This one happened to land in my lap after reading more of the book "The Creative Act" by Rick Rubin, and a concept mentioned in one of the chapters on self-doubt resonated perfectly with another that had crossed my mind when I saw these two, while browsing the tweegeemee bot's backlog.

In Buddhism, the concept of "Papancha," or "conceptual proliferation," can be summed up - rather inadequately, I should note - as a "preponderance of thoughts and feelings." I would urge you to read up about it if this art resonates at all; but considering how being full of such things almost at all times, to where regulating is so very hard for me, is pretty much my baseline, this felt worth expressing in this strange, collaborative medium I've found for myself.

The spark hit during one particularly, positively overwhelming moment while streaming, and I had to follow through on it.

This feels to me like a reprise from 07. Bathed in Shade, but I knew what it would look like the moment I saw the original generated image, and the vibe was different and striking enough to be worth its own spot.

The tab has been open ever since, and I had to follow up on it when the appropriate mood struck me; just today.

I've always felt like my art style is predominantly very flat, cartoonish, and not all that technically advanced at the face of it. I covet the work and skills of my peers that employ a more adept handling of textures, shading and forms than I feel I am capable of even if I tried to emulate them, but haven't had much success teaching myself over the years of passively developing my craft. It therefore feels somewhat ironically satisfying - and satisfyingly ironic - that the techniques I used to make this and 07. go so hard in the complete opposite direction in order to appropriately convey the intent behind them, and achieve it exactly as I'd intended.