#I usually only post small sketches on Twitter. but now everything is really bad there so

[lunameimei]

sketch of a shadyclaw

[twilightvolt]

Well....that was one way to start a new decade, i guess. >  >’

Ok, from the death and destruction to the quarantine caused by viral disease to large parts of the world literally going up in flames, this year was like an ominous beginning that revealed the true ugly colors of everyone around us.

But there’s something telling me that that was just the universe releasing all of it’s built up rage from the last decade, so to think on the bright side, the only way to go is up now, right?

Regardless, pushing all the crap that happened this year aside, this feels like one of my best years yet in terms of art. i don’t think there’s any wedge of this clock that i wasn’t completely satisfied with and i had a TON of tough decisions on what to put in said wedges cuz i just luved almost everything i’ve created this year.

If you’re up to it, i’ll have my usual month to month reflection under the cutoff, but if you’re not, i hope to keep giving y’all even better art next year! ^  ^

So without further ado, let’s review!

January: ~ Days ~

Runner up: Team Solar Rises Again! (drawing in celebration of PMD finally returning with a remake of the first game)

Kicking off right where 2019 left off, i was hot on the heels of my Beastars phase, still cranking out countless drawings and doodles, mostly featuring Legoshi, and even hanging around the Beastars Amino and making some new friends there. this piece in particular i think encapsulates what i was mostly doing at the time, making up stories and stuff within canon to give myself more wolf boi content. which is something that i rarely do normally since i’ve mostly just done OC related writing before this.

February: - Sk8ter Wolf -

Runner up: Re:Hukaro (That thing i drew for Moon)

Ahh yes, the day i peaked with punk rock energy and created something in a highschool notebook sketch style. ngl, with the release of Beastars’ english dub on the way and the fandom quickly growing, i felt like i was on fire with the amount of stuff i was drawing. i felt so inspired and things can’t possibly go bad.

Or can it?

March: We Can Be Heroes

Runner up: One More Day, Emo Bird Boi Sketchies

Ahh yes, the month the worldwide quarantine started because they discovered the virus around this time. from this point onward, time pretty much meant absolutely nothing since i was stuck indoors for a majority of the year, only going out if i had to. on top of that, i tried a little attempt at a fandub and got picked on immediately by yahoos on Youtube. it...wasn’t fun.

I tried doing a little challenge i made up called Animarch where i drew a drawing representing anime i liked every day, but i only got about 5 days in i think? ehh, whatever. i did try, so that means something. lol

April: - ANOTHER SIDE -

Runner up: BEAST CROSSING ~Legoshi & Raymond

This was pretty much the final month i drew anything Beastars related as i slowly started shifting back to Pokemon due to the wait for season 2. but not before getting the new Animal Crossing and drawing a thing with Raymond and Legoshi that would blow up with hundreds of notes and interactions across every platform i posted it on. lmao

Regardless, i feel like Another Side was a perfect way to end that phase of my art journey. it’s like a nice finale to a long string of ideas that i will totally return to once season 2 drops next year.

May: - KOUJI -

Runner up: Fashion (that sketch of Alex and Jet in casual clothing)

What happened this month again? oh right, i went back to Digimon for a hot minute cuz i continued playing the copy of Cyber Sleuth Complete that i won from a giveaway on Twitter and created Alex and Jet, my latest Tamer and her Hawkmon partner. i should really do some more stuff with them.

ANYWAY,

June: - DOUBLE TROUBLE -

Runner up: “No Time to Waste! HENSHIN!” (AF attack against IonicIsaac on Twitter), Cafe Mix ~Ace, Yagami, Lance and Seliph

Art Fight. third year. and this time i kicked things up a notch and beat my old record from last year!...after uhh....cramming in 8 attacks at the very last night and totally going insane from the amount of sleep i lost. ^  ^’

But trust me when i say i will NOT do that again next year, i swear.

July: Squad Up

Runner up: Comin’ Out to Stun (Jet the Hawk sketches)

So after playing and beating PMDX, i started fleshing out Lance and Selpih’s characters and made more art and stories surrounding them and the rest of the team. one of those being a drawing for Mystery Dungeon Day, which happens the day after Odaiba Day. which is in August. why did i put this down for July then? some questions just don’t need to be answered.

August: - TOGETHER -

Runner up: In the Storm

You can tell by now just how uneventful life was this year cuz i have literally nothing else to talk about other than the art parts. no life issues, no big adventures like moving or something. just....indoor stuff.

It’s...kinda sad, now that i think about it. but hey, at least i was making the most of my time, trying new things and getting around a bit more.

September: Small World

Runner up: Rescue Together, PMD Forever!, Midnight Adventuring, Down Time

So this year, i turned 21, which a lotta people say is important. not really, if you can’t do much i guess. though, i did crank out a ton of art i’m super satisfied with as you can see by how hard it was to frickin’ pick one to use for this month’s wedge on the clock.

October: Feathers of the Shadows

Runner up: PAPERMOON - Final Mix - (not picked because it’s a touch up of an older drawing)

Hoo boi, this month was crazy. cuz i drew a whole lotta e d g e .....and a whole lotta Murkrow. lol

It was fun letting my inner edgelord out this month. even if nothing really significant happened in reality.

November: ~ One More Game ~

Runner up: UPokerap Project: Frogadier, - LEAF STORM -

This month....was actually kinda rough. it was basically me falling into a depressive episode after a scare at the dentist made me worry about my self image and insecurities again. but this time it really hit me just how much permanent damage i’ve done to myself in that aspect of my appearance. i know i shouldn’t worry so much, but it’s not great when people tell you to smile when the most i can do is grin since i’m just so....unhappy with my teeth.

But then around the end of the month, i stumbled upon a Pokemon themed Discord server with people that made me feel....not as alone as i suddenly felt i was. which i’m glad i could meet them even after only knowing them for a month now. if they’re reading this, i hope you know i’m thankful for raising my spirits when there’s still things i just can’t do due to financial issues.

December: Colors of the Heart  + Happy Holidays! ~Grovyle ver.

Runner up: ~ After the Battle ~ (the two part KHII anniversary drawing), - XIII -, Sketchmon: Buizel

And now this month. on top of my insecurities, i’ve now been struggling with my frustration with not being noticed as much as i should, watching as some people quickly climb up in following when i’m going much slower. honestly, i feel like the months when everything started lightening up for the world....was when things started falling apart for me. yeah, i know. pretty depressing way to end, huh? i hit 300 before the year ended thanks to the support from my new friends though, so i’m actually pretty happy.

But that doesn’t mean i’m not still scared of the future. i mean i have my teeth to worry about and also my wisdom teeth are coming in. so next few months...might be kinda rough.

Though, that’s not to say i didn’t soldier through it. this month i pushed myself, plowed through as many commissions as i could get to raise money for my new computer and made some of the best drawings that to me, feel like a great accomplishment. even if a couple of them weren’t as grandiose as some of my previous work. it was a big step forward for me as an artist. at least in my eyes.

