dooggo draws

[Dominicque]

 Since I returned to drawing after a long pause, my drawings were pretty bad, but I was having fun with them and that's what mattered to me.

I used to be the same when it came to improvement, I worked hard to become better, it was my goal at some point. Right now... honestly, no, I don't care if I  will forget color theory, anatomy, if noone would like my drawings because they will become "bad". If it would be fun to work on them - that's enough for me. Of course it would be cool if I'll find interes in improving again, buut in general, that's not the goal. It's like "I want to find a fun videogame, even if I'm not gonna be good at it", you know?
Though yes, learning is a good thing and I tottaly agree on that with you!

That's great to hear. Remember, your 'Why'.  You talking about drawing people's OCs as avatars and getting a kick that people using them in icons, reminded me of GailOnline. Oh, nostalgia! RE: the children's project: I know there tends to be a definite 'style' regarding children's books. So, I can imagine why it would seem way out of your comfort zone if your style doesn't align. Good to have another style in your art arsenal to employ, for a small gig, but distracting if it's not the style you ultimately want to pursue. 

RE: Finding a new career as a cashier. I currently work in retail, whilst trying to get into film or at least a creatively inclined career. But, it's hard. Don't want art stress that art becomes a chore you procrastinate on, but also don't want to feel like my time pursuing art has been a waste. Sunken cost fallacy and all that. I'm trying to look into becoming an illustrator agent, but without an illustration degree or experience, I'd probably need to get dome marketing and/or business experience first. I think you are way ahead of me there.

я согласна. (I spotted Cyrillic on your character names! Ha, I haven't learnt Rycckii Yazkii in over a decade.  )
I was so bound up in being 'technically perfect' I feel I've rubbed the spontaneity out of myself. Being apathetic to improvement isn't always a bad thing, but being apathic to fun always is. Too much medicine can become poison. 
Your rendering is great, btw!  How many layers do you (usually) use?