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MagLjudik

2023: Year in review

The year went by so fast, it's incredible. It's time to look back for a minute and summarize it.

There's a lot of good and bad about this year, and I'll try to balance the bad out with the good.

I finished around 130+ arts this year, which is not so much, but for a hobby artist - it's acceptable, maybe even good. I'm happy with improved quality on many pieces. Furthermore, I have started experimenting with my style and pipelines again. The only thing I still lack is fundamentals. I just cannot get through them due to my workflow and "trial and error" mindset. Further, I opened a gallery here and on Bluesky and significantly grown my Twitter follower count.

I made quite a few friends this year, some of them are good artists. Also, it turns out, there are actually a few genuine Valekid fans out there. And trust me, I'm not going to leave this love without a response. <3

I upgraded my PC and workspace, making it almost perfect for both art, fun and remote work and I managed to score myself a good apartment for next year.

Overall, if we don't touch my mental health, 2023 was a very good year. But...

A lot of stuff I planned for 2023 didn't go well, which is to be expected. I'm still as distractible as ever, so I'm either overworking or overprocrastinating. Despite my promises to keep commissions and CuriousCat open, I had to drop them, with only a few slots open for my friends. I also tried to stop doing gift art for my friends for a while - and broke that too during December. The comic I started is still on rough sketch stage and I want to redo it.

Mentally, 2023 was the worst year for me since 2017. I went through severe depressions due to my extremely poor and lacking social and private life. And only by the end of the year I came to accept this situation and tried to make the best of it. Remember, online friends are good, but everyone needs a real friend or two - someone you can spend time with now and then.

I learned a lot from the mental hardships of this year, and I'm ready to go forward. I'm gonna leave a lot of shit behind me and move on.

So, what's for 2024? On paper, it looks good. I will soon move to a new home, closer to everything, including my job. More accessible for others to visit and for me to travel from. Shortly after, I will be attending NordicFuzzCon to have fun and help out (I'm planning to join their STEW for 2025! :3) and last but not least, I'm going to visit USA for the first time!

But that's all the highlights. What's for the rest of it? Nothing unusual - art, programming, games, trying to learn mindfulness and healthy pausing and maintain relationships with friends.

Now, to all of you, my dear followers and friends. A huge thanks for being a part of this year and my life in general. Thanks for all the likes, reposts, comments and feedback! I wish you all a happy new year and I hope to be a part of it! <3

Also check art recap in my gallery :3
Viewed: 6 times
Added: 4 months ago
 
argonvile
4 months ago
Sounds like a good year! I'm glad you're taking care of yourself and keeping tabs on your mental health.

Personally I think free gift art isn't a healthy way to work, because it compulses your friends and fans to ask for art even if they wouldn't normally want it. After all, if they like your art, and they're your friend, of course they'd ask for free art right? ...Well, personally I think it's healthier to have a barrier in the way, whether it's a raffle, or a price, or a schedule or something where people who aren't interested have a socially gracious way of saying "Oh no thanks, I'm not interested" without seeming rude.

130 is a crazy amount of art so don't sell yourself short! I've had years where I was perfectly happy just drawing 50 or so pictures, and I was like "wow I got so much done this year!" Art takes a lot of time and finishing that many pictures shows a lot of dedication to your craft so good job.

I'm excited to hear that 2024 is looking good too, I hope all of your plans work out!
MagLjudik
4 months ago
Regarding art for friends, for years I felt it is more of my own self-confidence/skill issue and kind of self-promotion too. Not the best kind, I know. Raffles seem to drag in very low participant count, and so do commissions, so... I kinda decided I'll drop it and draw for myself and for fun. It will take time for me to stop wanting to increase the audience and draw for friends, but I feel it's the better way to go if I can't dedicate more time to art than I already do and want to improve.

130 is rough number, I think if I count the WIPs I started but did not yet finish, my WIP comic per panel and a few arts I only share privately, I think I'd count up to 180 or maybe even 200. I really shouldn't ask myself for more.

Thank you for all your warm comments and I wish you great 2024 <3
argonvile
4 months ago
yes, happy 2024 to you too :)
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