And i have a feeling....that it can only get better from here.

[seawolvesanddragons]

Merlin Short - The Youtuber AU

Alright, to start with, Gwaine [Username: AngrIrishman] mostly does prank videos; his is primarily a comedy channel. It starts off as in the moment pranks (probably while he is uni). As he gains more followers and grows more confident he starts doing a few sketches, usually the same characters in different scenarios (the series “drunk Irishman confused by British things is the number one favourite.) After a semester or two he drops out of uni, deciding it isn’t for him and he was only following family pressure, and he wants to do follow this youtube idea. He mostly pranks friends and family, all harmless stuff. After he meets Merlin he does a good deal of his pranks on him, but Elyan and Percival show up the mst as his victims (or partners in crime) since he’s lived with them both. He’s always willing to help out his friends with their videos, and often appears in Percival’s gaming competitions. Occasionally, for when Gwaine wants to address something serious or do a straight video of something bothering him, he has a series of “what’s aleing me today” where he talks about the serious stuff under the guise of drinking. His is one of the bigger youtube stars and his fame only skyrockets after he meets the others.  Percival [AllTankedUp] started in youtube as just responding to some of the more ridiculous challenges (planking, cinnamon challenge, parkour, etc) but ended up accidentally setting a ton of records. He started getting a lot of followers suggesting more challenges for him to do. After a year or two he began  

