CharlieKraken's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[RFF Christmas doodle plus side character sketches]

Adorable! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! God bless!

[Sabrina]

Adorable! Really love the way you drew the hair

[NONE OF THIS IS WORKING]

Hey, I just recently came across your profile and this post. Given how big you are and how many comments are here I’m not betting on you seeing this but I’m putting this here for anyone to read who may feel similar along with the OP. Apologies for the long read.

Firstly, I saw your news post about feeling burnt out from NSFW art and wanting to focus on SFW. Good. That’s the best thing you can do as an artist. Your art style is really cool and your SFW art is lovely and striking. And just to be frank with you, pornographic art robs an artist’s style and expression of its beauty along with any grander purpose within that time spent drawing. It reduces it to just a vehicle to help someone else get their rocks off, which is something any artist with a decent grasp of anatomy and solid art fundamentals is capable of. Say nothing of it contributing to the glut of porn on the internet and the endless mental issues and addictions it enables in people.

Regardless of your reasons for moving away from NSFW art, it’s good that you are. And I highly encourage you to continue to move away from it. So that your style and expression can truly shine through and help others with your unique God-given interpretation of reality.

If this post’s frustration is in reference to general issues with making art online, that is also very understandable. As hyped up as it is creative success doesn’t fill you and it doesn’t ultimately matter either in of itself. If you do have a desire to have art be your main career thing there are other options outside of independent internet success. It doesn’t even have to be how you make money at all if you feel trapped/burnt out by the artist lifestyle. A lot of artists fall into the trap of thinking art is the only thing they can do, but we humans are far more adaptable and capable than people think. Though with that said, I won’t harp on this point as I have no idea regarding your situation or if this is remotely relevant to it. But I am putting this out there just for anyone reading.

Ultimately, the reason I felt called to make this comment is because of your listed job in your bio: “slave to the world”. That’s not something anyone should be, but you are right it is what pornographic art turns an artist into. I just want to tell you that it doesn’t matter that people reward it with views and financial support, it is not what defines your art nor is it what makes your art worthwhile. In fact, it does nothing but hold an artist back and push them into a despairing cycle of constantly trying to please the world by reducing their art to mere fap material. But make no mistake, I do not say this out of a judgmental or hateful attitude towards you.

Because I am praying for you. No matter what brought on this post even if it has absolutely nothing to do with art, I am praying for you and hope you get in a better place mentally. None of what I said is me trying to give a quick-fix self help solution or trying to shame you for having made NSFW. Periods of sadness and frustration are something we all go through obviously and I don’t purport to be able to bring you out of it. Especially as I don’t know you nor your situation. I just wanted to lay this out there because no one should be a slave to the world and as a Christian I couldn’t let this post go by without saying something.

I will be following your Newgrounds profile btw, but only for your SFW art as I can’t wait to see what beautiful art you’ll make within it. God bless and take care.

[RFF 1 remake]

Very precious! God bless!

[Fierce Deity Malon]

Lovely! You did a really good job with her expression. God bless!

[Summer]

Lovely art! God bless

[my soul is paper]

Lovely work! God bless!

[My reflection of hate (part 2)]

I obviously don’t know how much of this comic reflects where you are in life now or how much it conveys your real-life experiences. So, this is just going to be a general statement to anyone who feels that way and if it applies to you then it applies as such.

The answer to self-hate is not self-love. Both are a self-obsession that ultimately leads to destruction. Because you’re right, we’re not worthy of being loved, and living your life oriented around yourself is an empty and meaningless pursuit. I’m not here to give you some cheesy speech about the human spirit or tell you to love yourself. None of that is the answer. Self-neutrality, wherein we acknowledge our strengths and work on our weaknesses, is far better than either extreme. You don’t have to be able to look in a mirror and say you love yourself, because that does not have to be true for you to start improving as a person. Fuck that. It’s okay to not love yourself.

