Hi everyone! Happy new year! How was your 2025 and how are you feeling for 2026??

This year started slow at first, and to be quite frank I was not feeling the excitement or eagerness after the last weeks of 2025. But after giving myself a break and “slowly waking myself up again“, I feel more willing to embrace 2026 now, than I did last week.

Alright let us start!

⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ 2025 Art summary! ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

A super quick view of my favorite artwork, personal projects, and zines I made during 2025!

Below, The exclusives and rewards I made for Patreon during 2025! : )

This was a very challenging year for my creative spirit and also art business, but looking back - I really did a lot!! : o

I have tried so many new things like: lettering, applied to various freelance work like designing cards (tarot fanart as a gift & for a card game) & background design, and dipped my feet into learning graphic design (which helped me so much when making advertisements for my patreon). I also made “finished artwork“ every month of 2025, which I did not in 2024.

I actually unintentionally accomplished my 2025 art goals: More original artwork, more personal projects, re-evaluate my social medias, finish my sketchbooks. You can read more of my 2025 art goals here: https://ghostlymatte.beehiiv.com/p/happy-2025

So yeah! Despite the difficulties and challenges this year, I am really happy with the things I have tried and the things I have accomplished too! : ) Thank you for accompanying me!

⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ 2026 Art goals! ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

✴︎ Follow the curiosity

Embrace curiosity! Follow the things that interests me, no matter how niche! No matter if I can profit from it or not! No matter if I fear if it is too niche!

The truth is, I still sometimes finding myself “playing it safe“ and trying to “appease to the general audience“ when it comes to what I make. But not this year! I am making a conscious decision and effort to really go deep into the topics I enjoy and learn and explore and get inspired from that!

Creative pep talk episode related to this: https://www.creativepeptalk.com/532-this-is-your-creative-secret-weapon-that-youre-ignoring/

✴︎ Let go of expectations and play + "Finished not perfect"

Stop thinking and start drawing! Draw first, play first!! Edit and analyze later! Thinking yourself in circles is not going to make “the thing” happy! Make it exist first before you tear it a part and make it better!

Creative pep talk episode related to this: https://www.creativepeptalk.com/529-escape-your-creative-rut-with-this-5-part-creative-hygiene-checklist/

✴︎ Build a long-form media

I want to have a something I am building that is consistently, updating every month or so. I am debating on youtube videos to talk about my art process, OR posting in my newsletter!

✴︎ Organized Patreon exclusives

I want to also have a more structured system for myself with making patreon-exclusives, while keeping myself interested and entertained. So I will be interchanging the exclusive reward types every month. This month I will be focusing on downloadables, next month will be printables, and the month after will be downloadables, and so forth and so forth!

✴︎ More character design play

I have been pushing aside my love to draw and design silly guys for too long! And so, this is their year!! My ideal is to design and show a set of characters inspired by something I like every month! Worse case scenario, I do this every other month! Either way, I am designing funky guys this year, no matter what! >: )

✴︎ Thank you for reading!! ✴︎

That is it! Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, hit me up!

>> ghostlymatte@gmail. com

>> Links to find me! https://ghostlymatte.weebly.com/about--links.html

ଘ(❁•̀ 3 •́)━ ☆*✲⋆✴︎˚｡⋆☆*✲⋆✴︎˚｡

And last but not least….

⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ My big faves of 2025 things ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

Books:

My second year of embracing revisiting classic English literature, but mainly victorian horror, mysteries, and short ghost stories. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 

I mainly listen to these stories while cooking lunch or working on drawings, thanks to volunteer readers from throughout the world in librivox.org.

Movies/shows:

This year I watched a lot of vampire shows/films, and also many thought-provoking psychological thrillers. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 

Monster by Naoki Urasawa (A brilliant neurosurgeon with a promising future, risks his career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. Psychological thriller anime series)

Psycho-Pass, season 1 (A cyberpunk psychological thriller anime series)

Midnight Mass (American gothic supernatural horror television miniseries, with vampires in a small island town reviving their faith in Christianity)

Nosferatu (Intense and visually gorgeous vampire movie)

Youtube videos that revived my soul:

Mainly related to the creative process.

Also I cannot recommend this channel enough! https://www.youtube.com/@bazazilio

If you like listening to something in the background about dissecting topics in media, but also see gorgeous visuals. Check it out! Some videos I have watched already: why obsessive love feels comforting + "to be a hero you must act like a man"

ଘ(❁•̀ 3 •́)━ ☆*✲⋆✴︎˚｡⋆☆*✲⋆✴︎˚｡