...And with the end of the year, I have grown both as an artist, and as a person. This year was a major stepping stone for my webcomic work, my art skills, and my real life. Though I wasn't as active online as the year prior, I can safely say that 2023 was overall a net positive for myself (current world problems be damned).
Now without further a-do, let's get into the recap.
Sue n' Clark: Concept
On February 14th, I released my first real entry of Sue n' Clark onto Newgrounds. This was my first time ever creating and uploading a webcomic onto the internet. A pretty daunting task, but I managed to make something of it (small as it may be).
I received a lot of good feedback on it that I later used for my 2nd official entry (more on that later). I'll admit, it was a bit disappointing not to receive immediate adulation on the spot. But we all gotta grow somehow.
Art Trades
After my work on Sue n' Clark: Concept, I fell into a funk. At the time, I didn't know where I would take the series. To distract myself and get some more creative juices flowing, I started doing art trades with other members of the site. I did three trades in total.
Unfortunately, I started to burn out quite a bit after the third trade. I needed some more time off the internet. It was at this point I began to realize my life needed some reevaluation. I ended up having to skip out on Pico Day which kinda sucked, but I didn't wanna make any crappy uploads while I was burned out.
Moved to a New Place and Made new Art Friends
While I was offline, I had the wonderful opportunity of moving to a new place, away from my parents. This was probably the biggest event that happened in my life this year. Its definitely taught me a ton about being an independent adult. The moving process was super stressful. But once I had officially moved into my new home, all the pieces started to fall in-line. I also found a lot of other people just like me who are artists, and I'm now part of a group of art friends irl.
NG Meetup at TooManyGames + Made even MORE Friends
By the time I had officially moved in, the NG Meetup at TooManyGames was just around the corner. The drive to Philly was quite the adventure. Had a ton of albums to listen to in the car (though I never got through all of them lol). It was great getting to see everyone at the main event. Kind of a bummer that the convention smelled with gamer stench, but I digress. I made a lot of connections with peeps like Sage, Emi, Marshy, and a whole bunch of other dudes I'm forgetting (sorry). I really hope this becomes a yearly tradition for NG. Its a great way to bring the community together.
Loss Collab
Getting to meet Sage at TooManyGames gave me the motivation to participate in his Loss Collab. The whole point was to create your own version of the Loss Meme. You can find my version below.
A very fun collab to be a part of. Plus, I got to step out of my comfort zone and draw something "creepy" for a change. My entry doubles as fanart for the web series "I Can't Sleep".
Sue n' Clark: Chapter 1 (still a work in progress)
By the time I got back from TooManyGames, I figured out where I wanted to take Sue n' Clark. I officially started work for Chapter 1 on July 1st. In that period, I spent months drafting, thumbnailing, and sketching everything. To save time, I handed off my sketches to QueenBoo in the month of October to fix up the panels. She's done a tremendous amount of work on Chapter 1. I'm very thankful to have her around.
Some time in July-August is when I realized I wouldn't be able to upload Chapter 1 before the end of the year. This was a bit disappointing, as I had hoped to have that done sooner. Turns out I bit off more than I could chew. But its a learning experience all the same. Though a blessing in disguise was right around the corner.
User of the Day
But before that, I got User of the Day (November 15). A bit of an odd victory, but I'll take it.
Sweet Sixteen Comic Contest
On the month of September, a comic contest was announced for NG. Just a week later, the art portal had gotten a MASSIVE update, allowing for webcomics to FINALLY have a place on NG. Both these announcements came at an incredibly opportune time. After I submitted my final sketches to QueenBoo, I got to work on my Sweet Sixteen Comic. I managed to finish it just 3 days before the deadline. The comic was officially uploaded on December 11th.
I didn't win anything, though to be fair, the competition was fierce. A lot of good comics came out that month. I just couldn't compete. Still, I had improved MASSIVELY on my webcomic skills from the last upload. This has given me a great amount of experience for future releases.
GoGo's Collab
A few days after my comic's release, the "GoGo's Collab" finally dropped on NG. I ended up participating just for the hell of it. Had no idea what these things even where until ForgeFrog made his collab on them.
Also, to anyone collabing with Forge in the future, he absolutely LOVES being told when his documents are poorly formatted :3
Secret Santa
And to end things on a decent note, I submitted a Secret Santa drawing on Christmas day. For the first time, I got a character that actually fit my style of drawing. Have a look below.
At the time I wasn't sure if it was any good. Plus I started having back problems (I sit like a gremlin). But in hindsight, its a good final drawing to end the year on.
And that concludes my 2023 highlights. All around a pretty decent year. I suppose we should cap this post off with a list of goals I hope to achieve in 2024.
Goals for 2024:
- Revamp my Sona and Banner
- Release Sue n Clark: Chapters 1 and 2 this year
- Participate in more collabs
- Make more fanart
- Keep improving my craft
Here's to a productive 2024. If you actually took the time to read all this, thank you.
-Eugene
