Loop Time!

 OKAY. THIS TIME. This time, this week! the last few days!! I've finally been falling asleep before dawn! Sometimes!!
Not gonna lie for a hot minute I believed my sleep schedule was going to stay messed up forever. As it is, it's only 'slightly' messed up, but not nearly as bad as before and now I'm getting some sleep so I'm content atm!

Anyway! some sketches I made this week! Here they are!

 

Still figuring out how to draw Loop, but figuring them out has been oddly fun? I think it's a mixture between the glowing head and the crosshatching. And the sparkles. I can forgive a lot from a "not easy character design" if I get to throw sparkles onto something.

Tall!!! and lil homemade gif!!

Another week of unsuccessfully falling asleep before dawn, but I survived and I am looking forward to pushing through the next set of days

Til then have a lil sketch I made a few days ago! And a lil gif for good measure!

Just a lil messy 3-framer! I haven't tried animating anything in almost a decade, but it was fun messing around and trying to remember how to the basics worked.
Probably won't animate anything else (unless I'm insane) but this was neat all the same

Enter the Housemaiden!

 Another week down! Can't remember a thing about it, but I'm sure I must've slept occasionally so that's all I need to know right now! 

Still practicing drawing the ISAT dorks, and I've finally added Mirabelle to the list of "characters I am almost comfortable enough to draw from memory"! I could almost draw the whole gang, if I wanted to!

Focusing on character studies has been nice. I can save my creative energy for later, after I've rested a lot more.

Some Scissor Wizard Companions

 Okay, so I can't actually remember what I've done this week (besides failing to fall asleep before dawn and reading almost a library's worth of fanfiction) but I do have the evidence of a lot of In Stars and Time character studies, so I think it's been good!

Still figuring things out, but it's been very enjoyable so far! I'm still learning how to draw Mirabelle, but at least I'm learning the vibes for Odile, Isabeau and Bonnie so that's been fun!

Scissor Wizard

 I think this week I realized that drawing almost non-stop for all of July, plus or minus the intense drawing obsession I had that lasted a few months BEFORE July, maaaaaybe meant my anxiety to 'get back to drawing and prove my worth' was a little silly.

So I spent most of the week playing video games and reading fanfiction instead.
I mean, if I'm gonna take a break, it might as well be a long break that can justify me working non-stop for the next few months before I crash and burn again, right?

Jokes aside though, I've been having fun learning how to draw the characters from the video game I've been playing!

 

He's just a lil wizard with a bunch of scissor attacks, what can I say?

Literally the cutest and most anxious creature I've had the pleasure to project on for a while. Would recommend to friends and family alike.
I'll see if I can learn to draw the other characters from In Stars and Time by next week. Not pressuring myself though, don't worry. I don't have to prove myself to anybody with these drawings.

[completely forgot to name this a week ago but MORE PENGUINS]

 okay so I spent all of this week sick and playing video games so I can't say I drew anything much, but y'know what? I needed to spend a whole week playing video games and reading fanfiction and whatever stuff.

We'll see what next week brings all of us!

Emotions about Penguins

dunno what to tell anyone except "yup. The Club Penguin obsession is still here and still going strong". Also my head is empty cuz I thought it would've been a great idea to stay awake for more than 36 hours on Friday and today I find out I'm sick. Is that besides the point or just a factor to my current madness? Who can say!

anyway I got these sketches up my sleeve so here!

 

Sums up what's been going on in my head tbh
Also Steam Powered Giraffe's "A life of Un-Delightment" is my new favorite song and I will be listening to it for a few months

We got penguins now, lads!

Right. I think I've now reached another pivotal point in my year, and it's heading in a direction I wasn't expecting but probably should've read the signs for.

I'm making my way back towards some of my original MMORPG roots and into Club Penguin!

Still in the early stages of "figuring out how I want to draw these stylized penguins" but honestly I know I'm already in so deep. Will this last a few weeks, or a few months? Who knows! Only time will tell. But for now I've got brain dolphins and they are inspiring me to go into weird places for love and comics.

