# 26 A deal with a devil, would be a shortcut, but we don't need them here.

Today was all about breaking my limits. This piece has an "open composition", have a view from above (kinda) and took me almost two hours of pure work, not counting the projecting and looking for materials to work with.

It's another of my many flaws, I am not patient or persistent at all. After working on something for an hour, I start to dissociate, after another 30 minutes I just want to finish it as fast as I can, no matter the results.

This one was two hours of pure work. It was hard, I had to constantly remind myself to stay focused. But I did it, I broke my limit. It's my advice for today: it will be easier, every time. Doing things that are unintuitive and unpleasant is a necessary part of every path that is worth traversing. Do it, push yourself to your limit and a little past that. Hey, if I can do that, and I'm a lazy piece of cake that always go for the lowest passing grade, you can too!

This looks so silly. I wonder if I should start drawing some reference to later build a real art on it (like a background plan), but I feel like it would be insincere towards you. I want to show the entirety of the process.

Demon-ass looking child. I wonder how many people will recognize the game (one of the best games of all time, btw).

It was going slowly, I was trying to manage my strength. Normally, I draw in a short, intense jumps. This time, I knew I need to have enough focus to end. This is also a great lesson: know how much you want to draw and work accordingly, if it's a big, detailed art, don't rush too much.

It looks like a lot changed, but it's just a bunch of smaller things. First of all, I changed the skin color to better match the original. Second, I added tears and blood on the face. It was just a few seconds of work. Lastly, the little bloody tears at the bottom. I drew only one and copied it several times (it was not lazy, it was energy-saving, ok?). Oh, and the background happened. I don't know why, please if you draw something, keep the back empty, it's much easier to work this way.

Changed the light to more vibrant red and gave the symbol dark inside.

The face got new shading. At this point, I was kinda content with the main figure, so I started working on the back. This rope pattern was a total guess, and somehow I hit the jackpot. It looks so good!

Here, I added the red "aura" to the symbol, the pot and cracks in on the back wall. Nothing special, but the little details like this change a lot.

More cracks and game inspired symbols. Also, the floor got some more love. Man, some things will never change, I can make 20 posts and will still make the darker or lighter stains if I want something to look less dull.

Final piece. It looks like a work of an enthusiastic amateur... because it is. And there is nothing wrong with that. When you try something new, it's never perfect. But it will get better, easier, funnier!

Thank you for reading and good luck on your limit breaking! I believe in you!