Admin Post: Community Check-In for December 2021

[goss]

Today's the last day of December, and 2021!, and we'd love to have you check in and chat with us. It's always a busy time of year. How have things been with you this past month?

Did you sign up for or take part in any fandom activities in December, or have you been working on any personal art projects? Are you currently trying to meet a deadline? Feel free to share upcoming challenges that have got you excited, any frustrations you've been experiencing, possible goals for the next month, and so on. :)

You are also welcome to share your Year In Review posts, including artworks created and other accomplishments this past year.

Happy New Year, everyone! \o/

Comments

[goss]

I had a couple weeks off work this month, and had a lot of fun doing crafting and making things by hand. I created some fannish tree ornaments, as well as experimented with pressed flower art.

Also did a lot of baking and tried cookie decorating with piped royal icing for the first time. ^__^

[mific]

Yay, cookies! Hope you've had a nice break.

[goss]

It was too short! *cries* :b

drawing

[oldtoadwoman]

I filled up three sketchbooks this year and yet still have the vague feeling that I didn't do much. Very little of it was original art in my own style. I just didn't have the energy or inspiration and so I fell back on simple cartoon studies. (I like to claim them as "studies" instead of "copies" as I do think they've helped me learn how to simplify ideas.)

what I did this year that I think of as "my style" (left) versus what I mostly filled my sketchbooks up with this year (right)

Re: drawing

[mific]

Aw, those are some cute caricatures!

Re: drawing

[oldtoadwoman]

Thanks! I've found that following "how to draw" tutorials aimed at children has been good art therapy for me this year. Even if they don't come out perfect, they always come out cute (and I've really needed the cheer).

Re: drawing

[goss]

Wow, filling three whole sketchbooks is EXCELLENT! *applauds you*

Re: drawing

[oldtoadwoman]

My breakthrough was starting the year with a sketchbook that I immediately discovered that I hated. (The texture of the paper annoyed me. The pages were starting to tear at the corners after just a few days.) So I vowed to just use the thing up as quickly as possible so I could move on to a better one. There was some outright rage-scribbling.

Have you ever had a sketchbook that was too pretty to use? Where you hesitate to draw anything because what if you ruin it? This was the exact opposite of that. It ended up being a very freeing experience because I ended up trying a lot of things I might not have done otherwise. I still hated that sketchbook, but I'm grateful to the experience.

Re: drawing

[goss]

That is such a great idea!

I actually have some very old notepads and reams of paper that have begun yellowing and deteriorating due to age and exposure to the elements. I have been contemplating just throwing them out for a while now, but am always hesitant to bin unused items.

Rage-scribbling, and just free-form doodling, sound like an excellent way to use up paper that would have been thrown out any way. Thank you for giving me an incentive to make use of them! :D

[seleneheart]

I made water color holiday cards for my kids and that's about all I've gotten done. I'm currently flat on my couch after tiling my laundry room floor (not injured, just exhausted).

One of my goals I'd like to do this coming year is really work on water color textures. There's some artists out there with amazing skill in this area. I feel like having a good texture for backgrounds/scenery would help some of my fan pictures.

[goss]

good texture for backgrounds/scenery

Oh yes, one of the best things about using watercolour for backgrounds is that dashing and blending colours is so quick and easy, and always have such lovely visual impact. :)

I'm currently flat on my couch after tiling my laundry room floor

Oh my goodness, kudos to you for accomplishing that! \o/ Your rest is well earned I'm sure!

[dirty_diana]

I drew and posted 3 things, plus did a few unposted sketches, and am very proud of myself! Maybe I can keep it going in the new year.