2026 New Year's Writeup

Usually for the new year I write a little summary of what I've accomplished this year and reiterate the reason why I made this site and my gripes about being a hobby artist. Hard to believe that the first new year's I celebrated on this site was 4 years ago!!! Usually I get to list a bunch of projects/pieces I've finished and I get to use that as a backup for my argument that you don't have to draw every day to improve your art skills.

This year is a little different unfortunately. Until very recently I was going to a college where I didn't get to decide how many classes I take per semester, and I was hit with medical issues which made me tired 24/7! It was honestly a really slow and frustrating year when it comes to art. I've backtracked quite severely on my drawing and singing skills, and I was really proud of where they were before I started college. I've found that drawing is the backbone of pretty much every other art medium I do, so this has bummed me out a lot! I also feel like I've lost the skills needed to streamline the process of wanting something > actually making it. I find that when I am in the middle of working on something, it's easy to enjoy it and keep going, but if I'm not already actively working on it, I feel scared to start because I'm afraid I'll be worse at it than I remember, and I just don't feel focused enough. The focus and motivation aspects were something that I had worked very hard to maintain-- whenever I wanted to make something, I organized my life so that I could just start doing it, and that became habitual. Now I am certainly out of practice.

Despite all of that, I don't think that my lack of progress this year really undermines my philosophy about hobby art. Making art is a habit, just like any other skill. Habits can be rebuilt. And along the way I've found that taking a break from certain media has improved other skills! I'm soooooooooo close to FINISHING a video game. You heard that right folks. If you've known me for any length of time you'll know that I've started many a video game, and I have never finished one. But I realized after leaving that certain college and learning the Godot game engine that I totally had all of the mental focus and programming ability to actually make a game I've tried to make several times in the past. And it's almost done!
I've also taken up crochet this year, which has opened to door to so many projects and ideas. It's something that I enjoy doing so much! While drawing and this website has taken a temporary backseat in my life I have not lost my love of creation. And I'm confident, even though sometimes I get scared, that whatever skill I was able to build up before, I will be able to build up again, be it with drawing or anything else. This year, even though it was certainly the least artistic progress I've ever had, was not lost. I believe that the time away from art has consolidated other skills, which I can now use to further my art in the future. It sounds kind of hokey but truly, improvement is a mindset, and it is useless (and goes against my real-world lived experiences) to believe that I can't get to where I was before.