Back at it again with the posting a journal meme and disappearing for like a week lol, anyway artfight theme reveal tomorrow yayyyyyy yahoo yippee!!
MY ARTFIGHT
https://artfight.net/~rhythmroute
HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU PARTICIPATED?
2024 will be my 8th year participating! Very excited :]
HAS YOUR TEAM EVER WON?
Yes! I've been on the winning team 4 out of 7 years!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PAST THEME ON AF?
Oh that's hard hmm, I do have a soft spot for sun/moon because it was my first year :o)
WHAT TEAM / THEME ARE YOU HOPING FOR THIS YEAR?
Arctic vs tropic pleaseeeeeee 🙏 I've wanted arctic/tropic for like the past 4 years lol, I wouldn't be opposed to seafoam/stardust, comedy/tragedy, or crystals/fossils however
DO YOU DO:
- Friendly fire? Always and forever, idc about points I just want to draw people's cute and fun characters :]
- Revenges? Sometimes, it depends because I usually prioritize my bookmarks
- Chains? Nope!
- Know who you will attack first? A friend/mutual! For the past couple of years I've always started off by attacking mutuals
WHATS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO SEE IN ATTACKS AGAINST YOU?
Literally anything that incorporates my ocs personalities, relationships, or trivia sections!! If you read any of my characters extended info I'm kissing you on the mouth
ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10, HOW MUCH WILL YOU BE PARTICIPATING THIS YEAR?
A solid 7, I would love to dedicate all of my time to artfight but unfortunately I am employed and need to make that bread 😔 Also I tend to burnout after we're halfway through the month but this year I want to try to get at least one attack out each day
Just throwing my Artfight out here! This will be my 8th year participating :]
https://artfight.net/~rhythmroute
Don't have any recent arts to post so I thought I'd do another one of these journal memes for funsies :o) Original by smobs!
How many usernames have you had? (You don't have to share them!)
Oh my god so many. I think my very very first user I went by was "LexTheMagical" on YouTube, Google+, and DeviantArt when I was 12. Up until like 2017 I also went through a bunch of variations of "Lexxii". Once Google+ died and I left YouTube and DeviantArt went to complete shit I moved to Tumblr and I've had so many usernames on there I'm not going over each one lol. I started using "rhythmroute" for my first art blog though.
What does your current username mean?
Rhythm route is the 5th world in Kirby Planet Robobot!
What is the first program you used to make digital art?
MsPaint! Very quickly jumped to using an art program that came with my tablet instead however, I think it was called ArtRage or something like that.
Where did you first start posting your art?
I want to say I started out by uploading my flipnotes on YouTube, it could have been Google+ or Facebook though.
What is the first piece of media you drew fanart for?
Mario! I played New Super Mario Bros Wii when it first came out and I got super obsessed with the koopalings and I would watch AMVs on YouTube and draw them all the time lol.
Who was your first self-insert/persona/fursona? What did they mean to you?
Technically my first fursona was a white cat with yellow spots and pink rainbow polka-dot scarf named Spotfur but she very quickly became her own character once I made Lex not too long after. Lex is very special to me because I still use them as my main fursona today, when I look back at her old designs I can always see how blatantly and unapologetically me she was.
Who is your current self-insert/persona/fursona? How are they different to your first?
Lex is still my main fursona! We've been going strong since I was 12 and I don't plan on ever replacing her. Here's a timeline of how their design has developed over the years! :o)

What phases/styles has your art gone through? (e.g. Did you have an anime era, a cartoon style, a watercolour phase?)
Let's see I started off with a really thick pen lineart which I opted for using thinner pen lineart as the years went on. In late 2018 I guess you could say I took a more "anime style" approach at things and also started doing sketchy/messier lineart. 2020-2022 I threw all that out and started using a thick pixel brush to draw and at the end of 2022 I ditched the pixel brush since I discovered the fluffy brush on FireAlpaca and liked using that one A LOT more and here we are now. I still mainly use the fluffy brush to draw now and very very occasionally will try out lineart with a thick pen brush.
What/who do you think has influenced your art style the most?
I'm not sure honestly, I'd say video games and other artists for the most part!
What/who inspired you to be an artist?
AMVs/tribute videos, flipnotes, and animation memes!
What tools are integral to your current workflow? (e.g. Programs, brushes, references.)
Firealpaca is my program of choice and I really like using the fluffy brush that comes with the default set of brushes!
What improvements have you made recently?
I'VE STARTED DRAWING MY OWN CHARACTERS AGAIN!! This might not seem big but all I used to draw was my ocs and it slowly went from ocs to almost exclusively fanart. I'm just really glad that I'm drawing my own guys again, I missed being obsessed with my own characters to the extent I was when I was 13 lol. I'm also finally content and consistent with the way my art looks! I never used to like my art once it became over a year old because it would change so drastically, now I still really like and use art I made up to 2 years ago!
What steps would you like to take in the future?
I would really like to actually learn how to draw backgrounds T__T it's just been me and my "character standing there in the void" thing since forever. I would also like to produce merch like stickers and keychains eventually!
Name: Gira/Lexi/Giratina/Lex
Age: 20
Gender: Nonbinary (They/Them)
Nationality: American
Birthday: August 8th
Timezone: EST
Introduction:
Hai I'm Gira I draw, play video games, and occasionally sew!
Likes:
Drawing
My ocs
Video games
Cosplay
Figure + plush collecting
Speedrunning
Astronomy
70's rock + new wave music
Taking long naps
Chocolate
Dislikes:
Cold weather
Pants (JORTS FOREVER ♥)
My cringe fail job (I work at a grocery store)
Fandoms:
Kirby
Pokemon
Deltarune
Hylics
10 Questions: FAQ
How long had you've been drawing?
Since I was around 7 or 8 I think, Mario was my very first hyperfixation and I would draw the koopalings all the time
Who inspired you to do art?
Honestly? Mario and Pokemon AMV/Tribute videos on YouTube lol
What is your favorite color?
PURPLE!! I 💜 OURPLE!!!!!
Do you own a pet?
Yeas, my family has a dog! His name is Boomer, he's a boston terrier/pug/french bulldog mix, and he's a little freak
How many fandoms are you in?
I don't really participate in fandom I just like to post my fanart and look at fanart lol, but I like Kirby, Pokemon, Deltarune, and Hylics
So where did you find out about Sheezy?
A Tumblr post! Thought it looked pretty promising and I really like it here so far everyone is so sweet, it's pretty much everything I wished that DeviantArt was back in the day
How did you get your username?
Rhythm Route is the 5th area in Kirby Planet Robobot and I thought it would make a cool username, I started using it for my art sideblog on Tumblr and it's kind of stuck as my username for most of the art sites I use now :o)
What is your favorite type of chocolate?
Milk chocolate forever
Is there any advice for new artists you have?
Keep practicing! Have fun! And most importantly DRAW WHAT YOU LOVE!
And finally, the final question. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night owl, I love staying up until 2 am even if I have work at 9 am