My art in 2021 : Misc

The year is slowly coming to a close and I already saw an artist post a template for a yearly art compilation. I will most likely do the compilation in January so I actually have art for December but I feel like writing about my feelings anyways. I've wanted to just lay out what I think about my progress and creativity this year for some while. Or just in general, sometimes I just want to talk about myself. 🤷

2021 was a steady continuation of what I started in 2020 - I drew primarily Warframe fanart and became more comfortable with drawing WF characters in general, worked on existing OCs and created some new ones. The year started out strong, at least I felt like the first months of 2021 were the most productive for me and lead to me doing more finished pieces. It was something I promised myself - less doodles and shitposts, more finished illustrations. Sometime in July I felt myself slowly slipping into an art block, with a little pick-me-up in October due to Tennotober (also took my yearly vacation so I had more time to draw in general). A full time job is my biggest enemy to productivity, that and my general depression induced lethargy. So I did return to more simple drawings, mostly in monochrome colors.

Simple doodles like this are a comfy way to convey less serious idea I don't wanna commit to fully. 😅

November had been a bit of a low month, mostly mental health wise, so productivity was also low BUT I managed to finish a full illustration. On the other hand - November is when I slinked back to blogger and decided to channel creativity in different ways, namely writing. Twitter is really bad for keeping records and I feel bad for tweeting too much or making long threads so this is a good compromise. Also nobody reads my blog so I can write whatever I want without the ever present feeling of being Perceived. Anxiety follows me everywhere.

My tablet monitor's pen died in December 2020 so I spent the end of 2020 doodling traditionally and by January 2021 I dusted off my old Intuos and re-learned how to draw with a non-monitor tablet. It wasn't that bad! I drew several illustrations with the Intuos and finished one of my more elaborate pieces with it, before ordering a replacement pen from Amazon sometime in June. 

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this piece was one that I spent the most effort on this year, still can't believe I drew those robo-leggies so diligently. Sadly it's a seasonal drawing so I can't shove it into anyones face whenever I want. Then again it has its flaws anyways so maybe I don't wanna look at it too much anyways...

This year I felt more confident in my art so I worked my butt off to have an art piece for the Tennocon 2021 art show. I was hoping to get shown during the stream but absolutely did not expect for it to be a featured piece and end up with a little prize. Then again - if I knew it was a semi-contest it would have probably kept me from submitting any art. I always avoid art contests especially knowing that there are professionals with vastly higher skill levels competing. Which is probably not a good outlook on life!!! But maybe I will get over myself.

I've never been as involved with a fandom/community as I've been with Warframe. All my fandoms have been niche and small so I either had a small friend group (Granado Espada) or just a small community of other fans around me (SCP Foundation in 2013 before it went mainstream off-site; Flight Rising on tumblr). Warframe is unique not only that, despite its popularity, it still is very niche but that you can get noticed by the people directly involved with it.

I'll be honest - I'm not a starchaser and I'm not the kind of person that seeks out the attention or approval of the people who create the thing I like (sometimes I will avoid learning anything about anyone involved in a piece of media I consume). I am strictly anti celeb worship or cultivation of parasocial attachments so I see any attention from the "source" as simply an added bonus to the general interactions within fandom. I primarily draw and create for myself and to show it off to other fans but with the thought that my opinion is what matters when it comes to the subject of what I draw. Clout-chasing or drawing the thing of the Now doesn't work for me, at least not always.

Anyways, back to art.

One of my favorite traditional pieces of 2021

Another thing I got was a LED light tracing pad for traditional art, so now it's easier to produce clean inkwork. I like that now I have both a pencil sketch and a clean inked drawing, also I can be messier with my sketches, no need to keep the paper I draw on without any scratches or indents from the pencil.

Traditional art is fun to do because you have to work around limitations - you can't color pick, if you put down a line you can't delete it or so on. Unfortunately, sometimes I create an interesting piece with mixing different materials (e.g. pencils and watercolor, markers and pencils) but I can never re-create it again the way the first piece was created.

It's easier for me to stick to an idea if I'm basically told what to draw. I participated in Tennotober both in 2020 and in 2021. This year I did my best to go quality-over-quantity and put effort into what I draw. I also tried to draw things I usually don't draw, which is easy to do because I focus on like three characters and my OCs. It was a fun challenge mostly because of all the little details the frames have... or just drawing something I don't draw at all, for example, building interior.

Having my art noticed is both scary and nice. I am simply an anxious person so I will always overthink and try to see all the ways things can go wrong. Should work on that. But so far I've only had pleasant experiences, it is especially uplifting when someone writes a nice comment, people really don't do that often. 😅 I don't do it too often either, at this point I am not sure if people see it as rude or unnecessary. Maybe people post their art to discords and other private communities and that's where they get the feedback? No idea. I feel like exchanging thoughts via comments is the best part of sharing art...

I can wave my Tennotober art around with the most pride because I genuinely had fun while drawing. Drawing with pencils and pens on paper always feels more comfortable to me and I like to add little details and flairs to the lineart. Then again, Tennotober/inktober is an inking-centric event so it makes sense putting a lot of effort into linework.

Another thing I've tried out 2021 is mixing traditional inks with digital colors. I'd say the results are pretty OK!

I'm getting rambly since I said most of the things I wanted to say:

• The year started out strong.
• I drew more finished pieces.
• Getting attention for your art is exciting even if it's not my primary goal.
• Traditional art is fun, especially the inking process.

 

 

 

 

 

No idea what will come for 2022, I will just keep drawing whatever I fancy.

Truth be told I'm always wary of drawing off-canon things or weird things (by my own admission) so sometimes I hold back because I try to set some rules or standards for myself... but then I am not happy drawing so it's not that good either. Always fighting the windmill in my mind. 😔

Funny thing - Instagram threw me a throwback pic of a drawing I did in 2020 and which I redrew in 2021. I rarely return to previously drawn images but sometimes... I like the concept and feel like I can improve upon it or simply finish it.

This is what I consider one of my "weird" pieces even if the subject matter itself is not particularly off-putting. Just being a little insecure is all!

Formatting images is a pain in the arse, lord knows how broken this post is gonna look on desktops.