Since 7 Years Ago...

 As of writing this post, it is 4.22.2025 and I am updating my childhood blog (!!!) for the first time since 2018.

Honestly, I'm procrastinating brainstorming one of the first book ideas I've come up with in a really long time by writing this update post. lol.

Guys, I am now almost TWENTY-FOUR in a couple of weeks. I have a big girl corporate job and am going to start a new position in management there. Y'ALLLLLLL... 

I'm kind of writing this because sometimes I am really curious to know where my old blog friends are nowadays and what they are doing and how they are doing, as well as (like I said) I am procrastinating.

Update on What I Am Doing:

1. I am still making art. :) Back when I was a teenager I was always making fan art for my interests at the time, like Star Wars, Sherlock, Merlin, idk what even else I liked tbh LOL Now, I still make fan art for my new interests. The main thing I have a special interest in is music and my favorite musicians, like Chappel Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, etc. 

I just recently bought an iPad to learn digital art, since before that I almost always only used a traditional medium.

2. As of this year, Jaclynn and I are still writing! Kind of... We definitely both took a lot of time away from writing fiction, but then we both decided that getting back into the hobbies we had when we were young was valuable to both of us. So, we got on a call together and we found Pinterest writing prompts for each other to create a story-- and then WE DID. It was actually really satisfying.

(Also SIDE NOTE but have any of you guys noticed that Pinterest writing prompts are COMPLETELY different than back 7 years ago?? I used to be able to look up "writing prompt" and it would give me inspiring prompts, and now it's all articles...)

And that brings me to my next point, and kind of ties into another reason why I am making this post. I feel like becoming an adult is such a trap. We forget who we are and live disconnected lives away from who we are authentically. I think the core of who we are is always the same; we are our truest self when we are young and have no real responsibilities. I'm sure you guys have heard about "healing your inner child," it was a trend I saw a lot on social media, but it really does feel good to reconnect to past versions of ourselves.

Maybe Little Emma knew what she was doing a lot more than me now.

But that is what I have been thinking about a lot recently. I want to be true to myself and live in a way that Little Me would be proud of and to honor the things that deep down I am interested in and enjoy, even though it can be hard with adult responsibilities PLUS the way social media completely ZAPS me of a healthy attention span and motivation to do anything... that's a whole different post I could make though lol I did no Instagram for the first 3 months of this year and so now I am trying to stay disconnected from social media more so, even though I go on it occasionally at the end of the day typically.

3. Other little things I have gotten into recently... I am a bit of a plant lady, but this started a couple of years ago and I accidentally killed most of my plants when I had to move... oopsie! I still have a few plants inside my room that are thriving, and 3 succulents in the backyard that are hanging on for dear life since I refuse to go in the backyard since there is an ungodly amount of spiders back there.

Also in a similar vein as plants, I've been making my own bouquets since last year, and it is so fun to go to Trader Joe's and buy a bunch of flowers and decide on the color scheme I want, then go home and create my bouquet. Here are some of the ones I've made--

I am recently into matcha-making! My mom got me a matcha kit as an early birthday present, and it has been lots of fun to make my own matcha drinks and figure out my own personal recipe that I like the best.

(I did not make this matcha LOL)

I've gotten back into reading! One of my goals for the year is to read 1-2 books a month. As of right now, I have read 13 books this year, which is crazy because in recent years I had maybe read 1-2 books within the whole year. So, I'm pretty proud of myself for reading more. :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my little life updateeee... Let me know if you agree with any of my points, or if you are trying to reconnect with your Little Self too! I would love to know what other people are doing to honor their younger selves.

Emma xx

Star Wars Genderbent Drawing Challenge!

Hullo!!!

Okay, if you don't know-- I am a huge YouTube addict.

So, I have a few drawing YouTube channels I follow and they always do fun challenges, and I have been feeling more and more like I want to do my own drawing challenges on my blog!

