Working on a new one. It's quite experimental.

Recently looked into Madness Combat for inspiration. Not only did I get inspired, I got motivated too! The amount of dedication poured into the series is outstanding.

I think Sanford and Hank are my favorite characters, though I find them all very cool.

Recently, I joined the Jump Comic Contest. I spent around 2 and half months working on my entries. Plural, because I had initially planned to enter the contest with a different comic. Long story short, I got burnt out working on the first one so I gave it up. I only had a little more than 2 weeks left to come up with a new entry. Luckily, I had a new idea right away so I immediately began working on it.

I dedicated a good chunk of my time to the comic. I'd work on it either before going to sleep or immediately after waking up. At some weekends, I'd even spend the whole day drawing. Whenever I wasn't drawing, I'm thinking of how I would finalize the dialogue. It was a good time, all things considered.

I wanted to work in it more, but I knew that it has to be finished. After submitting the comic, all I had to do was wait. And read other entries. I think a lot of them were great. Especially the ones who ended up winning. And while I don't usually compare myself to other artists, I felt like I had to in this particular circumstance. Mostly to lower my expectations so I don't feel bummed out after knowing the results. I knew my chances of winning were very slim since I entered a comic with a format that isn't particularly well regarded, amplified even more by the fact that my entry never even got frontpaged. To be honest, it probably doesn't even deserve it.

Anyways, now that the results are out, what do I make of this whole experience? First of all, I'm not a stranger when it comes to not winning so not winning doesn't bother me much, if at all. Another realization of mine is that maybe I'm not working hard enough. I already know that I'm not that talented since I couldn't do what truly talented artists can at my age, or even younger. Or maybe it's not that I'm not working hard enough. Maybe I'm just slow. I don't really know, only time and hindsight would tell.

What's next for me, then? I don't know. Maybe I could make a new chapter. Maybe I could start a new series altogether. Maybe I could make a game. Lots of maybe's but not one of them is quitting art, that's for sure.

With all of that being said, thanks to all of the judges, thank you Tom Fulp for letting me post more than 10 images, congratulations to all of the winners, and great job to everyone who joined and finished their comic. And to those who read my comic, I hope I didn't waste your time.

This was a fun event, and I'm happy to be a part of it.

Worked on it for a while, but it's here now!

Only a week or so left for the Newgrounds Jump contest, I have to finish my entry fast

Still working on the comic, but once I'm done with it (only a month left to work on it!) I'd like to spend more time learning how to code

I really really really hope I get to publish (and finish this one)

Last year, I set a few goals for myself:

Main Goals:

Publish 10 Chapters of Erebus

Make a themed Wanzu art every month

Optional Goals:

Get Frontpaged

Reach 333 Fans

Do a themed "Drawing every day for 1 month"

Publish Anastasia chapters

Publish different one-shots

Most Important Goal: Be (mostly) happy and have fun living.

Note: Make an update post at the end of the year.

:3

Verdict: I'm quite the failure. I failed almost every goal I set for myself.

Out of ~70 art projects that I uploaded this year, only one got frontpaged (that isn't made in collaboration with other artists). It's still very nice, and I consider this one a success.

Another goal that I achieved was to publish different one-shots. Comics and Random Art Battles 3 made most of them possible.

Did I accomplish the most important goal? I'm reluctant to say yes, but I wouldn't say no either. I suppose I can say yes. My happiness isn't entirely dependent on how much goals I've accomplished.

Other observations:

I'm quite indecisive. I've posted some blog posts about other stuff that I wanted to do but never accomplished most of them. I thought I could maybe trick myself into getting motivated into accomplishing them by posting about them, but it didn't really work. It just made me feel pathetic and lacking in integrity.

Lessons learned (?)

I suck at setting and accomplishing goals. I should either quit doing them, or get more disciplined (though this very statement is a goal itself).

Plans for next year:

• Focus on doing a lot of perspective drawings, and backgrounds.
• Expand my artistic knowledge.
• Like always, do my best to have fun and enjoy living.

Miscellaneous:

Some art that I really enjoyed making:

I enjoyed making all of my artworks with varying degrees and I learn something new with every artwork I make, but but these ones really made me feel like I've learned a thing or two.

Anyways, that's it for my 2024 summary. Thanks for reading. Looking forward to another fun year!

It's a new territory for me... I hope I'll be happy most of the time.

Whenever I was burnt out, a big part of me gets really sad and disoriented. However, recently I feel like I've changed. I was suffering through another burnout, and I feel horrible as usual. But I decided to take my mind off things and watch some shows.

I saw this show called "Pantheon." (I'm going to talk about some spoilers, so if anybody is reading this and doesn't want them, now is the time to ignore this blog)

I thought it was some show about Greek gods because of the name. I was mildly interested, so I gave it a watch. I had a very little idea of what to expect, but it's a very fun show. It aligned with a lot of my interests (immortality, transhumanism, determinism, etc.) and for a moment while watching the show I thought I was done with art and making comics. Not because the show is perfect (as excellent as it was for me, I'm sure it has some flaws), but because I kind of got what I wanted. It's got almost everything that I wanted to put in my own works, but way better. First of all, it's finished. It's got cool action, great setting, very nice characters, and a very entertaining story.

I remember talking a few months ago about the movie "Alien" and how it does what I want to do, but way better. My sentiment about Pantheon is similar, but I guess the difference is I had similar ideas with Alien that I thought would be fun explored in my own comic. But with Pantheon, it's the things that I want to see in a story.

I wasn't really upset that for a moment, I thought that I don't have to make any comics anymore. Though part of me was sad, I was content with it.

The ending was what really got me, not because it was something so profound and life-changing (though I'd say it is, at least for me), but because of what was going through with me and how I related to it.

Unlike Maddie, (or any character in that show) I am not immortal. However, I could really use a lot of time to achieve my dreams. But only after finishing that show made me think about what to do after achieving my dreams. I may be shallow, but when I finished the show, that was my dream that was just fulfilled. There was nothing going forward for me anymore. Creatively speaking.

That was when I realized that all I'm really doing was chasing a dream, thinking that I'd be happy when I get there. I really like Pantheon not because of how it ended, but because of how it got there. The journey being more important than the destination is something that I know, but could not understand. Until now, I think. I didn't really consider burnout as a bad thing, it's natural to be tired. But it is horrible and a halt to progress. But it's also the reason that I got what I wanted. Never have I thought that I would get to the destination that I'm climbing towards in a place away from it. Or maybe I was looking at a treasure map without knowing where I am in the first place. "Now is the best place to be" is also a quote that comes to mind. There's a lot of things to be said.

Anyways, now that I've achieved my dream, I guess I can take as many detours as I want now. Make as many comics as I want without the feeling of a futile pursuit.