I was reminded of the forum avatar projects I was part of back when I was an ArenaNet Creative Partner for Guild Wars 2. It reminded me that I don’t think I’ve ever shown the original batch of avatars I drew.
Much of these are older artworks – especially the ones before 2022. I remember this was a really fun project for us to work on as fans of the game. I’m still sentimental over a few of these because of this, despite some of them showing their age!
I’ve shown the second and third batches on socials before (but i think this is the first time for this blog, now that I’m using it again :D ) – the first and second rows in the image above. I remember posting those, and the original batch (2018’s) was so long ago, that I thought I had only done these 6. I only remembered I had drawn 3 additional avatars during the first time they ran this project, which I think I was only reminded of when I happened to see them being used on their official forums some time after.
The three forum avatars from 2018, including an extra alternate version which was unused in favor of the live version.
I don’t have the original files for the 2018 batch (at least not on my current PC), and found these when searching through my emails for when I submitted the files to ArenaNet. I completely forgot I had drawn two versions of Cadeyrn – which according to the email I wrote at the time, I apparently drew both because I couldn’t decide which to go with. The top version is the one which is used on the forums now, which I’m glad about as it’s clearly stronger as a sized-down avatar compared to the alternate option.
I do love Cadeyrn as a character, and since I didn’t remember I drew this at all, it was fun to see a new artwork of him I had forgotten about!
As of this post, these avatars are still live on their official forums. I still get a kick when I see them being used!
It’s been a while since I did an end-of-year art summary! I tried to show a variety, as it could have easily been mostly comic pages this year. The Harbinger’s Path was definitely my main creative fixation for 2025. :D
I didn’t realize until counting just now, but I finished exactly 50 comic pages since announcing The Harbinger’s Path in April! I almost can’t believe that. It really was an obsession that took hold of me. Still, I managed to do a few more paintings than I remember! I also did more drawings and sketches this year than past years, which aren’t shown above. While looking for artworks to include in the summary, I realized there are many drawings I haven’t post anywhere (though some were posted on this blog throughout the year).
My output in terms of personal art projects was definitely much more this year than previous years. I’ve been meaning to type up a post reflecting on why that was, as it was a very deliberate aim I wished to strive for at the beginning of this year.
Next year, I want to do more small comic projects and 2D animations, alongside drawings and paintings. :D
Edit 11:12 pm:
Also an alternate version for September – I forgot I worked on this paintover while I was looking for another file just now.
Adding to the full post as other than September, it’s identical to the above:
“Canach and Akoni” | GW2 “comics-style” commission
A Guild Wars 2commission for Kyris finished earlier this month! This was an especially fun one, as Kyris asked me to try a commission in the style I’ve been drawing for The Harbinger’s Path webcomic. I’ve grown to love drawing in this style over this past year, but hadn’t thought too much about potentially doing it on commission. I’m grateful to Kyris for suggesting it, as I’m pretty pleased with how this style turned out in her drawing!
“Akoni Wolfsbane” | Detail close-up
I’m especially happy with how Akoni’s face turned out. I think it is one of my favorite feminine faces I’ve ever drawn!
A few process images below:
Initial sketches.One of the sketch rounds with revisions after feedback!Work-in-progress lineart after the composition was decided on through the sketch revisions.The final piece once more!
Recently finished ref sheet commission! I’m so humbled when I’m asked to do a ref sheet commission, because it isn’t something I formally list anywhere that I do, but the ones I’ve done have been very enjoyable. Many thanks to Zecknel for this one, in particular, because when first asked to do this, I let Zecknel know that I would use a looser line style. I say this for all the ref sheets I’ve done, because before this year, I wouldn’t say I work with clean lines.
Serendipitously, between the time Zecknel approached me with this project (an updated ref sheet for his character, the original itself a ref sheet I made for them a few years back) and the project’s start date, I began drawing more with line as I drew The Harbinger’s Path webcomic. By the time the start date for this commission approached, I was fairly confident I could do this reference sheet with cleaner lines than for any ref sheet I’ve drawn before. I would still consider these lines more on the looser side, and not “true” lineart – but they’re much cleaner than “lines” I’ve drawn before this year – especially on commission.
Reference sheet commission; with color.
