Break out More Root Beer, It's Time for the Best of 2019

WE DID IT GUYS. 

A whole year, right here at the Roost. It just seems so wild that there's now going to be two years to choose from when you look at that little archive section in the sidebar - there really is nothing like the very specific joys of a blogspot blogger :) I ended up writing a lot more last year than I expected to, and it always warms my heart when someone tells me they're a reader. Even with Google Analytics I still have no idea if/what people are visiting this little corner of the internet. But I'm glad you're here now, and if you're a longtime Roost-er then you know what you're in for: at least two articles where I reflect and prospect, prompted by our planet's great decision to orbit the sun at least one more time. (Also when I say "this year" in this post I mean 2019, I meant to write this yesterday and I'm still not in the 2020 mindset yet, sorry :P)

. . .

I've been savoring Christmas music in the dwindling moments that it seems appropriate while re-reading some of my first posts from this blog to remind myself where I was last year. As usual, it's crazy how much things change. When looking back on 2018's Best Of, it seems like I had just made a ton of discoveries when it came to my art, and was yearning to have the skills to fully realize the potential I was beginning to feel. I also seem really ... tired? Now in 2020, I feel (somewhat) more settled in what I like and want to do art-wise, and have just finished what were likely my two most relaxed semesters of college I will ever have. I've hit some real high points in my art, gone from 0 to two semesters worth of storyboarding knowledge, and met a bunch of new friends.  

But it's also delightful (and perhaps more enlightening) to see which things stick around: the art of Louie Zong & Nicholas Kole, good ol' friends (you know who you are), over-listening to the Cuphead soundtrack, drawing animals, - as much as I hope to grow and explore, I never want to forget where home is and who I am. And it looks like I am someone who likes drawing animals while listening to jazz. How I got that in the identity lottery I will never know :P

One of the biggest things I've noticed when I look back at my art from this year is I drew A LOT of fanart. This began as an intentional thing to motivate myself to do more personal work (and perhaps get official work drawing such characters) but maybe it's gotten a little bit out of control?? I just did a long post about this pretty recently, so I won't risk boring you by discussing it here, but not until writing this post did I realize how fanart has been a consistent theme throughout this whole year. I think it's because there was just a lot of shows and things that I got really excited about this year. Things that captured my imagination and needed some homage. I played Breath of the Wild for the first time during spring break which sparked a major Ghibli/Zelda phase that I hope will come around again in 2020. I already plan on playing through Breath of the Wild again in the new year - that game is just so good and may just join The Wind in the Willows in my annual "to do" list. Cartoon Network and Disney TVA's lineups were both pretty strong this year, but nothing caught my attention (and heart) quite like Ludo Studio's Bluey. It's so good on so many levels -  the art is bright and chunky, the writing & acting smart and gentle - it's a preschool show but so unlike any I've seen. And it's one of the few shows for kids where the parent characters are just as fun and interesting to watch - I'd argue that the show is nearly as much about the dad as it is about its 6-year-old title character. As a 21 year old who's largely forgotten what it's like to be a kid or even be around young kids, this show was a timely reminder of childhood. Which I'd say was sorely needed. And so - fanart! Which turned out to be some of my favorite pieces of the year. And surprisingly popular too - reaching over 618 likes and 125 retweets on Twitter, far and away the largest reach one of my pieces has ever had. And I've just realized that I never posted them here on the Roost! So ... Presenting Bluey!

bandit (dad) and bluey

chili (mum) and bingo

Over the summer I drew a ton of Zelda art to celebrate Zeldathon, but this was also the time when I did the most original vis dev work - I did a batch of prop designs for my portfolio which were the fan favorite during reviews at Lightbox. But summer was kinda a mixed bag and felt overshadowed by the loss of an internship (which you can read about here). I didn't get studio experience, or make as much personal art as I was hoping, but still stuff happened. I drew pumpkins and a bunch of horses, and a family sailing trip sparked some of nautical work that I'm still proud of seven months later. Please pray that something exciting and preferably animation related gets worked out for summer 2020, and if you work for a studio (especially CS) send me an email! I'm ready to INTERN!!

I hit a major breakthrough this fall when I was shown the art of Saira Vargas by one of the freshmen - Saira's work is just so wonderful and displays so elegantly what I was already trying to do with my art: a delicate balance of lines and shape, sense of dynamism, simple and yet profound. Stuff I'd already been experimenting with before (especially in my Bluey fanarts), but here modeled in their fullest extent. It was like I had been smashing together eggs and apples and butter but Saira was actually making an apple pie. And the great thing is that all Saira's principles blended really well with the things I liked about other artists, like Steven Sugar and Nick Kole. As well as a new favorite from this spring, Sabine Belofsky, whose draftsmanship and unique method of digital rendering (almost colored pencil-esque) is also Very Cool. So basically, all my recent art has been looking very Vargas-y and I'm wondering if that's going to stick around or evolve over the coming months. I've always worn my inspirations very proudly on my sleeve and am just waiting for someone to call me out on it - or maybe that's just ok? I've also been wondering recently if my art is and forever will look distinctly 2010's - it's the decade that has shaped my sensibilities for sure and yet hopefully my style still find work in 2040. Though if God has been faithful in the 2010s (yes) I'm sure He'll still be faithful in the 2040s (future yes). 

