[MaeradCase]

Hey guys,

 

My on-and-off presence here resumes again. I'm still struggling with breathing, still need to find the balance of picking back up a physical challenge without worrying it might lead to an unwanted non-breathing incident... And need to work up the gumption to make an appointment with a doctor to figure out if there's something secretly wrong that the emergency clinic didn't have the means to determine.

 

Since I am trying to pretend nothing in that previous paragraph is happening (😅) so as not to overwhelm myself and suffer from the anxiety that has paired up with breathing problems to beat me up anime style, I am turning toward the things I have for distraction outside of video games. I worked on my pixel quilt on a road trip, so now it's time to quilt the sixth chunk. But I also got one of my art books out of my boxes. It's been half a year since I've drawn anything, and I'm going to face my oldest art, doodle the contents, and if I can do that over the course of this week, I will take the book to my nieces and see if they want to hold onto proof that adults started out with kid skill levels.

 

I've redrawn my art lots of times over the years, sometimes doing a cool challenge format on DeviantArt to compare and contrast the fluctuations of my style. This is more of a record being made of what I drew, while also trying to release the original, trusting that whichever drawings mattered for my artistic historical records have been recorded via the DA challenge, and letting go of physical things that just take up space in the closet. 🥲

 

Here's a snapshot of the row of doodles I did this morning:

Spoiler

 

Anyway, just wanted to say I still live and still want to stick around even if I'm struggling. Hope art is something you'd be interested in sticking around to see. 🙂

 

Maerad

[Ann of Owlshire]

As someone else with a sporadic presence, I totally understand  

 

I hope you find joy in resuming your doodles 🖌️

[Sea-to-sky]

8 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

I worked on my pixel quilt on a road trip, so now it's time to quilt the sixth chunk

Sounds like an amazing and very cool project. 
 

lots of us doing art this time round. Nice to see everyones drawrings 😄

[Everstorm]

All the art!

[Sovalis]

Here to support you however I can. Glad you're still here as much as you are. 💜 Yay art!

[MaeradCase]

3 hours ago, Ann of Owlshire said:

As someone else with a sporadic presence, I totally understand  

Very reassuring, thank you. 😊

 

3 hours ago, Ann of Owlshire said:

I hope you find joy in resuming your doodles 🖌️

Two mornings in, and I think I am! 🎨 

 

1 hour ago, Sea-to-sky said:

Sounds like an amazing and very cool project. 

Yeah! Making twenty placemat-sized chunks keeps me from having to sew forever and quilt forever, though assembling them together at the end will take a bit of effort to make look neat and not all wonky.

 

1 hour ago, Sea-to-sky said:

lots of us doing art this time round. Nice to see everyones drawrings 😄

That's what I picked up on, too. 😄 

 

1 hour ago, Everstorm said:

All the art!

🥰 Yeah!

 

1 minute ago, Sovalis said:

Here to support you however I can. Glad you're still here as much as you are. 💜 Yay art!

Thank you!

 

Quick image post: I doodled some more. What I skipped past was a few horses, a squirrel, two sparrows, and the carefully traced cast of Hamtaro.

 

Spoiler

 

[Laghail]

Your hand with the pencil is so soft and expressive!! 

[MaeradCase]

16 hours ago, Laghail said:

Your hand with the pencil is so soft and expressive!! 

Thanks! I've spent most of my life drawing, and I am pleased to have the skill to make the characters expressive. 😊

 

Well, last night I chose to draw some more, and just as well because I didn't have much time for it this morning. I also got a phone call from a friend, so I sat to talk with her for a time, and she encouraged me regarding the need to schedule a doctor's appointment. Borrowing spoons for a task seems a good way to get it done. 😅

 

Here's a row of last night's doodles:

Spoiler

Apparently as a ten year old I figured that at 19 I'd be a college grad with blonde hair, highlights, guitar playing skills, and a significantly improved popularity. Drawing that imaginary person as a bass player seems more in line with my actual timeline. 😆

[Silmarilliane]

Here to follow and support  

[MaeradCase]

On 5/1/2024 at 10:56 AM, Silmarilliane said:

Here to follow and support  

Thanks for being here. 😃

 

I do not yet have a snippet of doodles to share today because someone *aggressively looks at Zemi* sat on my lap so adorably this morning that I couldn't move to the table to draw before leaving for work. Perhaps I can get some done tonight. 😁

[MaeradCase]

8 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

Perhaps I can get some done tonight. 😁

Yay, I did some! 

 

Spoiler

They weren't meant to have this odd... kerning...? Spacing!

Despite her height being odd to my eyes, the girl on the left is my best attempt yet at drawing the water spilling out of her hand. Too bad that means I can't fix her to have better proportions. 😅

The two girls after her could've been standing closer as they're meant to be linked story-wise. And the three on the right are my 10 year old brain's second character to have enchanted clothes. (The last instance with a mermaid doodled two days ago also was a character with enchanted clothes 😆)

[Rookie]

Here for art!!!! 

[MaeradCase]

9 hours ago, Rookie said:

Here for art!!!! 

You're in luck! I've got more!

 

Spoiler

We've made it to my elf archer girl phase. There's a third one on the next page, too. I had a good redraw of the one of the right that I took to a county fair a couple years back.

Spoiler

Either way she's come a long way from where she started. 😅

Spoiler

 

[Everstorm]

So fun to see your growth as an artist (and adult lol)

[Rookie]

2 hours ago, Everstorm said:

So fun to see your growth as an artist (and adult lol)

It's one of my favourite things to see. I love comparing old to new! 

[MaeradCase]

2 hours ago, Everstorm said:

So fun to see your growth as an artist (and adult lol)

+

11 minutes ago, Rookie said:

It's one of my favourite things to see. I love comparing old to new! 

