start profiting off it. 

After the Babadook video I got curious and did some internet investigation (thank you reverse image search) and I was quite shocked to see a lot of my stuff was being sold across various websites. 

Though this is also not the first time this has happened. Last year in a Buffy Facebook group I'm in, one of the members shared a print they purchased off Etsy. A certain element of that looked way too familiar. 

(Left: The piece found on Etsy.   Right: My Buffy poster illustration) 

I could tell it was heavily inspired by my piece, the colour scheme and the quote (however they did add the full quote which I'll give kudos to, works better). But also the actual scythe illustration was cut out copy of the one I drew on my poster design. I drew that scythe vector myself. And gave it a couple of my own stylised additions that were very evident on the copy too. That and with some of the flaws in the copy are too exact to be a coincidence.

For example, these stylistic gaps along the edges and the handle.

(Left: Buffy Scythe prop replica for comparison.   Middle: Copied piece on Etsy.   Right: My Buffy Scythe poster illustration. Comparing my style differences from the prop but my different style design elements are also in the copy)

And the mess of this clamp thing which has a few flaws the exact same in the copy. 

(left: Copied piece found on Etsy.   Right: My Buffy Poster Illustration.)

By the time I found it the seller (AandZ Design) had already sold out.

I left a comment on the Facebook thread how that was a stolen piece and was met with a lot of hateful remarks; that it was rude to say that, that they looked nothing alike etc. Yeah right, the comparisons speak for themselves.

But of course with fan art you're powerless to do anything about it. I don’t even know what to do about it. I messaged the seller and again no response back.

For the record sake, I created that Buffy Poster in March on 2014. (You can see the DA listing here) I have no record of when AandZ Design listed that piece on Etsy. But it was shared on Facebook in May of 2018.  

However it did motivate me to reopen my etsy shop and start selling prints of my Buffy poster. So buyers who like it can by a legitimate signed print.  

https://www.etsy.com/shop/mttwood  

Anyway back to today with the research to see what else was stolen; I found this Babadook design on Society6.

Look familiar again?

(Above: Very Familiar Babadook Illustration being sold on Society6 )

I messaged Society6… and you guessed it. Still no response.

I then found my Evanescence Lost In Paradise poster on another site being sold as a phone cover. This was from a website in Turkey. I messaged them and they took it down in less than 5 minutes with an apology. So good work to them.  

I found my Majora's Mask Consumed illustration also being sold as phone covers on another website. But at least they left the watermark on it. Lol.

(Top: My Zelda Consumed Illustration.   Bottom: The phone cover being sold on Aliexpress)  

However I do have this available as a phone cover on my Redbubble page and society 6

https://www.redbubble.com/people/mttwood/shop

https://society6.com/mttcreative

That way you can actually support the artist who made it. And it’s a high print quality that's not going to be printed  pixelated. I'd image all the stolen ones would have printed poorly as I never upload a full 300dpi image to be shown on the web. The images would have been stolen off here on DA or Pintrest and those are all 72dpi which you couldn't print at a decent size.  

Then some further digging and I came across my Penny Dreadful cover illustration being sold on a T-Shirt.

(Top: My Penny Dreadful Cover illustration. Bottom: My Penny Dreadful Cover stolen and being sold on TeeHow)

I did this as part of the Penny Dreadful fan art contest a few years ago to design a comic book cover. Though I didn't win (due to not being a U.S citizen), I did make it into finales, to which I pulled out. But I guess this image is also partly owned by ShowTime because of that contest. I've received many requests to sell this on a tshirt but I don’t have the rights to even do that. I tried and redbubble wasn’t having any of that. So I was quite annoyed to find this website TeeHow selling it on Tshirts.  

I tried to message them also but the email address listed on their own site doesn't even work. All my emails bounced back.

But that's not the last of it. I also found my Penny Dreadful illustration being sold on stickers on Aliexpress.

(Above: My Penny Dreadful illustration stolen and being sold as part of a sticker set on AliExpress.)

And this copywriter who decided to use it as part of his portfolio for whatever reason. And without credit.

(Above: My Penny Dreadful illustration being used on Nick Sheptak's portfolio without credit)

At that point I kind of had enough.

I use to say when stuff like this happens, you're making waves. Someone has noticed you. They like your stuff enough to copy it. There’s a little sense of pride but when they're profiting off it and you can't and you don’t even receive so much as a credit. It feels very discouraging to even continue.

And because it's fanart I don't even know what rights I even have to begin with. It's just a muddled area.

