I have a 2 part answer. My first OC was made in 2006 and that was when I first started experimenting with comics and stuff outside of just doodling. Usually though I say 2010 because thats when I started taking it (too) seriously in the sense of studying and going out from what I was originally doing.

2010 on deviantart was a terrible time to be an easily impressionable young artist because there was such a community hard-on for semirealism being the end goal but I honestly never enjoyed putting myself in that expectation. I could do it if I wanted to but its too stressful and annoying.