😊 I like it, too. I tend to redraw my characters every few years (I made an effort once to display the progressively improving designs of numerous characters on DeviantArt). My oldest piece of artwork on hand is a rainbow mermaid from 2001, and for a solid decade I came up with characters and drew them again and again while improving my skill and style. Pokemon and D&D have been responsible for why the majority of my more recent work has shifted from redraws to new characters. Revisiting the old, though, has a nice measure of nostalgia for me, and I hope sharing the art book with my nieces will intrigue them as budding creative types.

[MaeradCase]

So I didn't finish doodling all the characters in my oldest art book, but my time ran out and so I presented it to my nieces. In retrospect, the younger one was probably trying to see I was actively paying attention by asking "what is this?" each time she turned the page, though I took points of psychic damage because I naturally assume what I've drawn (even in inexperienced quality) is still recognizable. 🥲 The older one, who is of the age at which I received the book, was fascinated enough to flip through before dinner, but when I explained my notion of letting them hold onto the book if they wanted, she said I didn't need to lend it to them. 🫠 Okay then.

I did show the archer contrast I shared with y'all yesterday, to reiterate to the younger that I wanted to show how experienced artists start off drawing like children. And my sister also referenced a Bluey episode (which I have seen a snippet from) regarding art skill level improving by continued efforts. 

Anyway, they'd had a lovely D&D themed birthday party, involving a dragon pinata, a monstrous bean bag toss game, a mimic treasure chest, and a roguish challenge of quietly navigating strings with bells on them. 

I put together a Pokemon puzzle with the younger who then immediately tore it back apart while family was out saying goodbye to a parting guest. 😮‍💨 Children are monstrous sometimes.

Anyway, I made it home safely... and I have lost my doodled art deadline, but I intend to continue since the book is still in my possession. 🤷‍♀️

[Sea-to-sky]

3 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

Anyway, they'd had a lovely D&D themed birthday party, involving a dragon pinata, a monstrous bean bag toss game, a mimic treasure chest, and a roguish challenge of quietly navigating strings with bells on them

Sounds like the best birthday party

[Rookie]

Ah children lol when you present them with a really thought out gift or notion and they don't share the same enthusiasm.

 

It was nice what you did regardless of if they wanted to borrow the book and you planted a seed ❤️ that's all you can do at the end of the day. 

 

I got my 5 year old niece a nice travel set of watercolors with a small watercolor notebook and watercolor brushes that you fill the handle with water so you don't need to bring water. She loves art and often wants to bring art things places so I figured this was a "grown up" art set she could bring that wasn't as messy. I got the polite but disappointed ".... 😬 Oh thank you..." response. She has used it since but my heart dropped haha 

[MaeradCase]

7 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

Sounds like the best birthday party

I couldn't agree more. 😄

 

1 hour ago, Rookie said:

Ah children lol when you present them with a really thought out gift or notion and they don't share the same enthusiasm.

 

It was nice what you did regardless of if they wanted to borrow the book and you planted a seed ❤️ that's all you can do at the end of the day. 

🥰 Thank you, both for understanding and for the encouragement.

 

1 hour ago, Rookie said:

I got my 5 year old niece a nice travel set of watercolors with a small watercolor notebook and watercolor brushes that you fill the handle with water so you don't need to bring water. She loves art and often wants to bring art things places so I figured this was a "grown up" art set she could bring that wasn't as messy. I got the polite but disappointed ".... 😬 Oh thank you..." response. She has used it since but my heart dropped haha 

😆 That's better than when I got art supplies growing up. I'd be ecstatic and then never use them. Last year I delved into a box of water color pencils that hadn't been used in the decade since I'd gotten it. 😆

[Rookie]

3 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

 

😆 That's better than when I got art supplies growing up. I'd be ecstatic and then never use them. Last year I delved into a box of water color pencils that hadn't been used in the decade since I'd gotten it. 😆

Better late than never! Lol I love revisiting my random art supply hoard. So much fun. 

[Everstorm]

On 5/4/2024 at 11:08 PM, MaeradCase said:

Children are monstrous sometimes.

Thay really are.  Don't take their behavior too much to heart.

[MaeradCase]

19 hours ago, Rookie said:

Better late than never! Lol I love revisiting my random art supply hoard. So much fun. 

My hoard doesn't tend to be accessible in my tiny home, so it's not very often delved into, and is occasionally minimized. 

 

1 hour ago, Everstorm said:

They really are.  Don't take their behavior too much to heart.

Thanks, Ever. I try not to since I know they're just little people trying to figure things out with less information than I've obtained in a longer lifespan.

 

Mornin'! I'm tired. Yesterday was not a day of recovery because we spent it with Cidran's siblings and their kids. The oldest turns 13 this year and my brain is panicking because she already is growing up, and I met her 5 years ago, so my brain is drawing conclusions about my own nieces being grown up soon. 🤯 But aging is normal, and kids can't be kids forever, so I will get over it.

 

I've got a row of doodles to share today. We've made it past the third archer elf, this one has been converted to cross bows because I require diversity. I've also got the first two of a number of fairies, which have been dressed up a little fancier in a ball gown and fire-shimmery evening gown. 😄

Spoiler

 

Time to get ready for work. Fortunately I did set aside a little time to prep for game night tonight, even if only to make two initiative cards for the NPCs who have accompanied the party away from Castle Ravenloft.

 

Hope this week has a good outlook for all of us. Ten of Wands is warning me I've got my hands too full. 🫠

[Silmarilliane]

5 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

But aging is normal, and kids can't be kids forever, so I will get over it.

 

My oldest nibling is 17 and has a job... it's terrifying, but I also feel like they've all existed forever (the youngest is 11 and going to secondary school soon!)

[Sovalis]

Hope your hands aren't *too* full! 💜