I should go and do more originals, but truth be sold, fan art sells. It pays the bills. It gets noticed. And I was born to be graphic artists - my painting teacher would always say. I just don't have many original concepts these days.

I've always been more than happy to share my stuff with you guys. I loved making wallpapers for you to use for free. But please don't steal it just to profit of my hard work. A lot of my stuff is created in the late hours of the night/early hours of the morning.

And if you're going to use my stuff for any thumbnails or anything (that shouldn't be profit driven) please give a credit. It's the least you can do.

And I'm sure this has happened to a lot of other artists as well. If so, how did you feel? What did you do?  

If you like to know what platforms I do sell on, here's a list

Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/mttwood)

Displate (https://displate.com/ichabod1799)

RedBubble (https://www.redbubble.com/people/mttwood/shop)

Society6 (https://society6.com/mttcreative)  

[mcrmadness]

Rambling about my (dä fan)art...

I was writing another post and this kinda got out of hand and turned into me talking about my art overall. I’m gonna put this under the cut because I don’t know if people are interested in my art nor especially in my thought about it and my “art history” basically, but if you are, then I hope you enjoy.

And yes, this is gonna be about my die ärzte fanart mainly!

So let’s start with the HELL coverart drawing because that’s what I was talking about originally:

I’m extremely happy with how the drawing turned out in the end and I like that feeling of success when I’m happy with something I have created. That is not always self-evident with myself. More than often I have plain hated my drawings or have felt like there should be something done differently, or something that I could always improve at and do better. So this feeling where I’m actually content and happy with what I have created is something new and different. I have a dopamine rush every time I look at that drawing. I like the drawing. I think it looks nice. And I’m extremely happy about this fact and I am not afraid of admitting it. Perfectionism is a curse and a gift. It can sometimes make your life a living hell when something that is perfectly good still feels like it’s not enough. When everyone else sees that what you have done is actually good or even great but your brain just keeps repeating how it’s shit and everyone else is just delusional and that they don’t see what you see. And this is like the polar opposite of that feeling. It wasn’t other people who were delusional, it was you and youself all along. You were the one seeing the image in your head and the drawing not matching that image. Other people saw only what you had created and couldn’t compare it to anything. And that doesn’t mean it was never good.

So whenever I do these comics and comic style drawings nowadays, I just feel so happy. I feel that I am no longer failing them, I feel like I can draw the image I see in my head. I finally feel like I can draw, I have some skills, I’m not a professional and maybe not as good as everyone else but I’m good at what I’m doing. This is my thing and I’m good at it and it’s enough. And I love it when I feel like I’m improving. For years I felt like I was stuck, like my skills would have been glitching somehow, I didn’t get better no matter how much I drew. But I guess I tried too much and was too harsh on myself because I believed that a drawing is good only when no reference photos have been used. And I sucked at drawing without them. I still do! I was staring at the Hell coverart the whole time I was drawing! I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I didn’t! And this feels particularly good also because this is the first time I have tried something different with these comics. I have never tried to draw a photo or existing picture with this style. I have only drawn my comics and those I have created all by myself. The clothes come from what I have seen in videos and photos but the plots are created by me alone, with a idea coming from somewhere actual usually, as inspirations do.

For comics I do look at reference photos of people sitting or standing, or I look at the mirror, or even take photos of my own hand to be able to draw something. And that’s lots of fun and also challenging because I’m mixing there my old habit of portrait drawing with my less serious comic book style but I really really do like the combination. It also makes me feel that I am memorizing what I draw and the next time when I need to draw that same posture, I no longer need the reference photos because they’re no in my brain. And in my muscle memory. My hand remembers how to do the lines now.

Here you can see one of the sketches I did in 2018 - I had this image in my head and I wanted to draw it and I just... drew it in my sketchbook. Didn’t use pencil. But now I’ve noticed I like doing these on proper paper instead of the sketchbook AND it’s so much more fun to first draw the sketch with the pencil and then draw on it with the fineliners. That I have always done with the comics (apart from one) because they take more time than these quick sketches. But here you can see Farin’s legs on the first image - I think I might have looked at reference photos for that but then it was so much easier to do the to the comic I made in 2019.

I have now also figured out that a big part of my style is not to draw just simple straight lines. I like making those sketch-like lines even with the marker. They look more rough but that’s something I like seeing with my art. That’s what I was missing when I was staring at the lines I had drawn before and hated every detail of them. They were too clean and neat.

