i have a few drawings from 2023/2024 that i never finished, but would like to. so every so often when nothing in particular is urgently in need of being worked on, i'll crack open the file and try and put some work in.
...and every time i'm shocked by the way i did things. that's only 2/3 years ago?! it doesn't FEEL like much has changed. but i'm proven wrong everytime lol

the biggest difference is how i managed my layers. my workflow was something like this:
sketch -> put down colors underneath -> combine layers into one and iron out until finished. separate if beneficial. combine if beneficial.

it worked for me well enough that i kept doing it. i liked how the end results looked so why change it!
well uh. i'd compare the feeling of it to playing jenga, everything is interlocked, so moving one piece effects the whole, and it gets harder over time. it took me really long to get things done, because in order to change something, so many other changes need to get made, it's a ripple effect.

when i work on drawings from this time, i end up cutting the layers into chunks and it makes it infinitely easier to work on. it's like sonic the hedgehog says, you live and learn! (incorrect buzzer sounds)