Confusing Musings is a weekly digital illustration capturing a Rorschach of musings from my week. Visual, emotional, pop-culture, anything that breaks through the fugue of the mundane to be written on the muse-scroll is fair game. Every entry is added one year after its creation. no notes, no help, just what i can remember, the rest lost to time. Part postcard / part diary / part time capsule. definitely confusing. enjoy!
-MUSELORD
1 - Hell mouse
Confusing Musings (1): Hell Mouse
Week 1: Dec 31st - 6th 2024
Hell Mouse was my first time back in the drawing saddle in quite some time. The first in the series at the time I was calling "Drew 52." Coming off of holiday stress and feeling like everything was on fire. I made an attempt to create a scene but it seems sloppy and unrefined. I like his beady, unyielding, eyes and the weird lava sky.
2 - Power trip
Confusing Musings (2): Power Trip
Week 2: Jan 7th-13th 2024
I hated the background of Power Trip for so long. I obviously whiffed my way through it and then always regretted not spending more time on it. But that's part of this, letting go, not going back and fiddling, on to the next one. I'm glad, though, it pushed me to care more about the backgrounds. I wanted to draw an EVA but, alas, not enough EXP. Floating green haired girl is an old motif from doodles gone...
3 - Space Faks
Confusing Musings (3): Space Faks
Week 3: Jan 14th-20th 2024
This was the first time I had a goal in approaching one of these musings. I used to do the cross hatched and dash line shadings when I would sketch with a pen. I don't keep that style up for long. Maybe I should return to it someday. I think this creature's expression reminded me of Fak from The Bear (great show), and I think this is where I decided that the title should "play" in some way with the picture.
4 - Reach inside
Confusing Musings (4): Reach Inside
Week 4: Jan 21st-27th 2024
The first musing that I felt really lived up to its potential. I walked away from this one happy. I don't remember the inspiration or the emotions, just that I was channeling the soul of Creepy Pasta! Something about this has an eerie, tempting vibe. What happens when you stick your hand inside the maw? Give it a try, Museling, and report back!
5 - Fin keeps reaching
Confusing Musings (5): Fin Keeps Reaching
Week 5: Jan 28th - Feb 3rd 2024
Where do I start? This is the only musing that has (or ever will be) renamed. It's original name? Naturally lost to time and I'll never tell! NEVER! Well maybe. Second admission, this was a rush job. February is a rough one every month as the gears of the world start grinding. That and I recall vividly that a fight with my spouse might have led to a huffy Muse Lord anger doodling. Hey, not all musings are happy. Keep reaching!
6 - He Got Jokes
Confusing Musings (6): He Got Jokes
Week 6: Feb 4th - Feb 10th 2024
With this musing I finally found my footing. I was not happy with my foreground and background blending and the sense of depth in the musings before. I really wanted to do something that felt “cohesive.” In all my traveling through the universe, my nephew managed to tell me a joke that I had never heard. I used that for the foundation to craft this musing, and while the true meaning and purpose of most musings are lost to time, this stands as a testament to clear purpose. Plus writing right on a doodle? Who does that? Wacky.
7 - Primal Poofs
Confusing Musings (7): Primal Poofs
Week 7: Feb 11th - Feb 17th 2024
There’s a poster of a black hole that hangs on my wall. I love the artwork and the design and it’s from a YouTube channel that I adore. I loved the shape and wanted to capture it. I also love science and I think it shows in my pen sketches. I see the dashes and the dots being ripped right from scientific diagrams. I think that’s what spoke to me, like some whispers from the beginning of the universe, swirling and surrounding a black hole, and poof, you got Primal Poofs, Muselings.
8 - Running Man
Confusing Musings (8): Running Man
Week 8: Feb 18th - Feb 24th 2024
What the heck is this dude running from? Muselings, I still don’t know. But something did NOT go well, I know that. My nephew gets credit again. I gave him my old drawing tablet after getting a new one and I showed him how to use it. We drew a little together and it was nice. His drawings remind me of mine when I was his age. I had a monster drawing club with another boy. Drawing monsters makes them a little less scary I learned. I hope my nephew isn’t scared too often. I have a book that shows you how to draw super heroes so I did one of the exercises about a person running towards you. And so he runs, but from WHAT?
