doodles &practise &filling your creative bank account

hello hello <3

as mentioned in a previous post i'm in a bit of a slump right now, it feels like my brain is completely empty ; _; i wanna draw so bad but it feels weirdly wrong and i cannot think of anything to draw?? i guess it's that "creative bank account" (Ⓒ jake parker) i've heard about?? you gotta fill it up constantly, otherwise it'll be empty at some point.

so that's what i'm trying to do right now. i haven't watched a movie or tv show or even an anime in quiiiiite a long time, at least not properly. sometimes i'll watch some netflix while i'm working but i never focus on  what i'm watching, it's mostly background noise, to help me work.

i think the last time i actually sat down just to watch something was at the end of last year. which is bad. same with reading the latest chapters of manga i love, same with tv shows. during my MUTED Q&A many people asked if i have any other webcomics i could recommend and i realised i haven't ready any in almost a year! apart from those of my partner and a very good friend 😱

doing your own thing and basing everything off of your own imagination is all great and dandy until you realise that it's never your "own" imagination but that you build it up constantly, including all ideas you come up with, from things you've seen or experienced.

so instead of thinking of media, books, comics as "free time that i can't afford because i have so much work to do", i will try to incorporate the consumption of those things into my routine, at least find 2hrs a week to indulge, to just consume things i love and admire....! and to learn from them and find inspiration again. i think it's much needed.

this past week i've been working on traditional art a lot, which was also a nice change again. everything i've drawn looked kind of "boring" to me but my main point was to experiment with techniques and tools and focus on the process of drawing more than the result. i will show you guys the result in the next few days, with a step-by-step and an overview of the materials used <3

and up until i can produce good work again, which will hopefully be IN A FEW DAYS BECAUSE I'M IMPATIENT, i will do more sketches like the ones above. they're all done with reference, maybe that will also help to make me go "OH! i wanna make an illustration out of this....." at some point :>

PS: i'll be replying to comments/messages tomorrow, i've had some hermit crab days due to work, health issues and general tiredness T _T) the most socially active i've been this week was through guild chat in guild wars 2 and snorting at a guy who was afraid of my dog while we were out on a walk last night LOL