Zecknel has such a cool concept for their character, especially once you add color. The vibrancy of their character’s feather patterns have a visual spark, I think! I’m also excited about this ref sheet, because it will be used to create a costume (or “fursuit”) Zecknel is commissioning from a specialized crafter. I’ve known Zecknel’s character for a few years now, and I’m really looking forward to seeing a physical manifestation of their character! I’ve always had a lot of admiration for the craftsmanship behind fursuit crafters – the technical skill to bring these imagination creations into physical form is this wonderful representation of passion and creativity. I’ve seen some truly incredible instances of artisan craftsmanship that rival what you see on stage or in films. I just love seeing people expressing what they love, especially the more indie types!
Crop | I especially loved drawing the scales and feathers!
Edit Nov 5, 2025: I don’t know what it is about posting that makes my eye notice things, but I noticed the angle for the far wing was inaccurate! I’ve revised the above refs, and the earlier versions are in the full post below:
This post is adapted from what I originally wrote in the email update for Chapter 3, page 5 of The Harbinger’s Path. I ended up having more thoughts about this page than I expected, and wanted to jot them down somewhere that can be referenced more easily than email.
I’ve also expanded it in some areas, since I feel less annoying doing that on my blog here – I try not to overly ramble in email updates. ;D
“Headcanon” Background Info
This page has one of the clearest reminders this is a headcanon story. Malyck’s choice of using “Nightmare Commanders” is an intentional callback to the concept art Carlyn Lim did for three “Nightmare Court Commanders” during Heart of Thorns’ pre-launch development. (You can see her brilliant concept artworks for them here.)
In her concept art for these three, she labels each as:
But how those original descriptions on Carlyn’s concepts stir the imagination! They conjure endless story possibilities. What potential narratives might a “Nightmare Court Commander” have been considered in, during those early Heart of Thorns writing sessions?
What if Diarmid, Hareth, and Adryn had been part of the Nightmare Court – leaders, even! – instead of a faction entirely separate from it, as they are in the canon story?
What might they have been like, what might their stories have been? I haven’t even touched on what a “Nightmare Court Seer“ might have implied! Was Adryn possible some type of “Seer of Mordremoth” in his early incarnations?
How would this have changed their relation to Mordremoth? To the Nightmare Court?
To Faolain?
It is far too easy to pleasantly ruminate on this!
Page Layout Process
Chapter 3, page 5 is one of the earlier pages I drafted for The Harbinger’s Path. A version of this page has existed, in some form, as early as Chapter 1 of the comic.
As such, to me, this page’s layout is not as strong as I think I could do now. I’ve hopefully learned some things since Chapter 1, page 1! If I were to do this page again now, I would do several things differently – but I decided to keep the page’s panel compositions relatively the same. For a few reasons – the main one being, when I began this comic, my aim was for this to be practice and a learning experience. It is very easy for me to end up not finishing what I start in my personal art. It is something I have to consciously choose not to do. It is why I have many “works-in-progress” – something I suspect many artists can relate to.
Additionally, I’ve never managed to draw a “finished” a graphic novel page – not a single one – before starting The Harbinger’s Path. Much less an entire chapter! My initial aim with this project was to finish one, completed chapter. Just one. I did not know if I could do it.
The Harbinger’s Path | Chapter 3, page 5, panel crop
Chapter 3 Layouts
And here we now are on Chapter 3! Much to my amazement and surprise. I am not sure how that happened, but one of the things that helped me enormously was setting personal deadlines. This helps me to continually move forward, and not become too “stuck” on something. Such as continuously redoing an early page (which did happen to some of those pages in chapter 1 – especially earlier on). One of the things I had to practice was being okay with calling a page “finished,” even if it was not what I would consider truly “finished” – which became easier over time. The more pages I complete, the better I understand that comics, more than illustrations, are sums of the whole instead of their parts. Small quibbles on individual pages are not as substantial, if sequences of pages work coherently together – as an interconnected, narrative whole.
This is an arguably convoluted way of explaining why I did not redo more of chapter 3, page 5’s layout. I could have either done this – which might have made this page stronger, even though it is (hopefully) currently in a presentable state – or I could have dedicated this time to furthering future pages in chapter 3, which were (at the time) not yet drafted.
I ended up doing the latter, which is partially how chapter 3 gained a few more pages than I had initially planned. i think this time was worth it, and benefits the chapter and overall comic. And, on a personal level, I like seeing the progress of these earlier drafted pages, in comparison to the ones I drafted later – though I do question a bit whether this might be jarring to a reader, who hasn’t seen which pages were drafter more recently, versus earlier.
Of course, you can be the judge when you see the rest of the chapter. ;D