9 - A Man Has Three Hearts
Confusing Musings (9): A Man Has Three Hearts
Week 9: Feb 25th - March 2nd 2024
Can I just let my weeb heart sing for a minute? My spouse and I had just gotten into Shogun, and I am a sucker for some samurai. I loved it and drank it up. Sometimes I approach a musing with a rough image in my mind. Sometimes I just have to start. This came from nothing, other than the quote echoing in my mind, “A man has three hearts…” The inverted color scheme also screams Bleach to me, which is also a comfort. Otaku Conference for life!
10 - Here you go
Confusing Musings (10): Here You Go
Week 10: March 3rd - March 10th 2024
Things really take off from here, Muselings. This was a ramp up to my worst week of my whole year. I can sense it in this musing. Things were tense, you could feel it in the air, like riding a freight train with broken brakes. Sometimes you can grab onto life and make it bend to your will and other times you’re a leaf on the breeze. I think in my heart, it felt like I needed to pop my own head off and hand it over to make the world happy. I reflect on 2025’s musing from this week and maybe sometimes there’s synchronicity to pain. Makes good art though!
11 - Mind Flayer
Confusing Musings (11): Mind Flayer
Week 11: March 10th - March 16th 2024
Such an out-welling of pain in this one. The way the goop explodes into his mind and out of his eyes, hard relate right, Muselings? This week hurt my soul. Life is about finding the most acute joy and surviving the most obtuse pain, and discovering who we are in between. I might have been at my lowest, but I found out who I was and that was worth something. Also, there is nothing in the world that the light of BG3 does not touch! These recent weeks have been testing me this year too. Every musing is a step, every thought a brick.
12 - Three Body Problem
Confusing Musings (12): Three Body Problem
Week 12: March 17th - March 23rd 2024
I think I might have detached my brain for a few weeks after the Mind Flayer incident. I’m sure I was pushing myself to draw something, anything. Sometimes you put your bucket down the well and it takes forever to hit water. This time it had barely left the surface before splashing into something simple; some good ol sci-fi television. This was the first musing that I used a reference with. Bodies have always given me trouble, so I wanted to see if I could take a swing so swing I did. Keep orbiting those things you love, Muselings.
13 - Hoppers City
Confusing Musings (13): Hoppers City
Week 13: March 24th - March 30th 2024
Do you ever just want to draw something with spindley legs? Oh you do! I’m glad you can relate. It all started with the legs. Then the city came second. Weird little steps to add depth in the background. Always gotta look for new tricks. I think maybe there was something pushing me towards drawing people, or humanoids. Like an internal “nbd.” The rest is lost. Always gonna use the green hair motif. Stand tall and shake the heavens.
14 - Path of totality
Confusing Musings (14): Path Of Totality
Week 14: March 31st - April 6th 2024
Some musings don’t live up to their potential. Some do. This musing captured a fantastical coincidence, an alignment of sorts that I could not have predicted. I finally fell face first into a pit of Berserk, and fellow strugglers, I was (am) IN LOVE. I read the most epic penning of words and pictures ever combined, AND THEN, later that week my home was encompassed in a full solar eclipse. Berserk eclipsed my heart and made the amazing scene that much more amazing. Plus it was ant season. Crappy picture, amazing memories.
15 - He's up there
Confusing Musings (15): He’s Up There
Week 15: April 7th - April 13th 2024
A simply designed musing this week, but it led to a big switch. I realized through He’s Up There, one of my last truly random musings, is that more cohesiveness in the doodle takes walking in with a vision. Muselings, I tell you though it’s not easy, but I always go in now with a flash of vision. I don’t know who “they” are looking for “him,” but I can tell you it’s the bone boy they’re looking for. Keep burning, Latom.
16 - Into The Grove
Confusing Musings (16): Into The Grove
Week 16: April 14th - April 20th 2024
I can see the beginning of some motifs in this one. It also ended up being unique in its own bizarre way: tree color lines, stain glass fracturing, the colors of autumn draped over it. This time of year it rains a lot, and the grey of the sky mixed with the spookiness of Anne Rice’s soul. Yes, my spouse and I were reading about witches, and so despite spring budding, I mused of a different season. Plus a little smut never hurt anyone, Muselings.
17 - Look Both Ways
Confusing Musings (17): Look Both Ways
Week 17: April 21st - April 27th 2024
Is this the beginning of my brick period? Is that a thing? What does it take for a thing to be a thing? This musing didn’t have a distinct purpose or direction. A dash of a concept from Xenoblades, mixed with a brick lighthouse (light houses are cool, but too high up), staring off into the ocean; whys he dressed up like he works on the Enterprise? All of this stuff fused together to make a really cool musing. Not to mention I really lock into a style here, no more wacky line thickness. What do you think, Muselings? What’s this city called?