uploading video game run throughs after he purchased a video game and streamed playing it, not expecting anything big to come of it. The first video ending up trending for a few hours and requests came pouring in. However his biggest project, and the one he is most proud of and best known for, comes along in year three, after he met Elyan. They began recreating live action versions of video games, giant board games, etc. The internet fucking loses it over these videos. Most of them are endearingly low budget - the first is a live action super mario, where they had set up mushrooms and platforms in the park and a plushie princess peach is the prize. Elyan did MATH for this, guys.  Percival has to do exactly what Elyan tells him to do when Elyan holds the “controller” and vice versa. The video is ten minutes long and mostly consists of them falling over. Percy barely wins in the end, but he holds the plushie up all proud, looking adorable. By the next day they have over a hundred subscribers asking for more. Some of the live actions are HUGE events, brining in all of Percy’s friends and acquaintances and even family members but that’s usually only once a year. Typically, it’s no more than Percy, Elyan, and Gwaine or Leon or Merlin. Elyan helps out a lot with most of the recreations, but Percival came up with the idea and is the driving force behind it. He also has a side channel for workout videos after 2 1/2 years of requests, where he posts irregular updates. Elyan [Elyuminati] gets pulled into youtube by Gwen, and starts out as the occasional guest star in her vlogs, before submitting the odd vlog video himself, usually just him ranting about whatever in his life is annoying him at the time. It was meant to just be a way to let off steam, he didn’t expect anyone to watch them, but Elyan has a certain kind of odd charm and humor that attracts a humble but loyal following. During his gap year he travels around Europe and posts a lot of video diaries as a way of keeping in touch with Gwen, and it steadily improves over time. He starts doing “day in the life of” or “creepy ghost tour” or just sharing crazy stories about his travels. Elyan’s not a bad artist, so he’ll sometimes recreate brief sketches of the crazy stuff that happened to him while narrating what is going on. After his gap year (which almost turned into two) he returned to the UK and ended up rooming with Percy, who he knew from youtube, and started getting a degree in maths. His channel with Percy to do live action games took off, and he ended up being offered a job at a radio station after a year or so. The radio felt he had a personality that worked over radio just as well as camera. His radio show has a little bit of everything in it: acting as a voice of the millennial people, sharing whatever crazy thing happened to him that week, traveling and reviewing places and (his latest obsessions) weird news stories and conspiracies. (Leon and Gwaine could be blamed for the last one.) He doesn’t post as much except for the game videos or guest starring in others, since’s he’s busy with his radio show, but he will occasionally do a vlog session now and again, usually on his theories on conspiracies, game of thrones, and why the cosmos hates him enough to stick him with Gwaine. Leon [GiantRedGnomes], unlike Percy and Elyan, actually means to start a youtube channel. He starts off with gaming videos, including a dramatic series of the SIMS that everyone gets a little too invested in. However Leon is very conscious of the good that youtube can do, and so he also starts doing more educational style videos with fun animation. His main topics are history (but the fun kind, he focuses a lot on the weird parts of European history that no one ever talks about) space and alien life, etc. He also reviews a lot of popular tv shows and movies and shares his thoughts, opinions, and predictions for them as well as how the nerdier stuff checks out. Being the gentleman that he is, he typically tries to post both spoiler and non spoiler versions. He and Merlin start a Dnd series where they do short campaigns with different members of their friend group and other willing youtube stars. Lancelot [Lancephew], like Leon, does youtube “for the greater good.” He started youtube in high school as a project to bring “truly great people” into the spotlight by interviewing the people in his town about amazing things they had done in their lives, and he still tries to post videos like that whenever he can. Half of his videos are him taking news stories, politics, economic theories, etc and explaining it in layman’s terms for the average viewer. He shares his own opinions in the video as well. During college Lancelot started adding a musical element to his interview stories, writing his own songs to bring into the background. This branched out into him writing instrumental music, which he often shares on youtube and itunes. Lancelot is currently doing a YouTube Red project in aide of a charity that is about small town civilians having to deal with a zombie dystopia in a realistic manner - asking questions such as “do we still have to pay for data?” “Can someone take my braces off.”) Also, he’s dating Gwen and they do really cute “ask us questions” and dating game videos that the internet loves. There are also several videos of his dog doing crazy things he manages to catch on film. Gwen [GwenSmash] is mostly a youtube vlogger, and she shares a little bit of everything. Her day to day life, sped up streams of the cosplay outfits she makes the group, sims and gaming videos, ask/advice videos, review videos, and stories in a series called “Growing up Gwen” where she shares moments of her childhood/teenage years having to deal with being the only girl in a household of guys, such as buying a bra, trying to find a video game character that is a female without exposed breasts, etc. After she gets to know all the guys better, she will share moments of being one of the few girls among many guys, and has no shame in calling them out. Half of her twitter is photos of the guys holding up a sign saying “I said/made *insert sexist remark here*.” She doesn’t really try to limit herself to one brand and just does all kinds of videos. She and Morgana are often work together/guest star in each other’s videos as flatmates and best friends.   Morgana [ExplodingSparkles] got into youtube during college at Gwen’s encouragement. She liked to create her own music mashups and Gwen starting encouraging her to share them on youtube. Nowadays, she and Lance will team up occasionally to do music together, and she has written a few of her own songs, all released on youtube/itunes. A LOT of her video vlogs are feminist, LGBTQA, and wealth inequality rants, typically following her having to talk to Uther. She as a popular series called “Ask Morgana” where she answers questions her subscribers ask her. The beginning/middle of her channel (when it was getting big) has a lot of anger and rant videos about everything wrong with the world. Morgana eventually grew out of her angry stage, and began discussing the issues from a healthier pov, such as how you can be an ally, etc. She also started doing a lot more comedy sketches, all written and directed by herself. Some of them just have her in it as multiple people, others have her and Gwen or other guest stars. Some of them are just sketches about funny moments in her life, but most are original content, such as “Smart Shakespeare in Five Minutes” where she acts out a sketch of Shakespeare’s plays where everything goes very differently, usually based on one character making a smarter decision. Arthur [KingCamelot] started doing youtube in his final year of boarding school, and for the first year or so he and Morgana both tried to hide the fact that they were doing youtube from each other, until one day Morgana stumbled across his channel after it was recommended after one of Gwen’s videos. This was over summer break and the result was her barging in during one of his vlogs, and the entire (loud and hilarious) conversation was caught on film. Arthur later uploaded it to youtube, and neither will admit it is one of their favourite videos. Arthur kept it in a vlog style during uni, sharing his thoughts on current events, challenge videos, his favourite books and tv shows, his daily life and his struggle with uni/the business degree his father wanted him to get. He ended up switching to film editing sophomore year after Morgana, Leon and other youtuber friends supported his ideas. While it made things rockier with his father, Arthur was much happier. Videos became much more frequently after that, and Arthur began to guest star in his friends videos as well. Arthur became a big name on youtube almost instantly, largely because of his good lucks and his notoriety as the son of a famous parliament member, but remained a big name through his own merit. About midway through his time at uni Arthur began to post videos about insightful topics about things that suggested he was starting to see the world a bit differently. After he graduated about 4 years ago, it started to turn into full blown advocacy and outreach videos raising awareness for social change. Of course, Arthur didn’t get to that point by himself. Enter Merlin, stage right. Merlin [MerlinTrixx] started youtube HIS final year of public schooling, about two years after Arthur. He started with just short simple vlogs and magic tricks that even professional magicians couldn’t figure out. He followed Gwen and Morgana and saw Arthur a few times in their videos or recommended suggestions. After picking up on Arthur’s rather one sided view of how wealth and poverty work he called him out on it in a private message. Arthur did NOT take it well. There began a video war where both boys passive aggressively mentioned the other. Before it got to far, however, they accidentally ended up meeting at a youtube convention. (Arthur was there to speak on a panel, Merlin went to learn editing tips). The recognized each other and ended up talking for the remaining two days of the convention and became fast friends. Gwen, who had known Merlin through uni for about a year now, had had no idea that Arthur and Merlin had been complaining to her for the past few months about each other and was ready to knock sense into both of them when she found out. After becoming friends, Arthur and Merlin began showing up in each other’s videos more. Merlin, who hated his roommates, began hanging around more at Arthur and Leon’s flat (they went to a different uni in the same city, but had moved off campus) instead of Gwen’s as much. By the end of sophomore year, Merlin had gained a decent number of followers and his channel consisted of vlogs, his magic tricks, him and Arthur hanging out and being weird, and sharing his vast and unparalled knowledge of all things fantasy and nerdy. He, Leon and Gwen get into the longest discussions when they do reviews together. Merlin takes some time off of school, still unsure what he wants to do beside youtube, and moves in with Arthur to split the rent. The videos continue in earnest, and views/followers for both boys continue to grow as they feed off of one another, make more compilation videos, and add more content. After a couple of years, more than half their followers are wondering if they are more than just flatmates, but they are keeping quiet on the matter. The both still have their own channel, which they update frequently, but they also have a shared channel where they do reviews of shows they both like, ask/challenge requests, gaming videos, a few prank videos - they got into a prank way with Percy, Elyan and Gwaine once. Morgana and Gwen somehow won. They also do a deep discussion on Arthurian legend and other mythos, in comedic style. They are known as the “Avalon Nine” - a nickname given to them by the internet after they learned they all knew each other and they frequently appear in each others videos now that they all live in the same city. Morgana and Gwen had met in boarding school, and are currently living together after Morgana moved back after Uni until Lancelot finally asks Gwen to marry him, which Morgana suspects will happen soon. Gwen met Merlin at their uni, the same city that Arthur and Leon were going to uni in. Arthur already knew Gwen through Morgana and they had hung out fairly often, which only increased after they both befriended Merlin. Merlin and Gwen both met Lancelot separately at youtube conventions, and thought it hilarious the day they found out they both knew him. Lancelot moved to the city after graduating uni. Elyan met everyone through Gwen and Morgana met everyone through Gwen and Arthur. Gwaine met Merlin at a convention and later Merlin recognized him auditing his film class for “free editing tips/ideas.” They became fast friends and Gwaine spent a few nights in Merlin’s dorm when his water or heat wouldn’t work. He moves in with Elyan when he comes back from his gap years. Lancelot and Percival, who knew each other prior to the rest of the group, lived with each other for a while before the landlord sold the building. Lance moved to a single while Percival moved in with Elyan and Gwaine. There have been a series of “who knows you better” challanges and games throughout the group, including ones based off of dating games, best friend games, and family games. Merlin and Arthur have won them ALL. Even against Lancelot and Gwen that one time. Leon shared in one of his videos that Arthur and Merlin are also banned from teaming up in charades, pictonary and catch phrase in the gaming videos because they are undefeatable and possible psychic.  Bonus:  Mordred is obviously much younger than the others (just now starting Uni while the others are in their mid to late twenties). So he grew up watching a lot of their earlier stuff and he just idolizes them. He somehow managed to befriend them through social media/convenstions and is a bit surprised he is actually on first name basis with these amazing, talented (giant dorks). He appears in their videos sometimes but is hesitant  to upload anything on his own channel for a long time, since it is harder to get started on youtube now than it was for his older friends. After some encouragement he uploads a few, and the whole  group advertises him since they all kind of adore him, he’s like a little brother. Unlike the others though, Mordred doesn’t vlog or do video games or reviews or anything. Oh no. His videos are all freestyle rapping/spoken word poetry. About whatever catches his fancy. The weirdest thing is they’re GOOD. Its at such odds with his personality but it is what it is. Gwaine has started a betting pool on when Mordred reaches 1,000 subscribers.  Cenred is a little asshole who does mean/staged prank videos and blogs full of sexist and racist remarks on youtube. The group hates him, half of youtube boy cots him and he has had several scandals.  Elena is a youtube they all know and are friendly with, but because she lives in Scotland they aren’t as close. She does a lot of gaming videos, embarrassing stories from her life, and videos about her horse.  Morgause is a powerful admin/part owner of youtube and constantly makes decisions that hurt most independent and creative youtubers. At one point she tried to flag coming out videos or videos with content/opinions she didn’t agree with. She also pressures them to do advertising and tampers with the recommended and trending list. The group pushes back against these regulations, and it turns into an all out war, where Gwaine, Merlin and Arthur are all nearly banned from youtube before Morguase is fired. 