SO, I PRESENT TO YOU GENDER BENDING. XD

If you don't know what that is, it's when you take a character and swap their gender and imagine what they would be like! I decided to do this with The Force Awakens characters. :D

 The first character I did this with was Rey! This was my first time ever trying to do this, so not my favorite- but not bad either. :) It's actually pretty hard to figure out how to keep similar features of a girl and turn them into a guy.... I think it's easier changing a guy character into a girl character. ;D

Like Kylo Ren! This is my favorite character to bend and I really like how it turned out! I think it still captures the original features of Kylo Ren. :) I know a lot of people think genderbent things are weird, and it's a little weird even to me, but ultimately I think it's fun and cool! XD

And the final character I bent for this challenge was FINN! I think this one turned out really cool! I like what I did with her hair, it seems Finn like to me. :)

***

I hope you liked this post! I did it pretty quickly, but it was still really fun to try out! STRETCH THOSE ARTIST MUSCLES.

*artist muscles cry out in pain cuz I never give them a break*

*shushes artist muscles*

If you wanna see more challenges, maybe even some writing ones- TELL ME! If you have any ideas for challenges- ALSO TELL ME! XD

-Emma-

Which character was your favorite to see genderbent?

Recreating... #6

Hi everyone! :D

I haven't made a recreation post in a while, and I always like to do these for my own personal enjoyment, so here is the latest one! :)

This is the drawing I found that I thought would be fun to redo. As you can see, this character has a serious bobble head, and just...ugh. No. O.O I made this in 2013 or early 2014 after Frozen. I obviously took lots of inspiration from Elsa, who I was OBSESSED with at the time. ;D

I immediately started working on it, wondering how I could get less of an Elsa feel from it...but ultimately stuck to the original idea pretty much. :)

 In progress shot. :)

I was watching Rogue One while doing this drawing. Not my favorite Star Wars movie, but I wanted to watch it, soooo... ;)

AND FINALLY THE FINISHED PROJECT! I think it looks so much better than the original! I like her hair more, her face more, and the details on her dress more. Just...everything. XD I decided to add a bit more of a background, even though I really can't do those well. ;)

The before and after! So much progress in my art in just a few years! And I am so happy I have good coloring pencils, they make such a difference! :D

So I hope you enjoyed this post! They're really a lot of fun for me! :)

-Emma-

Drawing Challenge Day 11-17

Hi everyone!
I can't believe I've only reached a bit over halfway through this challenge! I've felt like I've been drawing Rusem for MONTHS!!! XD I'm going to be so happy to get back to posting normal drawings and drawing people other than Rusem.O.O

Although I have made a surprising amount of drawings that aren't Rusem as well though. I DRAW A LOT, MKAY?
My birthday was on the fifth, so I got some fun art things that I'll talk a little bit about in this post, since I used them on some drawings. ;)

Day 11-

In swimwear/at the beach was the prompt, so I decided to combine the two and put Rusem in the beach in a swimsuit. I did a whole background, not that I put much effort in it or that it looks good, but no matter if it looks great, it always helps the drawing feel more completed! :D

Day 12- 

The prompt for today was to draw your character with your favorite animal, and I did, but I did something different...

I drew it the first time in pen. O.O

I felt like having a challenge, so I grabbed my pen right off the bat and started getting to work! I always make my faces slightly longer than they should be, but other than that, I think this drawing looks really good for being something I did in ink! :) I'm with a red fox in case you couldn't tell. ;)

Day 13- 

OKAY! The past week or two I've just been dying to get my hands on some Copic markers. If you don't know what they are, they're really awesome quality artist markers that are really expensive and stuff, so for my birthday, my mom got me four markers and I LOVE THEM!!! They feel so amazingly smooth and now it's just downhill from here. I'm an addict. O.O I colored in this drawing with them, which is Rusem in her favorite season- winter! Also, my favorite season. ;)

Day 14- 

"With a/their weapon of choice"

I drew Rusem with her lightsaber that she gets later on, and I really like how this drawing turned out, even though I see some mistakes.

*glares at width of her left arm*

I used copic markers on her skin, hair, lips, pants, and belt and used colored pencils for the rest and was so surprised that they actually looked good together! Yay!!