At school this year I learned a bunch of CG (computer graphics) animation and a bunch of Storyboarding - my fall semester was basically an advanced version of my spring semester. The only difference being I got to take Animation History in the spring with Tim Hodge, who is an animation trivia expert. I love to geek out about animation (clearly) so this was a really fun class! Tim also taught Storyboarding which were my other favorite classes. Storyboarding is what I thought I wanted to do when I came to Lipscomb and so it was kinda a relief to know that I can do it, and do it decently! I just ... really like screen composition and could go full-bore in this class setting up thirds and sweeping lines and symbolism - nothing like the very specific joys of a visual composition nerd. Storyboarding is also (to me) the fun parts of everything else that I like to do, like animation and background design, without the hard part of actually animating or designing a background. And it was especially cool that we had Natalie Nourigat, Disney storyboarder, on campus this spring to talk more about the whole thing.

And of course there's still more to talk about, but to speed things up here's a bullet list of some 2019 moments that didn't fit neatly into a paragraph:

• Made my first true portfolio
• Applied to internships for the first time
• Was offered first animation internship
• Was not able to actually go on first animation internship
• Grandma moved out of her incredibly nostalgic and familiar home
• Childhood dog (Honey) died
• Joined Nicholas Kole's Jellybots Patreon Crew
• LIGHTBOX CONFERENCE! (Where I met several of the Jellybots Patreon Crew)
• First time in California
• Set foot in Disney Animation Studios
• One year at the Roost - I said it once but I'll say it again
• Lipscomb Life Drawing Club is STILL HAPPENING and now has co-leaders
• Gave my first demo/lecture (on Photoshop)
• My hair is the longest it has ever been
• Had a fantastic Easter
• Became an RA
• Started lifting weights
• Started drawing the therapy dogs that come to Lipscomb
• Made official art for Lipscomb/recommended for first freelance jobs

And although I've already talked a bunch about my favorite media from the year, here's some that made an impact on me (disclaimer: not all were released in 2019)

Games: Breath of the Wild

Movies: So many of the big movies I watched this year (Endgame, Rise of Skywalker) were almost 100% spectacle and fanservice meaning I had an awesome time in the theater but not much to say after that. Knives Out was probably the best all-around movie I saw. 

TV: Bluey, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, Amphibia, Craig of the Creek

And no discussion of 2019 would be complete without a mention of the decade that brought us to this point - and what a decade that was for me! In 2010 I was 11. 11! I tried to find some art from as far back in the decade as I could manage - but to be honest, I wasn't drawing a whole lot at age 11. Or 12. My decision to pursue art has been a fairly recent one and a choice that surprised even my parents. Therefore it's been a constant worry of mine whether I'm meant to be an animation fan or an animation artist - but I'm figuring out the answer a bit more with each coming year. Nevertheless, I still drew before I decided to seriously involve myself with the cartoon business. Here's a page from the earliest sketchbook I can find, from 2012:

And here's when I started to learn from how-to books in 2013:

oh no.

I started my art education by drawing bad anime and furries - basically emerging from the primordial soup of cringe. But it got me drawing. And I feel like I've been at least somewhat reformed since then... I hope. 

Some of my favorite memories as a tween/teenager (especially in middle and early high school) were when my parents would go out on a date night leaving my brother and I to eat whatever we wanted and watch Cartoon Network on the couch until Adult Swim would come on - I think those nights were what really motivated me to become an animation artist. It was just a really special time to be watching Cartoon Network. I remember watching live the first episodes of Adventure Time and Regular Show, the pilot of Steven Universe, and the week of Over the Garden Wall - there was just so many good things that aired in the 2010s. I think Steven Universe more than anything made me want to get into animation - to draw a show that had that kind of style, and story, and music - it just felt like a real turning point for me. And of course I didn't just watch TV during the 2010s - I got my own dog, went from homeschool to a 5-day-a-week classical school, met my first true mentors, read more great literature then I will probably read for the rest of my life, went to prom, Yellowstone, Alaska, and Africa, trick-or-treated every year until college, graduated high school, chose animation, chose Lipscomb, and reconnected with my Nashville roots. This decade has been one of change and growth, but God's been there all the while. It's so incredibly provident that I ended up at Lipscomb, and I'm really praying that the next places God puts me will be similarly auspicious. To bring this much-too-long post to a close, here's the last art of the decade, as a benchmark:

I wish all of y'all the best and most thankful 2020! I'm excited to dive into the new year - really hoping for some big improvement in my art, renewed friendships, and an internship. This really feels like my big year to prepare before I launch out into the world in 2021 so there's no time to waste! But perhaps enough time for walks and pipes and kindness. 

If there's a way I could pray for your 2020, let me know at dannyhaycox@gmail.com. And pray for me! Cause I am going to need it. 

Thanks for sticking around, bloggerfolk. INTO THE TWENTIES WE GO
-dh

friends.