[greenace]

Updates for TMK and reason for the delay

( I wanted to post this earlier but I fell asleep and wake up like 3:30am )

Hi guys Sorry for all the slow progress during the past few months Here is a non spoiler (kind of?) update from my side.

-Detailed non-ending cg sketches for Julius, Seth and August are done. I kind of go overboard for Seth and most probably will cry when doing lineart and coloring , but that is for another time. -Detailed sketch of ending cg for Julius , Seth and August are also done . I kind of went overboard for most of the ending so lol

-All backer commissions are done, just need the last backer to get back to me so that I can make changes or send out the image. I have started lineart some of the cg and if everything goes well , cg progress should be smooth. I kind of cause myself to burnout recently because I rush to finish the cg sketches asap. Now I kind of think it would hurt the project on a long run therefore I need to slow down my pace a bit. Also I would like to address about my family issue as stated from the monthly update ( still affect me but not as bad as past few months) Because I feel like I own reason to all the backers who have backed on why there is a delay in progress. So here you go. My Father passed away during August.A lot of things happened and most of them were/are unpleasant. I needed some time to deal with a lots of things that sadden me but I am getting better now.

For now, I need to isolate myself from most of the social media stuff ( except Twitter since I find lots of nice drawing there) so I can concentrate on finishing all the cg.

( I don’t think you would notice but the mourning dress of Lydia Mother was last to be shown in the update, because I could not being myself to draw it , or rather it was half done , and I could not bring myself to finish it after I found out my father’s passing ) If you want to know more detail of what happen you can continue reading the keep reading section . If not I think is more than enough information for tmk. Because everything in the keep reading section is long winded , out of sequence points and lots of bad English lol

He lived in Hong Kong while I living in Singapore. He was uncontactable for at least 3 days before my relative called the police.He passed away alone at his house. He did not pass away in a hospital so the government considered his death as unnatural Due to all the things happened, (conflict and unhappy moments), his funeral was held on mid September and that why I was away for a week. I went back to my birth place Hong Kong . We were advice not to look at him one last time because the remain had already started to decompose. A lot of things happened during the funeral and to make it worst when I return to Singapore I had conflict with my mother on how to handle my Father belongings. It kind of made me really depressed. I tried not to neglect tmk development by finishing the backer commission and wallpaper so I still in touch with drawing . 

But in the end the feeling of wanting to give up everything I did was still strong .

It is a kind of depression but I think it is not really serious as I am aware of my negative emotions and try to deal with it. Then oct came and is time for inktober. :p I took the opportunity of drawing inktober to do some soul searching and along the way learning some new things . I also took some time off to see if I can be a part time game design lecturer. Well, I did get an offer but in the end I had turned down the offer. The main reason is that they are hiring me in hope to keep in touch with my boss ( he is a Lv99 ninja , unless he comes to look for you to talk about business, usually you cannot find him ,he is also a kind of influence on how I deal with a lot of business related things). 

The school wanted to send some intern to my boss company and they think it would be easier if I am involved. But no school it DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY lol . My boss don’t entertain such thing .

I absolutely don’t want to get involved of such business because dealing with my boss on this kind of issue as it is really pain in the butt. So yeah I decline the offer.

I familiarise myself with after effect , since basically it work similar to flash it is not really hard for me . The programming part of AE is more like upgraded version and more user friendly version of Action script.

Here is a small animation I did with a test Sprite I did . https://youtu.be/B5Ch9wThYBk I did not go in depth to learn more about after effect, but those I learn should be enough for vn making . Then I move on to unity , which is more like learning c# , as I have object oriented programming background so it is not very bad in learning it.

Also during the end of oct I was lucky to get involved in designing characters for another project . I really enjoyed working with her, as we both share similar visual reference library which I am pleasantly surprised. And then nov came and I kind of recover from my negativeness and start to work on tmk properly again. But I need to isolate myself from most of the social media stuff ( except Twitter since I find lots of nice drawing there) so I can concentrate on finishing all the cg. Thank you for reading till here , since my English is really bad.

One more thing would like to bring to your attention if you are still reading. 

After my father passed away I started to be more actively donating to Charity ( previously not as much ), there is one Charity that is really meaningful but unfortunately only available in US only.

It is called Kits for Kids

https://projectcure.org/programs/kits-kids

Basically they give you a list of medications to buy and a box to pack all those stuff. You need to spend the effort and money to buy them send back to the center and they will donate to places in need.

I find this really unique as usually donation just ask you to pay money but this organisation go one step in further. It takes heart and effort to make this donation happen.

So if you are in US and have some spare cashes and time with you, I hope you will consider to donate to this “kits for kids” , it helps to save young live in many different countries.

[itbeatsbookmarks]

(Via: Hacker News)

Obviously we’re going to talk about this today:

Ok, so. Up until this year, I would’ve told you that there are two general kinds of financial bubbles. 

The first kind of bubble is where everyone believes the future will be like the present. Think credit bubbles and real estate; think 2007-2008, where the fundamental belief that drove the bubble forward and into ruin was “We’ve figured this out. We can’t lose. The risk has all been worked out. Lever up, cowboy. We will never die.” 

There are two reflexive feedback loops at work here. The first is the positive feedback cycle between that belief, “We have the future figured out”, and rising asset prices – which confirm the invincible mentality and drive it forward. The second loop is that rising asset prices translate to lower cost of capital. In a mindset like this, we get excessively comfortable with investing that low-cost capital into businesses and investments that generate predictable future earnings, or the illusion of predictable. That cheap capital can then meaningfully contribute to those earnings actually materializing, on schedule. Bubbles can genuinely be self-fulfilling prophecies; to a point. Past that point it’s bad.

The second kind of bubble is where everyone believes the future will be different from the present. Think equity bubbles, startups, and crypto; think 1999, where the fundamental belief that drove the bubble forward and into ruin was “It’s a new economy. All the rules are different. The upside is unlimited. If you get in now, you’ll be rich. We’re going to live forever.”

As before, there are reflexive feedback loops at work here too. The first loop is the positive feedback cycle between that belief, “I’ve seen the future, and I believe”, and rising asset prices – which confirm the bubble mentality, and bring on the FOMO. The second loop, as before, is that rising asset prices actually do something useful here. It means we can fund cool startups! Wacky, speculative ventures, which under normal circumstances could never raise any money, are able to access capital at attractive valuations. Sometimes they do, in fact, build the future. These kinds of bubbles can be actually good.

Unlike before, where we rewarded predictable earnings (or, the perception of them) with low cost of capital, here it’s the opposite. We’re looking for unpredictable earnings; specifically, the prospect of unknowable but infinitely high upside. These bubbles can also become self-fulfilling prophecies (dot com speculation got us Amazon, and a whole lot of broadband cable), but they blow up when expectations get too detached from reality. 

