omg the entire last week of february I was like 'i don't need to make an updates post this month i didn't do much' but this morning I woke up and I was like wait i did make stuff and I want people to look at it.

✏️ hourly comic day was February 1st! i drew my comics for the 7th year in a row... (weakly punches the air) you can read them in full at the bottom of this post or on tumblr or on bluesky!

🦋 yeahhh, i'm on bluesky. i log in... and i post things! it's definitely a website. that you can follow me on, if you like. (i do still post on twitter, but it's less art and mostly baldur's gate 3 livetweets rn)

🎲 i'm playing baldur's gate 3 for the first time. sorry i shouldnt really post this in my updates but i did draw some little comics about my experience. it's fun, though dnd is pretty crazy in that how are you gonna give me a dialogue option that's the equivalent of a big wink at the camera going 'they used to think my people were ideologically evil once' while functionally every character still sneers or runs screaming at the sight of me. granted i AM evil but that should only be apparent after opening a dialogue with me 🙄 if anything though at least the biological essentialism is making me interested in looking into other ttrpg systems out there.

👯 i DID finish the huran enki primer graphic! it will go up on substar/socials promptly (this week i promise). also, the ballet yuri year one book is formatted. it just needs a foreword from me and revelguts (who i write the story with, if you didn't know). the book will be available for all subscribers and for sale for something like $3-ish on my itch.io this month if all goes well.

(btw, if you're interested in purchasing some of the zines on my itch, it's worth it to follow me there because i do sales occasionally!)

📔🔖 speaking of zines, i wrote a comprehensive post on how i format, print, and bind my zines at home. read it on tumblr or gdocs, print it, share it with your friends! make stuff!!!

🌟 god i think that's mostly everything. i’m still doing commissions regularly, you can get email alerts for slots by signing up to my pinglist, or following me on vgen. and i know i just said i was gonna post on subscribestar every 2 weeks but then i posted every week lolll but that's because i love you so and can't bear to be apart. see u in next month's post ❤️

welcome to this month's free post going over happenings on goals, projects, and fun things to expect!

i'm fully back in the saddle after some time away... yeehaw. i wrote that one of my goals in the new year was to work on paper more and i've been doing that whenever i can. i've been learning to draw again (sorely needed) especially focusing on facial anatomy, it feels great. i feel the power. i do thumbnail illustration ideas on paper too but so far it just helps me decide not to draw that thing lol. but hey that would have taken me 3 hours of blood farts and tears to figure out if i'd just gone for it on the ipad! it's a win.

i also did a bit of my goal of drawing more autobio comics but they truly were just ass... like not even funny to me, and i think im hilarious. like barely worth the effort. i don't want to completely stop though. I think i may just stick to drawing them in a sketchbook so i can close it and forget anything ever happened. the idea anyway is not to make something sooo great and funny but to write down some memories and maybe some ideas that are interesting and could go into other more worthy projects.

i'm back to doing commissions regularly. you can get email alerts for slots by signing up to my pinglist, or following me on vgen.

progress on my stories: the outline (major beats) for ballet yuri exists now in the form of a rambly drunk grandpa-style spiel that can be accessed via talking to me after 10pm. huran enki so far has no changes to report (but as you all know it has had its outline written for more than a few years now). my project in my free time is to finish making these collage introduction images. huran enki's looks like this now (below). I just need to sit down and add a couple of lines about each character. I really like doing these because it gets me thinking about what do i need to draw next to illustrate this important plot point, this relationship, this location, etc? for example i want to make new drawings to show the world the ballet girls live in (I mean, it's like, France, but I meant their school or their rooms you know)

progress on my projects: nerd sex III is out! hell yes. it's 92 beautiful juicy pages and available for $10. don't forget you can get nerd sex I & II for $14, so that's $24 for.... wait... 282 pages of prime cut porn. woah.

and if you missed it on subscribestar: still the only place i post all my work and story developments. subscribers now get a big post of everything i draw every 2 weeks (exactly like when I posted every week, only now I get a bit more time to prepare them) and $10 subscribers get an annotated painting process video every month as usual. this month's is a hot and heady summertime dip in the lake with two gorgeous roman men...

