Happy New Year, everybody! Antoni here and 2020 has finally gotten the boot with 2021 coming into full swing as what I can perceive is the time of healing and recovery.
Let's face it, folks, 2020 has been a monstrous year steeped with anxiety, sadness, and frustration due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Circumstances have gone from bad to worse and the world suffered. Thankfully, the last months of 2020 have ended up becoming a time for healing and the vaccine for this pernicious virus has come underway. How everything shall come into full swing is shaky, but hope, solidarity, and steadfastness shall be our and the world's armor against all odds, doubts, and fears.
Anyways, I have compiled my annual art summary, in which I gathered which were my favorite pieces of work from each month. 2020 has been a very challenging year because of how I had to balance my time in university with my time as an online content creator for DeviantArt and for YouTube. Nevertheless, I found the time to be utterly inspired to create pieces of fan art I was most passionate about. Sure, there was one particular fandom I ended up moving on from, which was none other than The Rowdyruff Boys and The Powerpuff Girls. Seriously, after drawing my favorite RuffPuff couples for two years, this area ended up becoming too much of my comfort zone to the point where I felt stifled. At least 2021 will help me to realize what more I can do and never go back to those comfort zones ever again. Mind you, I still love the color-clash RuffPuff couples. However, drawing these aforementioned couples for two years felt like an eternity. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the ride while it lasted and it is now time to move on.
In order to give my time with Team Xtreme, the color-clash RuffPuff couples, and their children the true closure they deserve, let us travel back to memory lane where I show and tell you my personal favorite pieces of fan art which I have done throughout 2021.
January: The Color-Clash Angels of the BMX3-verse
I was really happy to have done the color-clash next-gen character requests back in 2019. Drawing BrickercupMasterX3's color-clash kids was initially tough because of all the details I had to complete and make each pose correspond to the likes of Bloom, Burn, and BonBon. It took me until the first month of 2020 to get this done and I was more than pleased with the results. I have been following Bloom, Burn, and BonBon for years and I had a firm idea of what personality each of them had as well as what pose I could make them commit to. Where this was concerned, it was the journey and not the destination which made me grateful to have committed to this and I was thoroughly blessed to have been on this journey. However, this also marked the end of doing requests, which is really for the best. Regardless, the journey I had with drawing my dear friend's color-clash next-gen characters was truly invigorating.
February: Sugar, Sugar
When I first heard The Archies' classic song "Sugar, Sugar" in Supersize vs Superskinny's fourth episode of the fifth series, it was an extremely catchy and fun tune which evoked a major nostalgia trip. Since I participated in LilyLoverGems4499YT's Valentine's contest, I thought that Boomer and Blossom would be amazing subjects for the submissions I had in store for that particular contest. Yes, I will always hold Boomer x Blossom aka Blossoomer as my number one most favorite Townsville couple ever, hence the massive amount of submissions centering around The Cotton Candy Couple. Speaking of The Cotton Candy Couple, the popular headcanon is that both Boomer and Blossom have a sweet tooth and "Sugar, Sugar" sung by The Archies fits this couple so well. Overall, I enjoyed both the song as well as drawing Boomer and Blossom having a sweet time with their mega milkshake.
March: The Rose Tango
2020 was also the year where I did what I could to be more active in a lot of art contests. I was invited by Mister-Sukeruton to partake in his Zak and Sisa contest, which I thought would be fun and interesting. After taking a gander at Mister-Sukeruton's gallery where Zak and Sisa took center stage, a brilliant idea sparked in my mind. The one attribute I loved about Zak and Sisa as a couple was their elegance and sexiness and I thought that them doing the tango surrounded by red roses would suit them well. I never regretted it ever since and I was so ecstatic with how it came out.
April: The Bicep-Flexing Jungle Muscle Hunks
Partaking in cmara's Crossover Contest was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever endured. I may not have won anything there, but the process of making my most favorite set of jungle warrior brothers, which include George of the Jungle, Basuli, Tarzan, and Maugli, and their best friends, Grunch the Caveman and Hercules, was what brought me a whole lot of euphoria. Having Grunch, George, Herc, Basuli, Tarzan, and Maugli don leopard skin loincloths evoked a sense of virile sexiness in each of them and I just loved drawing these big, strong, muscular jungle kings. Even though Grunch is a caveman and Herc is a Greek demigod, having them join their best bros in a bicep-flexing and roaring match was so amusing. Looking back at this, I would love to make more fan art revolving around George of the Jungle, Basuli, Tarzan, and Maugli along with their older brothers, Fernando, Init-Init, and Bernardo Carpio, because seeing these jungle muscle brothers together under one roof brings me a sense of fulfillment and it is so wonderful seeing these jungle muscle brothers hang out and be the brave, handsome, sexy warriors that they are.
