Another year of circling the sun! As we stand on the cusp of the new year, I think it's good to look back and go over what went on.

• I've completed the first semester of my junior year at college. It was far less strenuous than any previous, as well as being more fulfilling creatively and academically. Going into my next one, I plan to keep this feeling going.
• I've reached almost 550 followers here on Newgrounds, something I honestly didn't see coming. It was only last year that I was celebrating having 400! Like I've always said, I can't thank all of you who follow me enough. Newgrounds has become something very near and dear to me, a cornerstone of my creativity. I only hope that I can continue to impress you all!
• I attended the anime convention Youmacon, even if it was brief and found that it wasn't for me. I had a wonderful time with those I roomed with managed to learn from the experience.
• This was the year that I built a lot of bridges, and strengthened the ones I had already built. Meeting new friends both online and offline, and growing relationships with them, has been a huge part of this year. I've gotten to meet so many wonderful people and creators! Their creativity and their heart is inspiring, and has kept me going in my own moments of insecurity and self-doubt.
• I finally started listening to Radiohead, so both @citalopram-overdose and my high school physics teacher can rest easy.

And now, if you'll allow me, i'd like to go over ten of my favorite artworks from this year. It isn't a list ranking each piece in any objective manner, or numbered in any particular order. They're pieces I enjoyed making, feel particularly attached to, noticed a large response to, or just like for one reason or another.

If there's art of mine you don't see on this list, be sure to tell me in the comments and why you like it!

#1 - Doodle Dump: Daredevil

2022 was a very red year for my art. I usually find myself sticking to cool colors, but this year saw a lot of warmer colors introduced.

I've gotta be honest, I was caught off guard by how much people responded to this one. I really thought it was just kinda neat, more of an experiment than anyone else. I almost felt like I posted it here on Newgrounds on a whim. But it must've made a good impression, since it managed to get frontpaged. I suppose Daredevil really fought for that one!

#2 - Heartist Halloween

This one was very satisfying to finish, since it's sort of a remaster of a piece I ended up being unhappy with. While there are parts of this one I still feel tempted to go back and fix, I got closer to capturing what I was going for the first time around. The atmosphere is a bit more unified and the characters feel more in-place. Getting better, that's the goal!

#3 - Heartist November 2022

Terrible title, but I think the art itself is some of my favorite stuff from this year. They were all too small to get their own dedicated solo posts, but too good and/or fun to make that it didn't feel right to not share them. It's a mix of art for myself and for friends(@Palindronev2, @Qwuazzi, and @MercKaiju in particular), all of which I think turned out really good. Plus, I posted it on my birthday, so it's just that little extra bit special to me personally. It might be the most self-indulgent entry on this list.

#4 - Pearly Quinn

@citalopram-overdose and I have had a now long-running inside joke about Harley Quinn and Pearl, which you can read more about in the description of this piece and the other art it links to. I think this was the one that took the idea of drawing Pearl dressed as Harley less like a shitpost. It's still very fun and very silly, but I'm actually pretty proud of how it turns out. I didn't rely so heavily on making it funny and allowed it to be genuinely kind of cool, not to toot my own horn. Pearl's just a character I always enjoy drawing.

#5 - OC Character Sheet: Rogues of Ronin

Ultimately, I just think these designs are really cool. Shift is definitely the weakest and most unremarkable of the three, and while that's sort of what I was going for, it's safe to say that I overdid it. Vulcan is still a solid design to me, and Lightning Rider is in a league of his own. @Palindronev2 was the mastermind behind so much of him, not just on a visual front, but on the development of him as a character. I also got a lot of help from the professor teaching my Characters and Environments course—who was also the head character designer for Futurama and Disenchantment. He was a wonderful teacher and a wonderful man, I have him and Pal to thank for helping me create a truly badass design. Going into 2023, I plan on making more comics and storytelling-focused art in general to improve my skills and take myself to a new level artistically. Lightning Rider needs to be drawn way more!

#6 - Mary Jane

(Heads up, this is a censored version, the piece posted here through the link has her fully nude. Just a heads-up that it's NSFW!)

This was a birthday gift for @citalopram-overdose, and as I was working on it, I was shocked at how 'alive' MJ began to feel. I drew her and her husband, Peter Parker, quite a bit this year. Peter's design took longer to put together, and came after this one. Once I completed this piece I knew I had my own design for MJ.

#7 - Heartist Doodle Dump: September Spider Doodles & Heartist Doodle Dump: June 2022

Both of these being here, let alone having both of them in one spot, should be a giveaway that any semblance of rules to this list are arbitrary. They're both here because each has one part I really liked in particular—the appearance of Venom and my OC Zack dressed as Devil May Cry's Vergil. Both of them are drawings that turned out great, in my opinion. June is also where my aforementioned design for Peter Parker debuted, alongside MJ.

#8 - Forever.

We lost a lot of greats this year. I wonder if part of becoming an adult is realizing that the ones you looked up to are growing older, too. It hadn't really sunk in that the death of Kevin Conroy had impacted me as much as it had until my mother and father both sent condolences on "my loss." Like a delayed reaction, it didn't sink in until somebody from the outside pointed it out. God knows it's not easy knowing that he's no longer with us, but we never forget the legacy he left.

#9 & #10 - Blood and Drums & Metal and Water

These two go together since they're quasi-companion pieces—both entries in a sort of series that I need to return to next year. That coincides with how I plan to focus on storytelling more heavily, sharing OC lore less vaguely and less... "overly long text description on Newgrounds" y'know? It's about time I show rather than tell, and put my ideas out there. I've been doing some sort of practice runs, so while I've still got a ways to go, I think I've got a taste for it now! Making comics, however brief or small, feels like the logical next step in my quest for self-improvement.

Happy new year, everyone. I wish you all safety, success, and happiness in 2023. I'd also like to tag some incredible creators here:

@Palindronev2

@citalopram-overdose

@KnightLineArt

@Silverdays

@MackleNG

@MercKaiju

@Sutikku-Zu

@BeastKing05

@FeralRoku

@Mirkytea

@Konansaurus

@BeastKing05

@Ecko-AI

@CaptainJingo

@Digitax25

@jopuari

@VampryGX

@JoshSketch

@MethadosArt

@Qwuazzi

They're inspiring creators and great friends. You should give them some love and attention here on Newgrounds, and wherever else they may post!

All in all, I think 2022 was a pretty good year for me. I hope that it was for you too, and I hope that 2023 is better. Thanks for reading, as always.

See you soon!