so i didn't post here for almost 9 years (jan 2011-dec 2019). what was i doing during that time? i'll try to remember as much as i can. for any of you who were curious or didn't follow me elsewhere, this might be interesting. here is my epic journey from internet edgelord to degenerate weeaboomer.
- 1 month after i left NG i was laid off from my job doing flash animation for games for toddlers. high profile stuff for clients like nickelodeon and disney, but nothing that i personally had pride in. despite that, i actually liked the job at first. it was exciting and a new chapter in my life. by 2011 i had been working there for almost a year, but by the time i was laid off the situation there was so garbage that when i got my 2 weeks notice i was actually elated i never had to step foot in that office again. after leaving the studio, i decided i wanted to try being my own boss and doing freelance work. and i'm still doing that today so it worked out well.
- my first couple freelance gigs were nothing all that interesting. but my first real forays into doing stuff i was actually interested in working on was Skullgirls as a contract animator back in 2011. Back then they were still Reverge Labs. I came in somewhat late to the original roster, but worked on it all the way up through 2nd encore and had a hand in every DLC character that was released.
- starting in 2013 i got into tabling at artist alleys at anime conventions. my first con was Sakura-con. since then i have been to too many to count. My favorite by far is Anime Expo in Los Angeles, simply due to the sheer size of it and having a lot of friends who either live there or visit as well. I don't really get to participate in the actual convention as I'm busy selling all day, but it's still an incredible experience. I don't do as many artist alleys as I used to because it is a very exhausting lifestyle - and obviously this year tons of them are cancelled anyway (including AX) - but I do sell pretty much everything I sell at cons on my online store. But when things start going back to normal if you ever catch me at an artist alley be sure to stop by and say hi, i love meeting new people.
- i played a visual novel called Katawa Shoujo in 2013 and it really resonated with me, so much so that I am still heavily involved in the community today. I started with the Instafeels parodies and from there I've done hundreds of fanart and commissions. I even got the opportunity to work on a few official artbooks for the VN (1) (2 NSFW) (3 NSFW) that were sold at Comiket in Japan. Obviously a lot of time has passed since then and the peak hype has long since gone, but there's still a really strong community of fans that i'm grateful to be a part of. And even though I didn't get to work on the original VN, I'm glad I was able to contribute to the official artbooks.
- After Skullgirls development ended, Lab Zero started another game not soon after called Indivisible. I began animation work on this back even before the Indiegogo campaign in 2015 when they were developing a prototype for people to try out - and even though the game has released, i'm still animating for it today! This game has a crazy amount of playable characters, NPC's and enemies, so it's been a very diverse project to work on.
- I've done a lot of work with Studio Yotta, an online studio of super talented animators from all over the world, founded by my long time friend Jake Ganz. Here's some of the projects I contributed on with them:
- The Sonic Mania opening animation. Specifically, these shots. This was a very challenging project to work on because Sonic & friends had to look absolutely perfect. Obviously, the project turned out to be a huge success. I never dreamed I'd get a chance to work on a Sonic game, a character I grew up and spent so many hours with.
- The Rick & Morty "Run The Jewels" MV, as well as an FX shot on S4E1, "Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat", where Rick's leg gets enveloped by ferrofluid.
- Some animation and a background for River City Girls, this Battle Chef Brigade spot, and a short shot on the intro for Amphibia.
- Aside from that, I've been running a Patreon since 2016 and it's grown into a supportive community I'm really grateful for. If it wasn't for my Patreon, a lot of the things I draw and paint would have never been made. It's expanded my horizons more than I ever would have on my own.
There's lots of other unreleased, unfinished or otherwise abandoned stuff I've either started myself or been a part of that aren't worth mentioning - and probably lots of stuff i've simply forgotten about, too. The important thing is that so much has changed in the last 9 years, and mostly for the better. Unfortunately, this year has taken a toll on my health due to an illness, surgery, and now with the quarantine and everything surrounding that - but i'm still able to draw and animate and that's what I need most.
If you're still reading this then I hope you found this short recap interesting and maybe discovered something you didn't know about. If not, then here's a drawing I made that no one has ever seen before, because I made it just now.
cyangorilla
What a journey! I'm happy to see you've found success in your pursuit of art c: