Done at the end of 2023, I wasn't too sure how to wrap up the year, but eventually settled on making a piece to tie everything back to the beginning. I decided to make a sequel to my first painting of 2023, "Back to the Ocean" which featured my opossum fursona Blink with his back to the ocean as the sun set behind him. 2023 was a hard year for me. Between my hand injury, having to leave college for a second time, and a plethora of other tiny issues it really beat me up, and left me feeling a bit humbled. I wanted to make something that captured that somberness. Muted, dark, muddy colors, a personal character of mine, an embodiment, staring out at an ocean of uncertainty; this piece almost feels like a footnote, or a bookmark, it's intention being a stone to mark where a lotta bad feelings need to be left in the past. The days following this piece's creation, spent with my partner out of town, was the greatest thing to happen in 2023 and it's made me look forward to the future again, something I haven't felt in a long long time <3

Done in Paint Tool Sai