doodleplaid

Hiya! It's been a long time, huh? 

I've begun the process of rebranding my channels in anticipation that I will be more active from now on. I now go by DOODLEPLAID on all platforms. 



Life's always somewhat of a rollercoaster. At times I step back from everything and ask myself: Where and when did I feel a sense of belonging? Where was I and what was I doing when I was happiest? The moment I remember being most peaceful was at my parent's home in the aftermath of a hurricane. There was no electricity and the roads were unusable, so I was home from school and mostly cut off from the rest of the world. Aside from cleaning up the debris left by the storm, I had nothing to do, so I spent a solid 4 days drawing and beginning personal projects; accountable to no one. That was the happiest time for me, and it was in the midst of the lousiest time in my life: I was suffering frequent anxiety attacks and wondering how the hell I was going to get through the rest of my life in the miserable state I was in... if only I'd known then that the internet would give me online grocery shopping and remote work opportunities to where I'd never have to see another living soul ever again, I could have devoted all my energy to the things I was good at and focused less on all the things I was bad at!

The mental obstacles were soon replaced by physical ones: full-time work, illness, fatigue, the pressure to "succeed" in a traditional career. At various times I've tried to forget about making my art because it's difficult and there's little reward for it. I never succeed at this. I acknowledge that in my condition and situation it can be very hard to make art, but visions of the things I want to make haunt me all the time. I imagine that even in "success", I'll always regret the creative things I never finished or, worse, never started. So in the new year, I renew my commitments to improving myself and making art. I want to learn lots of things, make lots of things, and return to selling on the convention circuit in 2019. It would have been much better to start this mission several years ago, but as the saying goes: It would have been better to plant a tree several years ago, but the second best time is now.

Oh, I made other new years <strikeout>delusions</strikeout> resolutions of course... maybe these look familiar?: make more art, read more books, make more money, learn to program, develop a game, yada yada... but something tells me that this year... might really be the year I make good on it. My health is improving and I have a supportive significant other. If there ever was a time to make good, that time is now.

Coming soon to doodleplaid 

(the mission list for 2018 )

• Concept sketches, art, and sprites for [the game] I've been planning with my brother (who is now a software engineer!)
  
• Character sheets for all of my original characters 
• Gothic Lolita drawings for postcard prints
• fanart prints... I have drawn soooo many illustrations I never finished because I never learned how to make them the way I wanted them to look
• personal collage pieces (I love art journaling)
• original character art trades where I experiment with different mediums and techniques

I am so bad at keeping my dA active. I have been drawing a lot, but I hate to always upload things to dA that are not refined or finished. I've been dumping my sketches onto an instagram.  

Life hasn't been so exciting. I'm living that typical post-grad millennial life where I'm underemployed and living with my parents. I work between 40 and 50 hours a week. I can't complain much. My coworkers are pretty nice and I'm not struggling to get by. The only complaint I really have is that I haven't had time or energy to work on professional or personal development so that I can move into a better job. I've had this past year and a half to really consider what I'd LIKE to do, but I suppose I still haven't quite figured it out. I just tend to take whatever job comes my way. I suppose I need to take some risks and expand my horizons. I don't have much confidence. A friend came by today to give me an intro to Adobe Illustrator. I was thinking of taking some graphic and web design courses at a community college, but I don't have much of a bedrock. I'm glad that I've been able to keep in touch with some creatives I've gone to school with. They keep me motivated to learn and expand.

I've been very tired, though I am doing a bit better lately. I was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. I sort of suspected it for some time, but this week, my blood test confirmed it. I did more tests, so now I'm waiting for those results. I hope it's nothing too serious. Dr. House's voice is in the back of my head, saying, "It's not lupus. It's never lupus!" Well, I don't think it's lupus, but I'm not sure what it could be. I've had to stop eating most grains because of inflammation, and I'm trying to cut back on sugar and other inflammatory foods as well.

Hope you are all doing well today. I miss you guys!

WHY DO ALL MY STROKES LOOK LIKE SHOELACES 

I'M GOING TO SCREAM 

Paint Tool SAI is the worst example of it; with Photoshop I barely get any taper at all

I guess I have to go through my PC and remove every trace of my Graphire4 beyond just reinstalling drivers... if that doesn't work, I just don't know LOL

I don't really know what to draw lately. TIME FOR A 100 THEME CHALLENGE.

Uploads forthcoming.