and you ALL get a free updates post at the end of each month! this is it. the one you're reading right now. 

alright that's all. thank you :) and know that i love you all.

hi :)

i'm really happy with everything i achieved in 2024. it was my first year illustrating full time, meaning no school and no salaried job on the side (believe me i tried to get one) and i'm happy to report i did not die! fuck yes. i even illustrated for 7 (i think) art books, designed merch for 2 and organised my first collab fanbook.

at the beginning of 2024 i made this moodboard for influences i wanted to incorporate into my work more, they are pretty much the same faves ive had for years but i just wanted to have them in front of me and start deliberately choosing elements to ape.

i'd say i basically want to incorporate more 2D cartoon graphic elements combined with detailed, realistic, delicately rendered characters, more theatric background design and props... features like borders etc. the thing about a moodboard is unless you print it out and put it up by your desk it will sort of slide to the back of your mind which is what i think happened w mine LOL. cuz looking at this now im like well i didnt really hit all these ideas but i did inch closer.

the first pic here is sth i drew immediately after making the board and i like it but it does feel like a slightly clumsy attempt at mashing stuff together... i wouldn't say that it shows i dont understand whats appealing about the work i was referencing (even though thats how it looks), its more like the picture goes in an unexpected direction while making it LOL. but that's part of the fun. whereas in my mind the 2nd pic spiritually embodies the ideas of the ppl i'm trying to copy. even tho visually it's still a ways off. its probably my favourite thing i drew all year? :) though that's hard to say bcus i'm so pleased w so many other pieces especially those u can see on my summary pic!!!

i have a few more artists i wanna add to my board and then i will definitely print it this time so i can look at it every day instead of just twice a year LOL.

another thing im really pleased about is the number of comics i drew in 2024. i have this odd relationship with comics where i do draw them and have for years and im more or less decent at them but i act like drawing them mortally wounds me. like im so dramatic... i do partially believe the only way ill ever be able to complete a longform comic is through abusing stimulants but you know ill also never find out if i keep crawling off to die after inking a page. i see a lot of illustrators suffering when approaching comics from the illustration mindset of making beautiful pictures instead of the comics mindset of making finished pictures, but u know, im extremely slapdash as an illustrator and im also proud enough to believe im a guy that can do both, so its really time i act like it... basically just shut up and draw. i want to apply this especially to perspective drawing/panel backgrounds, which im, like, fine at. honestly fine at. i do think i trip myself up because i want to be the next dostoevsky or beyonce or whatever, i want to be great, but have to remember the most anyone can do is aspire to express something from your inner world. everything else is secondary.

one thing i learned the hard way is how hard it is to have work life balance when you work from your bedroom and 'monestise your hobby'... you know, the thing everyone has been warning each other about for years. turns out its real. its super confusing when so many elements of your work bleed into your social life, physical health, leisure time etc -- like i go online for fun, and also to promote myself. so wheres the distinction? i watch movies for entertainment but also for research... ive definitely felt like ive been working around the clock or my job has consumed my life at points. but i think being stricter with my work hours is the way forward. it truly is shaytan at the wheel when u answer an email at 3AM... no more of this!

and tied into this is being realistic about what i can achieve in a day and not feeling ashamed or that i need to do more... i get stuck in this silly loop that's like... 'i believe everyone should work 4 hours a day, but because other people are stuck working 40 hours a week i should also be making myself do that' and then i work myself into a flare up and wreck my work ethic and enjoyment. u can laugh... i know it doesnt make sense. well i wont do it any more. because i CANT... because i will DIE... some days i work 4 hours. some days i work 6. some days i work half an hour... it doesnt matter as long as stuff gets done.. and it does.

also want to talk about my chronic pain and hypermobility... after a year of lifting weights i am stunned to let u know ive actually improved. unfortunately i dont look anything like the rock and i still cant do a real push up but im stronger and have more stamina and suffer from way less zaps and aches and numbness, which was unthinkable before. i only really noticed after taking a trip and doing different activities (painting walls) that i can physically do a lot more than i usually do at home. but also my house is fucking cold so its hard to do anything for anyone. hoping for warmer days and big muscles to come.

