...and hot damn was it a year to remember! While the rest of the world decided it wants to burn (and be super cringe), I’ve gone through a lot of personal growth!

There’s a lot to cover, so for this year’s review, I’ll be breaking up each significant moment of this year into arcs. Think of it like an anime involving some internet rando.

Alright here we go.

The BBS Shitposter Arc (January - May):

In late January, I made a lengthy post in BBS general covering the great Gamestop fiasco. My post garnered a small amount of attention from BBS regulars and I started to get to know more of the forum members. I would continue to post on BBS general and gain a reputation for being a shitposter. Later on, I would get scouted to the Art Portal by DrunkGecko. Gonna be honest, getting that scout felt surreal. At the time I didn’t feel like I really “earned it”. But regardless of whether or not I should have been scouted, it was great getting to know everyone on BBS.

These days, I don’t really post that often in BBS General (except for the occasional front-page recommendation). Its nothing against the forum. I just ended up getting to know more people within Newgrounds from other platforms. But the time I spent there was great and I have many fond memories of shitposting.

The Pico Day Arc (May 1st):

This was a pivotal moment for me here on Newgrounds. At the time, I was practically dying of hay fever and scrambling to get my Pico Day post submitted on time. My Pico Day submission was one of my more popular uploads here on Newgrounds. It was great getting people to actually rate my artwork for a change. My submission was also a major milestone in my artistic abilities, as it had been one of my better works (compared to my past entries).

But that’s just the surface of it. You see, a small little game (probably never heard of it) called Friday Night Funkin’ had gained viral acclaim across the web. This trickled down to the greater Newgrounds community, giving the site a whole new wave of creators. Thanks to the success of FNF, Pico Day 2021 became a time to be truly proud of the Newgrounds Community. My god it was a glorious day! Though I’m not that much into FNF or its fandom, I’m extremely thankful it came out at the time it did.

But the most pivotal moment for me on this site was yet to come. Sometime down the line, a major discord party was being held in honor of Pico Day 2021. I wanted to get to know the people of Newgrounds better, so I joined in. It was easily the most fun I ever had participating in any community ever! I got to meet a lot of cool people, and would eventually meet up with more of them on The NGP Discord Server (a place I still on occasion frequent).

All-in-all, Pico Day 2021 was a day to not only be truly proud of something, it was a day I made new friends along the way. Some of us have come and gone, but Newgrounds is still fresh in my soul.

The Sue N’ Clark Arc (Ongoing; Started in June):

Since late 2020, I’ve been working on preproduction for a webcomic. I would brainstorm a bunch of different ideas, only to discard them for a multitude of different reasons. Sometimes my ideas got too ambitious, while other times I would lose interest in the original idea. I eventually decided that I should start my first webcomic with as simple a plot as possible and include as few characters as I can to keep the plot consistent and avoid getting too out there with my ideas. And so, Sue N’ Clark was born.

So far I have...

• Completed the two main reference sheets for the lead cast (Sue and Clark)
• Created the character bios of the main cast, including personality, backstory, goals, and appearance (height)
• Designed sketches for an integral side character (the main love interest, Todd)
• Written the official plot synopsis for the entire series
• Made a few drafts for the prologue

I still need to...

• Figure out a good format for the webcomic pages and panels
• Create an art style for the webcomic that looks unique and sticks out
• Design sets and backgrounds (BIG PRIORITY)
• Write a pitch document (for future use)
• Finalize the plot for the prologue

On top of doing preproduction work, I have also been talking with my NG peers over discord to get their thoughts on my ideas. So far its been going great. The talks have helped me better understand good ways I can take my webcomic while maintaining my own artistic integrity.

Its also been great getting to see the fan art of Sue. I love seeing enthusiasm for the things I create. And for people to share in my own enthusiasm is a wonderful thing to behold. Hope to give you guys more in the future (and grow the Sue N’ Clark fanbase).

Honorable Mentions:

• Finally built my PC

• I got better at anatomy and made great strides in improving my character design

• I got a retweet from the twitter artist Valbun for doing fanart of her sona

• I joined the NG Festival Discord Server and got to meet even more cool peeps

• I participated in NG Secret Santa 2021

• I FINALLY GOT OUT OF RETAIL WORK!!!

Goals Going Forward:

I see a bright future on the horizon! Regardless of whatever bullshit happens in 2022, I plan on improving my art skills even further! The first step I’ll be taking is learning how to make backgrounds. I have a udemy course on backgrounds that I purchased last year. Guess this year will give that course some good use.

I’ll also be planning on uploading art more consistently (I hope). I’ll be mainly focused on creating Sue N’ Clark art pieces to try and push the reach of my upcoming series even further. Can’t promise I’ll always be consistent at it. But if I make at least one upload every month that’s Sue N’ Clark related, I’ll have made 12 pieces that people can look at to get a better idea of what the series is all about.

This last one is a bit of a stretch goal. But if I can get a Sue N’ Clark “Draw This in Your Style” challenge going, that might give my series even more reach. Having spent a lot of time with peeps in NG discord servers, I can name at least 5 people who would be down for that. Of course, that would require scheduling and making sure I don’t organize such a challenge on an event where everyone is busy with other shit.

Conclusion:

Despite the world’s usual bullshit, 2021 was a better year than my wildest imagination could have ever predicted! I’m gonna be working hard to make sure 2022 is a year of growth and productivity! Hope you all join me!