April 13-30 - 2023 / Term 1 Week 3

Its been a while since I last updated my art journey, motivation has not been the best admittedly. Over the past couple of weeks I did not draw as much as I want to but I am looking forward to change that!

Daily assignments:
Drawing Exercises:

Gesture Drawing: 30s - 1min - April 27

Extra Art:
Drawing from Imagination: April 27
Note: I find drawing from imagination quite fun. I primarily do it as a break from grinding fundamentals, drills and exercises but also to look for weaknesses in my current skill/knowledge. Definitely a lot to improve on!
I found looking at a drawing too long makes you de-sensitised to inaccuracies. I was able to easily spot some mistakes and correct after a long break.

Drawing from reference: April 28 (Copying)
Note: I feel like I learn something every time I draw from reference. I am trying to study how things work especially with landmarks and proportion and satiate my own curiosity such as; "why is there a bump / curve there?"

Goals:
- Complete 5 copy drawings this week! (Stop procrastinating!!)
- Move on to week 4.
- Stay consistent.

May 8 2023 / Term 1 Week 3

Daily assignment:
Drawing Exercises:

Gesture Drawing: 1-3 minutes
Note: I have a feeling of uncertainty sometimes. I feel like I'm not improving with these. But its hard to judge myself objectively sometimes.

Extra Art:
Anatomy from imagination: (lmao)
Note: I just learned about hip dips recently and I was trying to figure out how they work. Had some down time (but no access to reference) so I tried to test my limited understanding. Not my brightest Idea.

Weekly Assignment:
Study (Copy) Characters from media you like: Marina from Blue Archive - Drawing 1
Note: This took a lot of time, approx 2 hours. When I finished the drawing, only then I noticed the proportions were off, manly around the thickness of the waist which also made the character slightly thicker on the right side of the character.

Overall, it was a fun exercise, but for the sake of getting making the most of my art practice time, I wont go overboard on future copy drawings and focus on getting the main concept down.

Goals:

• Finish 4 copy drawing by the end of this week
• Watch Perspective 1
• Start completing Term 1 Week 4 dailies

Gesture Drawing - 2 minutes

Proportion Exercise:
Reference:

Imagination/Memory:

Drawing with construction: (With Reference))

Drawing from imagination + for fun:

Study (Copy) Characters from media you like: Commander Irene from Dungeon Fighter Online - Drawing 2

Admittedly I have not been drawing as much as I wanted to, but I have been gaining consistency even if its just 30 minutes a day.
I will continue to try to do my best.

May 24 -2023

My First Illustration: Inquisitor fanart from Dungeon Fighter Online

Note: I tried my best. I believe that this is the point that all my experience and learning can take me at this point in time.

My motivation for doing this - I stumbled upon a book named ultralearning from Scott Young. Within that book it suggests that one of the best ways to learn is by actually doing the skill as close to the context you eventually want to use it in.
From there, you become acutely aware of your shortcomings which guide you towards the places that need improvement the most.

So In my case:
Complete an original super serious illustration -> Compare it to my role model -> Identify my weakest point -> Focus on only that 1 issue -> Study + Practice to problem solve that 1 issue (Practicing the funamentals, doing drawing drills, learn how to draw it well etc) - > Complete another illustration with focus on the inital weak point -> Reflection (Getting feedback, determining if the practice was effective) -> Identify new weakpoint.

Upon learning this, I realised that this concept was not new.
I did not realise it at the time but other prominent artists have also have suggested to learn in a similar way like this.

Yaki Mayuru

Saito Naoki

Sketch:

Lineart:

Base colour:

Rendering: (Final)

Portrait:

Note:
By doing this I have learned A LOT.

• This was my first time colouring
• I do not know how to shade effectively
• I learned how to use Photoshop Bucket fill tool (lmao)

That being said, it left me with more questions than I started xDDD.

I have a lot to learn.

The issue I will focus on is the face.
Mainly the shape of the face -> Position of facial features -> How to design and render the eyes -> Hair

Feedback, tips and criticism would be highly appreciated - Don't hold back :))

May 29 - Drawing Anime head from imagination/ Memory
Note: Very difficult. I was lacking visual library and fundamentals. At least by doing this it highlighted to me what I need to work on the most.

June 3 - Anime portrait Study - Referenced
Note: Not happy with this. A lot of the proportions were far to different from the reference.

June 4 2023 - Loomis head construction practice

June 5 2023 - Real life portrait study - Referenced
Note: I need to learn basic anatomy for the facial features. Still some proportion issues compared to the reference, I realise I have a tendency to place the eyebrows a bit too close to the eyes.

June 7 2023 - Anime Portrait study - Referenced (Same reference used with June 3 Drawing)
Note: Better. Its closer to the reference and this time I used the Loomis method to construct the head. I briefly studied the proportions the original artist uses and tried my best to apply that to the loomis method.

June 8 2023 - Anime portrait Study - Referenced
Note: Used Loomis head construction. More trial and error needed to nail down proportions.

Goals:
Learn more about how the head and face look like in different angles/ perspectives
Continue to practice placement of facial features
Learn basic anatomy of eye
Learn how the eye changes shape in different perspectives
Stylization of eye and eye designs
Learn the basics of drawing hair

It has been a hot minute since I last posted. (Just over 3 weeks!)
Overall, there has been some progress, unfortunately not at a rate that I am personally satisfied with due to my second occupation which is professional procrastinator, but at the end of the day the outcome is 100% my responsibility. I started to put more time in just very recently, I hope I can continue.

Anime portrait studies (Pen Only)
Note: Where is the irl CTRL - Z key? lmao

Anime portrait Drawing from imagination:
Note: Mainly just trying to experiment with the eyes.

11 June 2023
Skull studies!
Note: First time studying the skull. It was 100% worth it. It definitely gave me a better understanding about how the skull affects the contour of the face.

18 June 2023
Anime portrait Study

20 June 2023
Anime portrait Study

21 June 2023
Inquisitor Fanart?
Note: This drawing was based on someone elses fanart but I tried to draw it in the way that my role model draws it. It didn't turn out the best as there were some inconsistencies with my understanding and how my role model usually draws faces. It was a good learning experience at the very least.

22 June 2023
Portrait Study

24 June 2023
Portrait Study

27 June 2023
Anime Portrait Study

30 June 2023
Second Illustration - Original fanart of Inquisitor from Dungeon Fighter Online

Portrait ver:

Note:
Using what I learned so far since the last illustration I did in May, this is the result.
I was able to create an original drawing in the art style of my role model.
Comparing this to my previous art and the May illustration I am happy to see improvement.

The method I used to improve was to pick a role model and study their art. As per my note in the May illustration, I stated I would be focusing on the face.

The following is my personal process I went through when I did my anime and real life portrait studies.

• I would trace over the face, then observe the lines I drew without the reference
• Hide the trace lines + Attempt to construct the head whilst looking at the reference
• Add in the facial features and hair
• Drag the finished drawing over the reference
• Draw correction lines in different colour
• Take notes on the inconsistencies and try new rules to draw the face next time
• Diagnose inaccuracies in the construction phase

Although I was very happy for myself when I finished this, at the same time I felt a little frustrated. I feel like the further I progress, the more problems I become aware of in my own art. It feels like I have 100 different paths I can take but I can only pick 1 at a time.

Things I will focus on next:
- Drawing eyes in different angles.
- Learn to draw side profiles.
- Study how to draw the head looking down + up