Ignore what it says at the top of my profile; I had another account before this one. I first joined DA in December of 2005. I remember being terrified to post anything, because I wasn't used to showing my art to other people. I had previously posted some drawings on Elfwood and had it all taken down because they weren't fantasy enough, and was afraid of something similar happening here. Luckily, I found it to be a (mostly) good experience, and have stuck around ever since.
I owe a lot to DA. I've started many friendships here, met my husband here, discovered lots of art that has influenced me to this day...A lot of people talk shit about DA, and yeah, it's got its shitty corners, I don't deny that. I've written many journals over the years detailing my irritation at certain aspects of this site. But I don't run into those things as often these days. I'd say DA is my favorite website/the one where I spend most of my time and where I feel most comfortable.
Things have changed a lot since I first joined here. I'm making art in a professional capacity now, rather than just drawing and showing off the characters I come up with. In a way, that's good, because it shows that I've grown and have progressed with my art. On the other hand though, part of me misses the simplicity of those days. When art was just a hobby that I did after work, I was comfortable with pretty much whatever I happened to come up with. Nowadays, I've got this whole ~ideal~ in mind that I'm constantly striving to achieve, an image I'm trying to project, and I can't help viewing everything I make with this overly critical eye that's never satisfied with anything. Sigh.
HOWEVER. If I were to make a New Year's resolution this year, it would be to do more 'just for fun' art, maybe one per week. So maybe I can have the best of both worlds, after all. (Let's see if I actually remember to do it
)Since I already kind of covered my thoughts on my 2015 in my art progress meme, I won't repeat myself here. I'll just say that this was the first year I've had in a long time that I wasn't relieved to see the end of. Not that I'm dreading the future or anything- anything but. I think 2016 will be an excellent year (at least, I'm hoping it will be). I find the fact that I reached the end of this year without feeling run down and utterly wasted by the passage of time is a good sign.
I hope all of you have a happy and safe New Year's, and look forward to all the art we will make in the coming year.
