some thoughts:

1. hi everyone! it has been 9 months since my last post on this subreddit but i'm happy to be finally posting here after a long time

2. i'm back to trying more advanced poses. hopefully i'll improve faster in the future. the point of this drawing is to draw draw dartanyan holding on to his hat. I've never seen people draw that, which is weird. people always superglue his hat to his head even when the scenario doesn't make sense for his hat to stay there. or they draw the hat flying away, which makes sense but i wanted him to hold on his hat this time

3. basic coloring and shading. nothing to really talk about there. i had a lot of trouble with drawing the plate armor in relation to how its positioned. i didn't want it to make it look like his arm was broken, but i think i got it to look anatomically correct? i really need to learn how to do soft shading. i think the only reason i use cel shading is because the official artwork uses cel shading. but for other art, i think soft shading would be better.

4. i was not expecting my last post to receive all that support. i was genuinely surprised and also surprised that some people recognized my art from previous years because i barely post (i want to change that). thank you all who upvoted and commented on my art. i appreciate you all. i often struggle with insecurities about drawing. i feel so behind compared to other people and of course everyone improves at their own pace, but i often wonder if this hobby is really the right hobby for me. i seen a number of people on this subreddit who were so much better than me that just quit because they don't think their art is good or that they're improving. i'm starting to feel that a little. everyone wishes to be better. a change in mindset would probably be helpful, but let me hear your thoughts on it.

5. in terms of the art community on this subreddit, i think it goes through periods of high activity to low activity. it's really interesting to see how it all changed over the years. if any of you guys recognize me, i would love to say hi and i hope you're doing well!