Here is a timeline of my art progression, starting from 2007. Previously, all of these pieces were condensed into one image, but as the years have gone by, that’s become increasingly difficult due to the amount of text and the rising number of years I’ve made art. Please enjoy scrolling down this page, which now includes (slightly) more information about some of my favourite work.
2007
My first year of middle school; most of my sketchbooks were used as notebooks. I tended to mess around with new styles, which is a fancy way of saying that I read a lot of ‘How to Draw Manga’ books from the library and internalized them. I think it’s really neat to look back at this and remember how much fun I had making art.
this is a self portrait, so if you wanted to know what I looked like in 2007, here you go
2008
This is the year I actually started reading manga (from the library) and watching anime (from DVDs loaned to me by friends). Shout out to Fruits Basket and Death Note! This was also the year of Twilight, as you can see. I still kept experimenting with my artistic ‘style,’ which took me a long time to figure out.
Viewers of my previous art progression pieces will note that there is one image missing from this bunch, which is due to a very large, very legible signature of a name I don’t use anymore. I still own all these sketchbooks, so one day I’ll probably get a new photo to replace the one that’s missing.
obligatory demon catboy OC
2009
I got really into using coloured pencils this year. I still drew a lot of anime/manga style art, but who among us didn’t draw big anime eyes on all of our school assignments?
Regular viewers will note another missing piece, this one containing the deadname of a dear friend. While he’s never made any comments about the drawing’s inclusion in previous years, it still feels weird putting it on my own website. So, it is no more! Yet another replacement to find in the future.
i attempted to turn her into a sculpture in art class
2010
While still drawing big ol’ anime eyes, things started changing ever so slowly. I feel bad; there’s not much to note about this year. I think because this was my first year of high school, not much happened art-wise. I did start working on more structured face shapes, so that’s something.
2011
Still the usual coloured pencil manga-esque work, with the addition of cats, sometimes! I’ve been a diehard Warrior Cats fan from elementary school, but at this point, the Omen of the Stars arc was really starting to pick up, hence the desire to draw cats.
I used to draw MSPaint cat pictures for the Warrior Cats forums, which are sadly lost to time, but this is the first time I dedicated myself to drawing them on paper instead. I quickly gave up, only to return to it years later.
this was one of my favourite things I’d ever made at this point
2012
I had more fun with original characters this year, and my style started slowly shifting. A lot of pieces from this time are a little cringe, but this is the stuff I was proudest of back then. And I was still focused on learning an having fun.
still one of my favourite drawings!
2013
During the summer of this year, I got my first Wacom tablet, which I took to school with me every day. While it didn’t exactly rocket me into popularity, it was still a novelty. It took me a while to get the hang of using it, but now I almost exclusively do digital art.
2014
I did a lot of experimenting with digital techniques this year, just trying to get a better hang of how to use my tablet. I graduated from high school and started college, and I think this is also the year I LEGALLY OBTAINED Paint Tool Sai, and had fun learning that. I’m pretty sure that also gave my computer a virus, which I wiped my computer to get rid of, and switched to using Fire Alpaca.
Also, Homestuck happened.
2015
I did a lot of work on portraits and shading this year. As you can see, I pretty much only drew people at this point (shout out 3/4 left-facing portraits!), but that does change in the future. This is also the first time I put actual work into drawing multiple people kind of/sort of interacting with each other.
I was also in college this year, so I didn’t make as much art as I wanted.
i did this portrait as an anniversary gift for two of my friends
2016
At this point, I was finally comfortable drawing a bunch of people together in a way that didn’t look awkward anymore. I also got a little more daring with how I posed people when I drew them, and got more confident with colour. I also did a watercolour painting, which was a big focus in a number of my college classes.
I also got very inspired by Lisa DuBois, and it was a nice experiment! I actually I have a drawing of myself she did for me pinned on my wall now, which I think 2016 me would die for!
thought it’s weird and random, it’s the greatest fandom…
2017
It’s officially been ten years since I started actively cataloging my art, and I made a lot of big improvements this year. Looking back, I think this is the first year I started working on two important things: digital painting, and drawing things other than people. And I think I succeeded! I also got more interested in how colours work together, and had fun playing with that in my work.
i painted this while staying overnight at a job while construction was being done
2018
So my notes on this year say that I was trying to focus on realism which, looking back, I can’t really see. I think that might be referencing the body types I drew, but my faces were (and still are) quite stylized. I put a lot more focus on making more dynamic pieces, both with the movement of the character and the colours I used. I really like looking back at this year; I definitely started taking my art more seriously.
2019
For the first time, I stopped trying to mimic other artists’ styles. While I still draw inspiration from artists I admire, I got a lot more confident in my own personal style, and looked for ways to improve on what I already had.
I also returned to canvas painting for the first time in years. The painting included here was one I did to help come to terms with my Trichotillomania, which is something I still struggle with even now.
2020
Ah yes, the year from hell! I decided to just do whatever I wanted, and got very experimental with my art. I made a lot of good pieces, and I really feel like I was able to improve in a lot of aspects. My shading style got quite painterly, which is still how I shade now.
I also got my first iPad and started using Procreate this year!
2021
From this point on, I feel like my art just keeps getting better and better. While I started making fewer pieces, I spent more time on each piece I made. I also started working on poster design, which is one of my favourite things to do now. My shading style changed and evolved to be a little more natural, but I’d still consider it to be in the ‘painterly’ style.
i made the background for this with photo-bashing and gradient maps
2022
Despite all the progress made with my art, I got really caught up in the cycle of feedback from posting on social media, which made creating art difficult for a while. After taking a break from social media, I came back ready to create! My compositions got a lot better, and I put a lot of work into placing characters inside of ‘scenes.’
the poster for the first arc of
Hard to Starboard!
2023
Well, this year was terrible. I made art in short bursts, and while the pieces I made are good, and show a lot of progress, it was a fight from January to December.
I made a handful of posters, which took weeks to finish around my job and other general life-things, but I do think I’ve found my passion. I love comics, but there’s something really satisfying about conveying a lot of information in just one image.
the poster for the second arc of
Hard to Starboard!
