the garden is back!! took me long enough. i also removed the intro warning because by my research the pages are not a risk of triggering photosensitivity. of course if anyone has feedback esp about otherwise i'd love to know it ToT i want everyone to be safe.

i was looking around and i ended up reaching that message in a bottle page. that was such a nice read!! it made me a bit emotional... i've loved making art my whole life but i've been feeling a bit like "what's the point" lately and i think i really needed the reminder that the only thing that matters is that it makes me happy

what you said about connecting with others was really beautiful and it's very important, especially important in the AI era that we make any kind of art (even art that looks bad, messy, disproportionate) because what makes it matter is that WE make it. the fact that there was struggle and learning in the process of creating it, that's what gives it value, and nothing else

i'm gonna keep learning how to draw and maybe as someone's blog post stuck with you, i'm sure this will stick with me whenever i start thinking that my art doesn't matter, or any other depressing thoughts lol. thank you so much for writing this :)

thank you so much for this message, it makes me really happy that it reasonated with you that way. ;_; i've been there with feeling like my work doesn't matter, and it is a really tough feeling to get through. but your art will always, ALWAYS be worth it to create and pursue as you wish. there will be frustration along the way yes but it just feels so much worse to deny yourself doing something you love

all the pressure from ai and this weird cringe revival of now just makes me really sad. there's so much pressure with being perfect and palatable to audiences and it smothers the motivation to continue pursuing hobbies so much. :( + consumerism making it so even 'bad' has to look chic. i understand wanting to improve but what do you expect to achieve if you don't revel in the process and accept being bad sometimes?

and all that to say that online it's become sooo nurtured to see eachother (and ourselves) as content machines and it's so isolating. i'm glad that on here people do engage with eachother AS people first (that i've seen) and form connections and inspirations alike. i wish you the best of luck with drawing / your creative work in general and hope it'll bring you all the joy it can!! it's gonna be so worth it

Your artwork is always so gorgeous...!

@ofthetopias ❤️❤️ tysm love