An unexpected surge of inspiration

I don't normally share my emotional state, but I have to admit that I've been going through some… interesting months. Maybe you noticed the lack of art, which is another result of this slump. I've been struggling a lot with finding the motivation to continue the artistic endeavor I started almost three years ago, and it pains me to say that at my lowest, I thought quitting wouldn't make a difference at all.

That said, even if things haven’t completely improved in my personal life, I do feel a bit better now—partly because the last piece I uploaded was received much better than I had hoped for. That gave me a surge of inspiration, and I’ve started working on the next pairing: Rogue and Andromeda, which I hope you’ll be seeing soon enough.

Yesterday, while browsing TVTropes (a habit I’ve been trying to quit, since I tend to spend too much time there), I discovered that Akemi from How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? had a drastic change in appearance in one of the volumes. Not one to be left in the dark, I dug a little deeper and came across this manga panel:

I also checked out the manga chapters, and wow—was I impressed! I did a muscular version of Akemi when I first started this page and thought I could have done better, but even now, with more experience, I don’t think I would have come up with something this good. I’ve mentioned it before, but I absolutely love it when this kind of muscle growth happens in-universe. Honestly, the whole reason I organized the Western Animation contest was because of Evil-Lyn’s amazing physique at the end of the Netflix series. Another reason this blew my mind is that even with crazy science and magic, nothing beats exercise-based muscle growth. Of course, this one is exaggerated for comedic purposes, but I definitely love it when we see that progression from lean to muscular.

On a related note, I have a special project planned once I finish the current set of illustrations. Don’t worry—it’s still tied to the figure division, and I think you’ll enjoy it once you see it. It’s something similar to what happens in the previously mentioned manga, and it’s been on my mind for the past few days. I want it to be as impactful as that chapter has been for me, so you can bet I’ll be working extra hard on this one.

Thank you for your patience with my ramblings and for your continued support!