18 - The Slasher
Confusing Musings (18): The Slasher
Week 18: April 28th - May 4th 2024
This musing had a little energy from the past. A distinct panel from the beginning of my comic book journey. Two dead alligators and a sword. Slashing, posing, geysers of blood. A mayan curse. The good stuff. I think I wanted to push myself to draw something human too. So with Shogun infecting the musosphere, The Slasher was born (Oh, Slasher, my Slasher). Funny enough this echo of a motif from the early days of my career took route and spawned its own echo. Isn’t that cool? My therapist used the word synchronicity recently. Two waves, same peaks and troughs. The red ninja is gonna echo, don’t ya know? Never forget that ninjas are cool, Muselings. You heard it here first.
19 - The Rune king cometh
Confusing Musings (19): The Rune King Cometh
Week 19: May 5th - May 12th 2024
Have you ever asked your friends out on a date, Muselings? How does a squad become a squad, a click a click, a group a group? Does it start with someone saying, “Hey I see a future together with you, and we’re gonna slay!” While one of my buddies was finding his way, we joined forces to tackle the Lands Between. It was epic. Our play styles were opposite, but our spirit, it couldn’t be quenched, Tarnished! A big event caused us to have a reason to add a third, I popped the question, and our squad was born. No shadow could stop us. All fell to our blades, and we ride again soon, friends, we won’t let that night reign! Hug your squad and keep musing!
20 - The Outer Truth
Confusing Musings (20): The Outer Truth
Week 20: May 13th - May 19th 2024
Did you know that putting “the” before something else makes it more distinguished? That’s the razzle dazzle they don’t teach you. Musings have big pinball energy sometimes, flying here, pinging there. They all have something in common though don’t they? A wisp of something. This one feels grounded, and not just because there’s a lot of ground! A simple pure energy. The cadence of life is often similar, and it’s the time of year where the insects reign. Attracted to light and heat and CO2, all the things that make you-you. Billions really, for every one of you. Don’t think too hard on it, Muselings, we can’t handle the truth.
21 - I'm A Witch
Confusing Musings (21): I’m A Witch
Week 21: May 20th - May 26th 2024
I was feeling witchy, I must say. Anne Rice and the gloom of a rainy spring. Combine the two and you have a recipe for something sagely. I don’t think any amount of scrubbing would help though. The round canyon and double waterfall is a motif that started when I was drawing comics for a documentary I worked on. It was a fun excuse to try doing something in a controlled way. It was the seedling of a musing. When you look back in time and can see the beginning of something forming and glimpse it’s future all in one breath. Feels good to capture something significant. My partner is like a chamber, echoing, and the title this week is a remnant of that echo. IM A WITCH FOR HALLOWEEN!
22 - Sun Spotting
Confusing Musings (22): Sun Spotting
Week 22: May 27th - June 2nd 2024
I remember a vision of squiggly arms. One wonders how a musing crystalizes, my Muselings. Can you trace a thread back to an image you’ve seen? A cocktail of chemicals and excitement, agitated in this mass we call a brain during a confounding electrical storm of firing neurons. I wonder if a certain grafting, of a sort, was growing, and had the anticipation of a quest invaded my space of thought? Either way, I would have nothing but squiggly arms, coming out of some sort of beast. The color ran away and became warm and suddenly this contrasting figure, with tendrils like sun beams came. A cool pose turned into a surfing scene. Cliffs in the distance, us left wondering what we are privy too. Something to chew on, Muselings.
22 - Sun Spotting
Confusing Musings (23): Bottom Blitz
Week 22: June 3rd 2024 - June 9th 2024
Where did this one burst forth from? I remember holding something back pretty hard when I was roving for potential subject matter for a musing. Space. I used to doodle space stuff all the time. I was fighting the urge to draw planets and stars and ships and the normal cadence of the cosmos. However, some urges grow too strong, Muselings. They take hold like a brand and pulse until they must be sated. They rush forth like an attack and overtake your defenses, and then the inevitable happens and you’re on the other side looking back. So I didn’t draw a space scene, I drew a “weird” scene. Also I think I killed a centipede that week. They sure love to scurry, and likewise, this scurried from the place musings are born to here.
