Looking Back at 2025 and My Watercolor Ramp—and Forward to 2026
[NOTE: if you’re reading this in email, the post is too long to show in its entirety due to all the watercolor pics. You can read the whole thing at the website.]
Here we are at the tail end of ‘25. I hope you’re getting to step away from the endless grind and have a season of peace and reflection. A moment of stillness at the Winter Solstice.
It’s been quite a year for many reasons for all of us! But here at Zeno’s Arrow we’re talking comics and art.
This year I created a whole bunch of comics and art that I feel really good about:
1. I finished telling the story of Blood of My Blood. Such a fun twist to write in the story and get to share it with you all—and get to hear from multiple readers how utterly surprised they were and that they loved the twist (“Obsessed!”, one reader said!).
2. I translated, illustrated, and wrote The BOOK of DEATH Haiku Comics. Maybe the coolest project I’ve done yet? I knew it was definitely unique when the idea struck me, and it’s been super gratifying to find that so many people in our community around Seattle agree that the project is fascinating.
3. I rounded off my Blue Period of on-location blue and brown ink draw/paintings (the first piece in the series was actually done at the end of 2024). There’s actually one more last piece in the series that I haven’t posted here at my blogsletter, yet! But it felt a little weird doing a post for just the one piece (that’d actually be fine, I’m sure, but), so I figured I’d post it when I have an actual show for the blue pieces to post about. Hopefully in 2026!
After finishing BOOK of DEATH and my Blue Period, I shifted gears to focus on an exploratory phase with my art for a while. I’ve been doing a lot of watercolor on-location painting these last two months, and that’s what I’m sharing with you in this next section, before wrapping up with a prospective look into 2026.
The secret is to embrace the lack of control.
Watercolor is a daunting medium, difficult to master (hell, difficult to amateur) because of its unruly nature. The secret is to embrace the lack of control.1 Actually, truth be told, this was one of the reasons I was drawn to watercolor years ago: working with a medium whose very nature is looseness allowed me to let go of my over-preciousness with my art back in the day.2
I definitely never mastered watercolor in my earlier forays during college, and would say I still haven’t mastered it—but I’ve reached a new level of comfort and confidence with it after the past two months focusing on it in my outdoor (plein air) painting. It’s been a quick ramp up!
Here are my sketches and paintings in order from mid-October through mid-December:
What’s Next in 2026
I’m letting my comics side simmer while ideas for whatever the next comic project will be percolate. There’s no shortage of ideas that have occurred to me over time, but I only take up the ones that really grab me3 (one of the blessings of not relying on my comics for my survival). I started to get excited about what I was going to do with the Two Wolves idea, but that fell apart with the muddy history and apocryphal nature of its indigenous origins (see my update note and footnote on the last post).
I’ve got a couple small things pending that would be fun updates to share, but either aren’t confirmed yet or aren’t ready to share, so hang tight.
And my main thing right now is continuing my exploratory phase with watercolor! I’m really enjoying this, and there’s a lot I want to try out and develop/get better at around my approach with watercolor paintings.
Along with my focus being on my art right now, I am also working on the business side (le sigh) of the art. I plan to set up a website focused on my art separate from Zeno’s Arrow, to serve as my portfolio page, so look for that in the new year.
And with that, let’s sign off for the end of this year, and I’ll see you in the next one!
True about life, too!
Breaking free from over-preciousness is a never-ending journey—like a shepard tone?
So I guess the ideas are actually the ones taking me up?