[qwertyo]

Was gonna wait until morning to post this, but I stayed up late just to do this and I like how it turned out. Fun fact 'bout this pic (other than that it features one of my first pets), the BG is loosely based off the header image of the "CSGreen" website theme. It's also somewhat of a redraw of 2012's pic.

Anyways, it's my 8th CS anniversary! ...Holy cow I've been here this long!? Hoo boy I'm feelin' old.

For most of the years I've been here, I've drawn a pic to celebrate. Here are the previous ones:

2016
2013
2012
2011
2010

Hm, never would've thought I'd stick around here for so long. I gotta admit, this place feels almost like my "internet home". It's a habit of mine to check the oekaki (only the sketches/experiments board bc it's my CS bookmark lol) a few times everyday. Been doing this pretty much... the whole time I've started drawing here on the oekaki, so since August '09. I feel like I've seen so much happen here. Like man, I remember the ol' oekaki days when we barely had users and drawings, now this place is bustlin' with activity. I also recall there only being 4(?) boards, this one, beginners, intermediate, and editable (actually, I /think/ competitions has been around since the beginning too). Definitely was a smaller place. Feels weird that I've basically watched this oekaki board grow since I've visited daily for 'bout 8 years. I mean, I've seen many users come and go, seen a lot of trends... this oekaki really has gone through a lot. Heck, I can recall the first oekakis of some users here. There have been many moments where I'd look at a user's gallery, go back to their first oekakis and think "oh wow, I remember seeing that oekaki right when they posted it! They've improved so much since then!". If you hang around the sketches board often like me, then I probably know who you are and how your art has changed over the years. Hopefully that isn't weird, haha.

Ack, now all these memories are flooding back, haha. Like, I can remember the Dark Days (not really) when the concept of species didn't exist. The boards were mostly just random stuff/people's OCs/fanarts. I can clearly remember how the adoptable species thing came to be a thing here, and the species that started it. And then all the species that were created since then, up to today. I feel like it's such a huge part of CS now, that it'll never really go back to how things were before, not that that's a bad thing. I've seen these species bring people together, which they probs would never meet any other way. It's nice that people are able to make friends based on their mutual love of colorful animals. I've met some good folks here myself, and am grateful to have them as friends.

As for how CS has affected /me/, well, if it weren't for this oekaki, I doubt I'd be where I am with art today. When I was a youngin' here (middle schooler ayy), I was a lil' afraid to use the oekaki and put my art out here. But then I got over the fear and began to draw on the oekaki. And, despite the bad art, people commented and liked my stuff, I even got myself some commissions, paid via CS pets. This all motivated me to get better, and to draw more here. I still remember how happy I felt when I got my first oekaki moved from beginners to intermediate. The joy I felt when Tess and some staff commented on my art. That excitement when I got my first feature. I pretty much built my art career on this oekaki board. Though it does mean that I'm completely unable to draw in photoshop/sai, haha. Chibipaint is just super comfy to me. Such a simple program, but it has a lot of potential if you know how to use it. I remember when I first discovered how to get that "crayon/chalk effect", back around 2010. I still use it today. Saw one of my fave artists at the time get those neat lines and I wanted to imitate, haha. Anyways, been drawin' here fairly regularly for 8ish years now, and I don't think I'll ever really stop.

Oh, and for how I even got here in the first place, well, I discovered CS via another pet site, Wajas. I recall someone had their CS pets on their profile, I was curious, and I clicked on them. I loved joining petsites, so me being me, I made an account here and adopted pets. Didn't know I could adopt a lot, so I just adopted one of each pet, haha. Didn't want to be "greedy". Chose the name "qwertyo" because I was either uncreative, or didn't think I was gonna stick around here for long (or both). Fun fact by the way, you weren't always able to freely change your name here. You were stuck with what you had. I believe you were able to message staff to change your name, however. Despite the free name changes, I've stuck with qwertyo. And even though I now have two established usernames (solminol/urswurs), I don't think I'll ever change my name here. This is the only site now where I use this name, but this name, despite how uncreative it is, hold many memories for me.

...Hah, look at me getting all sentimental here. Look at me showing ~emotion~ with these walls of text... I truly feel like an old person reminiscing 'bout the olden days... I'm goin' to bed.

[CaligulasPeri]

This is gorgeous!! Congrats on 8 years! <3

[Wesley]

Absolutely stunning (and also fun to watch your art style improve going through the old years)! Congrats on the anniversary <3 c:

[Guest]

This is extremely gorgeous ouo

[qwertyo]

Thanks, you three!

I usually just let my oekakis get buried and don't reply to stuff, but for once I actually went back and edited my drawing. I originally drew this late last night (like... 2 AM on a school day lol), but I looked at it again with some fresh eyes and saw some things I could improve on. So I redid the shading on the dog and refined a few things here and there. Also added some falling leaves, but I wasn't sure if I actually liked it, so I just made it an alt version of this pic.

[SplashofOrangeJuice]

I will always adore your art. 😍 Congrats on making it 8 years and sticking around :) 🎉🎉🎉

[~Tornado~]

Oh my word this is so flipping gorgeous! It's amazing to see how far you've come and you're experiences on this site. You've been on much longer than I have but I can relate, I remember when the sketches and experiments came out and spiders and owls were still and how the community has evolved and changed, and it's always so neat to see how this little site has effected and inspired people.
Also your art is some of my favorites every piece you make is so pretty with a charming unique style, fantastic colors, and the backgrounds are just to stunning to put into words keep up the amazing work!