^These two I have also drawn on my sketchbook in 2018 and I don’t really know why. I guess I was still a bit stupid and didn’t really realize I’m drawing again. But anyway, they both were inspired by my own fanfiction I have written a long time ago. It’s one of my favorite self-written fanfics and it had these two scenes I just saw in my head and felt like I could try drawing them. Maybe that’s why they are in my sketchbook, I wasn’t sure if they were going to turn out even good... The marker around the second one obviously was shit and the paper wasn’t good for it, and I never finished with it so it looks a bit weird. Do I need to say that I really enjoy drawing very small, repetative details, like those tiles? It’s so soothing, almost like a therapy.

I think that quitting antidepressants in 2013 has done so much good for my creativity. If you compare my work from 2011 to 2019, the difference is huge - all are just parts from my comics:

Can you guess see the difference? But have to admit I am jealous for myself for how I have drawn Farin’s hair to the 2011 one and maybe have forgotten to color Farin’s arm but... I actually had so long pause from drwing (~8 years) that I forgot how I did that and had to use THAT as a reference when I was trying to draw late 80s Farin’s at some point last or this year :D

Anyway, my style with the shadows is a little different when I use colored pencils than when I use markers. This is from my latest comic from this year, where I experimented with Promarkers the way I had never done before and I really like how it came to be:

I have owned this set of Promarkers (black + 5 greys) for years and have never really used them, apart from the black which I usually used for the thick lines anyway. And wanted to see if I could find some use for the greys too! (Yes that’s Bela back there - this comic was an alternative ending for Für Immer music video :D)

And I wanna end this post with a face progress comparison for all three. During this I also noticed that before I used to draw their side profiles and it was really difficult to find images where I’d have drawn from from the front. And nowadays I have mainly drawn them from the front and it’s hard to find side profiles! Interesting! Here’s one of Farin and Bela from a drawing I made this year:

Also the hand that was so much fun to draw but I also took photos of my own hand in that posture in order to even draw that - that was fun! :D

But here are the last three images - using the HELL one as the last for each, of course:

Bela has always been the easiest to draw. And the first one of these three is actually from my first ever Bela&Farin comic! I didn’t color their skin back then. With the next ones I already did color their skins too but I used darker colors to do the shadows. Nowadays I do the shadows with fineliners. Or it depends - that 2019 one doesn’t have that lol.

Damn it was so difficult to find something where I’d have draw Farin from the front :D And I see the HELL one literally is my second (or third) time drawing Farin with his grin. Or if you count all those numerous extra mouths I drew because I failed the first one, then I have drawn his grin at least 15 times by now. I probably can draw his teeth with no reference photos from now on.

I haven’t drawn Rod too many times. I can actually count about... 5 times? And then there’s only 2 times when I’ve drawn his side profile but he’s at the background. I don’t know if I’ve ever really succeeded at that, I usually try to draw his head a more round and his eyes smaller than for Bela and Farin and I was actually bit worried for the HELL one and was wondering if I’m going to ruin the whole thing. But in fact, that was actually easiest of them to draw. And STILL I’m surprised by how alike he looks in that last one. In fact, I think his dacial features are perfect for a carricature drawing so you don’t need to do more than a few lines for the mouth and it looks like his mouth. The middle one was for a drawing I made for a friend and with this I actually looked at photos so that I could draw some of his hairstyles from the 90s and I liked this one the best and it was also quite easy to draw too.

Do I even have to say that I’m not extremely motivated what comes to drawing? I feel like my creative has become what it has never been before. I still don’t really know what to draw but I just feel that whatever it is I’ll start next, it will be good. And if it doesn’t... who cares? I had so much fun with those extra mouths  of Farin which was maybe visible from the video I filmed, and that is what makes drawing worth it. Before I took the drawing process so seriously and a mistake felt like the end of the world but now I laugh at them and make fun of them and don’t take them too seriously. And I always have ways to fix these, or I can redraw. Just like I did with Farin’s mouth (or a half of his face actually) for this newest drawing. The most important thing is that I’m having fun and enjoying what I do, that way usually the outcome will also be a success.

I have now at least 2 dä comics on my to-do list (I don’t remember if there’s a third one too) + one pencil drawing that is halfway there. It will take one more night/day for it to get it finished. I also have probably 5 ideas for self-comics etc. in my sketchbook and I try to find some time to work on those. Or actually I have a plenty of time. Adhd, time blindness and executive dysfunction just make it feel as if I didn’t :D Can’t wait to get working on my next drawing projects, tho!

(I wish I knew how to make art for a living even but that’s a topic that will need its own post which I’m probably do in a near future if I don’t forget :D)