There are certainly sub-categories and variations on these two themes. For instance, one driving factor you often see associated with bubbles is new financial instruments that give the retail buying public better access (or more aggressive leverage) to the object of speculation. Crypto is an obvious recent example, but this goes all the way back to the Mississippi Company and South Sea manias, with the invention of the joint stock company and the bubbles that resulted. Other stuff matters too, like economic cycles and political narratives. But in general, up until this year, I would’ve told you that these are the two basic kinds of bubbles. 

I was wrong. There is a third kind of bubble, and it’s happening spectacularly right now. If the first kind of bubble is “everyone thinks the future will be the same”, and the second kind is “everyone thinks the future will be different”, the third kind is “everyone thinks the future doesn’t matter.” 

If you remember, the 1999 bubble had a lot to do with technology and the future, sure, but also had something to do with boomers and early Gen Xers having all of this disposable money right as online brokerages became a thing. Right now, there’s a similar thing going on. Millennials have real paychecks to spend, and stock trading fees have all gone to zero. Trading has become gaming. 

Crypto gave us a taste of the wild a few years ago, for that brief autumn where random people from your past would message you about how much Filecoin to buy. But now that itch has hit the mainstream. The stock picking day traders are having their cultural moment, led by Dave Portnoy and an army of shitposters. 

Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy is leading an army of day traders | Sophie Alexander & Katherine Greifeld, Bloomberg

Portnoy’s “Davey Day Trader Global” escapades are hilarious and well-known, and he’s brilliantly playing the heel; credit to him for absolutely getting how it works, Barstool not withstanding. But the bigger story here is Wallstreetbets. I’m sure most of you have heard of the Wallstreetbets subreddit by now; if you haven’t, the best way I know how to explain it is that it’s like “multiplayer Jackass for the stock market.”

Wallstreetbets started as a bunch of random internet yahoos bragging about crazy YOLO trades they’d make (and would actually follow through on!), and what enormous percentages of their net worth they’d win or lose spectacularly. I really do think that Jackass is a good comparison here. Yes, these people are trying to get rich; but more importantly, they’re trying to provoke reactions. It’s a game of who can be the most shocking. There’s really not much difference between reading some of these WSB posts and watching an old Jackass sketch. You’ll laugh until you can’t breathe, and then keep laughing when you realize someone actually got kicked in the crotch that hard. 

But as it got more popular, some actually sophisticated (and supremely aggressive) traders are getting in on the fun, and it got highly competitive and weird. It’s the newest version of “the stock market as full-contact sports with legal gambling”, and it’s a lot of fun. No one here cares about valuation or fundamentals. It is explicitly a casino. Everyone is here to get in and out of a position in the most shocking way possible. And, astoundingly, there’s enough AUM getting accumulated behind these bets that it can actually start to move individual stocks inweird ways. 

Reddit’s profane, greedy traders are shaking up the stock market | Luke Kawa, Bloomberg Businessweek

The groundwork for this strange show has been built up over a few years, but when the pandemic hit, all hell broke loose. A perfect storm of events come together: first, generational volatility in the stock market as everyone tried to get in front of (and then out from) a global pandemic; second, everyone getting quarantined at home and desperate to feel something, and third: no sports. 

Enter Hertz. Hertz was in trouble anyway; it’s carrying around a ton of debt to pay for a fleet of cars that no one wants to drive, because we have Uber now. When the pandemic hit, they got called on their debt, couldn’t make it work, so they had to declare bankruptcy and start a restructuring process. 

But then weird things started to happen. Hertz’s stock, which is literally worthless, starts to go up. And up. And up. It gets bid up a whole 500% over a 3-day period last week. What is going on?

There’s no way to describe it other than, this is a Jackass sketch taking place. It started out as these internet YOLO traders playing an increasingly stupid game of chicken. But then it… caught on? Other people started to get in on this too. Hey, obviously the stock in the long run is worth zero. Everyone knows that. But it’s going up, and tomorrow it might go up more. If this were just some dumb penny stock with a cool story attached to it, that’d be old news. This is different. 

When you see a stock getting bid up like this, the only conclusion you can draw is “The future does not matter, because in between now and then, this is explicitly just spinning a roulette wheel. The stock could go up or down, who knows, but at least you know it has nothing to do with the underlying value of the stock (which we all know is zero!), and everything to do with other gamblers. 

So Hertz sees this happening, and they’re like, well, if there’s demand for our stock, we should go sell some! I mean, it’s a ridiculous kind of demand, and it’s not “real” demand, but hey, maybe it’s real enough. So Hertz files, and is granted, an emergency request to their bankruptcy judge to issue a billion dollars worth of new stock in order to take advantage of whatever this is. Tom Lauria, one of the attorneys representing Hertz, had an all-timer line: “New platforms for day traders may be facilitating this. There are forces at work that us non-financial people, that we can only observe.” The SEC, presumably between gasps of laughter, declined to weigh in on whether the transaction was legal, saying “it is up to the company to comply with securities law.”

Just to restate how funny this is: Hertz is granted permission, by their own bankruptcy judge, to sell stock in their company which has already declared bankruptcy, because due to weird mojo in the universe, there’s a small army of reddit trolls playing chicken with each other and it just might save the company. Financial Twitter goes crazy, and (of course!) people start bidding up stocks of other bankrupt companies. It was a great day to be online. (Matt Levine, as usual, has the best writeup.)

(By the way, here’s a hilarious aside: Business Insider reports on this, and says, “oh, by the way, Hertz share price fell on the news, which makes sense, as shareholders will face dilution” hahahahaha)

So how can we think of these events as a third model in our taxonomy of bubbles? We’ve got all three pieces of our reflexive loop at work. The first is a deep belief: not that the future will be the same, or will be different, but that it’s totally irrelevant. As Hertz’s stock price rises, it confirms this temporary suspension of reality, and furthermore, it confirms that the other people you’re trading against are also idiots, so there’s an opportunity to make money here. 

The second half of this reflexivity loop is even weirder. Unlike in a normal bubble, where it’s the perception of stability that drives an earnings multiple, or in an equity bubble, where it’s the perception of high upside that drives an earnings multiple, here there are no earnings. The future earnings here are presumed to be zero. But if everyone knows that, and everyone is okay with it, then everyone around the table can look at everyone else around the table in the eye, and know that they don’t care about earnings either. They only care about winning this YOLO trade. And so long as everyone thinks that, then the only limiting factor to how violent this bubble can be is how much cash you have, and how quickly the traders can find each other. The answer seems to be “lots”, and “fast”. 

I really do think that this deserves its own place on the financial tree of the life. It’s a genuinely unique form of financial stupidity that’s distinct from the other two kind of bubbles. And we’re going to see it again. Not exactly like this, but the genie’s out of the bottle now. There is enough AUM dedicated to these kind of stunts, and the internet has dropped the cost and latency of communication among these day trading Johnny Knoxvilles down to zero. 

