*Busy trying to beat Contra after beating Super C for the first time last year*

Me: ...Huh? What? Inkblot came back? When did that happen?!

I guess this means this page has a lot of catching up to do! Hopefully I can get it up smoothly.

Had an idea involving dialogue boxes floating around in my head for a while, so I decided to finally put it to paper... or pixels, in this case.

Still have some rough edges in my style to work out, since I'm not certain on detailing yet, but I realize I hadn't done anything full scale since the Player Select idea.

(Originally drawn on August ‎29, ‎2021)

This was a logo concept that I had in mind for when I was bouncing ideas for the third story in this series I'm working on.

The characters from left to right are:

****Maria****: Her full name is Marie Allison, but is commonly referred to as Maria for short. A mage of the Light Arcana hailing from a faraway location called Sunbeam City. She joins the group after she was forced from her home by the villain of 'Travelers Abroad', Lloyd. The group would then go on to help reclaim her home with the trio. Since she started adventuring with him, Maria sees N.Blue as a love interest. She is usually very polite, and can be somewhat impulsive, but she usually means well.

****???****: The leader of the group. He's a swordsman who's original name was never revealed to him growing up. Because of his favorite cap, he was simply given the moniker of ****"N.Blue"**** during his adventures. I plan to give him a proper name at some point in the third story. He prefers to rely on his agility and five elemental powers he calls upon from a special necklace he wears. He may seem like a friendly face, but it only hide a heart of gold and a courageous soul when others are in danger.

****Alex****: A childhood friend, and the ranger/archer of the group. When N.Blue's father dies during a fire in his home village, Alex decides to work together with him to find out more about why his father gave him the necklace that contain his powers, starting from after obtaining the Fire Element. Alex also takes a small interest in herbal medicine, allowing him to make a medicinal salve that can treat minor wounds. He tend to be a bit more laid-back than the rest of the group, but when it's time for adventure he's the one to call for well needed support!


I figured I'd give them a brief introduction of the characters since this is their first appearance on InkBlot. There are two others, but I'll get to them as time goes on. :)

Also, you might see a little watermark in the middle. Don't worry, that's just there for reasons you probably already know. XD

If this art looks a little different than normal, that's because I'm trying a new art program, Krita! My current art program, although I've used it for a long time, is starting to get into that "too old for new computers" phase, and I doubt it'll make the trip into Windows 11, so I found this one.

And what better way to try a first drawing with it than the character who started as an experimental concept! ;)

Davy offers you some Christmas gifts! Will you pick one to take home?

It's been a while since I did anything holiday related, so I decided to fix that! (In the nick of time, no less!) Next year's going to be rough, but I hope we can all make it through!

(For those who might worry, I'm all right at the moment. These are merely the thoughts I had as I was drawing this.)

Again and again I find myself at these crossroads. Deep down I want to be angry at the world, angry at the things going on around me. I see it almost regularly: good people being threatened, forced into bad situations, taken advantage of, and even injured or killed. The reasons are even more messed up: Because they look different, act different, have different beliefs and values, and for the mere act of existence outside of a set of 'norms' that can and will challenge someone's worldview. I want to understand why people act like this, why they would turn on their fellow human beings for the most trivial of reasons. As far as I was raised, many issues were never fully about picking A or B. We are far more complicated than we think, and so are most situations. But to many of us, it's much easier to point fingers, shift blame, and put down a person or set of people purely for being different. Nowadays, some people believe that the mere mention or show of empathy is a sign of weakness. But from my own experiences... it is a fail-safe.

Because I know the moment I throw away my empathy, I will have thrown away my humanity. If I start caring less for those around me, and seek only personal gain in return, I will become as hollow as a dead tree. And to be honest, I truly fear that day if it happens. My personality, my beliefs, and yes, my empathy and my humanity, all make me who I am today. I know there will be those out there that will tell me that I'm setting myself up to be walked all over. Being kind or empathetic doesn't mean I can't or won't set boundaries. In truth, I never want to. But the moment someone starts causing trouble for me and those around me, even I have my limits. To me, anyone who would take advantage of others for the sake of personal gain and with no regard to those around them simply show their true colors, outing themselves as a result. A simple mistake is one thing, but to do it continuously over and over again over a short period, emboldened because I think you deserve a second chance, only makes me believe you learned nothing and aren't interested in learning at all.

And every time I see it, Every time I experience it, I find myself at these crossroads again. Sometimes, I know which way to go, with no regrets or reservations. But there are moments where I arrive at these roads when I'm on the verge of giving up, when just I feel completely disconnected from everything, and when I just feel invisible to most people. Half of me sometimes wants to get revenge, to prove to all of those who told me I wouldn't make it in the world at different points in my life that I can and will find my own path. I know now that even if I do the things they told my I couldn't, they'll just move the goalpost again, completely waving me off. People hate for the sake of hating. For the sake of self-preservation either for their lifestyles or their pride and ego. And again, because it's easier to blame someone then to look into a mirror.

And so, I have to remind myself regularly to stay the course. I deserve to live my life as peacefully and happily as I can get it to be. There will always be hardships, of course, but it's no excuse to give in to hate. It's no excuse to ruin another person's life for your own happiness. My story will always be different from yours, as will the paths we take.

At the end of the day we all take our own paths through life, our meetings and farewells mere crossroads in the path we follow. Friends and family that support you will gladly walk this path alongside you, but sooner or later as life changes, some of them will break off of it. Whether it's because they can no longer follow it, or something forces them off of it. We are only seeing the cover and a few pages of a person's story, and if any of us were ever to take a deep dive into it like a real book, we may begin to understand what and why they were brought to this moment in their journey. Many people fear that, and just as many people want to understand and connect.
We all follow our own paths, and although we cross each other regularly, only you can dictate how the journey ends. That is why I try to remain on the right path, hard as it might be at times.

"Look at all these crystals, Maria!"

"What's making them glow like this...?"

The goal for this drawing was to mess with lighting effects when it involves colored lighting. I'm a bit hit and miss here, but the goal was lighting practice anyway, so I'm okay with that.

Also, I don't know if a place like this exists in real life, but it would be fun to see if it does! : )

To shake off some rust at using Aseprite, I decided to to make a pixel screen you would see in a video game. Unlike the first time, I didn't limit myself to one color pallete. (Though at first I wanted to go for a SNES look, but it turns out that console has no particular 'Pallete'.)

The only real issue I have with this is that my pixel writing isn't that good... XD

Lately, I've been diving in (quite literally!) to a new game that caught my attention that just came out on early access: Critter Cove! I'm at the point where I just need to get the 5,000 doubloon tourist package and deal with any quests afterwards, but from what I played so far and with new stuff coming out as time goes on, I cant wait too see what new places I can explore. (And gathering materials along the way.)

As for the scene, this is based off of a moment where I had to dive into the Sunken Ruins area to find an antique radio so I could check the weather at home every day. Took me a moment, but I had hoarded so many air tanks that I didn't have to worry about drowning. XD

Hello! I'm Nathaniel, or "Nat" for short. I've been wanting to branch out with my art pages for a long time, so my wandering took me here! Hopefully everything goes well here. I plan on showcasing some of my prior art, but I will post newer stuff as it comes out! :D

_During the night or in a dark area, Davy tends to notice the moon amulet around his neck beginning to glow. He's not sure why it happens, but it's something that makes him wonder why..._

One of the reasons Davy got his redesign was because I felt with the newer eye design I can try to be a bit more expressive with him. A little more practice to get things down pat should help me refine things a little bit more!