Chasing shadows @froginthebag

Dear Diary,

I’m 20 & from Finland! Although this isn’t my real name, I prefer going by Frog.

@froginthebag, 2025. Image sent via Instagram direct message to @x_mellowartz_x, 21 July.

I wanted to do art as a hobby and I think I started with cats specifically. It took me almost two years to convince my parents that I should have something I could draw digitally beyond my phone for better convenience and efficiency. 

Despite drawing as a hobby, I still have less and less time for personal art. It really sucks, having to juggle between drawing for personal reasons and working on commissions. I also find myself losing the ability to draw specific things when I force myself to draw for particular fandoms. For instance, I can't draw humans

anymore like I used to.

Do social media likes ever mess with my mind set? EH. Well it used to; like when I was around 14-15, I’d get really bothered by numbers. Though nowadays, I wouldn’t care too much unless I've worked hard on the piece. (Getting a lot of likes on a shit post kind of feels like I'm failing myself… You know what I mean?)

What sparks my creativity lately? This is easy. MY BEAUTIFUL and WONDERFUL PARTNER haha! She's been inspiring me since last august, before we were even together; she’s just so full of ideas and has a lot of cool characters which in turn gives me the motivation to draw!

@froginthebag, 2025. Image sent via Instagram direct message to @x_mellowartz_x, 21 July.

If my art has a message, it would be: “Seeking something missing, missing something left behind.” That line from The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson sticks with me as it’s exactly how I feel about my art. I look back to my old pieces and there are things I miss, things that seem lost to time. At the same time, I’m always searching for something new, something I’ve never been able to do before. It’s this strange, bittersweet feeling; chasing after what’s missing, even though maybe it’s not always a bad thing to miss something. It keeps me motivated and keeps me creating. Maybe one day, I’ll find what I’m looking for, but for now, I’m happy with the chase.

That’s all for now,

Frog

Featured image: @froginthebag, 2025. Image sent via Instagram direct message to @x_mellowartz_x, 21 July.