Fanart for Εkami 倧η₯ / Happy Lunar New Year of the Tiger 2022 + hey I’m back! π§§π π
Happy New Year of the Tiger/θ with Thunder God Gekigami! π§§π π
Pudgy tiger celestial brush god!
According to the zodiac horoscope (which is full of bluffing, generalisation and superstitious vague lies so I’m just playing along and not taking it seriously) Tigers are brave, active, ambitious, independent, enthusiastic, energetic, intense, tenacious, loyal, authoritative, cheerful and loves challenging and adventurous things. They have a keen sense of justice and protect their personal space. They can be tactless at times, bold, rebellious, stubborn, brash and are natural leaders.
For years my personal zodiac reading (which is not the Tiger) is unhelpful, contradictory, depressing and vague so every time I read about it, I laugh at it and then forget about it. For 2022 apparently I need to stay kind, work hard and be aware of depression, sabotage, stress, trauma, loneliness, isolation, mixed opportunities, average luck, bad luck with relationships, unstable health, career is ??? and struggle. So whelp. So much for happy new year ;P
Digressing! This is the 8th year I’ve been doing this Okami Lunar New Year fanart project!
Goodness I’m past halfway!! I’ll do 4 more years for this project and maybe a bit beyond that ;D
Whoa technically it’s my 1 year official HipsterWhaleDev anniversary as a part time employee today! Some reflection as I ramble to myself!
I worked on Hipster Whale projects roughly 5 years (on/off since 2016) so the official 1 year anniversary milestone is a disconnect and somewhat weird and jarring when I’ve been around and worked on Crossy shenanigans for so long. I feel old instead :’)
I’m content/happy that the kind HW team acknowledges and appreciates that I’ve been a long term HW peep all the same! And that is definitely what’s more important to me, putting my silly ego and petty feelings aside with the technicalities. (Gosh am I too honest here? Well given this blog, I guess you would be used to it now – I’d rather not force positivity. )
Either way I’m grateful that I’ve been an *official* HW artist for a year!
I generally consider myself an art helper/support role in concept and voxel art and will go with whatever feels right with the team. I’m not trying to climb up a games career ladder – I’m just focused on what I can do with art and manage/juggle things from there. I don’t mind too much as I don’t feel capable of taking up a lead games artist and/or artist manager role because I would really burn, overwhelm and stress myself out (I have tried things I’m not interested in, art directing a project, UI, unity, juggling more art hats in the past and I don’t want to get bald patches on my head again from self imposed, perfectionistic crunch, obligation and overwhelming expectations), I don’t have high level interpersonal/social/management skills, I am not a multi-skilled game artist of many disciplines and I’m very much on the slow brain processing side.
I have great admiration and awe for those who manage to be and do all these things! Admittedly I do feel insecure at times, especially when uncertainties and unknowns come into play. Fears are normal and they come and pass by. It’s better to focus on what I can control and can do (as I remind myself).
I still do have brainfarts, make my own tunnel vision/short sighted mistakes and misinterpretations along the way. I always have much to learn, how I need to remember to speak up about how I’m doing/faring and clarify how I understand things. I’m still an imperfect, silly human being with a neurodivergent brain :0 I know my personal limits (at least when I’m not too hyperfocused), where my interests lie and shall stick with my strengths (or stay in my lane? I don’t know.)
Note that this is all just me reflecting on myself and not about anyone at HW! I hope I don’t sound too self depreciating! :’)
All the same, thanks Hipster Whale for being super understanding, supportive, kind and having me as a little voxel artist of the team! Grateful that I can thrive and help in my own quiet, homebody way π
I’ll post a photo if/when I get my HW milestone patches ;D
Under the HW team & Ashleigh’s masterful art direction I made & iterated this Tiger for Crossy!
My brain started off too complicated with the art style plus tigers need their stripes and facial features. So we ended up going through several iterations :’)
Finally I’m back to posting art! Lots of people move on, unfollow, ghost, get distant over the years so thank you for sticking around a little online, irrelevant, hermit artist like me! The learning journey continues :’)
Once again, Happy Lunar New Year! I hope your January has been alright.
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