I've been on dA for 15 years, um, starting yesterday. I was 14 years old and still drawing with a mouse. That Xmas I got a Wacom Graphire 3 and that changed everything. I'd like to post what I consider my most memorable pieces by year. So much history I just wanna share with you all.
2003
This has been dug out of the archive many times but it's one of the few oekaki drawings I have left that was mouse drawn. Even today it brings back fond memories. It's crap compared to what I can do now but we all gotta start somewhere.
Oh yeah, and this craptacular Charizard that somehow survived an HDD crash.
2004
Some of the first drawings done with the Graphire3. More oekaki, of course, since it was all I had access to use. Photoshop wasn't even in my vocabulary yet!
It was also the year I bought my first set of Prismacolor pencils. It was the 72 set. That was an awesome summer learning how to use these things. I never knew pencils could do this at that age.
2005
Attempted actual digital painting in 2005. Back then we all called it 'lineless drawing'. We were such noobs. I got a lot of miles out of those oekaki boards and did some cool stuff despite the limitations. The computer was also upgraded from a Windows '98 Gateway to a 2005 Dell with Windows Vista.
And my first chibi!
More Prisma work!
2006
Learned how to use other programs other than oekaki. Still used oekaki a majority of the time though. Backgrounds also started improving.
And still messed around with traditional materials. I can't just give up traditional tools. Tried out pastels, watercolor, acrylic, marker, and messed around more with the Prismas. Kinda didn't like the pastels. Maybe I'll revisit pastel drawing someday. I became friends with Bristol paper too. We've been inseparable ever since.
2007
The year I graduated High School and the last 'happy' year for a long time. Oekaki use was winding down drastically. Photoshop and OpenCanvas were taking over. Late 2007 my dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Drawing also slowed down a bit.
Lots of painting this year! And a weird sculpture.
2008
Lots of digital work in Photoshop. I was learning the program and took to it well. My dad also died late 2008. A lot of weird art will show up between 2008 and beyond because of it.
Probably the only traditional work worth showing from this year.
2009
A lot more digital art in Photoshop! Also buried my pain from the previous year in drawing. Pretty much became an art machine to distract myself. Also met two people who would change my life dramatically at the end of 2009. One became my current boyfriend and the other, not sure what to say about him.
Sketched a lot with traditional tools. Learned how to love sketching in ink to prevent too much erasing. Best decision ever.
2010
The last year the Graphire 3 was in use. It broke that summer/fall. I bought a medium Intuos 4 that October so it was all better.
ACEO/ATC fun! I should do more one of these days...
2011
It was a creature-y type of year. Lots of skill upgrades while still breaking in the new tablet.
And lots more sketches!
2012
Another bad year. Full blown depression started to hit. A certain event happened. I'm still mad at myself for letting it ruin the past few years of my life. Fuck 2012. But. The coolest art came from that year. So it wasn't all bad, in retrospect.
Traditional art became fun again.
2013
And more cool digital art came about in 2013. A lot of Red Straggler concepts too.
2014
Did a collab, joined a Monster Hunter contest, worked on Olav's stupid face and busted out a comic so fast I still wonder how the hell I did it. Still working on the redo, though. I didn't forget! Life just happened.
Creature sketches, oh my!
2015
Got serious with character design based on a critique. So glad it happened too. It made my art more interesting in the long run. Oh yeah and Olav's stupid face again.
Pokemon! Dinosaurs! Dragon...killers! I should revisit the dragon impaler. That was a fun one.
2016
Reevaluated my digital art process, started Schoolism classes, and just tried to git gud.
Also started my Copic collection. Been in love ever since.
2017
Retired my medium Intuos 4 for....A CINTIQ. Learned a lot of stuff and my digital art process started changing for the better.
Copics
2018
It was another rough year. Started antidepressents and therapy. The beginning of the year wasn't productive at all. Just focused on my mental health. It paid off though. The last part of 2018 I went on a drawing binge. Felt sooooo goooood. Made new friends and learned Krita in a weekend. Also am currently trying to incorporate more value work into my digital and traditional pipeline to colorize. So much less of a headache.
Copics and inks and pencils and spaceships
Oh. And Olav's stupid face again.
All in all, I hope to continue to keep learning as the years go by. I do not regret pursuing art as a hobby and possible career choice. It has helped me out in the past over the good and bad times. Especially the bad. We'll see how far I go in the years to come and if I ever get one piece out there in a MtG set.