Disgust sketch (because I still like looking at it)

Well. I've already made 15 attacks on AF this year, and there's still 3 weeks left of the fight to go. On the one hand, I think I'm pretty pleased with how many drawings I've made in such a little time. On the other hand, I know I'm gonna burn out if I keep this pace up and I'm already planning all the jokes I'm gonna recite to myself when I do crash and burn in a few days or a week.

 Because I've been busy with Art Fight I haven't drawn anything for myself, so I decided to dig through my files and see if there's any art I hadn't shared yet. Of course there was lots of things I hadn't shared, but that's not the point.
The point was I found this lil' sketch!

I don't remember when I made this sketch (must've been a few weeks or even a month ago?) but I keep coming back to look at it so that must mean I didn't do too bad a job making it. <3

There's not much else for me to say. I like this. And I probably should take a longer break before I get back into AF. Maybe. XD

Even MORE character sheets (and completely overshot my expectations and destroyed the bar for every future AF battle I will ever participate in)

Okay. So, somehow. SOMEHOW. I drew character sheets for my final emotions. And somehow got it all uploaded on AF before the battle started.

It started on a Tuesday for me, fyi.

The fate I tempted last week made me draw 4 character sheets in 3 days.

Because of course it did.

It is very satisfying seeing all the personifications of my emotions on AF, though.
I will never do anything so dramatic and cool ever again tho, cuz GRIEF that was a lot of work I did XD

More character sheets (thus exeeding my expectations and raising the bar higher than it used to be)

 My brain is full of fog and my memory is shot and all the pits of glass and marbles are falling all over the place.

But apparently I made 3 more character sheets for AF?? Which surprised me because I was sure Joy and Fear's was going to be the only ones I made. Not that I'm complaining! I'm just bemused XD

 I've now got... what? 2 more days until Art Fight starts again? So I probably won't make any more character sheets and just save my energy for the month-long battle ahead of me.
(She said, tempting fate.)

No, I don't want to tempt fate. I am merely stating an obvious fact and I hope my hubris won't trip me up just to prove how chaotic my hyperfixation is!
(Fate is smiling, and is still coming closer anyway)

It's getting close to that time of year again!

 Right! Had a busy week. Watched the IO2 movie. Had a dental appointment. Somehow made two character sheets for AF (with a third still a wip) and made a 20 panel comic in the span of 4 days.

Safe to say I am exhausted! But also content? I think? Or at least less anxious, which is a good start.

So yeah! Ah, here! These are the character sheets I made for Art Fight this year.

 

For years I've resisted the temptation to include my IO-sonas onto AF because I wanted them to be a "me" thing? if that makes sense? But after being obsessed with Inside Out for 4 months and watching the second movie I figured "If this year isn't the year I include my emotional kiddies onto AF, then it'll never happen" so I cracked and let all the pieces fall to the floor XD

I'm not gonna make character sheets for all 9 of my emotions (at least this year) but Joy and Fear are a good start. I'm looking forward to the fight this year! Should be a good and busy time!
And all I have to do is make sure I don't burn out before July starts. Lets see if I can manage that XD

Anxious Hugs all 'round

Anxiety still on the fritz, but considering I could turn on my laptop almost every day of the week and not feel the crushing weight of reality I think that's a good start!

And I feel like having my anxiety chill out is appropriate, considering the second IO movie came out this week.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but hopefully I will in a few days! And when I do, you bet I'm gonna get emotional and probably plan a whole bunch of drawing projects around those emotions.

But until then, I'm just glad I survive another week.

The brightest vamp you'll ever meet

Well. Been a hot minute since I've spent an entire week in survival mode like that. Anxiety has thankfully chilled out (a little) by now, but hm!  that was a slow and intense 7 days.

At least I made something before the weekly deadline for my blog, so that's something.

Now excuse me while I crawl under something comfy and turn out all the lights. There's a glowing vampire looming over me and it's called Life with GAD.