The Hertz story is an exceptional situation. I do not think it’s likely to ever happen again. But you know what kind of public companies have zero earnings for years at a time, and where future earnings are so far away that it’s already understood by everyone to be a day-to-day game of chicken, just like this? Biotech companies. And you know what kind of companies are going to be really interesting in the aftermath of Covid? Biotech companies. 

At the end of last year in my Ten Predictions for the 2020s post, I threw out a take: “There will be a major speculative bubble in biotech companies.” I mean, I didn’t have this in mind, but you know what, this makes me feel pretty good about that prediction. One of the catalysts, I wrote, would be “A new kind of financial innovation that becomes the instrument of speculation. These aren’t a necessary component of bubbles, but they sure help. In this case, I bet there’s going to be some new clever financial product that bundles and securitizes the highly speculative IP of biotech companies, in a way that legally lets retail investors buy them through an ETF or something.” I’ll admit, at the time, I didn’t foresee the “new, creative instrument of financial speculation” being “the equity of bankrupt companies.” But why not! 

Anyway, in summary, ha ha ha ha ha. What a week.

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[enharmonious]

Here's a compilation of all the clips I managed to record during Anime Impulse 2017 during the panel with Jonny Cruz, Christian Howard, and Gaku Space. I recorded mostly talks about Overwatch, although the panel did cover a bit about Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, in which both Gaku Space and Christian Howard play significant roles. 

These are in clips because I was running out of space on my phone and was concerned if I wouldn't be able to catch something good that could came up later. orz This is also why some questions are not recorded in these clips. It’s not much unfortunately (panel was ~1 hour long I believe).

It can be extremely hard to hear at times, even with a headset, so I've done my best to transcribe what they've said. (Warning: I'm bad at it.) Also, hope it helps for those who can't listen to the video!

The transcription under the cut also includes one other recording (to fill in some of the things I missed), but is not in my compiled video above, so be sure to read it. It’ll be bolded to easily spot it!

These clips are in chronological order.

Contents: 0:00 - Gaku Space’s experience with voice acting (esp. Overwatch) 3:34 - Jonny Cruz’s experience with voice acting (esp. Overwatch too) 8:11 - Gaku and Jonny discussing new Overwatch events; ult voice line requests 10:08 - Q&A - “Jonny Cruz, can you do the longest ‘aw yeah’ possible?” 10:25 - Q&A - “Who is your OTP?” 11:15 - Q&A - “Can you sing the pineapple pen song?”

Key: DP = D-Piddy, the host. GS = Gaku Space. CH = Christian Howard. JC = Jonny Cruz. [?] means I'm unsure of what was said. Otherwise, everything in brackets are just notes by me, usually giving context about the video clips.

As usual, if you find errors and can give clarification, please do let me know and I'll fix them!

-----

[The beginning, which I did not record, is mostly Christian Howard talking about Street Fighter. If I remember correctly, Gaku Space didn't speak at all and never chimed in.]

Clip 1 (0:00) DP: How is doing something from live action to voice acting Overwatch - how do you prepare differently for the roles, for Genji or Gouki? GS: Towards the beginning, I got the audition - I didn't know what it is. So they have fake title, and a fake name, and fake everything. So only the description says that, "Looking for the voice"...is like a younger version of Ken Watanabe in Last Samurai. And then I just try that and then they booked[?] it. [?], they revealed that, "Oh, this is Overwatch" and now it's like...huge, so I don't know... DP: Yeah, Overwatch is huge. I mean, is there any Overwatch fans here? [small audience cheer] DP: Have you personally played the game at all? GS: Uhh, no. DP: I know there's two Japanese characters named Genji and there's Hanzo, did you cast for both or did they particularly pick you... [incoherent, they're talking over each other] GS: In the beginning, yeah, I just voiced over Genji. And then...I didn't...I haven't met Paul [Hanzo's voice actor]. DP: You haven't met him? GS: No. So, animated short, just - I only did my part. So I did not [see him?] DP: Oh, I see. It's just like that I'm unfamiliar with voice actor stuff - do you go to the studio, they have you read a bunch of lines, and you're done? GS: [Yeah, that's it?] Yeah, because I voiced Akuma, the older version of [?] but I have to match the lip sync so [it was awkward?]...it was Joey... CH: Yes, so Gaku had actually...even though Joey was playing Akuma as the older version, and he was speaking Japanese on the day, just because of Akuma's voice... DP: He's the one who did his voice. CH: He's augmented[?], so Gaku actually filled in and did a lot of the voice for older Akuma as well. Which is, again, this is a serial thing because you're in the studio on your own, and you're technically interacting with other people like...for Overwatch, right? You said you’ve never interacted with Paul, but you have to dialogue[?] when you see the final thing. So you gotta bring the intensity and [?] to the lines, it's gonna reach out. DP: Ooh, cool. For Genji's character, did you do any research and like...[?] in live action you try not to get into the character's head, right? For Genji - I mean, for Gouki, for example? But for Genji, do you have to learn the backstory? Does that help at all, or do you just go there and read the lines? GS: The thing is only the director's and writer's right there while I'm recording it. So I asked right on the spot, "So what's the character's...what's the subtext for this line and everything?" And then I recorded probably like 4-5 times. By then, I'll be done with that so they don't have to tell me specific stuff that I already knew. And when I recorded the animated short, [I went ahead ____ video game?], so I already knew the characters. DP: Genji's voice is a little distorted because of his helmet. Is that imposed, or do they have a little filter thing to speak over? GS: That was post-production. DP: Oh, it was post-production. CH: Did you know what Genji looked like before you did the voice? GS: Yeah, yeah, I knew. I saw on the sketches and stuff. DP: What do you think of the large popularity and growth of the game?

[At this point, the questions were not answered because a staff member had stepped up on stage and stopped D-Piddy to talk to him privately.]

