added entry to drawing challenge

src/routes/blog/2026/0205.md

@@ -277,4 +277,54 @@ Oh, and hair. Hair is a big challenge. mikeymegamega has a video on that; I may
 
 On a related note, sometimes I look at the framed picture of Snatcher from A Hat in Time on my desk and I think to myself that I'd like to draw him. Now I'm thinking that I'd like to draw him in this manga style.
 
-I would fucking love that.
+I would fucking love that.
+
+## Day 13: A New Hope
+
+<span class="date-marker">2026-02-18, 23:08</span>
+
+Had a small crisis. Still had a really good drawing day. Let's go.
+
+So as I had written yesterday, I wanted to start to practice drawing bodies today. In order to learn how to do that, I first turned to mikeymegamega to find a video on the topic. This was already a pretty tough task.
+
+Most of his videos are so... horny. Yeah I can't think of a better word. *So many* videos on drawing huge female features, when I just want to learn how to draw a body at all. Add to this the fact that the one video of his from 11 years ago I found where he mostly went over the basics of drawing a body, he still went with the 'now let's draw some huge boobs' shtick, plus he used some pretty derogatory language, and that evoked enough discomfort to make me find a different way to learn what I wanted to learn.
+
+<SubtitledImage
+    image="13-1.webp"
+    altText="Pencil sketches of three female bodies drawn using a method where a triangle represents the torso, from the shoulders to the crotch, and then the rest of the outline is filled in afterwards. The first one has a raised right leg, while the other two ones are standing straight. The middle one has the comment 'too long?' written next to it, while the right one is noted as 'better'."
+    subtitle="my initial body drawing trials. they went pretty decently actually"
+    alignment="left" />
+
+I then wanted to find another YouTube video on the topic, but I don't like going through random videos because they could be of dubious quality. That's something I can evaluate well when it's a topic I know a lot about, but with drawing I really need some good guidance.
+
+Then I thought... I just bought that book on drawing manga characters. There's a section on drawing bodies. Might as well make the most of it. And so I did!
+
+The book went with the approach of drawing a triangle between the shoulders and the crotch to represent the torso, and then adding curves for the shoulders and hips. It's pretty simple, actually, so I didn't really need more guidance than the few reference pictures on the page. I started off by copying one of the drawings (on the left), which had a girl sitting with her legs crossed, though I did not draw the other leg. I then tried two bodies of my own.
+
+It's so important to just freely practice, because it allows you to identify areas you need to work on. I don't do it enough. Here I noticed that my first body drawn without reference (middle) looked too long for my liking, so I fixed it in the second one (right)!
+
+After that, I wanted to combine my learned knowledge and draw a body *with a head!* But what exactly should I draw...?
+
+<SubtitledImage
+    image="13-2.webp"
+    altText="A pencil drawing of a girl looking to the left. She is wearing a cropped loose tee and jeans, while her right hand is hinted to rest on her hip. The drawing starkly resembles the girl drawn on day 1 of the challenge."
+    subtitle="it's day 1 girl and she looks SO MUCH BETTER i'm so enamoured with her"
+    alignment="right" />
+
+And then I had an idea.
+
+*What if I try to re-draw one of my previous drawings?*
+
+And so I did!
+
+I drew a fresh interpretation of [the girl I drew on day 1](#day-01), and – I gotta say – it turned out *so good.* I really *really* like it because this has given me the chance to compare my skill at the start of the challenge to my skill now. It honestly feels like a huge change already.
+
+I think the biggest changes are dimensions and shape. Facial features and her overall body are just sized more appropriately than before. The rounded body shape, especially around her torso and hips, looks way more interesting. There's perspective too!! Her shirt flows more nicely. At the front of her trousers, there's a small curve that gives just a hint of depth. Her shoulders are tilted and it looks *so* cool. I'm actually really glad I re-drew the initial body triangle early on to give her that tilted pose.
+
+I decided to omit the hands because I figured I'd screw them up (haven't learned them yet, after all), and I *really* didn't want to fuck up this drawing. I also didn't go over the sketch with a fineliner to trace the outlines, also because I was worried I'd fuck up the drawing.
+
+Don't get me wrong, this isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just so hyped because this may just be one of the best things I have drawn so far, and it shows that I have genuinely made progress in this challenge.
+
+This has me really excited for what's to come. Maybe this hasn't all been in vain? Maybe all of this effort might *actually* lead to an improvement in my drawing skill after all?? There's finally some method to my madness, and it's visibly starting to pay off. I'm now very motivated to learn more about drawing body parts (which I also wrote next to the sketch lol) to make my future drawings even better.
+
+Also, just on a side note: I finally bought a new eraser, and it's way better than my previous one. Leaves way less residue after erasing too. I did also notice though that I've sketched more lightly than I did these past few days, which I think is a good thing.