New Year 2024 → 2025

31st of December, 2024

Here it is, 2025, in just a few hours. It’s so strange; the number 2025 feels like an imaginary one from sci-fi movies. And yet.

It’s funny, the first text post I’ve ever made on this page (now lost to time due to renovations) was a New Year’s one. I didn’t really say much of anything in that one, but this year I’m feeling chatty.

I’ve been looking at my body of work created over the span of 2024 and I feel a little disappointed. In some ways, I am very proud of the way my style has solidified and all of the new skills I’ve picked up, especially rendering and scenery. But I can’t help but notice how uninspired my illustrations look. As I work I tend to try and tackle pretty ambitious concepts, but I don’t tend to finish those, only really completing work that needs to be done for an occasion or a project and for those I typically go for shortcuts. The stuff I’m really excited about ends up lost in the files because I forget or don’t have enough energy. So I think that is one of the things I want to work on in the New Year – composition and concepts. Now that I have the skills to back it up I can probably conquer more complex images. That would be very nice! And for the love of all, please stop ONLY drawing figures facing slightly the left!!!YUCK.

I would be lying if I said I’m disappointed with ALL my work. This website clearly forbids me from doing so. One of the things that I got to engage with on a deeper level due to the creation of this page is animation. And I am very grateful for that. I’ve been interested in animation for a long time (see my post about it here) but never had the time to actually get into it. These low framerate gifs featured on this website have been a joy to work on. I find the process to be very engaging and the results infinitely satisfying. I’m very happy with them and the atmosphere they bring to this place. So doing more animation in the future would definitely be preferable.

Now. Let’s get to the most important part of the year: The Gaming. Very good year for gaming for me personally. It started with a healthy dose of 100 hours (collectively) of Isaac and Factorio. I still play Isaac from time to time, but as for Factorio, I had to take a break because it was consuming my brain. I had dreams about it. They came out with the space age update recently and I am too afraid of what it would do to me if I tried it… Another gaming joy for me has been Papa’s Freezeria. I’ve never played it as a kid, so I’m saying this as an unbiased adult: What a delight. I enjoy it very much from time to time. I remember one afternoon I was in a Discord call with friends making them custom orders in the “truck mode”. It might seem childish, but I liked it, it’s fun.

There is a game I started playing this year that has become very important to me, for various reasons. However. It deserves its own blog post I feel. Those of you reading who know what I’m talking about must be smiling. Grinning even. Let’s just say I’ll take my time with this one… and then take your heart! HA!

A big gaming highlight for me has been Animal Well. Shame it didn’t get any of the awards in its nominated categories on Game Awards, but oh well. Balatro didn’t get “game of the year’ and Silent Hill 2 Remake didn’t get “best sound design” so the competition is obviously rigged. Kidding, but I was rooting for those games. Anyway, let’s get back to Animal Well. I haven’t beaten it at the time of writing this, but I’m having a blast. I love the graphics, the theme. It’s just cool to see all the animals! It’s very stylish and inspiring; I definitely would like to draw something based on it. In love with the gameplay. The puzzles feel wonderful. I’ve only consulted a guide once, saw that every area is solvable with no items and you cannot softlock and that was all I needed to hear. Everything is intuitive, flows together wonderfully. What a shining example of game design. In some ways it reminded me of another gem – Mosa Lina, a procedural rouge-like “where nothing is planned, and everything works” . The combination of creative item use and the nimbleness of your own fingers is certainly familiar, but of course, Mosa Lina is way more of an unguided, raw experience. Fun in Co-op too!

In general I’d say I’ve discovered my love for rogue-like games this year. It all started with me playing the original Rogue (1985) and having a grand old time with it. I should play it again and maybe even finish it. I’d be more familiar with it than most modern fans of the genre! Sorry, that was petty.

This year I also completely switched from music streaming services to an mp3 player! Hooray! Feels great not to pay a dime to the companies that will just take your favorite songs off the list in a blink of an eye! I’m using the same player I’ve had since high school or even middle school. Nice little thing. Recently I invested in some quality in-ear monitors (commonly known as wired earbuds I believe) to take for walks and train rides. Lovely. The sound is much better than what the Bluetooth ones can offer and I don’t need to constantly keep them charged! One time my mp3 player slipped out of my hand on the bus and my heart skipped a beat. But guess what? It just hung on the wire and didn’t touch the ground. Very Lucky.

A great thing that came with switching to an mp3 player has been the change in my musical curation process. Many of the wonderful albums I’ve been enjoying this year has been provided by my friend Manna (hi if you’re reading this!!). “Whole Numbers Play The Basics”, “Halcali Bacon” and various 2kki OSTs have been very pleasant musical companions. I have also been introduced to Malice Mizer by my buddy Nat, excited to explore more of their music. Obviously, discovering Hakushi Hasegawa has been a pleasure. Another composer I’ve found out about this year is Mr. Ryuichi Sakamoto. I’m slowly making my way through his discography, but I’m not in any rush really. Smiling Broadly was also a great find. You can find her music here, it’s free, but I would implore you to support her. If you are like me – a fan of anime, nostalgia and harsh noise, – please give “smiling broadly” and “for a moment i saw myself as inexorably beautiful” a listen! And I would also like to ask you to listen to this song if you have the time. Thank you, hope you enjoy it, it feels fitting.

If I were to set goals, which is something I do every year and forget to do nearly all of them, this would be the time.

1. Experiment more with the composition and concepts of my artwork.
2. Continue refining my animation skills.
3. Read more. Let’s aim for a book a month maybe?
4. Piano.

I could write a lot more, but that would muddy my focus. A thing that would be nice to achieve is making a video game haha. Or at least starting one and making actual progress. I’ve wanted to make games since I was a kid and nowadays I have enough knowledge and support to really make something playable. I have also dreamed of making videos discussing various topics on YouTube and what not. If I manage to get the courage to make one of those I’d be happy.

I really wish next year would be kinder to everyone. Hope slips through my fingers like sand, coarse, leaving lacerations and streaks of blood, draining me of all. But life goes on and so shall we. I wish you and your loved ones all the best, dearest reader. The sun will rise tomorrow and the year 2025 will begin, like all before it. C'est la vie.

Happy New Year. See you there!

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