Timelapse Painting Videos in 2025
2025 was a productive year for my digital painting hobby. It started out in January with an assessment of the Baum test, a psychological test that involves drawing a tree and then analyzing it. I then had a spurt of spontaneous cartoon drawing. This gave me the creative kick to deliver drawings for the demoparties Revision and Evoke 2025. In December, I wanted to explore the soul-healing nature of drawing. I created a series of six drawings with scattered topics like alien landscapes, fantasy creatures, and abstract concepts.
Here are links to previous years' timelapse videos: 2024, 2022 and 2023.
Here are the timelapse videos of my creations, some of them have articles related to them.
December 2025
Drawing as a Meditative Practice
In the age of AI image generation, it is a good question why someone would spend hours drawing pictures by hand. For me, it is a meditative and soul-nourishing activity. It helps me relax, focus, and express myself creatively. The process of drawing is more important than the final product. It allows me to explore my imagination, improve my skills, and enjoy the journey of creation. I drew the following five graphics in December 2025 as a way to unwind and have fun but also to include them in my article about the virtues of drawing for mental health: Drawing as Meditation: The Ritual of Lines That Calm the Mind
Faces in Wax and Smoke
I drew this little sureal bonus drawing for this related article: Drawing as Meditation: The Ritual of Lines That Calm the Mind
Planetary Rockscape
Drawing an alien landscape is a great way to let the imagination run wild. For the hatching of the rocks, I channeled comic book artist John Byrne (at least I hope I did). Here is the related article: Drawing as Meditation: The Ritual of Lines That Calm the Mind
Booger Puller
Sometimes it is relaxing to draw some gross-out imagery just for fun. Here is the related article: Drawing as Meditation: The Ritual of Lines That Calm the Mind
Unision in Neon Colors
This is the article related to this graphic: Drawing as Meditation: The Ritual of Lines That Calm the Mind
Drawing in 90s Extreme Comics Style
Like for the other graphics above, the main related article for this drawing is Drawing as Meditation: The Ritual of Lines That Calm the Mind. But this particular drawing also has another related article. In the 1990s, comic books often featured exaggerated anatomy, dynamic poses, and intense expressions. This drawing is my homage to that era of comics, to Rob Liefeld and his Extreme Studios. Here is the article: The Unrestrained Energy of Rob Liefeld: Why I Still Love These Wild 1990s Comics
Diapa-Man: The Fuller They Get, the Stronger He Becomes!
This drawing is another homage to 1990s comics, specifically to the character Diapa-Man. I decided not to include it in the main article because it is a sort of duplication of the 90s Extreme Comics Style drawing above. Even though I had a lot of fun drawing it, I think I had enough drawings in the article already.
(Of course, Diapa-Man's motto is "The Fuller They Get, the Stronger He Becomes!" is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the motto of Marvel's incredible Hulk and this character's diaper-wearing design.)
Drawing at Demoparties
Two of the demoparties I attended in 2025 were the European staples Evoke and Revision. Both had graphics and demo competitions where I created digital paintings using my iPad Pro and Procreate. Here are the timelapse videos of my entries, along with links to the related articles about the events and competitions.
Flight of the Lizard
At the Evoke 2025 demoparty, I created a digital painting of a flying lizard-like creature for the pixel graphics competition. The organizers provide a palette of colors we are limited to using.
Please find the relevant section in my article about the Evoke 2025 demoparty: Exhausted at Evoke 2025: A Very Personal Recap of the Demoparty - Pixel Graphics Competition
The Battle Between Inspiration and Procrastination
I also created this digital painting for Evoke. This time I participated in the freestyle graphics competition. It depicts a battle between a superpowered woman and a helmeted man. She is defending herself with a force field while he is throwing energy blasts at her. This represents the struggle between inspiration and procrastination that all creatives face.
And here is relevant section in my article: Exhausted at Evoke 2025: A Very Personal Recap of the Demoparty - Freestyle Graphics Competition
The Main Character of the "All In Your Head" Demo
This year, I was particularly excited about the Revision 2025 demoparty because I created a demo called "All In Your Head". It wasn't the most successful demo, but I was proud of my work. For the demo, I designed a surreal character with a large head and expressive features with a bunch of stuff jumping out of the head. Revision 2025: A Journey Through Train Chaos, Creativity, and Community - All In Your Head
The Mouth and the Cats of Sauron
At the Revision 2025 demoparty, there was a competition to create artwork based on a given background image. They call it the Paint-Over. The organizers gave us a base image full of abstract lines and blobs. Using my iPad Pro, Procreate, and an Apple Pencil, I painted a surreal scene over it. I had just 24 hours, it certainly was a rush job, but I was thrilled to place 5th out of 24 entries.
There is a full article for the Revision 2025 demoparty. Here is the section on the Paint-Over Competition: Revision 2025: A Journey Through Train Chaos, Creativity, and Community - Paint-Over Competition
Drawing For Fun and Exploration
Sometimes I just draw without any specific goal in mind. I let my whims guide me and see what emerges on the screen. Some of the drawings end up being bland, but others surprise me. Here are some of my spontaneous drawings from 2025.
Drawing a Cartoon Superhero
I drew this in a series of three spontaneous cartoon drawings, including the next two. It was a just fun way to warm up my drawing skills and get into a creative flow. I will actually use this character in a future demoscene project. I originally wanted to get it ready for Evoke 2025, but I ran out of time. There is no related article for this drawing.
Drawing A Fur Monster
I also drew this graphics as part of the series of three spontaneous cartoon drawings. I will also include this particular monster in the future demoscene project. There is no related article for this drawing.
Drawing a Cartoon Character
This drawing kicked off the series of three spontaneous cartoon drawings. It features a quirky character with exaggerated features and a playful expression. At the time, I think I was looking at a collection of Robert Crumb's works (man, is that guy talented and prolific!). I particularly like the proportions of his male characters. They are unrealistic but have a certain truth to them that I wanted to capture. There is no related article for this drawing.
The Psychological Tree
This was a totally spontaneous drawing that ended up being quite meaningful. The article that spawned out of it, probably drew in the most Google search traffic of all my 2025 writings.
Many years ago, during a psychological evaluation decades ago, I was asked to draw a tree. I later learned this seemingly innocent exercise was a gateway into the labyrinth of someone's personality. Recently, I decided to revisit that moment and draw another tree, this time with an iPad and decades of life experience in hand. Let's see how the Tree Drawing Test holds up.
There is a full article for this drawing: The Psychological Tree: The Tree Drawing Test and Its Limitations