I've been adjusting some of my art goals/what I want to work on, so I figured I'd thought-dump a lil' list here. If I don't get to all of these in 2026 that's okay, but it's nice to have them written down somewhere.
Things to study/work on:
- stylized shadows and highlights
- SATURATION/color balance
(I feel like I have the opposite problem of the common "avoid super saturated colors" advice; I want to make my colors Juicier.)
Things I want to try:
- sell adoptables
- make a comic page :-D
Here I thought I'd made a solid decision to not do ArtFight and try and be gentle with myself, but now I'm regretting it because mutuals are posting all their extremely gorgeous OCs and I want to attack them..... Everyone is so talented!! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
(In all seriousness, if I do try ArtFight after all I'll try to prioritize my mental health and mostly focus on attacking mutuals, + make it clear I'm not in a place to guarantee revenges. I'd probably only manage a few pieces.)
Doing the other Intro Meme I've seen around because... y not.
Also, I've decided I just can't manage AF with family stuff and grieving. Two kind friends offered to do art trades with me so I wouldn't completely miss out, so if we're mutuals on Bsky or Sheezy please feel welcome to reach out about a trade!
Gender: all over the place
Sexuality: bi/pan
Height: 5'1" :")
Relationship Status: mostly aro and not looking
Favorite Colours: seafoam, sage, other greens
Favorite Songs: "Breaks My Back (All the Damn Vampires Remix)" - Meg Myers, "Silver Springs" - Fleetwood Mac
Favorite YouTubers: Filesverse, Lindsay Nikole, McElroy Family, PBS Eons
Favorite Food: pizza napoletana
Favorite Birds: vultures!! esp turkey vultures, black vultures, and bearded vultures
Favorite Animals: badgers, deer, pronghorns, hares, alligators
Favorite time of day: late afternoon
Favorite Holiday(s): Halloween, Midsummer
Favorite Season: summer
Favorite Fruits: pineapple, raspberries, nectarine
Favorite Flowers: lavender
Favorite Emoji(s): 👻 🐊 🙏🏻 💁🏻 ᕕ ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Favorite Hobbies: reading, art, writing, Lenormand, TTRPGs, video games, birdwatching
Favorite Weather: cloudy and in the 80s
Name of your pet(s): Finn! (black cat 🐈⬛)
Introvert or extrovert: introvert
Homesick or traveler: homesick
Woods or city: woods
TV or Youtube: YouTube
Phone or computer: computer
I was originally planning to make 2026 my first year participating in AF, but I've been dealing with a family crisis the past couple months, so I don't have a ton of emotional energy, and I also haven't been able to keep up with all the discussions re: the rules changes and changes-to-the-changes. But, I do feel a bit bad at the thought of not participating, since I've gotten some sweet comments about the characters I have up on AF, and I was looking forward to doing some attacks and friendly fire for mutuals. ;_;
For anyone who followed me on AF, please know that I still really appreciate the follows. RL is just A Lot right now.
I saw the Introduction Meme and got so much nice nostalgia for 00s DA days. Nature is healing. 🌱
BASICS:
name/nickname: Arliss
gender: nb
pronouns: usually they/them
age: 35
location: NorCal
fun fact: I was born 3 months prematurely (probably not a "fun" fact, but I couldn't think of anything else)
hobbies/interests: reading, art, art history, Lenormand and oracle decks, nature, fantasy RPGs
dream job: I currently do graphic design/social media stuff for a nonprofit, and I'm pretty happy with that.
ART:
favorite medium: digital
favorite subjects (what do you like to draw, take pictures of, making music about, ect): fantasy creatures, elves, animals
favorite artists/inspiration: Brian Froud, Alan Lee, Tove Jansson
favorite period of art: 80s-00s fantasy art and animation, also Stone Age and various ancient art
piece you're the most proud of: Anything with The Bird, since I'm better at drawing The Bird than my more humanoid characters.
how long have you been creating: Drew a lot as a kid/teen, fell off in my twenties, got back into it at 32 when my dad gifted me a tablet (thank you Dad <3)
how did you learn: I took figure drawing classes in HS and college, plus some digital art classes in college, but I've done a lot of self-teaching as well.
how long does it usually take you to make something: I tend to do a little bit every day, so usually around a week for a colored piece.
what's the big project you haven't got around to yet: My goals for this year are to do more BG and prop stuff, and try my hand at comics.