Pokemon Rogue doodles

 Still in the thick of burnout, but luckily a new game was brought to my attention and I've been spending a lot of time messing around in that. Made a few sketches inspired by the shenanigans I've been up to, but mostly I've been trying to take it easy and not tempt myself with drawing when I should be resting.

Hopefully in another week I'll feel less like death, but I won't mind playing more Pokemon Rogue in the meantime. It is very satisfying and fast-paced and challenging without being new or strange.

Super bright.

 right, now that I'm officially only ash and cinders and there's nothing left to burnout, I can. I dunno, do my best to not draw anything for a few days or weeks? Knowing me I'll just draw anyway, regardless if there's anything in my tank or not XD

Least I made this a few days ago, and I'm still reasonably happy with it!

Turns out without any bad light pollution and on a clear sky, the full moon can be real bright! Blindingly bright. It was cool.

Not burning but not smothered yet

Teetering on the edge of burnout and creative ingenuity is a frustrating trick. A familiar one! but I'm looking at the signs of unhealthy coping mechanisms and habits like "hm. I've still got the ability to draw, but for how long?"

At least I have the opportunity to indulge in an old hobby again, so that's sparking some joy <3

Stabbing heart, torn fabric, pricking needles and fraying thread. Something will snap, something will cut. The risk of making something and the reward of pulling something that should've rested are the same.
Raw fingers, misplaced hope. Bleeding determination. The crux of creativity.

Guess I've got ponies on the brain or something

 *massive sigh* Guess who tripped back into the mlp hole again? 

Oh, don't worry! I didn't fall far. Just accidentally leaned backwards to far and now I've got dirt all over my shorts. But I'm sitting here like "out of all the things I expected to happen this week, deciding to turn my emotions into MLP characters was not one of them" XD

Quite liked how they turned out tho!

 

I think I needed the brief rest, too. Burnt out a few days ago so I needed something silly to draw instead of my usual shenanigans. <3

Emotional Plushies!

 Because I spent most of the week writing fanfiction or working on new comic projects, I didn't know what I was gonna post on here tonight. But browsing through my entire IO folder like "nope. nope. Already shared that. Nah, people might find that depressing. Oh! Plushies!" made me remember I drew something last night while chatting to my sisters via Discord.

So yeah! I got these to offer tonight! :3

10/10 would love and cherish each and every one of these plushies if I had them IRL. But as it is I adore them in my head, and this way my emotions can love and appreciate them for me. <3

Lil' Mario bros!

 Didn't draw anything impressive like last week, but I did get the chance to watch my twin play a good chunk of Partners in Time (the Mario&Luigi video game) so that inspired me to sketch this out real quick

Can't believe I used to draw these lil' guys all the time when I was a teenager. Not much has changed, yet everything has improved I think! XD

Inner Gold

 Got inspired by a new song this week, and I then spent a good hour or 2 drawing this little piece.

Sometimes you just gotta draw something for the vibes, y'know?

The AEEE gang (more concept sketches)

 Right! Been making tweaks and adjustments to some of the designs I gave to my new IO emotions, aaaaand at this point I've more or less gotten used to the idea they'll be living in my brainspace. But yknow. I can still pretend I'm sitting on the fence to keep my public in suspense XD

Gotta say tho, these guys are heaps of fun to draw. The colors alone are enough to give me dopamine, but the shapes and expressions just make my day.

We're doing ALL the art tonight, folks!!

 Another year passed, another year old. Being 22 probably won't feel any different from being 21 or 23, but the novelty of having matching digits will be pleasing for a while.

Can't say I've gotten wiser since last year. But I can say I am thankful I got through everything I had to do and with any luck I'll get through the next 12 months in one piece too.

In the meantime! Did you know I've been drawing a lot? And I mean A LOT a lot? I couldn't decided which of the dozen things I had drawn was my favorite, so I decided to say "STUFF IT! It's my birthday week, and I can show off more than one drawing this time!" so I am!

And here they are!

 ... I don't have anything else to say. I'm just mighty pleased with all these things I made.

I'll catch you all next week, and with any luck I'll make it through another year too.