Charloween

Finally! Here's my progression post for 2025! (click here for: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016)


# of icons: 1230
# of icon posts: 65

Graph instead of words for distribution this time:



Last, year the busiest months where May, October, June, and March - well there is some overlap - and the quietest ones February and December - nope, not even close. :D

Biggest achievements/progress made/observations: I don't think I made any huge leaps. My work was so busy and exhausting that I resorted to mostly minimalist icons without text. The most complex icons were around March, and after June the text use dropped significantly. I'm not bothered by this, because apparently it meant I made more icons, and I can't say I had less fun making them than I would have had making more complex ones. It's all good, then!

New this year: I made a gallery for 2025, just one huge pile without any text/descriptions/explanations, which you can see here: https://tinpix.de/2025/gallery_page_1.html. They go from new (page 1) to old (page 24).

Now for the monthly details:

Every icon post is linked separately, through the example icons for each month. But you can also click on the month names for that month's calendar with links to all my posts. Or you can simply look at my art-icons tag. Every month states the number of icons posted that month, plus the number later posted in drop posts, to get a better idea when I made what.

-> -> ->

( My progression over the last 12 months )



Wow, I got way over 1000 icons this year - probably due to the fact that monthlyinspo died and I had to deliver lots of 20-icon sets for all the 20in20s in which I participated instead, plus the landcomms. And I was under a lot of stress at work so that carried over into my need to relieve the stress by making a lot of icons. Those were less complex, but didn't end up ugly, just minimalistic and more focused on coloring and lighting. Overall, I'm not complaining. Iconmaking is stress relief for me, and I really needed it.

My resolutions for 2025 were:

- Be a little more adventurous with obscuring the subject, either through crop or using text
- Do experiments with coloring

I feel like I did the second one. I love recoloring icons, and that's why I love iconcolors so much, too. I did a retro_icontest round where a new coloring method was the focus of the challenge, and I found a coloring tutorial that I've been experimenting with. So I guess those both count, and this worked out.

The first one... eh. I kind of did it. At least I remembered that I had it this year, lol, unlike the previous years. :D I made an icontalking challenge with the goal of practicing it (it worked a little, could have been more). So I am keeping that one.

I didn't have a third one in 2025, but since I'm firmly back into cdrama and have made way too many textless icons last year, I'll add the old resolution back. Then I realized how great it was to shake up my process, I'm adding a resolution to that effect, giving me these three:

- Be a little more adventurous with obscuring the subject, either through crop or using text
- Do experiments with changing my process, either by starting from textures or by following guides/tutorials
- Add text also to cdrama icons

Looking back at the year, I'm happy as always that the iconmaker community still exists. Some new (and old!) makers joined us again, and my comms are all a source of joy. I'm also happy to have found seasons_of_fandom, a landcomm that works really well at integrating iconmakers, which no other landcomm I've seen has done as successfully, and I enjoy participating there. It's in fact the first landcomm that I've managed to stay in for more than one round. (Well, okay, I managed a few rounds at fandom_empire, too.)

Many thanks to everyone who mods, participates, or even just comments. You all make my life better. <3

Last but not least: the graph!

comparison with last year

Compared to last year, the number of Zhu Yilong icons dropped considerably *again*, from 175 to a measly 33. I feel like my Zhu Yilong addiction has well and truly run its course. My new obsession is Wu Lei, who leads the count with 374 icons, then HPI with 323, neither of which were at all a thing in 2024. All in all, adding cdrama (104) + BL (51) to the Zhu Yilong and Wu Lei numbers, Asian fandoms still come to almost half my total number (560).

Last year, I thought that I would icon more western fandoms, but apart from HPI, that prediction has not come true. It's all Wu Lei's fault of course. :D

So far, 2026 has started out well where iconmaking is concerned, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.

