2024 Art Summary

And, for the last day of the year, I get to publish my first ever art review!

When I decided to try the 'one art a month' project, I had a few goals set in mind. I'd largely got a good grasp of anatomy from my Zinktober works and over time got a fair grasp of linework, starting to move into colour. My main aim going forward then was to focus and carry on with developing my colouring style (in particular, I wanted one that complimented my lineart style, rather than just masking over it) along with shading and backgrounds.

Given this, I accepted that going in I'd be doing some tracing works, most likely from past Zinktober arts. I'd also be doing a few none Zoot pieces, for instance in February a discord I was on was hosting a new icon competition, and (having past pixel art experience) I really wanted to give it a go. Similarly, for Pride Month, I had the idea of doing the 'Pride Flag in the Style of the Holy Roman Empire', something that's garnered reactions such as 'This can make you gay by osmosis' and 'This is literally a war crime'. (Both the highest praise XD).

Going through the year though, there were big limits that came in. Time, as always, is a factor, with some very busy work for me. There was also a lot of work I've been doing on my house and my ongoing fic, which generally took priority (Notably in November, where I got my 50K words in). That isn't to say I didn't have some big stretches of free time, for instance in June I had plenty of free time and so did my Roxanne and Loona comic (my first one). But for a few months I had a real catch up to do, or resorted to quick artworks/ traces. I also got a full on draw-on drawing tablet midway through the year and, starting with the August piece, it took a little while to re-adjust and rework through my style.

Overall? With more time, I'd have hopefully got more practice. As you can see, landscape work got nowhere. Likewise, it's taken a while to focus and start getting down my style and working on my technique, especially in relation to lighting and shading. Time crunches and rushes, spending time on other stuff like the comic, and figuring out the right brushes took time. But, by the end, I feel that with my brushes set and work order figured out, I'm in a good position. I have some really solid new ideas for art pieces in the future and hopefully some more time will open up next year to develop them with work around my house and on my fics wrapping up. At the same time, particularly with Decembers piece, I think I've been woken up to the real benefits of direct study. So you may well be seeing more of those in the future.

I think this has all really been worth it, I'm in a good position here, and am looking forward to what might come next. And, which one is my favourite? I think I peaked early with March and April's... I think the latter is the more grand and impressive, but I do love how the shading and colour came out in the former. But December's, as a quick study, also makes me REALLY happy, given that it does feel like the moment where there styles and techniques I'd been working with for the whole year (most notably starting in August) just come together and click.