art vs artist 2025
I like yearly recaps, and I like doing that for my art. It's only been recently that I started taking part in the Art vs. Artist trend. It's cute, but I'm not sure for how long I'll keep doing it.
Between choosing 12 artworks in a year versus just 8, the fact that I haven't been making as much (finished) art makes it easier for me to go for the latter.1 Maybe one day I'll go back to making the former...
I have complicated thoughts about sharing my face online (both privately and publicly), especially with the current digital landscape and the urgency of securing one's privacy and safety online. For now, I'm sharing this cute one from 2025.
Do I look like my art? Or is it the other way around? I guess the point of this is to show the artist behind the art. Or perhaps I'm just overthinking a viral trend. Moving on!
my fave pieces in 2025 ⋆˚࿔
looks like 2025 was a year of pinks, reds, oranges, with a bit of blues and greens
Two of these pieces haven't been shared online, with the rest spread across various platforms. (Oops) That might change this year.
From left to right, top to bottom:
- How To Name Your Plushies zine
An 8-page zine inspired by my own plushy collection, and by the silly names I made up for them. I have no plans in growing it beyond the 5 that currently occupy my bed (storage issues aside). It's a straightforward one, and a bit more vulnerable compared to my first zine. From making this, I discovered that I like this more compared to the mini-zine format.
One of the more challenging pieces I made this year. It involves drawing wings and armor, two subjects I have zero experience drawing. It also coincided with particularly difficult personal events happening one after the other. But I finished the piece! And I got out of said events still alive! A win-win.
- Feat. me and my friends
Inspired by our last art market together in 2025. The crop only shows 2 people, but there are 4 of us in it. We presented ourselves as solo artists, instead of as part of our art group. Lots of firsts for everyone involved! I miss them already.
This one may have sparked my interest in drawing muscular women (and in becoming one). I like this one; it's simple and straightforward, and I get to draw a cool character!
I don't remember the last time I drew an OC (original character) just for fun. Now I can say that the most recent time was September 2025, the month I decided to join a stamp rally feat. mythical creatures in the Philippines. It was a lot of fun! Granted I may have been juggling my day job, my art job, and my personal stuff, but this satisfied my 15-year-old self in ways I didn't expect. My character's the one on the left; I named her Milagros.
My very first illustration that doesn't include any humans or humanoid characters! At some point in my life, I resigned myself to being an artist that couldn't draw animals. Now I can retract that statement. I've been drawing cats ever since finishing this piece, though I'm still not as confident compared to drawing humans.
Probably the first art I've drawn that made me cry. (That's a compliment to myself) I've written the process on my newsletter (impulsively published on Substack, which I have since abandoned in favor of impulsively transferring to Buttondown)2, which I might also talk about here. Who knows. Anyway! Drawing myself in such a compassionate manner made it easier for me to be kinder to myself outside of art.
My first zine, the one that started it all! And by "it", I mean the confidence in trying out different mediums! It was an exercise of learning how to make things within a specific timeframe and without beating myself up over the results. And now here I am, already making plans to explore other ideas as zines. (I should probably print a copy of this for myself.)
There's one more piece that I really like but couldn't share yet due to NDA. Hopefully in the next few weeks or months when it's publicly released, and then I can talk about it non-stop.
Until then, I'm cautiously hopeful for how this year will turn out. :>
Is the answer just ... simply making more??? Do I want to prioritize quantity this time around??? Can I do that without sacrificing quality??? I ask myself too many questions.↩
It's probably not a good time to publicly share something that still needs...some adjustments. But it's out there, and I'll do a proper relaunch.↩