May: Six Strong, Fit, Dynamic Couples
What happens when you combine three of my most favorite Adult Swim anime couples and three of my most favorite crossover anime couples? You get Inuyasha x Ayame, Baki x Rosé, Ginta x Shunran, Kiibo x Winry, Ippo x Maya, and Kiba x Cheza. Growing up with Inuyasha, Baki the Grappler, Hajime no Ippo, Shootfighter Tekken, Wolf's Rain, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Ultra Maniac during my tween and teen years made me thoroughly enjoy each of these series and the characters inhabiting their respective universes. I wanted to emit that fitness magazine look for each of these couples because I have also grown up reading them and knowing what they appeared to be. I would also love to keep having these series crossover with each other and I am never going to tire of InuAya, BakiRosé, GinShun, KiiWin, IpMaya, and Kiza because I have grown up with them when I was a child and I have always found that sense of fun and joy in each of these couples.
June: The Brave Canine Yokai Warriors' Life Cycle
Ah, Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and Ayame. These three canine warriors received the gold medal for being my most favorite characters from all of Inuyasha. Their strength, power, and combat prowess were legendary to the point where I made both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha be involved in a three-way relationship with Ayame. This was also coinciding with my AU headcanon of The Dog General and The Wolf Elder being the greatest of friends, passing down their strong friendship to Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and Ayame when they were very young, and inducting both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha as guardians of the Northern Warrior Tribe and being Ayame's husbands. I could not have asked for anything better to occur with Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and Ayame being together in a three-way relationship and build a roof over their mighty family's head, especially when their children include Dai, Roku, Kai, Rin, Shiori, and Shinta. Ergo, I am never going to tire of this powerful throuple of Feudal Era Japan.
July: Super Bicep-Flexing For Their Darling Wives
Leave it up to Brick, Butch, and Boomer to be the muscular, hunky love gods to their darling wives, Buttercup, Bubbles, and Blossom, as they know how to give their darlings what they want to arouse them in ways they can never imagine. Yes, it is man-service in the flesh, but I really enjoyed having these hunky brothers be the handsome muscle studs to their gorgeous wives. There was never a dull moment with them by any stretch of the imagination.
August: The Uber Complete Blossoomer Family
It was a major joy drawing Boomer, Blossom, and their twenty-four intelligent, cultured, classy children, even though it was tough trying to squeeze everybody all together in one frame. Nevertheless, this was a challenge I wholly accepted with pride and joy for my most favorite Townsville couple of all time.
September: The Uber Complete Brickercup Family
Coming up on this entry are Brick, Buttercup, and their twenty-four tough, rambunctious, outspoken children. It was a joy having this family evoke that sense of toughness and making them look at us, the viewers, to tell us to never mess with them or something is about to happen. I have been a proud Brickercup shipper for a very long time and this was a pleasure to express my love for the toughest color-clash couple.
October: One Bloody Awesome Power Throuple
It was a joy having Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and Ayame showing their wild sides, i.e. being in their full yokai forms. It made them even more powerful, fierce, and mighty than they already are. They are also a clear-cut reminder to never cross swords with them or else they will tear you apart with their bare hands. Ergo, Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and Ayame going feral brought out the unstoppable strength they all had as warriors.
November: Our Feudal Era Gang
I have grown up with The Muppet Babies, The Jungle Cubs, Tom and Jerry Kids, and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and I thought it would be great to place Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Ayame, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran in that phase when they were children. Correlating with my Splendid Seven AU headcanon, this was something I loved doing because I wanted to expand on how close Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Ayame, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran grew up together. In fact, Inuvember 2020 was a very enjoyable moment for me to make Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Ayame, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran take center stage, as these seven are not only my most favorite characters but I have always seen the potential for The Splendid Seven to be like one true family.
December: The Uber Complete Butchubbles Family
This marked the last stretch for not only the color-clash couples but also Team Xtreme as a whole. Parting from my Rowdyruff x Powerpuff AU headcanon was bittersweet sorrow incarnate, but my only and last fan art submission for December 2020 was what closed the year off in order to give closure. While I enjoyed drawing Butch, Bubbles, and their twenty-four creative, energetic, fun-loving children, it was already the beginning of the end. At least this was a chapter that needed to be closed so that a new chapter can be fully fleshed out.
I want to wrap this up by saying thank you to all of my friends, fans, family members, colleagues, and fellow artists, content creators, bloggers, and reviewers for making my 2020 an epic year. Despite the ongoing pandemic, it was still a year I was able to make my mind travel to places unknown and I will continue to do so. So, it is with bittersweet sorrow that I say farewell to my time creating fan art centering around Team Xtreme, the color-clash couples, and my color-clash couple children. The ride was fun while it lasted and I am thankful for all the memories I have also managed to make with my fellow color-clash shippers.
I hope you all enjoyed this 2020 art summary and I will see you in the next submission. I hope that 2021 will be a much better year. Take care, stay safe, and Happy New Year, everybody.
All of the aforementioned series belong to their respective creators.