Day 15- 

As much as I would have liked to skip this prompt, I committed so I drew Rusem on a bike like they said. It actually looks pretty good for as much as I hated to draw it. XD

Day 16- 

This drawing might be my favorite drawing I've done for the challenge yet, because IT WAS SO FUN TO COLOR IN! Hershey got me a fancy box FULL of Prismacolor colored pencils AND THEY DRAW AND COLOR AND BLEND SO NICELY. I feel very blessed to have such awesome art supplies for my sixteenth birthday! Copic markers and then quality colored pencils?
*dies*

Day 17-

I went with more of a cartoony style for this drawing! They wanted me to give her expression anger, so I did! I've done a lot of angry faces (I mean, I've drawn plenty of Sith in my time), so this wasn't out of the abnormal. It was a quick sketch I ended up spending a good amount of time coloring in with my new pencils! XD

So those are my latest drawings for this challenge! It's going well, but I am getting tired of seeing this character over and over. I hope you guys aren't though. ;) If I have enough time, I would like to post something writer-y or FRENSHIP-y, I just don't know if I'll be able to until this challenge is over.
*sighs*

I WILL TRY THOUGH!!!

-Emma-

What's your favorite animal?

#GOALS

Hi everyone!

This post's title is totally a joke, I am not a basic hashtag peep. If you are, that's fine though...I'm just not...Even though I use hashtags a lot in texts and conversation, it's just as a joke....O.O

So I was inspired to make a list of my blogging goals from Katie's most recent post over on Scattered Brained Seamstress! :D

I thought I would share it with you guys, because why not? It would make sense for you all to know what I am trying to do! :)

Here is my whole list, but let's start with blogging goals for DTW first! :D

Post once a week (or more!)

Make & post writing prompts again

Post Glazed at least once a month

Reply to comments promptly!!!

Do something about hermitting- cuz it's important

Customize blog by making a header (Something I really have been wanting to do lately but have no idea how! Does anyone know a good place to make that kind of thing?)

Change the font (cuz apparently it's something people dislike even though I like it. :()

So those are my goals for this here blog that I want to do! :) Posting once a week is probably gonna be the hardest thing, because I don't want to just post the same old stuff over and over again. OOH! That reminds me. I need to do another Recreations, one of my favorite things ever to do! Maybe I'll work on that today...;)

My blogging goals for Wacka (Wack-A-Doodle-Dolls, but Wacka for short. ;D) are...

Post at least once every 2 weeks

Let Faye post once a month

Find new doll blogs to follow!

Comment on all the posts I read

Look into customizing blog some more

Make a new announcement about that one specific thing you have in mind once you have everything in place

Post new and original content along side classic format posts

And my random goals arrreeeee...

Read daily

Draw at least one new drawing per week (definitely a problem I am having right now. All I am doing is drawing. O.O XD)

Write 1,000 words a week

Finish Wings of the Banished B4 November

That last one is definitely going to be the hardest one... I need to finish it by November, but what would be most preferable would probably be like August. But I have no idea if I can make it that quickly. I'm almost 60k into the book and so much more needs to happen...O.O At LEAST 20k more words...Let's hope I'll finish it on time for NaNo... Hehe.

So those are my goals! Do you have any specific goals for yourself or your blog? I really loved doing this and I feel inspired to go get this stuff happening! XD

But I badly need someone to help me find a place where I can make a header for my blog...I don't know where to even start, so if you can help me make a collage a rectangle and not a square, please tell me. XD

-Emma-

Recreating... #4

Hi guys!
First off I wanna say thank you to the people who have taken my survey- and if you haven't yet, go do so! :D

AND NOW FOR ANOTHER RECREATION!

This one turned out really well in my opinion, and I can't wait to see what you guys think! So, let's get started with the original drawing I did!

This drawing I did around late 2014, I think, or whenever Into the Woods came out as a movie. So...there are quite a few problems with it, starting off with her unbalanced features. Her eyes are too far to one side, and that's the biggest problem on her face. Next, her arms are insanely skinny and don't connect where they should, and her chest is just...really funky. And adding onto things being unbalanced, her torso is too far to the right. I also didn't give her a pose, making the drawing pretty blah and not adding any interest.

(See, guys, I used to do the "put the hand behind her back" pose before I knew how to do hands well! XD)

Now here is the finished product!

