Oh, boy! I made the original image that served as the inspiration for this sketch back in 2013, so basically a decade ago.

https://www.deviantart.com/zummeng/art/Tree-of-Life-371198905

I just looked at that old picture, and I just felt a sudden urge to draw it again. I remember back then that I only knew Gimp as a drawing program, and I got my first digital drawing board around that time. (It was a very basic Genius tablet, and I think I still have it somewhere, and it should still work.)

I know I've said it many times already, but I've been planning the story of the Tree of Life for a very long time. It's not like I knew where I was going with it or if it could ever become a comic. As I compare the two pictures, somehow it feels like they were drawn by two completely different people :D After all, there are 10 years between them. It feels a bit strange, but I feel satisfaction too. At that time, my characters were not yet sufficiently developed in any way, and both my skills and tools were really different.

I have to admit I don't know what to do with this sketch right now. I have many pictures that I feel this way about. Maybe time will tell! It's too detailed to include as a small exclusive sketch and submit it alongside the others for voting. But I don't feel I'm up for the challenge of finishing it as a 4K background, even though I'm up for it and I REALLY want this picture to finish just for fun. I just feel I've been more mentally tired recently than usual, so I'll just put it aside for now. (I'll put it next to the other huge pile of pictures I want to finish someday, of course XD )