Clip 2 (3:34) [Pre-recording: D-Piddy has announced that there is another guest, in fact a second Overwatch voice actor, at Anime Impulse. The audience has already yelled "let's break it down" twice. However, D-Piddy instructs that on the count of 3...] DP: "Let's break it down," okay? 1, 2, 3! [audience yells "let's break it down;" as Jonny Cruz pops up behind the wall, the crowd cheers] DP: Jonny Cruz, Lucio himself, is in the house! JC: Whoa, look at this crowd. [?] DP: [?] How's it going? JC: Good, good. I went here, so it's great. Audience. Never been to one of these guys in my life. But now I'm here. First time with you guys. [The lack of loud cheering here is very upsetting and saddening to me. I'm used to big, big cheers if a special guest announces that they're here for the fans, especially if it's their first time at an anime convention. That aside--] DP: So how do you take this perception of Overwatch's overwhelming growth of popularity in the game? JC: I had no idea it would turn into what it turned into. The game itself, you know...I've been actor for 15 years, right? Grinding away for many years, and the one thing that really shoots me to popularity is a video game, which is like...mind blowing to me! I'm like...this is a whole new world. And just the fanbase is amazing, the people that play the game, the vibe has just been so overwhelming. I'm a huge fan of you guys. DP: Do you play video games? JC: I did extensively growing up. I've been [?] until I had to get a job. [?] DP: You played Overwatch before right? JC: I have played Overwatch before. DP: I think I've seen a video of you playing your own character? JC: I was watching somebody else play me terribly. DP: Weren't you just commentating on it? JC: Yeah, I had a...it was a fart gun and that looked like Lucio's gun and every time I would be like, "Oh let's break it down! [raspberry-fart noise]" If you watched the video, it was all my idea. DP: Wow, that's really cool. Do you interact with some of the cast members? I've seen a video of Jonny going around...BlizzCon or...? JC: Yeah, it was BlizzCon. DP: It was at Blizzcon; interacting with all the other voice actors was pretty amazing. Do you keep in touch with them at a regular basis at all, or some of them? JC: Oh yeah, we're friends online. On Facebook. We've got a little group chat, we've got a little group chat. But the one I mostly interacted with before that was Darin de Paul [Reinhardt's voice actor]. We did some voiceover work together in the past. But that day at BlizzCon was the first time I actually met Gaku and a couple of the other people. They're all just wonderful human beings that we really just have fun and make a little dumb video of it, so that was uh...[looking at Gaku] I thank you! CH: That was when I knew - Gaku's still alive as well. Because this guy has NO social media presence. He doesn't have Facebook or anything. So we're seeing his video with Jonny and we're like, "Oh, Gaku's alive." JC: "He's alive!" DP: What - is there a reason why you don't? You just like keeping it private? Gaku? JC: What was that? DP: Oh no, uh, Gaku. I mean, does he - you don't have a Twitter or Facebook page? GS: Nothing. Nothing. JC: Why's that? CH: Keep it private.[?] DP: Keeping it private? JC: Why's that? GS: I don't like it. JC: He doesn't like it. That's the reason why. DP: Jonny, I follow you on Twitter, so you're great. You said you like riding the wave around and you've done video game voiceovers before, or...? JC: I was a voice in Prototype 2, and I was all the Hispanic characters in Prototype 2. And that was kinda my foray into video games - it was never something I had thought about really - but I had a great time at the booth, because at the end you do all the weird like...you know, okay, this is the sound of you getting your head ripped off, and then you have to figure out what that is. And there you're just like, "Alright...'GWAGHGHDGAAA!!'" and that to me is the [laughs] fun stuff of it. All of those weird sounds. DP: How about the grunts? JC: Oh grunts...I've never had my head ripped off or my arm ripped off. But how does that sound?! DP: Do you have any other video games that you're working on or any more voice work that you're possibly doing? JC: I have done a few more video games after Overwatch, but I cannot tell you what they are. Which is the WORST. [Post-recording: I managed to find the continuation of this conversation in another video (https://www.facebook.com/borei.kang/videos/vb.650113324/10154299562193325/?type=2&theater).] JC: IT'S THE WORST. DP [to Gaku]: You too? JC: You too? [?] GS: Actually, I have [?] next week, Genji again, but I cannot tell what it is. [crowd goes ooOooOoOo] DP: Here's another question for Gaku and Jonny. So you know how they release holiday specials and stuff? Have you recorded all that stuff previous, like months and months ago, or...

Clip 3 (8:11) DP: Do they bring you in periodically for updates and stuff, or how does that work? JC: Yeah, they bring us in periodically, way in advance, they're planning it out. So they test it out, we see their works. So it's always usually a while. DP: Can you tell us what the holiday event is going to be? JC: I have no idea. [looking at Gaku] Do you know what it is? The next holiday event? Do you know what it is? GS: I know. JC: Oh you know? Why are they telling...Gaku? But they don't tell me nothing? GS: Because it's not important! DP: Is it Valentine's? You don't have to say anything, but I'm going to guess it's Valentine's. GS: Yeah. DP: Yeah apparently, there's some Genji and Mercy shipping going on. [scattered cheering among the audience] GS: I can tell - I recorded my lines about Angela. JC: About? GS: Genji and Angela. DP: Wuh - Angela? JC: The voice actor. [Her name is actually Lucie Pohl.] GS: Mercy. DP: Ahh, okay okay. Well that's a hint. You guys know who he's shipped with.[?] Can I get a request from all of you guys? JC: Sure. DP: Jonny, can you do one of the ults? Can you... JC: [adjusting the mic] Here we go, here we go. [pause] Oh let's break it DOWN! [audience cheers] DP: Christian Howard, can you do one of Ken Master's special attacks? CH: ...I'll try. DP: Here we go, here we go. CH: Shouryuken! ["Rising Dragon Fist", I believe?] [audience cheers] DP: Gaku? Genji? Can you do a little Genji ult? GS: What should I do? Which one? Which one do you want? DP: Dragonblade? GS: Ultimate? DP: Ultimate, ultimate. GS: Ryuujin no ken o kurae! [audience cheers] DP: That is so awesome! Cool!

Clip 4 (10:08) [Pre-recording: Q&A session. Someone requested Jonny Cruz to do his longest "aw yeah." I noticed that the person requesting it drawled out the "aw" rather than the "yeah," but did not appear to be conveyed to Jonny. It’s still great though!] [...Do I even need to transcribe this?]

Clip 5 (10:25) [Pre-recording: During Q&A session, the three were asked who their OTP was. D-Piddy took some time initially to explain it since they didn't understand the term lol. For those who don't know: OTP means one true pairing. It's basically another way of indicating two characters that you wish would be paired up with each other as a significant others/partners.] JC: ...Yeah yeah yeah. Everybody here always asks me about D.va. Uh...and I'm about it! I'm about it! DP: Lucio is down with Lucio and D.va! JC: I think everybody should just be shipped together! A big ol' pile! DP: One big Overwatch... JC: One big Overwatch shipping. Haha! DP: How about -- I already know, you -- you like Mercy, right? Genji and Mercy? [Gaku nods and makes this...hand motion. He points out to the crowd at a witch!Mercy cosplayer.] DP: Genji's pointing at you, yeah! [witch!Mercy makes a heart symbol with her hands. She told me that Gaku returned the heart symbol, but was not recorded in the video.] DP: True love in the air! How about you, Christian? I mean, do you ship any particular Street Fighter characters? CH: ...I'm not sure if I understand the question.

Clip 6 (11:15) [Pre-recording: The three were asked if they knew about the pineapple pen song. Only Jonny Cruz knew about it (a little) and was requested to sing it.] JC: You have a pineapple...pineapple pen! Is that - is that how it goes?! Is that how it [?]? [looking out at the crowd] DP [to the person requesting this]: Was that alright for you? What was that? JC: It was okay?! DP: It was alright, it was alright. You go like this. JC: You have a pen. You have a pineapple...[muffled mic sound] Pineapple pen! Yeah? Yeah alright! DP: You were missing the [muffled mic sound].

