Going to briefly break scheduling for a quick tribute to the late Akira Toriyama. More under the cut.
It might not be super evident but Dragon Ball had a massive influence in my decision to become an artist. It will also have an equally large influence on this comic in the future. The very first piece of animation I ever remember watching were old vhs tapes of the anime my dad introduced me to as a kid. I always feel very proud that it was my dad that made me a lover of art.
I had a weird sensation hearing the news early in the morning. I had this manic urge to draw. Not even this particular drawing, just to draw something. Anything. I think this urge was driven by a thought I had a while ago about a similar event.
A while ago, an artist I followed announced that they had to give up art forever because of a personal event. This artist was very skilled and beloved by many. In an instant, they vanished. This moment always stuck with me. There were many times in my life were I wanted to give up on my dreams. However, there are many people who are unable to continue creating due to medical issues, financial issues, or even death. What excuse did I have to give up when I still have my life ahead of me.
Seeing people celebrate Toriyama's impact on art awakened something in me. I realised the power art has to connect us and inspire. I had a similar revelation while working on the Opperation Enhappifycation stream recently. It might seem silly, but it always felt like I was the only person who liked Molly McGee. I'm not really a fandom person. So, it was incredibly rewarding to see so many fans and talented creators come together to help people through this show.
It's been a dream of mine to make people happy with my art. Seeing the magnitude of hearts touched by Toriyama's art feels makes that dream seem tangible. Toriyama didn't seem to give up on his vision, so I don't plan to give up on mine either.
I've been goin through some art block, and when I do get motivation to draw, I usually end up spending all of that motivation improving some of my OC designs for an original story/comic I'm considering making (which I don't really think fits this blog very well)
So to make up for that here's a Molly and Scratch sketch I was gonna digitalize but then never got around to :D
(Click for better quality idk why tumblr made it look so bad)