2024/08/05- Artfight 2024

Reading: The Confessions of Saint Augustine
Watching: Revolutionary Girl Utena (rewatch with my gf, it's her first time!)
Playing: Paradise Killer
Listening: Weird Medieval Guys podcast

Artfight 2024 just ended!!! And without a doubt it was the most successful artfight year I've had (and the most creatively fulfilling month I've had in a long time)

This year I made 11 pieces, some more detailed than others. Here they are in order. (hover over for thoughts on each piece!)

Willabell for smallnico. One of Soren's party members, I knew I wanted to do something for her first! Despite only letting myself draw for 2 hours, I actually really like how this turned out. I think the window/wallpaper in the background add a lot, Willabell's dress is super sweet, and I like her painting :P

Lydia for almost_cryptic. A character in an upcoming campaign my girlfriend is running in an altered VtM setting. I thought the concept of the character stealing the life energy of caged birds to maintain her own vanity was super compelling. Unfortunately I don't think this piece really landed. It's a little stiff, the composition is clumsy, and I didn't want to let myself spend the time on it to really flesh out the details.

These first two I made the first two days of July, before I left for Toronto!

Cuckoo for FeyLordArt. I did this piece the day I got back from Toronto, and I think it's so sweet!! I like the interaction between them and the pigeon :) I drew so many birds when I was at the ROM, so it was nice to get to put that practice to use right away.

Melrae for DEWW. I really wanted to practice armor after drawing a bunch at the ROM!! And I though this character's design was so sleek and attractive.

MinnieMaree's sona! She drew the most gorgeous Soren and this was my revenge for her. Not the type of character I usually draw, but I think it turned out well!

Melete for CatbatArt. This one was quite the undertaking, but once i had the concept in my head I knew I wanted to take the time to execute it properly. There are definitely parts I could improve but I'm still proud of it!!

Attacks 2-6 are definitely the strongest, I was invigorated from my trip and feeling a lot of inspiration to create! After making piece #6 I found myself pulling back from artfight and focusing on other things, since I didn't want to burn out creatively from it.

Soren slapping Isayah for SirWitch. It was my friend's first artfight and I knew I wanted to draw the character he guested in Soren's campaign with >:) Soren has a score to settle with him lol.

Esper for smallnico! I wanted to do a revenge for her lovely Soren, and I always enjoy seeing her art of her bg3 durge. This piece made me realize I really really need to practice foreshortening >.< their hands look so awkward.

Helena for ReinerMorrison. ReinerMorrison is a twitter acquantance who is always very sweet and wonderful about everything i draw. I wanted to draw him something fun as revenge for his pencil drawing of Roxi.

Rook for Loomfus. It's cute but unfortunately I think this is the weakest drawing of the bunch :( I was running out of steam here. Very fun character though!)

Witch Which is Wich for archive_orion. My final attack!! My wrist started hurting as I was drawing this so I kept it simple. I like how the details on the clothes turned out tho.

(open images in new tab to see them bigger)

The last 5 of the bunch are a bit quicker, but I still like them! These were mostly revenges for attacks, as I wanted to make sure every attack I recieved got a revenge. The only attack I never got around to revenging was from an irl friend, so they'll just get art from me later :)

I think this past month was a really helpful exercise in trying to put out a lot of pieces without wearing myself out. The biggest learning experience was definitely my vacation from the 3rd to 7th, where I let myself just exist without worry and take in the sights of a city I had never experienced. I did sketching at the Royal Ontario Museum and let myself just explore ideas in my sketchbook, when I haven't regularly kept a sketchbook since probably high school. Coming back from vacation I almost instantly noticed the benefit of those sketching sessions, and now I'm trying to make regular sketching a part of my practice (it's been up and down remembering, but still positive!)

I've also just started to learn the importance of taking breaks and letting myself explore. After my 6th piece when I was feeling kind of burnt out, I took a couple days to play with a new medium, and made a super cute little clay unicorn! Then let myself work on whatever my brain needed to recover from the constant artfight. It resulted in me making less pieces maybe, but I think it'll help me make more in the future than if I went all out this past month. I want to make sure my August is productive too.

Speaking of August, that's what I named my new unicorn friend, check him out!! I've got a whole unicorn themed shelf started now haha.

I have a couple art goals for this month, but I'm keeping them secret for now :P I find too often I'll share goals online and then fail to complete them, so it's probably better to lessen the pressure on myself. Especially since I've also started my new job this month!! It's very exciting because having a regular paycheck coming in will be super helpful, but I am anxious about it wearing me out to the point it becomes hard to draw. I'm hoping with my new knowledge alongside therapy I'll be able to work through it. Just gotta focus on maintaining healthy habits. Eating and sleeping come first above all.

Speaking of which, it's getting later as I write this, and I have a longer day tomorrow, so I should end this blog here. But I'm very happy with how this past month has gone, and hopefully I'll have more to share soon!

Kisses! ;^*