Frustrating setbacks:

Today I did something which while not productive per se was something I had an urge to do.

Remember how I once upon a time drew Ruby's "Hello" panel?

It was a while back. Some of my "regulars" probably weren't even blog readers back then; after all, this was almost two years ago. 

That picture? That was a redo of the original.
​Here they are, side-by-side, for comparison.

Original sucky version

Less sucky redone version

I promised myself that I would color the redone version, but I never got around to it--with the death of my old laptop, that project even died altogether as I was working on it on said computer.

...But today.

...I decided, on a whim.

"I want to try this again."

And this time.

I managed to outdo my outdone self.

On paper, I drew her once more--I don't consider it a complete success. Something about the face in the original redone version up there above on the right is just natural, whereas I got something horrifically wrong with her face in this redone redone version. It's either the mouth or the eyes; my suspicion is that I positioned them wrong in some fashion but I'm absolutely clueless as to how to fix the problem. (I do have that lean towards it being the mouth I messed up, but heck if I know how to fix it.)

I'm a little concerned about the neck being too long, in spite of me having used no less than three reference images to get it right.

I got really lazy with the connections between arm and breast (and for that matter, the breasts in general), so through sloppiness and rustiness, those could be better.
Heck, the arms are pretty much throwaway things that I didn't really bother to try and get right.
And the torso is something that I'm not positive I nailed.

...But literally everything else?

Literally everything else looks better.

I mean, I mayyyyyy have gotten things not quite symmetrical on the body, and there's an obvious lack of direct symmetry for the head--but in this case, that's intentional as being one of the improvements...because for the first time ever in my art (pretty sure, anyway), I managed to pull off a head tilt. Usually even if my reference image has a head tilt and I intend for there to be a tilt to the head, it isn't drawn or if it is drawn is drawn incredibly poorly.

This time?

This time, I got it. It's not overt; it is incredibly subtle...but it is notably, visibly, there, and not something which looks off, it is something you can tell the effect is there and what it is meant to be. (At least I hope.) And the anatomy in the areas I was paying attention to anatomy? I got it.

I haven't done art in not months but literally years. Years, plural. 
I haven't done art since that image, pretty sure. At least I don't remember any real art. Not even sketches, mostly. By and large, pretty much nothing done aside from maybe a weapon at one point vaguely? But really, not people, not for a very very very long time.

...Yet through the magic of "I get better the longer I take a break"...
...I got better. The head in particular is shaped more realistically than basically a round melon. She's all-around "thinner", leaner, more feminine. Even without the pigtails and even without the breasts I feel like she would still look like a girl.

It's absolutely the best work I've done. Maybe less suited for the ultimate goal of making an avatar (though I'm probably not going to go for a new avatar anyway as I'm happy enough with my own right now on the site it'd have been for), but still stunningly beautiful.

I want to show you it.
I want to get it onto the computer.
And then maybe bite the bullet, download an art program, and finish the art on here.

...Except...

...The. bloody. scanner.
STILL DOESN'T WORK FOR MY COMPUTER.
In spite of RECOGNIZING MY COMPUTER.
And in spite of MY COMPUTER RECOGNIZING THE SCANNER.
In spite of them mutually seeing each other and attempting to communicate with each other.
...I get a bloody error. No matter what. I. try.

Thus.
Frustrating setback.
Because I can describe this stunning art all I want.
I can't show​ you it.