SpaceTimeTrvlr's Log: The Evolution of My Digital Art

 Hey all, it's SpaceTimeTrvlr with the first """actual""" blog post in quite some time...

 

I recently turned 21 years old this past June, and it's had me reflecting on my past and everything I've been through in life up to this point. I've made lots of mistakes over the years, and I'm sure there'll be plenty more in the future.

 

BUT...that's not really what we're here to talk about today. What I really wanted to discuss is how my art has evolved alongside myself over the years. First, we'll be heading back 10 years to discuss the first major era of my digital art, which is...

The You Doodle Era (2016-2018)

Well, this is a little embarrassing...but I'll certainly try to share as much as I'm comfortable with sharing. Though I had been drawing digitally since I acquired my Nintendo DSi and Flipnote Studio over the holiday season of 2012, 2016, in addition to being the year I left elementary school and entered middle school, was the year my journey into digital art truly got going. I started out drawing stick figures as I had for years at that point, but on March 17, 2016, I made my first drawing in the earliest incarnation of my current artstyle.

My early artstyle was...rough, to say the absolute least. Don't worry about the whole neck thing though, I (thankfully) ended up ditching that very quickly, to the point that the drawing above is literally the only one to have it. Here's a few more drawings from 2016:

 

 

In 2017, I was beginning to iron out the kinks of this style, but there was still a LOT of room for improvement. Here's some drawings I did that year:

 

 

 

I didn't do much drawing outside of flipnotes in 2018, so I'll skip that year and jump into the next era...

The Sony Sketch Era (2019-2022)

By 2019, my artstyle was starting to resemble its modern counterpart, but there was still some "early installment weirdness" here and there. First off, I started drawing characters' eyes the same way I do now digitally. I had already been drawing single-color eyeballs in my physical art, but I ditched the extra details in my digital art around this time so there would be less disparity between the two. Also, I lost access to You Doodle around this time, so I switched to using Sony Sketch (another mobile app), which I would continue to use through the early-2020s. Here's a sampler of my drawings from 2019:

 

 

As the 2010s gave way to the 2020s, things were pretty much business as usual in the first year of the new decade (if we ignore that whole COVID thing)...

 

 

Then, at the end of the year, something happened. I created an OC who would eventually end up being Zack's new costar in the little universe I've created for my OCs, and changing the trajectory of my art career from there on out (sort of). Introducing...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I first drew an early version of VJ in Flipnote Studio 3D on November 28, 2020, and then again in Sony Sketch on December 19. VJ quickly began to dominate the drawings I made going into 2021, to the point that she ended up being the character I probably drew the most that year, finally giving my long-time OC Zack some competition for my attention. Here's some drawings from 2021:

 

 

 

 

I don't think I did nearly as many drawings in 2022 as I did the previous year, but here's a few:

 

 

2022 was the final year I used Sony Sketch as my primary art program, as going into 2023, I switched from drawing on my phone to drawing on my PC, which leads us into...

The Paint.NET Era (2023-2026)

This is the most recent era of my digital art. Though I've begun to experiment with a new program as of late (which I'll get into later), the last few years of drawings were mostly done in Paint.NET. The most notable difference between this era and the Sony Sketch Era is that my drawings wouldn't be anti-aliased going forward, as I preferred the more pixelated aesthetic of aliasing (plus filling in stuff is easier). My drawing skills also improved more than in the previous era, but I still think there's room for even more improvement. Let's start off with the first year of this era, 2023:

 

Not much changed stylistically in 2024, but the evolution train kept chugging on...

 

I didn't do much drawing on the digital front in 2025, but here's a few from that year:

 

 

And that brings us up to the current year, 2026. I've already posted every drawing I've shared this year on this very blog, so I won't repeat them here. You might think that Paint.NET is going to remain the status quo for the forseeable future, huh? Well, I have been experimenting with a new art program as of late which I will now share...

The Krita Era? (2026-)

Last month, I decided to give Krita a try. It's probably gonna take a while for me to learn the ropes of this program, but this is what I've drawn with it so far...

 

Now, we've covered 10 years' worth of art evolution on my end, and that's only up to this point in time. I'm sure my art will continue to evolve in the years to come, especially as I continue to use Krita. Or maybe it'll devolve. Who knows...

 

Anyway, I think the main takeaway from this very long blog post is that if you keep trying with whatever hobbies you may have, you'll see yourself getting better at it over time. It's a pretty scary world out there for artists on the internet right now, especially with AI running rampant every corner you look, but we shouldn't let that stop us from doing what we love. It might be quick and easy to just let ChatGPT make something for you, but nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever replace the love, care, and soul of human-made art. I hope you enjoyed reading this article (and maybe also cringing along with me over how bad my old art was), and I'll talk to you again (hopefully) soon.

 

Over and out,

SpaceTimeTrvlr