I couldn't end the year without creating an illustration that I hope represents what's to come in 2026. However, I made two illustrations because I didn't like how the first one turned out at all. Here I'm showing everything: mistakes and poorly executed drawings, or at least not how I had imagined them. But you can always start over and learn from it, and I also had the time. So, I'll tell you about the first illustration, and I hope you like the second one and that I've managed to convey the message that 2026 will be a year where wishes come true and many more unexpected things will happen.

First, I started with the sketch. I wanted to do everything without lines, adding the colors and shadows little by little. I painted the background dark so I could begin with the figure behind it. Then came the hands, and finally what the jar would contain. I wanted to create a constellation with large stars to symbolize wishes, but I didn't like it at all. First, the hands looked shapeless, even with the lines I added. I don't think I knew how to draw them. Second, I wasn't convinced by the stars or the lights.

So, disappointed with how this illustration turned out, where I felt I didn't put much effort into it, or rather, didn't apply the techniques well because I rushed it, and also because I didn't like the reference for what I wanted, I sketched the next one, using better references of glass jars, and adding a little chibi too. Why not? I saw an image of a large light bulb with a smaller character next to it, and well, I wanted to try something like that, to see how it all turned out.

I painted the background dark, first brown and then black, to create a clean line art of the figures; afterwards, I added small white highlights to the jar to give it depth and the impression that it's transparent. I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself well.

I painted the base colors of the chibi; I wanted her to have white hair, to represent a blank canvas, something like that. I liked the idea and it stayed that way.

Then I drew stars and some cloud shapes in pink on the lower part of the jar. And I added details and color, colorful sparkles coming out of the jar and blurred starlight reflections.

Now came the painting of the stars and giving them that luminous touch. Here I didn't just want to make yellow stars, so I added other colors, like green, blue, and pink, playing with shadows and light in a cumulative effect. They turned out like this:

To make them feel like they were truly inside the jar, I added a white shadow with reduced opacity and a reflection in orange and yellow tones, as well as other details like some raised lines. I also added a light across the entire base of the jar to make it stand out more and convey that it is the focal point of the entire composition.

To finish this part, I added shadows and details to the chibi, and also toned down the white tone of the line art to create more harmony. I added a texture layer, set it to overlay, and lowered the opacity.

It's relatively ready up to this point, but I wanted to give it a bit of animation, so in a separate document, I drew three well-lit stars near the chibi. I exported these as PNGs, and in Capcut I created the following animation. I should note that with the final version of those three stars (without the movement), I made some adjustments to the light levels, and the results were all like this:

With this illustration, I wish you a 2026 filled with fulfilled goals and dreams, and that you continue to fill your jar with many more, especially with health and prosperity. Happy New Year, I wish you all the best.