Somehow I've achieved the great feat of doing even less this year. If I feel like it I'll come back to add the doodles.
JOHNNY ROCKETFINGERS
(CANCELLED)
If you remember the last part of the previous yearly recap, I mentioned two collabs I was in. The first of which I expected to release in Q1 of 2025, but was ultimately unsure of. That collab was the Johnny Rocketfingers reanimated collab. At that point it was stuck in development hell for about more than a year at that point, remaining stagnant. At some point I had enough and decided to "officially" end the collab(I was given moderator role, but the Discord was inactive and the host went AWOL).
Before the collab ended, I released my finished shot I made for the collab on the anniversary of the original Johnny Rocketfingers
ART COLLABS
Only 1 this year. I was really beaten down and demotivated this year, which led me to not seek out art collabs or competitions as much as I normally would. However, the one art collab I didn't miss was the Undertale 10th anniversary art collab. I chose an easy to draw character with a small fanbase so I could min-max the quality of my art. That character being Charles(the fur ball with the hardhat)
NEWGROUNDS LONDON MEETUP
I already summarised it here and you can watch it below.
I was the guy in ██████████ wearing a ████. Not too hard to miss.
PLAYSTATION COLLAB
I have briefly talked about it before but now I have the time to go into detail about being a part of the collab.
If I remember correctly, I joined around the Summer of 2024. I was disappointed that I hadn't been reached back to regarding the Deltarune Collab, and was looking for another animation collab in the forums to join as a rebound. At that point, @TheExtreamH begun hosting his Playstation at 30 Collab so I was one of the first to join. Not the first Minecraft submission though, but ExtreamH allowed me to make a Minecraft cartoon despite @BoiledMilkz already working on his at the time(unsurprisingly, he finished before me)
From then until the end of 2024, I spent my time on preproduction. Everything except the animation(which I started in late December) on all four scenes, while other members of the collab would give input where necessary. Originally the collab was expected to release near the end of 2024, but not enough animators(myself included) had finished their submissions and ExtreamH conceded to release it sometime the forthcoming year.
Around the beginning of 2025 there was a new wave of animators who entered the collab, due to it appearing on the calendar. The plan was to get the collab released in March, with a full playable viewer like the Dreamcast Collab did. Due to the assumed deadline, I had to cut down the cartoon from 4 scenes to 2 scenes. I got the whole thing done before the initial deadline, but the code development being slowed down/unfinished led to an indefinite extension, and a culling of the majority of animators who hadn't finished yet.
Unlike the Johnny Rocketfingers collab, this collab was still in active development at the time, and the unfinished animators who were still in the server had enough time to finish their submissions. There was even a small competition to design the thumbnail for the collab(though everyone admitted @Zloler's thumbnail was too cool to beat, I wish anyone else made a thumbnail so the win would be more earned). But near the end, I'd say I was getting more stressed about the collab and remaining submissions than I'd like to admit.
BUILDING COMPETITION
Already described the process in the previous post and section, so I'll dedicate this subsection to small tidbits in the animation. I might've saved these for a QnA or animator interview, but I know that potential interview isn't coming anytime soon.
- Alex's mouth switches between red and black a few times. Red when she's being smiley/happy and black when she isn't
- The nicknames Steve gives for Alex and Kratos are relevant to their characters. Alex is called "Player 2" because she's the second Minecraft human, and Kratos is called "All Star" because of his appearance in Playstation All Stars Battle Royale
- Kratos has tattoos on both of his arms because that's how his skin in Bedrock appears
- I asked @Zaaz to make a cover of one of Kratos' themes for scene 1, but since I never got to animating that scene the cover was abandoned.
250 FANS
After the Playstation collab released, I finally hit another fan milestone of 250 fans.
KRITA
I haven't used my drawing tablet often, mainly because how much of an effort it is to set up and put away. But even though I haven't used it for drawing, I have gotten better at using Krita over the years for photoshopping my traditional art. Of course, I had to use the trackpad on my laptop, which was a pain whenever I needed to draw or cut a shape. Each time I've experimented or added something new to my art, I've been rewarded with a better end product, which encourages me to use Krita even more.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Recently, I've been envious of the people around me for progressing so much while I remained stagnant. Not enough so that I treat them any different, but enough so I wonder what I'm doing whenever I see them working on another project. It doesn't help that I've made less art over time, and taking even longer breaks.
I should be more motivated, and less distracted. Especially by the rise of slop and ragebait.
Aside from that, my hopes remain the same
I'm hoping I improve in future projects and make less mistakes. I also want to expand my boundaries in writing and animation, whether it means making more heartfelt and thoughtful works, or pushing myself with edgier works until I feel more comfortable and refine myself with my creative decisions.
THE FUTURE
I'll be in a few more collabs this year. Try to be more active on NG and engage with the community more. I'm also planning on a M███████████ and 4████ cartoons. I know both are controversial(for their own reasons) but I'll try tackling the former as tastefully as possible(as is the source material), and the latter with enough warning signs to deter anyone sensitive to the jokes being made, and holding back if necessary.
