Art in 2022
Every artist I follow makes these lovely thumbnail collections of their work from throughout the year. Because I’m not on my workstation, I don’t have access to my programs. Instead I’ll just pick one piece from every month and explain why it’s my preferred work. Hope that sounds like fun!
January
Every year is entered with a lot of goals and ambitions and it’s no different when I approach my creative journey. There’s something about the new cycle resembling a restart - a new chance to tackle everything I neglected the year prior. Storytelling has always been at the forefront of my priorities, but not really something I’ve truly ventured into outside of my comics. Therefore I made a piece of Adelaide Carter after her faithful encounter with the local vigilante. I wish I could say I remained on this narrative, illustrative path - but old habits quickly returned and I need to keep pushing myself. No dear mother, as we say in Norway.
February
I was fortunate enough to be invited back for yet another zine piece. This time the theme was “Horns” and it served as the perfect excuse to draw a grand Minotaur lady. When tackling this, I had a huge mood board of old Western illustrations. But they all work in dramatic shadows, rendering big chunks of the illustration in muted dark. That’s a huge break-off from my pastel palett and I really had to churn my color gears in order to mix the classic look with my own. I hope I somewhat succeeded, but what do you think?
March
In 2021 I picked up Fortnite for the first time (yes, it’s me, your boomer aunt). Thanks to the broad gallery of characters, I ended up playing a lot as Venom. Having close to no previous knowledge about this anti-hero, I learned to love him through a shooter game where I just saw him as a big, horny himbo. Being a hopeless shipper, I resurrected an old obsession of mine: Wolverine from the X-Men. Perhaps a little known fact about me is that growing up, X-Men was my contemporary religion. When I say I wanted to be Logan, that’s not a hyperbole. So naturally I began selfindulging in my own head canon about these two. Sorry, not sorry.
April
Opening the folder for April reminded me that I was suffering quite the burn out at the time. Looking back I can’t even really remember what caused it (possibly the two last years finally catching up with me). Nevertheless I have no proper art to show for this month, simply some shark avatars I made for my partner and myself.
May
The break clearly did me good as my May folder is filled to the brim with big illustrations. One stood out to me though; this piece of my DnD character Claymore. When working on this, I tried to channel a very specific vibe. Elden Ring meets Berserk meets Takehiko Inoue. It’s not often I dare to use a bold, flat color for the background, yet looking back at this, I ought to do so more often.
June
It was simply too challenging to pick only one for June, and since I didn’t really have a piece for April, let’s pretend this makes up for it. Pride month is always something I want to celebrate with my art and in more recent years I’ve done just that. These are two very different approaches to pride and acceptance, but both equally important. One was completely drawn for my own pleasure (and craving for donuts), while the other features a pair of OCs that’s already made themselves comfortable in my heart. In 2023 I want every June piece to reek of queer cheer.
July
Another month where I don’t have a whole lot to show for. This isn’t necessarily a piece I’m very fond of, but I spent July socializing and traveling, which is equally important (if not more, arguably). The reason I never gravitated towards this drawing is because the colors are lazy. I couldn’t be bothered to challenge my limits and instead played it safe. Looking back that’s disappointing and serves as a good reminder to not rest on my laurels in the future.
August
After spending five weeks in Germany, I returned back home to find my personal life turned upside down. A topic I do not wish to linger on, but suffice it to say it affected my creativity for a while. Luckily art is also an escape where I can find beauty even in the darkest hours. I dug up an old sketch and redid several things before finalizing it. This felt like the first time since January where I actually challenged myself with a more complex piece and focused on storytelling. When it clicks, I think it really works and I have to aim higher next year. Note to self - stop being lazy, who am I rushing for?
September
As I opened my September folder, I realized something; while I have several fully rendered illustrations from this month, these heavily stylized drawings of Loup and Daisy May are what stuck with me. They were drawn for my pleasure only and made me genuinely happy. The more complex illustrations were shared on different platforms to almost no recognition, which in turn tainted my view on them. Some I never even published because I didn’t want to face the indifference. But these semi-chibis were purely drawn for me and the folks showing up at stream. It’s good to flex my animator tool kit and remember I have the capability to change it up and make really expressive, minimalistic character designs.
October
This was a busy time for me, filled with commissions and NDA work. So once again I don’t have much to show for and nothing I truly burn for looking back. However this drawing was yet another addition to the process of rediscovering what it means to make art for myself. A topic I’ve touched upon until tedium is how much social media has destroyed my view on my own craft and my self feeling. Towards the end of this year I finally confronted that turmoil within myself and started throwing up a lot of middle fingers. A character shot like this is really unremarkable, yet felt like a necessary stepping stone at the time.
November
Ok hear me out - I know I just said that the previous work was unremarkable while I follow it up with yet another character-cropped-by-the-thighs-front-view piece. Listen - as pointed out above it was an important stepping stone in the right direction. I never shared this piece publicly until now because I truly had fun drawing it and wanted to cherish that in private. I didn’t need outside validation, I just needed to draw Venom in a playboy suit because why not?
December
Every December for the last couple of years I’ve organized a Secret Art Santa with different mutuals of mine. Never will I seize my amazement over the fact that people wish to join. This year I got the chance to draw Sailor Moon art. An anime/manga I did not grow up with, but where I really appreciate the visuals and so I attempted to maintain that vibe in my own drawing. And honestly; any excuse to draw ladies kissing.
If you read all the way to the end, thank you! And perhaps let me know what’s your favorite piece and why?
Happy new year, everyone! I also want to do a post where I talk about the movies/books/games I went through in 2022, but that’ll have to wait.
-Jaws
I love your art so much Jaws! I hope you have a good new year and 2023!
Looking back at Clay arriving in May, I can't help but relive the excitement for the start of our adventuring tour together.
You created with so much variety this year! If forced to pick, the minotaur is my favorite. It draws me in with a story already happening, and you really did walk that line of brining together old west illustration with your own palette. That said, your take on the Sailor Scouts is so good! You made the fluttering petals and dew drops truly yours