some of my other art goals are to work more on paper whenever i can. i used to have a huge stack of newsprint on my drawing board underneath my ipad and id doodle and test ideas on that paper before drawing it digitally. i wanna do that again. many people find its easier to 'think' on paper and im the same. whenever i have an idea i wanna go 'what would this look like on paper?' and then find out.

i want to be thinking about composition and storytelling more in my illustrations, as in, think cinematic, movie posters, communicating big ideas. even if that idea is only as big as 'this blue looks great with this orange'... i want to make more stuff that looks like promotional material for my stories. of course behind every movie poster is 100,000 thumbnails and sketches and half-finished ideas. i want to remember that and not be hard on myself for drawing girl in profile #997.

i want to draw more autobio comics, just to be drawing more comics and also to look back on and know what i was doing that day. nothing fancy. a lot of people are doing that gentle comics habit this year and i fear my competitive nature may get me into it too.

i have more books i wanna create which ive talked about at length in my last diary entry and for now i think that's enough goals thank you very much. thank you for reading this far and for all your support. happy new year! love you x

ok so i know november ended yesterday, i did think about titling this post december updates but i know december will be a whole different beast for me... just let me have this... it's been a really long time since i sat down and talked about all my recent projects and goings on!!!! so in case you missed what i've been up to, read on... :)

the free Laios/Marcille fanthology I organised is OUT!!!
no tall towers to climb(https://naumin.itch.io/laimar) came out November 10th, and erm only 5 days later than scheduled... it's a big boy at 112 pages with contributions from 14 fans !! I had so much fun organising this and was really touched by the love and care ppl put into their works... fans are so powerful... it's free to download and read digitally or even print and bind your own copy (I am really excited to see your printed and bound copies if you have made them please dont hesitate to @ me...) I love books.. i love making books...

I don't have plans to organise a Volume II however I did start writing a post of my process to maybe help and encourage anyone else who'd like to start a project like this one. It got really lengthy though and I wasn't sure if it was helpful to anyone lol so when I have a minute I really gotta go and edit that thing down

also nobody asked me but the title is based on a poem by 12thc warrior poet Xin Qiji. i guess the tower reminded me of their dungeon misadventures hehe.

also did i mention it's FREE! !!!!!!!

7 months of subscribestar
I've officially been making new posts on substar every single week since May ! It's been really fun tbh and I don't have plans of slowing down yet :) I really appreciate everyone who's visited and it makes a huge difference even just subscribing for 1 month or 2, just having that little extra to help out on months where I can't take as many commissions or I'm sick or away from home etc! You may have noticed I've added a tip jar tier ($2.5) for those who can't manage the $6 sketchbook tier... on principle I wanna make it lower but after fees it'd be zilch and I am kind of like if you have $2... maybe hold onto that. lol. maybe use that somewhere else.
you can always make 1-time donations through substar or ko-fi (yeah, I have one...)

my next projects...

the issues
oh my god I've been having technical issues with my ipad the last month. I keep getting random lines and marks while drawing in procreate ! A lot of people said it could be my sweater or hand or case touching the screen while I draw but I don't think that is it, plus it's only started recently. It's not my pen and it's not my settings. it apparently COULD be a technical issue with my ipad model which would suck cuz I got this refurbished (from Apple still) so do i have like..... warranty? will they repair it for me :S? idk. I'll have to look into it though sooner or later cuz it's driving me bananas and slowing my output! AGH! I pray she heals on her own overnight. amen.

commissions
I am NOT taking any new commissions in December (unless you are a $10 subscriber) but I am still doing the KISS YCH which also has a very cute wintery version up for this month only lol. same price! check it out if you wanna see your pookies under the mistletoe <3 would make a great present to you or someone u know...

alright that's all. thanks for reading my updates post. did anyone read this whole post besides me? thanks for being there for a while whilst i talked to myself before you presumably left and did something more fun and enriching. i love you.