I suppose it's only natural to compare one's old work to their new stuff. But... I'm not sure what I'm looking at anymore. Something's definitely changed. And... I'm not sure about it, to be honest.

Here's a character from 2012-ish:

And here's an early version/prototype of her spiritual successor from 2024 or 2025:

Old image? Vibrant, alive, full of life. New one? Muted colors, expressionless, frankly kind of dull. It's not just this character or image in general either. It's everything before and after the 8-ish year gap before I started doing stuff again. The weird thing is that back in the day, I was a LOT more depressed and anxious. Now? Things are largely good, if not just busy. But... the art has taken sort of an inverse effect...?

I mean, the new story work is indeed a bit darker and more serious in nature. It's one of several reasons I ditched Pokemon-based stuff and moved on. But I've got to look inward and also wonder at times if I've lost something else over the years. It's like my art is going gray like my hair or something, but I'm not sure it's just "getting older." I just don't have the drive I once had to make things like this. I mean, I'm in a bit of a rut right now, so I suppose it's easier to say something like this, but... am I losing my touch?

IDK... I'm interested to hear any thoughts any of you might have. Yeah, it's a bit of a vent, I suppose, but unlike some, I welcome input on these, so fire away. I won't snap at you or anything... I'm just not like that.