On an unrelated note, this is the 800th post on my blog! 🎉
Artfight 2025 was counting down it's final days, and the race between the Crystal and Fossil teams was neck and neck! Every time I logged in, the ratio would be 50%/50% or 50.01% one way and 49.01% the other! According to sources, in the 8 years that Artfight has been running, this was by far the closest the competition had ever been! It spurred me on to do a few quicker sketches to keep my team afloat. My team is the Crystals, by the way, did I mention that before at any point? XD
Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the wrap-up and my final thoughts.
Original Character: Aspen from TheKittyCatFlies
Technique Notes: I did the next couple of drawings in the same style that I drew Arthur a few weeks ago. I determined to do a "quick 15-minute sketch" but they both ended up taking nearly an hour, lol. I used a reference for the head (excluding the ponytails). I tried to do it in a more "sketchy way", in that if lines didn't join up, then I didn't worry about trying to refine it, etc. I did take more care with the face, though.
I like: I feel like I captured Aspen's character fairly well. She was formerly abused, and ran away to join a pirate crew to find adventure and people she can fit in with. I feel like her uptilted head and slight smile reflect that. I think! What do you think??
Could Improve: The ponytails are a bit misshapen. XD Also the back of the head underneath the ponytails seems a bit weirdly shaped? even though I drew it in one line with the upper part of the head and erased it later. I've noticed in drawing there is sometimes a paradox in that what's factually correct can look janky when you translate it onto paper, and you need to adjust it to make it look "right" to the eye.
Original Character: Maya from SiTheSerpent
Technique Notes: As per the above drawing, I used a reference. The hairstyle, hairbow and t-shirt are added by me. I tried using the "Toothy Pencil" brush set quite thick. Then I did the hair and t-shirt details with the "Pencil" brush on a much thinner setting. I chose a red background to honour Maya's Japanese heritage.
I like: The hair, well, most of it anyway. The t-shirt. Normally I hate drawing nostrils, but I think they came out okay. I've just realised that I didn't draw her eyes with pupils. I could take or leave pupils myself, honestly. 🤷🏻♀️ I love her sass though.
Could Improve: The lines are a bit wobbly today. My Carpal Tunnel was catching up with me again. Also, I think I was sitting on the couch for this one. Unsurprisingly, I seem to do better linework when I'm sitting at a table with my elbow and wrist properly supported. Heh. The hairbow is pretty bad.
Original Character: Rey from ZippyKoii
Technique Notes: So, perhaps I should have quit while I was ahead. :7 I wanted to do another quick sketch, but this time with colour, as it was the colour palette that I loved about this character.
I like: The colours, but I can't take credit for that at all, heh. I tried making the hair locks curl in different directions, which made it look slightly more dynamic than in my earlier attempts at drawing shorter hair. I wouldn't say I "like" it though. And I made the highlights in his eyes tiny clouds. See! Do you see it? Squint real hard... there you go!
Could Improve: Just about everything really, heh.
Original Character: TRAVA from Rolladerby
I only had time to draw a couple more characters, and when I was whittling them down I just had to do Trava the Thorn. Their skin colour and downward-sloping ears reminded me so much of my character Cora. Rolladerby sent me an incredible drawing in response. They have just started a YouTube channel -- go and show them some love!
Technique Notes: Just a standard example of my "style", such as it is at this stage. I used "Monet Mixer" brush to do the red stripes on their head. The highlights in their eyes are tiny flowers.
I like: The linework seems a bit more confident today. I added some lines to the background as the corners looked kinda empty, and that is an okay thing. I was a little worried the background would be too close in tone to their skin colour, but I think it's okay. Their mouth is quite crooked, but I actually like that. It looks more expressive than my "standard" trapezoidal mouth.
Could Improve: The red bits behind Trava are meant to be roses, but I did them quite perfunctorily.
Original Character: Sidd Powderkeg from zelathegreat
Technique Notes: Yikes. This one also comes under the "I Should Have Quit While I Was Ahead" category. It was the evening of the last night of Art Fight, and I wanted to really quickly bang out one more sketch. You know how you see artists at work, and they do a "preliminary" sketch, but it turns out to be so good that it could stand alone as it's own work of art? Well, apparently I can't do that. XD (yet)
I really debated with myself whether to send this to Sidd's owner. I decided to do it in the end, because artists of all skill levels are welcome on the site, and it's important for people to see that we all have bad days. I will, however, keep Sidd on my bookmarks list and try to draw them better next year.
I like: Oh sheesh.
Could Improve: All of it. Just all of it.
Lesson Learned: DO NOT try to draw in the evenings. My hand and brain just can't do it.
FINAL WRAP-UP
Starting Goal: 10 drawings
Drawings Given: 35
Points Earned: 632.5
Drawings Received: 12
About half of the artists I sent art to sent one in reply. (These are called Revenges in Art Fight parlance.) There's absolutely no obligation to send a "response" drawing to anyone, and I'm thrilled that anyone chose to draw any of my characters! I didn't realise that "Mass Attacks", which are drawings of more than one character in the same piece, as I did in this post, only count as one drawing. So, on the website my statistics show that I did 28 drawings, though I actually drew 35 characters. While it was fun doing the "mass" drawings, I might not do that again next year. Or, if I do, I'll put them into a proper scene with a story, instead of just collecting them together in my sketchbook. Art Fight was a huge amount of fun, and I will absolutely do it again in the future! It was a great learning experience to see all of the different art styles. I got a chance to experiment with several digital drawing techniques and tools. I'm very motivated to make better drawings of my own characters, too. I should probably give my poor hand a break, though. XD I don't know which team won yet! It takes a few weeks for the admin team to investigate any reports, calculate, churn the cogs, and all that stuff. I'm waiting with bated breath. 
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