So this was supposed to be the day I drew something for that dumb Mario animation idea I had in my head, but I have now become hooked on Pokémon

It's funny because although Pokémon was everywhere around me in child-hood, I had surprisingly never indulged in the series as a kid outside of the anime series (and a ton of Dorkly videos). That changed a few days ago when my friends (devoted Pokémon fans) noticed me recently being interested and recommended Pokémon Black for my first game, and to be sincere, I'm having such a blast!

The first 2 gyms were admittedly a little rusty because the systems of Pokémon took a little while of getting used to, i.e., not immediately killing every creature you see, but once the 3rd gym kicked in, that's when the fun truly began!

My current intentions is to record my playthrough of the game and compile it into small episodes for my friends and other people to watch. Suffice to say I've already poured a fuck-ton of hours into the game, so I have some work to do...

Congratulations Pokémon, you have a new fan!

Completely forgot Mario day even existed, so I kind of missed my chance to do art about it. However, it did make me wonder whether I should try making some random Mario animation or something. Nothing big; Just something to introduce me to that sort of thing. That does mean I might have to voice him which'll be fun (and definitely not cursed)

And to update on what I posted previously, I've been scouting for inspiration and have managed to make a pretty confident mood board on what I want to do. Still stuck on a new name and characterisation, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. It also reminded me of what sparked the initial idea of Juno in the first place; Vanny from FNAF Security Breach; Such a waste of a character

Still one of my favourite characters of the series but it still baffles me how badly Vanny was fumbled despite being the supposed future antagonist and having an entire game before-hand to build her up.

Now that I've gotten in the swing of things (and hopefully my motivation won't run off again), I'm thinking of reviving one of my old but favourite OCs of mine: Juno!

The synopsis of her character is a rogue actor who stars as the main character of an iconic kids TV show, a gameshow-themed bunny called Juno. However, after being betrayed by her superiors and fired on the spot, she goes AWOL and vows revenge against the company, later doing so by causing a freak accident and scarring the show's reputation

Now, continuing under the guise of the mascot she once donned long ago, Juno returns to cause mischief and make sure the franchise is buried for good!

This was her first design I drew many months ago, a crudely-coloured, static doodle I gave up on half way, and now that much has passed, I'm thinking of giving her a proper shot. However, I do plan on revising a LOT, including her name, personality, etc., so I expect she'll end up turning into a completely different character if I'm not careful

I also commissioned a few artists to draw her too which I had intended to use for the new redesign, so they'll come in handy when I plan to draw her this week. If I am lucky, she might actually look good this time...

I must admit that I had some doubts as to whether it was worth joining Newgrounds many months ago. While I did know of its existence when I was a teen and saw 1-or-2 things on YouTube which originated from there (pretty much just Hands Up, and Henry stickmin), Newgrounds remained a place I barely interacted with outside playing the odd flash game

I was also told consistently about Newgrounds being the unapologetically edgy, 'anything goes' sort of deal; Basically meaning you were bound to see something you shouldn't if you didn't know what you were doing, so teenage me probably did the smart move of not taking any chances for a long time

Now, I've come to realise that my initial opinions towards Newgrounds were a little unfair and I've actually grown quickly to like it. People are really friendly and supportive to artists who are new, experienced, or rusty like me who've been struggling to keep motivated over the years. It's a nice change of pace being on a platform that truly feels like a community rather than a group of cliques

So, there you have it, the site I kind of avoided for a long time (albeit, for an understandably safe reason) quickly ended up becoming my favourite. Shows me that I really don't know much about the internet despite using it for years

I think I might actually be getting into a rhythm here

Been thinking of changing my main OC a little over the course of the week, mainly the proportions since my primary goal of this character is to convey an "always off-model" shape-shifter sort of vibe since my strengths so far tend to lean towards free-hand drawing. I think the jumper I gave her was probably a little too chunky, so I'll probably make the clothing a little thinner next time

Currently been seeing what I can do by exaggerating her features a little more and will probably try to see if I can make the lineart a little bolder too

After combating a few weeks of self-doubt, I finally managed to publish something I'm proud of. Kind of realised that I shouldn't expect immediate quality and that improvement is simply part of the journey. I'm just glad I was able to make something that I liked for once

I'll probably update my OC's design in the next few days because I plan to include her in some projects I have in mind

Also been making a game design document for something but unlikely that it'll come of anything

So, I've decided to cut down on my caffeine for a few reasons: 1# is because I don't want it to become a dependency, and 2# was because I've slowly just grown out of that kind of stuff since I cared more for the taste than the actual energy part

So far, things have been feeling a lot better despite initially feeling a little drained and hungry; Stress levels have gone down for the moment and sleeping finally feels rewarding for once. Did sort of kill my drive for drawing though, but I have at least attempted to finalize a piece a few times

The biggest issue atm is trying to design an OC that I feel works as a mascot of sorts, one that can represent my accounts. I have a lot of ideas, just not a good way of gluing them together. Once I do though, I wanna do a few random videos on stuff since I've had a sudden itch to play Minecraft again and try that Team Fortress 2 game than everybody totally hasn't heard of

For now, have a sketch of an OC I quickly abandoned after my friend became angry at me for taking so long with it:

Past few weeks have been a little hollow and tiring with me becoming a lot more drained than I used to be. Booking some time off from work might be in order. Anyways, I've been a bit too busy to get around to completing anything (what fun) but I've at least reserved some time to organise what I plan to do this month hobby-wise:

Firstly and foremost, the Mega Man 8 video will be shelved for another time because I'm considering scaling down to something closer to my comfort zone which is also more appropriate to my current interests. As for art, I'm still warming up to a tablet, but I think I can get something done by the weekend. Don't know what it will be, but it'll be something... I hope...

(Damn it, I've been on this platform for a short while and I have yet to do something with it...)

After sitting on the idea for a few days, I decided to get myself a drawing tablet with a bigger screen, sorting on an XP Pen 15.6 which was on a very good offer. It arrived in the evening and I hope to practice a little more with it in the upcoming week, but my god, it finally feels comfortable to draw! Goes to show how a few extra inches of screen real-estate makes a difference. Also comes with a stand as well which is pretty neat.

Already, my line confidence has built up quite a bit and curves are much easier to do. With my previous one, it did feel like I was fighting against it at times. It's actually been giving me motivation to draw again...

Before I do anything big, my plan is to do a few drawings for a Mega Man 8 video project I intend to do for February; Currently thinking of a thumbnail and a reference to TADC but with Astro man

It's almost fate that I always get some sort of issue whenever I plan to do something...

Randomly got some severe wrist pain early last-night up until lunch time. It's still a bit raw but nowhere near as painful as it was. As a silver lining, I was able to record all the footage I needed for a video project and I am at least still able do some drawing warm ups for the rest of the day.

Still sucks that nothing I do goes as planned though...