*squeals*

I think she looks a billion times better, and super pretty! I always have a fun time trying to take the shapes I used in the original drawing and incorporating them in the improved image. I added a necklace and a headband to her outfit, and I think it makes it look a lot more pretty! :D

The only problem I have is that her eyes are once again just a tiny bit unbalanced, but it's still a huge improvement and I can overlook it. :D

What do you guys think? :) I remember in the comments in my previous recreation, some people liked the original better, so tell me if you like the "before" better than the "after". :) Although I don't think there's anything up for debate really... XD

-Emma-

P.S. Expect a new hermit post coming soon, I need to take some pictures and work out the details, but I have an idea. XD

Drawings I've Been Working on Most Recently

Guten Tag!
I thought it would be fun to show you some of the most recent drawings I've done as well as some of the things I am focusing on with my drawings and some different techniques I'm trying!:) A lot of these drawings are unfinished, so prepare.;)

This is my summer girl, who's ready to spend her days in the sun, but she's also sort of trying to act cooler than she is.XD 

I've been a lot more into drawing bodies and drawing guys, too. I love drawing arms, they're so fun!XD 

I drew this person off of my mannequin, something I don't usually do. Not my best but I think she's cute.;) 

I've never been good with the "looking behind the shoulder" pose.;) 

This guy sort of reminds me of Alex from The Unwanteds.;)

One of the new techniques I've been trying is with my character's necks. Instead of making them curved, I've made them pretty much stick-straight and go straight down, then draw the shoulders out of the neck and sweep down, drawing those in between shoulder and neck muscles. It's always awkward drawing the weird neck at the beginning, but when you do the shoulders it looks great! I think it's my new way of drawing necks for good! I especially like it for guys, it makes them look more masculine.:) 

This was sort of a water queen to me, she was fun to draw!:) 

I have to say I am very proud of myself for doing this guy! LOOK, EVERYONE! HE LOOKS LIKE A DUDE (and an adult dude at that)!XD That's hard! LOL! I still have a far way to come, but I'm slowly getting better.:) I can't wait to see what my guys look like in a year!:D

***

I hope you liked looking at some of my most recent drawings! Since I am in this phase where I draw with reckless abandon, a lot of my drawings haven't turned out, but this is the kind of phase that's really helpful for my future drawings! Trying, failing, then learning!;)

Auf Wiedersehen!;)

-Emma-

Are there any new things you've tried lately? Food, techniques, activity, etc.,?:)



Recreating... #2

Hi everyone!

I made a post like this before, where I went through old sketchbooks, picked a drawing I like but was pretty bad and recreate it with all of the skill I have now! These are really fun to do, and I hope you all like these posts as much as I do!:)

This was the original drawing I started with. It's of a girl at a library who finds a magical, glowing book.;) You can obviously see some problems, such as the phantom book that is FLOATING and how the girl has very off centered facial parts.;)

In the stages of recreation... 

And finally, she's finished! Isn't she so cute?:)

It's so cool to see what I can do better now! It's really fun to do these.:) I hope you liked the recreation!:)

-Emma-



How to Draw Hands - A Tutorial

Hi everyone!:)
I hope you're having a good evening, or day, or whatever time you read this at.;)

I am here with a tutorial of how I draw hands! I know that hands can be a rough part for people to draw (including myself), but with enough practice they can become really fun to do!:)

Let's get into this tutorial, shall we?:D

I start with a simple shape, sort of like a curvy upside down triangle with a blunt tip. This is the shape I use for all of my hands and it has really helped me. I learned about that tip from something on Pinterest!;)

That shape is the base for the palm area of the hand, next we add the fingers. I tend to make my fingers longer than real fingers are, but I like it.;) 

You finish up the fingers, which you can make by just having two parralel lines meet in a curve at the top. The fingers don't have to be perfect, you can clean them up later.:) 

You add the thumb (Reminder: the tip of a thumb, when it is right up against the rest of the hand, is usually just a bit farther up than the knuckles.) and there you have it! The beginning shape is used as a guide to the rest of the hand. It doesn't need to be followed exactly and drawing hands can be a bit rough sometimes, but it helps me!:) 

With that shape, you can make a ton of different hand poses! 

With practice, hands can be a lot of fun!:) 

For drawing guy hands, you follow the same principles, but I make the hands bigger and the fingers more square shaped at the top. Just stockier in general.;)

***

I hope this helped anyone struggling with drawing hands. Also, maybe trying to draw out some pictures of cartoon characters' hands might help you get an idea of how they work for your own drawings.:)

-Emma-