The current round at retro_icontest was a list of 5 themes, and I picked two: the No Eyes theme, and the Inspo Icons theme, and made three icons for each:

1-3
4-6
Wu Lei x3 | Chen Minghao | Wu Lei | Nothing But You

the inspo icons for comparison

lazuli_reikou | milkfed | ieatstickers

I'm happy to receive all kind of comments, including concrit! All icons shareable. Credit for brushes and textures I use can be found here in my resource post.

Previous icon posts:

I keep forgetting to write down what I learned... /o\ There are a few fun things, though:

( 13+1 things I learned in February )

TV finished

Nothing, sob.

Okay, maybe I could count the complete video of Wu Lei's birthday livestream (from his birthday in December) which I found on youtube? It's about an hour long, and I watched that a few times until I understood at least some very small parts of it. Yay? That took up a lot of time, too, lol. eowuli on twitter promised to sub it, but I haven't seen a subbed version of it yet. The raw is here on youtube.

TV new (ongoing)

I'll count Saint Pierre here. The second season has started, and I have now watched one episode. I had forgotten how much getting used to Arch's French accent takes. I had no trouble with it (loved it, in fact) by the end of season 1, and I'm surprised that I'm apparently starting from scratch again now. I don't know why I missed the show so much, but I did, and I'm happy to have it back. The first ep took me right back into the town and the characters. I'm looking forward to the season.

TV continued

The Company (16/30), the time-traveling cdrama. I watched eight episodes of that this month. Still enjoying the BL vibes, wondering if they really put them in there intentionally or if I'm just wearing slash goggles. Peak time travel shenanigans in ep 10, then they set logical boundaries, and then immediately broke them again, lol. :D They are adorable. I'm definitely enjoying the show more than I thought I would, even though I expected more time machine shenanigans in the latest plotline, but my guess as to what had happened was completely wrong, lol. :D Overall, now that I'm about halfway through: I find some of the show a bit preachy, but not overly so. It hasn't turned me off yet. Most of it is just fun, and I find it surprisingly engaging! It's on viki.

I watched four more episodes of The Cross-Dressed Union, now on 22/24. It really is a fun watch, and even the grasslands sidequest was kind of satisfyingly resolved and integrated into the rest of the plot. I was surprised. Sadly, I then lost track of it, I really should just finish it, there's not much left. I definitely rec it. It's on youtube.

Three eps of Bridgerton Season 4! Watchalonging this, and we're all caught up now for the second part of the season. I loved the Queen in ep2! I didn't expect them to make her this obvious. Her reaction to Agatha's announcement in ep1 was pretty obvious to me, but seeing it play out like that was *chef's kiss* and made me cry. For some reason, I'm not really invested in Violet's storyline anymore this season? I liked it better last season. But her line in ep4 was hilarious, I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. :D My favorite character continues to be Penelope. <3 Sophie is starting to grow on me, too. The cliffhanger after ep4 is painful, but I thought it was quite logical. I have no complaints, really.

Two eps of Our Times (05/38), the 90s retro "IT students go professional" cdrama with Wu Lei and Hou Minghao. I still just find Wu Lei and Hou Minghao in (ugly!) period dress and hairstyle very very adorable. The bromance vibes are through the roof. So far, all lead characters are being trodden on repeatedly, to really firmly establish their underdog status. I'm sure that'll change throughout the show, but for now, this is exactly my thing. The embarrassment squick is relatively strong so far, but I made it through and am confident I will continue to do so. (I now have an active icon for it. That escalated quickly. :D). It's on wetv and youtube.

TV (dropped)

Nothing, I hope?

Shows for which I have fewer than 5 eps left but haven't watched a single one all month: The Long Ballad (1) and Love on the Turquoise Land (4). /o\

Rewatches/Watchalongs

The Nothing But You watchalong is now on ep 20. \o/ Enjoying the hell out of this watchalong.

Bridgerton season 4 hasn't gripped me. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not watching it on my own, or if it's the show itself. Who knows. We do both enjoy it, though.

The When A Snail Falls in Love watchalong is now done! \o/ The last episode was actually a little better than I'd feared. I don't regret watching it. We have now also started Nothing But You, I can never watch that too many times. <3