A visual timeline: how I explored color from 2017-2019.

Grey markers were the first ones I learned how to use at Sheridan. They were the ones I felt most comfortable with, so I relied on them heavily from the start. I think that's also why Megatron’s design appealed to me so much earlier on. I couldn't make mistakes coloring in grey and red. At this point in time, I was still very upset about what my painting teacher said at Sheridan. She said I had no color theory and my color choices were attrocious at best. Being told that in front of my class of peers was a humbling moment indeed.

Remembering what she said, made me nervous to use colors and I did so very sparingly in the beginning. Tumblr saw all these very early pieces. I was a very nervous artist in 2017-18, negative zero confidence.

In private I was practicing being free with my colors. My kids were little, we were using chalk outside often. Mixing chalk colors and blending helped my brain relax. I would get my first colored set of Prismacolor markers and slowly start putting more color in my art.

I went through a geometric shape phase. Again focusing heavily on blacks and greys with a small splat of color that was a bit more of a challenge to draw than a plain solid color bg.

Note, the O.G 1st attempt at drawing a vaporwave sun

I was starting to feel alright with having more colors in my art. It wasn't so intimidating. Hearing feedback from transformer fans definitely helped encourage me to keep trying.

I made this in a spur of the moment inspirational burst of energy for a friend in tumblr.

It's the original palm tree sun aesthetic illustration. A lot of my recent work usually features a sun & palm tree. If you watch my art over the years, I will repeat certain aesthetics and symbols in an effort to finally get it right. The look is ever evolving in my head. I didn't do the lines in the vaporwave sun this time because I felt that I didn't do it right with SG Optimus before.

This pic is the original attempt that has taken years to get right.

My very first ever commissions post. I would get a hell of an ego boost from this work. This was the fuel that inspired me to move from a sometime hobby artist to practising more seriously.

My Prismacolor marker set was running out of ink. I needed to get more. There had been a sale in Copics at Michael's that day. The Copics were cheaper than the Prismacolors, and that's why they were initially bought.

Everything changed at this point.

See I had spent so much money on these, I didn't want to mix or muddy their colors up. Prior to this, my technique was a grey underbase and then running a color overtop. But by doing that, the grey and the color would mix and muddy up sometimes, also ruining the nib of the markers.

I did not want to do this with these markers. Also, the ink pens I'd used up to this point always bled with the marker. I assumed it was my style and left it as is, until I bought these Copics.

Now I didn't want the ink to bleed with the marker. These colors were so beautiful I didn't want my ink to stain them.

So by default in trying to care for these expensive markers and showcase their colors, my style had to evolve.

I wouldn't use any of the black liner pens I owned with these markers. So I had to draw this entirely without a black line. I grabbed a Prismacolor indigo to serve as the black line for me mentally.

But here is also where things changed. Up until now, my process was stressful. Using straight lines, rulers and a very orderly way of drawing, stressed me right out. I'm a natural painter, I like to refine my images in a painterly style, no rulers, no lines, just freedom.

By not using a pen base outline, by simply using markers straight onto the paper, markers instead of a paintbrush, but the effect was the same. It looked painterly. And this caused me to turn on my painterly style brain. And these came out.

I was starting to have genuine fun with art again. I realised that the painting teacher would never see these and I just went to town with experimentation. No one can say shit to me now was and still is my mantra.

Look! Vaporwave palm trees and sun again! I discovered Poscas and mixing them with my Copics made me feel colorfully unstoppable.

I’d get more colors and keep on practising, kept expanding the library and haven’t looked back since. And as I keep going forward, I’m greatful I kept photographs of the art progression. I have next to no photos of the first twenty five years of my art, before social media. No matter, I’m keeping track now. 🦇✨

I mean, you can literally, visually see for yourself when I stated having actual fun with art again. It's pretty wonderful to witness. I really thought I'd never do art again. And here I am. And there I go.