48 Hours a day

I haven't made an art summary since 2019!? due to mostly finding only one pic a month a bit unfair to my overall productivity, but I'm approaching it differently this year after rising from a long art slump.

The key things I did to stay motivated was to keep trying something different, even if slightly. This isn't limited to just art as it extends to my fashion and overall lifestyle as well. Going to sleep when things aren't working out is also essential.

January: Starting a new DnD campaign. Burned out since early 2024 wahoooo

OC Brainworm status: N/A. Started Curse of Strahd DnD Campaign near the end of the month.

Art Motivation level: :’)

Things I did differently: Aside from starting a new DnD campaign (my second long term campaign), I bought a new tablet to exclusively use at home while old one stays in the office. This improved my productivity a bit since a drawing tool is now in front of me at all times.

February: Still in art slump but there's an effort to recover

OC Brainworm status: Incubating. Started to find wizard kinda funny but it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.

Art Motivation level: Coloring sometimes… Generally frustrated and in mild pain.

Things I did differently: Tried recording CSP timelapses since I have a powerful PC for it, but I work on both PC and laptop and the latter is not strong enough for files with timelapse recording, so I ended up not using it much :(

March: Did an art challenge very inefficiently

OC Brainworm status: Incubating. Finally got the courage to watch session vods.

Art Motivation level: …Please free me from the GBF Birthday Ticket template

Things I did differently: Took interest in painting stronger light/shadow area, which became fundamental to how I approached art for the rest of the year.

April: Burned out 2: Electric Boogaloo

OC Brainworm status: Strong and spreading. I started to scribble DnD doodles and it only snowballed from there.

Art Motivation level: Could only doodle in b/w after that draining GBF template grind. I’m very proud of the results, but I won’t draw everything at the same time again.

Things I did differently: Learned to dress up more fashionably IRL to add more whimsy to the daily office grind. This surprisingly improved my mood a lot.

I often got complimented for creativity by a few colleagues! This made me better at choosing modern AU outfits for the OCs too!

May: The brainworms are taking over...

OC Brainworm status: Intense. Things happened(TM) in the story. I reached out to @/kriscroix to solidify our OC backstories + got sick with Covid 2: Electric Boogaloo, so I had all the free time to draw and build up OC lore...

Things I did differently: Abandoned all personal project plans to focus on simply having fun. This had fantastic effect on my art motivation. Happily staying up late just to draw type of groove.

Some people work well under pressure, but I already deal with short notice deadlines daily for my job, so I'd rather just do things at my own leisurely pace for hobby ;_; OC zine is still something I want to make eventually.

June: Vacation!!!

OC Brainworm status: Intense. Continued to think a lot about my OC’s backstory and his siblings.

Art Motivation level: Slightly less intense than May. Sketchbook was quickly running out pages, though.

Things I did differently: Went on a vacation to Tokyo with close friends!

I haven't visited Japan in 11 years and the biggest change was definitely the people. It's now bursting with international tourists and people don't hesitate to use English/Google Translate when communication gets difficult… This convenience is nice but omg I kinda miss the Nihongo ojouzudesuneeee. Entered Grandcypher Kitchen alone while my friends went to Monhun bar upstairs LOL. I thought I was losing love in GBF but the fact that I got so emotional I almost cried in a themed restaurant proved otherwise. I just have one drawing hand :(

July: My birth month! Had to do something a little special

Art Motivation level: Unafraid of experimenting, failing and trusting the process for larger pieces. It made me very happy to regain the groove I thought was lost forever ;_;

Things I did differently:

Experimented with movie shot compositions. Learned to stop the urge to include every character’s face in one shot. Drew comic pages again after 3000 years.

August: ART IS FUN!!!

OC Brainworm status: Intense. I ventured into thinking about bad ending timelines. Thanks rae and glas, specifically, for the prompting.

Things I did differently: Reopened my mind to play card and tarot card designs at DnD group’s encouragement. I also started writing mini OC stories during commute. I still don’t write daily but it’s a start.

September: Work hard and cold. OCs soft and cold (stuck in Barovia)

OC Brainworm status: I love them………… Thinking about them helped me get through all the bad days at work.

Art Motivation level: Dropped due to very busy IRL job. Also started to feel held back by my neglected flaws.

Things I did differently: Being too busy for art allowed me to do self critique and recognized the need to refresh my fundamentals of color, value and light. This lesson carried on for the rest of the year.

October: ART IS FUN 2!!!

OC Brainworm status: There is a ton of unposted art from this period through November since they are packed with campaign spoilers :’) One day I shall post them…

Things I did differently: Experimented with limited palettes, movie poster compositions and storybook layout.

November: I guess I breathe DnD now

OC Brainworm status: Imagine demanding another IRL DnD session 4 hours before you need to leave for airport.

Art Motivation level: Very high!!! Very inspired to draw more after reading Ryoko Kui’s Daydream Hour.

Things I did differently: Flew to Indonesia for IRL DnD sessions!!! I drew on shikishi boards again after 2 years!

The DnD sleepover trip was the highlight of November. I'm sure if we all lived close we would have made our regular sessions an IRL one. It's so fun to see your friends' reactions and acting immediately and speak directly to the NPCs/other players in character. These are things can't quite recreate even with webcam on (we don't use it tho).

December: For some reason I keep wanting to use blue

OC Brainworm status: Back to thinking about alternative timelines and bad endings. I drew a few comic pages out of these too lmao

Things I did differently: Experimenting with color choices and perhaps more detail in my shading (sometimes). Got inspired by older manga promotional artworks when traditional painting was the preferred medium. Also properly practicing drawing various NPCs to get out of my comfort zone at the time of writing this.

2025 was a very productive year for my art journey.

I became very active on bsky due to stronger enthusiasm for OC stuff and twitter continuously shitting itself, driving me away from using it entirely at one point. I will never give up drawing as this is my life, but I might have just left online spaces entirely if nobody could see my art.

I've accepted that I cannot artistically thrive in isolation and that's okay. If I was left alone with OC brainworms, I would still be drawing but wouldn't be experimenting or reopening my mind to concepts I've deemed too delicate for my style. DnD group's encouragements and my audiences enjoying the journey truly kept me going.

Big big big thanks to my Curse of Strahd DnD group for being very supportive of my descension back into my true roots - OC hell. They cheered me on for the art I showed them and made fun (affectionate) of my Wizard, on top of being very fun roleplay partners. We would often end each session chatting about what happened and I would contribute drawings as a thanks for the great time. This continued exchanges gradually healed me from the long art slump so I can't thank my friends enough.

Thank you for reading until the end! The world has been ass through out 2025 but despite it all, creatives continue to create as a prove that we are alive and fighting on. The people who appreciate and support our work are also alive and fighting on. Thank you so much for surviving. I'm very glad you are still here.