I just want to ramble about an on going issue I've been dealing with. Pretty much since I decided to draw my characters headworld versions, as in, accurate to my imagination instead of a basic look. I tend to suffer from mean-spirited experiences regarding my character drawings (of anyone less "generic" looking pretty much) and I start to believe that the issue is not them, but my art style being too realistic for their design making it clash. For some at least.
I want to enjoy sharing, I want to enjoy notifications no matter what I drew. While drawing and thinking about them is my favorite activity, posting it is something I enjoyed just as much, but only comfortably. I can ignore anything else, but only to an extent and its not the type of experience I want to have.
Why rethinking my style? Well, I'm sorta unable to find the right balance between stylization and realism. I intentionally shifted my style quite a lot throughout 2025 again because something always felt slightly off to me. I still have this feeling, but not as strong in comparison.
Going into an even more stylized direction is my plan, but I don't want to mess up the tone I want to convey by doing this (not again.. sob), which is why the process is rather slow. At one point the "ID" gets lost and I don't like it, especially with things like face features, eyes, shapes, emotions, sizes etc. I've been using canon characters as an extra guide, but I feel like artwork of people like Aaron Blaise & animation studios will be way more effective long term. Animated characters are designed in ways that feel very fluid & alive, which is what I hope to achieve, but at the same time keeping the mature, serious aspect of my world, characters and stories.
When I see artists going for an very similar direction like me, they're still quite realistic, but it tends to work better for them than me. They also use different shapes in their designs, but those simply don't fit my own designs well. Finding a good balance between all these details isn't easy. Its easier for simplified styles for sure. Too bad I'm not one of em. :P One mature issue I still face it stylizing bodies to the face when going for a less realistic touch. It just doesn't look good and drifts into child-like-looking appearances. This is also very common in 3D animation & the 2D concept art or fan art of movies. The features would fit super well (e.g. onward characters), but the age appearance and vibe doesn't, which is why I don't just copy from it (I tried). Some of Dreamworks character styles also fit the bill, sorta, especially old films.
ug basically - developing an even more stylized, yet semi realistic style that feels more balanced while keeping a mature-ish vibe is currently on my artsy to-do list.