Reflections on Five Years of Art Blogging
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Five years ago, I started this blog as a way to document my art and explore the inspiration behind each piece. I didn't have a clear plan for where it would lead – I just knew I needed a place where the work could live. Looking back now, that decision has played an important role in how I talk about and share my art.
This space has become more than just an art blog for me – it's a map of the past five years of my creative life.
Here's a comparison of the first full drawing I shared on this blog with one I finished late last year.
Where I Was When I Started
At the time I started this blog, I had strong creative ambitions, but I also had doubts about what it would look like to pursue my art seriously.
I'd taken a long break from making personal work after art school, and I wasn't sure what I wanted my art to look like – or even how to make it. I wanted my technical skills to be more developed than they were, and I didn't yet trust my voice to communicate the motivations behind my work.
It's surprising to remember this now, but my second post on this blog was simply titled The Color Problem, because I wasn't even sure how to add color to the types of dark surrealist art I enjoyed making.
Would it be mixed media on paper? Paint on canvas? Digital? I wasn't sure.
(Spoiler: it turned out to be digital.)
I knew I had an uphill climb ahead of me – I had a lot of work to do in finding my voice, developing consistency, and cultivating belief in myself. So my goal for this blog was to take the first small steps toward creating the art I cared about, while trusting that clarity would arrive in time.
What's Changed in Five Years of Art Blogging
My art is a direct reflection of my lived experience, and learning to express that clearly – both in the images and in writing – has turned out to be just as important as developing my technical abilities. Maybe more so.
Here are some of the more meaningful shifts that have taken place over the past five years:
Clarity on Why I Make My Art
When I started this blog, I was mostly convinced I was just making "cool images." I often talked about my work in terms of comic books and metal music, focusing primarily on surface-level influences and aesthetics.
Over time, it became clear that my art is how I process and integrate my life experiences. Each piece reflects a desire to learn, grow, and take meaningful lessons from what I’m living through. That clarity has helped me share my work in a way that feels more specific and honest – and it’s opened the door to new stylistic choices as well.
A More Personalized Visual Style
The creative trajectory for my current work began in the summer of 2021 with a piece called Symbiotic, followed shortly by Unleashing the Cataclysm and Gaia. These early drawings established much of the tone and visual language that shaped the next several years of my work.
More recently, though, my art has begun growing away from its roots in comic books and heavy metal. It's been asking for greater symbolic clarity, which has led me to incorporate influences from Art Deco, medieval engraving, and Egyptian art.
For comparison, here are the two most recent drawings I've completed – the second of which is still a work in progress.
A Consistent Art Practice
Five years ago, my creative rhythm was uneven – bursts of productivity followed by quiet stretches. But in the summer of 2021, I began committing at least one hour each day to my art – not as a strict rule, but as a practical guideline – and I've stayed consistent with it since then.
That small commitment has paid dividends. It's allowed me to build skill and confidence gradually while watching my portfolio take shape. Instead of feeling overwhelmed at the idea of spending 50-100 hours on a single piece, I've learned to trust that showing up in small ways each day leads to regularly completed work.
Sharing My Face and Voice
For the first four years after returning to my art, I was effectively anonymous. I didn't share my face or voice alongside my work.
That changed in the summer of 2025 when I began posting short videos on Instagram and TikTok that offered glimpses into my creative process. These posts combine timelapses of the art with footage of me working, accompanied by voiceovers describing the inspiration and methods behind each piece.
This marked an important shift for me – a moment when I felt ready to stand beside my work and claim it more fully.
Where Things Go From Here
The past three months have brought the most significant shift in my artwork to date. I'm exploring new ideas with each piece and allowing myself to remain uncertain about the outcome.
That said, there are a few things I trust to be true moving forward:
Prioritizing symbolic clarity over technical performance
Staying open to diverse visual influences
Connecting my face, voice, and process with the work
Gradually developing a small, print-based art business
Conclusion
I don't know exactly what the next five years will look like, but I know I'm more present with the work than I've ever been. If you've been following along – whether for years or just recently – I'm glad you're here.
I post process videos, sketches, and behind-the-scenes work as new pieces take shape. If you'd like to see the next stages of this world as it's built, you can find me here:
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