Gaia Online commissions and art trades

God I miss middle school. Wait no I don't.

Don't think you're all that and a bag of potato chips!

I started taking commissions in 2006, in the form of Gaia Online currency. This was during the site's golden age before things went way south. Here's a link to a really great video by Red Bard documenting the site's history. 

Next: Art trades with fellow Deviants. 

My art trade partner told me to draw whatever. I don't remember a specific prompt. I drew my cat Nikki in the basket. Also, I do like the coloring in this one, especially on her hair.

Looking back at these pictures really makes me wonder where they are now. It's been a good seventeen years. 

Another "draw whatever you feel like" art trade. But this is by far one of my favorites. I wish all of my 2006 pictures looked this good. Yes, it has its mistakes, but I love the colors. I ended up saving this character as an OC, but have never since captured the magic of this original artwork.

Fullmeowtal Alchemist

Dude. I got 50 watchers on Deviantart now. I'm kind of a big deal.

Ed as seen through the eyes of a certain 13 year old fangirl

I was obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 in middle school. This was peak middle school weebdom - drawing Ed as a kawaii cat boy, referring to everything by the Japanese version, omg, I'm so into Hagaren right now, Roy x Edo forever!

Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 was an absolute fever dream and looking back I can't believe it's real. But it is still one of the best anime series I've ever watched and I am biased to prefer it over Brotherhood. They made some really strange choices but I liked it, including the Shamballa movie. The final arc of 2003 made a tremendous impression on me. 

I especially loved how they incorporated Rose's character in the original anime series, and the dresses she wore. It is just very unfortunate what happened to her in 2003. This series was much darker than Brotherhood in my opinion. Very melodramatic, or deeply heartfelt, depending on who you ask.

I still sort of like this artwork, but my god, it is tacky. Why is she standing on a mirror? Where is she? What's with the clouds? Gotta love the overly prominent logo, in Japanese cuz I totally speak it. 

Even better is a WIP of above artwork, which is a total time capsule of the early 2000s. My favorite part is the Windows XP interface and the fact that I was currently logged into AIM. 

The obnoxious scribbling was a trend back then with the cool kids on early 2000s anime Deviantart, and I was desperate to be just like them. That would explain a lot of the tackiness of my art in 2006. I wanted to be like them but had no idea how, so I just did my best. It's a bittersweet feeling, looking back.

+ The d i v i n i t y +

This is the original title when I posted it on DA or at least similar. Back then it was a trend to spice up post titles to distract from lack of skill. I also used Deviantart Green for the backdrop. 

This artwork is of my Tellissian goddess character, Joaijihag. She has such a lovely name that rolls right off the tongue. I find myself shouting her name when I stub my toe.

I completed this artwork just as I was wrapping up seventh grade. I was so sure this would be a banger with the cool kids and end up on the front page of Deviantart. Oh, Mel!

Honestly, I still like this picture. It was fun to work on, and my mind was buzzing with ideas. I've always loved sparkly gemstones and ornate textures.

God I love these. They're such a snapshot of life back then. I obscured the thumbnail because I wanted to be mysterious and that is what the cool kids did when they posted WIPs. Also random Homestar Runner reference. Meh!