Mar 29, 2026 • Flop Era
Current Listening: Suede - Animal Nitrate
Site is now live which makes me happy! Success ＼(*T▽T*)／ﾔｯﾀｰ!
...what's not so successful is my art lately Σ(°ロ°) It's that time of year where it feels like everything I draw looks like muddy garbage. I spent 12 hours on the piece mentioned in the previous entry only to feel like it was an unsalvageable waste of time, oof. I'll include it in my art summary for 2026 since it's the only thing I made this month, but I'm not happy about it...that means it's time to grind fundamentals again.
I've spent a lot of time these past months focused on rendered pieces that take a lot of time and use an amalgamation of reference photos. What I want to be able to do is create quicker drawings with nice lineart, in a style that I can use for things like comics. I've had success in the past with Naoki Saito's method of improvement. If you're not interested in watching the video, the tl;dr is to choose an artist you like and make pieces inspired by them for three months. The intention isn't to copy their art directly, but to copy their style. Make a piece → compare it with the artist → pick one thing you need to improve on to make your art closer to your chosen artist's → grind that topic with studies until you feel confident → start again.
When I've told people about this method, it's been met with some apprehension. All artists want to make art that feels original to them, and this seems like it goes against that. However, it wasn't like my previous skill level/tastes/hand-eye coordination completely went away. They were still influencing the outcome of my art no matter how hard I tried to scrub them out during the process. I found that the method was more just a way to give myself a roadmap for improving things like anatomy and colour usage, with the artist of choice being a reference point for achieving those fundamentals in a style that appealed to me.
I won't say which artist I used as a reference point in the past (because my art is so much more weaker than theirs lol), but I did manage to stick to the program and felt like I made great improvements that I simply wouldn't have made otherwise. It's difficult to choose one artist (and the program does stress that it has to be one artist), but I'll try to scope out my next rolemodel and begin the program in earnest starting next month. Not having social media anymore is nice for this kind of thing, because I don't have to feel bad about not constantly posting art. I can do studies at my own pace („• ᴗ •„)
Mar 28, 2026 • Bathed in Blood
Current Listening: 中村隆之 - 神仙舜帝 [Shun's Theme from Virtua Fighter 2]
Someone gave me fake blood* so I decided to use it to make a unique reference for a portrait I'm drawing. I took the picture and began to draw with the reference beside the canvas, but it was kind of difficult to constantly look at my own face. Then I closed the reference picture, but no matter how many facial features I altered, I still kept seeing myself...
*This person isn't even someone I'm close to, but they told me, "I was cleaning my place and found this and it seems like something you'd be into." When you do edgelordery, the edgelord comes back to bite.
Mar 22, 2026 • "Look at me enjoying something"
Current Listening: The Jesus and Mary Chain - Happy When It Rains
I had a call with a friend that I hadn't spoken to in ages yesterday. He's had some absurd premonitions in the past that ended up coming true...Anyways, the reason for the call was a fairly heavy topic, but it ended on a light note. He told me that good things were coming my way soon and that despite me feeling like a loser at this current moment in time, I'm not. I'm trying not to put too much stock into magical thinking, but I'd like to believe that this premonition of his will come true, just like the others have ♡
Mar 21, 2026 • #1
Current Listening: ROSSO - シャロン
First entry in my little log ٩(•͈ ꇴ •͈)و ̑̑❀! It's been a pretty rainy and low-key spring here so far, but I've been enjoying it. Super moodie.
I wanted to make this website for a while, but it took me deleting my social media account to have the impetus to work on it. I won't get too into the weeds about my experience with social media because all the talking points about why it's bad are old news at this point (this essay does a pretty good job at articulating my own points of contention, particularly the first half). However, it's still wild to me how much brighter I feel since getting off that train ミ☆
Even when I had my account deactivated for periods of time, it always felt like an albatross around my neck. Fully deleting it on the other hand feels like the unchained guy in the sunset meme lol. My internet usage is a lot more normal now, and on top of that, the days feel longer and I'm getting better sleep. Sounds a bit ridiculous, but I swear I'm not lying! I do think there's actually some people who can thrive in a social media enviornment, but I don't think I'm one of them. My grandparents were peasant farmers, so I think a part of my brain is still genetically on that wavelength lmao. Regardless, I don't regret making my account because I still managed to make some nice online pals (♥♥♥) and learn via first-hand experience that it's not for me.
I used to journal constantly, but stopped for a few years because it felt like I had nothing worthwhile to write about anymore. "I'm sad so I just doomscrolled for hours after coming back home from my shitty job that I hate"x1000 would probably be the average diary entry. However, a part of me misses both journaling and blogging, so it felt weird not to have this section on my website! I hope that having a blog like this can help me get back into the habit of finding little sparks of interest in my life to discuss‧₊˚.