Do not get me wrong. Just because we are not worthy of being loved, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still love others to the fullest extent. Because you’re also right about another thing. Living with self-hate means you can only hate others. When you can only see the bad qualities in yourself, then how can you be expected to see the good qualities in others? I know what it’s like to not want to be yourself. To hate how you are. Trust me, I know. I really really know. But that only makes you horribly bitter at other people and totally incapable of becoming a better version of yourself. Condemning you only to be stuck in a miserable cycle of envy and hate for as long as you hold onto it.

As such, I’m sorry, but it’s not going to be a bright nor dignified explosion if you continue down this path. If you hold onto this hatred until it kills you, it very well might. But even if it doesn’t, it will be an existence like death. One where you’re going to do something you come to horribly, horribly regret and you’ll have to live with those consequences for the rest of your death-like existence. A selfish hate cannot produce anything of beauty. Trust me on this.

So then, where does that leave us? Why should we be neutral on ourselves, and loving towards others? What gives that any meaning or priority? Well, I’m gonna state what I believe plainly, and you can take it or leave it. I believe everything I said purely because I am a Christian. No other reason. I believe I am born in sin and redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Who lived the life we all should live and died the death we all deserve, and who conquered that death for us need only we repent and believe. That is why this broke my heart to read. That is why I believe in loving others as God loves us. That is why I believe selfish hatred and selfish love are both empty pursuits. It’s not because I fancy myself to be a good person. I’m not. It’s not because of secular moralism. It’s not because of my feelings. It’s not because of any particular past experience. None of it is because of or about anything specific to me. It’s not for any other reason than I am a Christian.

If anyone wishes to engage with me on my faith. DM me. With that said. God bless you. That is all.

IoCus69 responds:

Wow, thank you for writing it down like that and I totally agree with you, to be honest I wrote it when I was having a nervous breakdown and did it just for the sake of experimenting with drawing a comic, but I know perfectly well that hating myself or anyone else will not improve my life, so I'm trying to change it and move in a more positive direction. And thank you again for your response.

[Slowpoke Gijinka]

Adorable! I love that she's stupid.

[human]

I’m just gonna put this here and you can take it or leave it. Apologies if it’s a bit long and rambling but I ask that you read it all the way through and make of it what you will.

I’m not going to mice words you’re right that a lot of people live parasitically not contributing anything positive to others nor helping anyone. But that is no reason whatsoever to despair. First off, you are only going to hear about bad people and negative events from the hellhole that is social media. It keeps people addicted to stress and worry by design, and its not as though they’re going to run a news headline saying, “local man practices self-restraint and helps out others in his life”. Don’t be fooled into thinking reality is all misery. The human brain is also not wired to think on such a global scale so keep that in mind as well.

Social media is designed to make you worry, and designed to make you hate. It’s all so you can be used as a tool against whatever they say is bad this week or whatever person they want canceled now, don’t fall for it. Continue to hate to hate, but also be sure to love to love.

If all a lot of people do is take and hurt, then that’s all the more reason for you to give and help. And if you think “well people don’t deserve to be helped” you’re 100% right, we don’t. But we should help and love others anyway. To comfort the hurting, lift up the downtrodden, and embolden the righteous.

I believe this because, to be forthright, I am a Christian. Now, I do not know your religious beliefs. But I know mine. I help others NOT because I think I’m so great, or they’re so great. But because I believe we are all horribly fallen and sinful humans who God loves beyond our comprehension in spite of that. I help others because I am a horribly flawed and sinful human being who God sent His only Son to live the life we all should live and die the death we all deserve. You’re completely free to have your own opinion on that, but that’s mine.

If you have any questions about any of this or want to engage with me in any way, please DM me. I am praying for you, that you do not fall into a cycle of hate and despair, but instead use it as a reason to love. God bless. You make great comics btw.

Digothegoat responds:

Thanks for that. While I am no longer a practicing Christian, I did grow up in a pretty religious house hold, where I was thought to treat others with love and respect so I still try my best. I understand that the world isn’t all bad, it’s more so full of shades of grey, I try my best to stay focused on the things I love, drawing, playing video games and playing bass. It helps to hang out with friends, the world isn’t all bad, theres good out there even if the bad outweighs the good. The name I was giving at birth translates to gods light, so I want to live by that, I want to be someone who spreads joy to others throughout all my days, hopefully I can live up to the name