#botanotical

Hi Sable!! Happy New Year to you too, apologies for only just seeing this; this was so kind of you to send and really lovely to see in my inbox!!

I didn't manage to make a whole lot of art last year, but I am pleased with the ones I did manage to make. I think above all of them, my favourite would have to be the piece I did for Dazai's birthday! I really enjoyed creating this piece, I had been struggling to feel motivated and inspired as an artist for a short while prior to making it, but for some reason the process for that one flowed very organically for me and I'm still very pleased with the end result! I think it embodies a lot of my goals as an artist regarding emotion and atmosphere, and was a suitable homage to both the character and the writer.

Another that stands out for me is my art of Ranpo from the Untold Origins light novel. This piece is quite a dark and personal one, but I think the end result is very evocative and dips into the waters of abstraction which I have been rather keen to explore through my artwork. I believe I have improved technically quite a bit since sharing that art (almost exactly a year ago!) and I sometimes grimace at the messier aspects of it, but I think it conveys a raw and specific emotion that ended up speaking to not only me, but a lot of the people who saw it - which was certainly a pleasant surprise.

Also, seeing as you mentioned it, I feel really pleased with the piece I shared most recently of Oda! I really enjoy creating art that is referential to pieces from art history (and Sable, I really see you as a master of this in the bsd fandom asfdgsdfgs - I still haven't recovered from your Soukoku redraw of The Fall and I believe I'm behind on some of your recent works!!) - this was my first time really sharing one and drawing it was very fun and engaging. The Dark Era and similarly the relationship between Dazai and Oda are two of my favourite things about Bungou Stray Dogs, so I wanted to acknowledge this in a meaningful way, while also working on improving my handling of composition. I put a lot of symbolism into that illustration and it was also nice to pander to my interest in graphic design while doing so by making it look like a mock-up for a poster or book/movie cover. The direct reference to the Friedrich painting came rather naturally - it feels fitting for Oda's character, particularly during that specific arc. Similarly, the visual of Dazai's hand reaching out was a direct nod to the anime, and the instance of Dazai doing so not long before the culmination of the narrative. It's a moment that struck me personally when I watched it, and resonated with me enough to depict it like this; it perhaps adds another layer of meaning to the artwork when one considers it to be from the perspective of Dazai.