Random tidbit I remember, but isn't recorded by me: Q&A - “Who is your favorite Overwatch hero?” JC loves playing Junkrat; GS responded with Mercy.

[doodlewash]

My story is not typical of many of the artists who have been featured here. I came to art late in the game. I didn’t draw and doodle much as a child. I didn’t study art in school or college. My path was very different.

I grew up in rural northern Indiana. I love the rural Midwest landscape, especially trees and fields. I went to college in Utah, where I learned to appreciate the desert landscape and mountains. I graduated and came back to Indiana and earned a Ph.D. in linguistics from Indiana University, where I taught for 26 years. During that time, we moved to forty very rural acres in Solsberry, Indiana. We had two children, made a beautiful garden, and I learned to weave and dye.

In due time, I started a side business selling hand-dyed yarn and handwovens. In 2011, I started blogging about our rural life and all the crazy things that happen out here. Those disparate activities taught me a lot of important things. As an academic, I learned to study and ask questions. To be a better dyer, I learned everything I could about color theory and color mixing. To be a better blogger, I learned photography and composition.

One day in 2014 on Facebook, I was tagged in one of those memes where you have to answer 20 questions about yourself and one of the questions was: If I had the time I would _____________. I found myself answering: If I had the time I would study painting. I had recently turned 50 years old and it had always been a secret dream of mine to be a painter.

I thought about that for a long time and then decided that just studying painting was a great way to start. I still study all the time: many different artists, styles and mediums. I study color. I study composition. That Christmas I got myself a little ‘how to watercolor’ book and did a few of the exercises. I let myself paint a lot and didn’t worry if it was bad. I painted the same scenes again and again. I took a few online Craftsy classes in watercolor and got a lot of encouragement. I took a watercolor class offered through the local community college and again got a lot of encouragement. The instructor invited me to join the local watercolor society, which I did.

I kept painting and painting and sharing my work with others. Someone suggested that I submit one of my pieces to the juried member show of the Watercolor Society of Indiana and it was accepted. At that point I got serious about watercolor. I took multi-day workshops with nationally known artists. I painted and painted.

What I like best about watercolor is also what is most challenging about watercolor. It’s unruly. The truth is, a lot of my life is that way. Our forty acres are big and messy and vulnerable to the caprices of nature. I spent years photographing and blogging about our life out here but I could never quite express the feeling of all that sky meeting all those trees meeting all the rest of rural Indiana until I started painting it. I love it when folks look at one of my landscapes and say, ‘Oh, that reminds me of home!’ I try to put as much home as possible in every painting. Things may not be tidy out here, but they sure are interesting. That’s what I paint.

The one thing that has made the biggest difference in my art has been my choice to be confident in my approach. Sometimes this means I paint confident garbage, but mostly it means that I am painting more and more good things. Using professional quality materials is a big confidence booster. I paint on Arches 140lb cold press paper. I use tube paint from Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, Mission, M. Graham and Sennelier. A single color can differ from maker to maker. It’s OK to experiment and try several different makers. Right now I really love how M. Graham and Sennelier have such intense colors and easily wetting paint – they are both made with honey and won’t dry on your palette. (As a beekeeper myself, I love that!)

Those are my beehives and I really do paint them bright colors like that!

My process is to gather several reference photos and then start putting together thumbnail sketches of the basic large shapes in my composition. I don’t try to make my painting match any photo. I might do a notan. Then I decide what colors to use. I might do a color harmony swatch or two. Or five. Then I dive right in on a 10 x 14 inch piece of paper and do the first draft.

This first draft is just that: a DRAFT. It’s not going to be perfect. I adjust colors. I take things out. I put things in. I pencil in possible corrections to the composition. I get a lot of feedback. In the end, this draft is usually a mess.

Getting feedback from multiple sources is really important to the process. It’s necessary if you want to find out whether or not you’re communicating what you think you are in your painting. It’s easy to get really focused on something and forget what else might be there. Feedback helps remind you about the whole painting. If they all say, ‘What’s that blob?’, then perhaps you need to work on it. But if one says, ‘Oh, I love that red shed’ and another says, ‘I don’t like that red shed’, then you know it’s fine, it’s just a matter of taste.

Feedback also tells you about the person giving the feedback. I once had someone spend 15 minutes telling me why a ½ square inch of my painting ruined the whole thing for her. It was a reflection of where she was in her life, her own issues and insecurities. I listened politely and she left feeling happy that she had set me on a better path with that piece. I did not make the change she suggested.

A great way to get feedback is to start a critique group. You can meet in person or start an online group. Find people who are interested in improving their art, not just getting positive feedback on any attempt. It doesn’t have to be watercolor – all art deals with color, shapes, value and composition. Find people who can give and take suggestions with grace and tact. Learn how to give suggestions with grace and tact. A good way to suggest a possible change is, ‘What if…’ or ‘Have you considered….’ Often, when I post a piece to my crit group, I do have an idea of what I’m unsure of in the piece and I come right out and say it. That helps focus the feedback on exactly the areas I want to work on.

Once I get some feedback, I make whatever changes I need to and start the next draft. As I work, I take the time to sit and look at the piece. See how it looks from 10 feet away. If your studio space is too small for that, then snap a pic, pull it up on your computer and take a look. If the painting works SMALL, it will work BIG.

Once a piece is finished, I set it aside and move on to something else. Then I come back to it after a few days/weeks to see if something jumps out at me. I make any changes and sign it, photograph it and frame it. Framing is an important step for me. It’s a way to give the piece some polish, to send it out into world, best foot forward. I use conservation quality mats and frame myself using ‘Best Practice’ techniques that I glean from professional framers and museums. Once the piece is framed, it is ready for immediate sale, shipping or exhibition. That saves a lot of last-minute fussing later.

My personal challenges these days are around color (always) and brushes. I try to take regular, everyday type rural scenes and paint them in an innovative way using unusual colors. I’m trying to work larger and that is forcing me to try new brushes and larger ones. My favorite brushes are the Princeton Long rounds, but I just got a size 30 round Mimik and I have to say I’m loving it for the big work. Every once in a while I try a piece using only a 2 inch flat brush. That’s a real challenge for me.

I will continue to study and paint and see where the art takes me. I hope my story has given you confidence to pick up a brush or pencil and just start. Wonderful things will happen, even late in the game. There are many paths to becoming an artist. I hope you find yours. And when you do, I’d love to hear about it!

Robin Edmundson Website Blog Facebook Instagram Pinterest Google + Twitter Etsy shop (hand-dyed yarn)

#WorldWatercolorGroup - GUEST ARTIST: "Many Paths Lead To Art" by Robin Edmundson -#doodlewash My story is not typical of many of the artists who have been featured here. I came to art late in the game.