LeightonRB

This is kind of fun, Happy Birthday dA!

Hmm, I've had a lot of stuff happen while I've been on dA, lots of bad, but this website has definitely helped me discover what I'm really passionate for. This gets a bit personal, but I don't have any journals like that here, one couldn't hurt I guess.

I first joined deviantART when I was 14 back in 2010, I got my first tablet (Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch) and started digital art around that time as well. 

This was my first digital painting/drawing, done in Gimp. I think I was using WeAreAllStupidHere's computer or something, it was before I had my own tablet if I remember correctly.

I did a lot of traditional art too, and was still in my dragon faze from middle school. 




I'm sure as many of my friends remember I was a huge weeaboo, although I would get offended if people called my art 'anime'.
 


This was in 2011 after I upgraded from Gimp to Autodesk Sketchbook (exact same pose as the first pic lol). It's.... pretty bad.

Most of my friends at school were artists and had dA accounts, so it was a fun way to interact with each other online. At this point I really liked drawing but never took it seriously or thought of it as a real career choice.




 


Once I hit sophomore year in highschool things got a little bumpy, I was hit hard with depression,  this forced me even further into art. (I was using Paint Tool SAI at this point, my longtime love...)


My junior year of highschool was probably one of the better years. I didn't draw as much for most of the year, but my most popular deviation ended up being a request from some friends, I'm still using SAI but I think this was around the time I upgraded to a slightly better tablet.




Towards the end of the year (around January 2013... I think?) more mental health issues started to pop up. I was a wreck for nearly a year before I was put on proper medication.

I ended up dropping out of school, though I was still able to get a diploma some months later via an alternative program.

This was probably the lowest point in my life so far, I won't get into the gritty details, but a lot of medication and art helped pull me out of it.

Art became my main drive behind everything I did, it's what I got up in the mornings for. I'm not the best artist but I'm actively working everyday to improve.



I'm really glad for deviantART, if I had never joined I would probably have never been involved in any art community or realized how important it was for me. 

Also as I'm sure it's obvious, this isn't my first profile, I started this one when I decided to try again, I felt like I needed a clean slate (above images are linked from old account). 

I don't have anything I'm proud of or I feel shows my current skill level, so I'll just use my most recent upload; 




Thanks for everything deviantART This website has been here for me through my highs and lows, and even periods of absence.