Continuing on with figure and gesture drawing. Though admittedly I should be doing quick gestures every day.

Sketchbook

I tried to use a box to get proportions right but it ends up being too tedious and rigid. And some random iguana I found on pinterest.

Setting some goals for myself in a notebook which I bring with me, starting off with simple stuff so I don't get overwhelmed. I've finished the task of "Draw 3 figures" with focus on accuracy and shading.

And finally some fun sketching my race project. I realize now I should've put a bit more effort on gesture rather than structure. I focused a bit too much on structure and the whole drawing/process was very long and tedious. So, Gesture->Structure, and keep the gesture lines light.

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Digital

Doing the same tasks I set for myself but digitally, as well as changing up the focuses a bit.

Though, I was very inconsistent. So it just means I need to write down what I'm focusing on so I don't get carried away or finish too early.

And finally a personal piece!

Had this idea bouncing around in my head for a bit, and its a magical girl character for a D&D campaign. I actually created my own reference by posing a model in blender but it still needs a lot of work. The head and eye really took way too long compared to the rest of it, and I'm still not satisfied with it. I think I might do a major rework to make it seem more anime/manga style even though I've never drawn in that style.

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That's it for now, I'm in the last week of the first semester for my course after which I get a break. Though I've been enjoying the first semester a ton since we work with C (the programming language).

Oh and I hate my job; the definition of a dead-end job. No improvement/growth, minimal pay.

Almost a month gone huh? Feels more like a year though, time crawls very slowly for me which is a good thing I'm told.

Sketchbook

Trying to do anatomy studies traditionally. Hardest thing is shading with graphite.

Basic Reptile heads, focusing on shapes.

For fun drawing, found some sort of cape on pinterest and turned it into something,

Gesture sketching using the technique inspired by Brohawx's.

First page of the sketchbook I've been sketching in. 19/08/2022 - 03/09/2024, 2 years of sketching on and off.
After this, its a "new" sketchbook (old one I haven't been using).

Used a ref of a dinosaur skull to get a basic shape done then imagination took over. Spent ~2 hours drawing on a train.

Most recent gesture/figure drawings. Again, thanks to @Brohawx I've got a much better grasp on gesture and rhythm so my figures come out much better.

Digital

Spontaneous sketch after getting inspired by the "pillow" method of gesture drawing. No refs.

Another inspired thing, I wanted to know which kind of brush to use to get results similar to another artist. Still figuring out which ones to use and how. Left to right, top to bottom: Standard paintbrush, dry textured, wet paintbrush, watercolor brush.

Longer figure drawing, untimed. I'm putting into practice the pillow/shape method for drawing abstract rhythms. Then applying structure

Same as above but shading instead. I really struggle with the smaller softer shadow shapes, as well as thin soft ones caused by the ribcage. That and I kinda don't know how to use the pencil brushes properly.

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I'll also formulate a post in the critique section sometime soon when I have time. I've been bit by the art bug recently and really want to improve.

To finish off I'll link to a Muddy Colors article. The author talks about how to approach drawing and how to think more like an artist. It really helped and gave me a new perspective on how to approach drawing, recommend to give it a read.

3 Months later...

Time still crawls for me, guess that's for the better eh?

Not a whole lot to show, things have picked up exponentially with getting a 2nd job and working 7 days a week now. I'm moving my hours around though so it won't be like that forever.

Here's the arts I've done and might still be doing:

Sketchbook

"An Experiment" and rightly so, after I got the base shapes down. Saw a nice ref on Pinterest, copied down the important shapes, then experimented. Ended up looking like a familiar raptor meme image...

Figure with some anatomical shapes. Done in quick bursts when I had free time. I don't really do a whole lot of figure drawing now but I should probably at least one sometime this month to stay sharp.

Trains sketches. You can tell by how rough and loose the lines are. Though I've found that even on a train I can get fairly nice smooth lines, assuming the train carriage doesn't shake too much (or the conductor slams the brakes).

Experimenting with gradients and graphite shading. Actually went very well, and for a couple weeks I setup a mini-atelier in the living room to sketch and draw. Don't got the time for that nowadays, maybe one day?

So I remembered there was a mod for a game called Hearts of Iron 4, and had a period of obsession with it. I wanted to draw some fanart so I decided to draw some WWII vehicles to prepare. Passion has worn out though after working 7-day weeks and having minimal time. I also fudged the proportions, which is why I left it alone.

Random train sketches. You might recognize the art-style in the top right. Yup, that's MLP:FiM. The mod mentioned previously puts ponies into Hearts of Iron 4. Very well done mod I gotta say, and a strong community has built around that. Guess that's the magic of friendship eh?

Copying an Inspiring artist's work. Copying feels wrong and I stopped because of that. But only because I was blindly copying without any goal. Now I properly define my goals before jumping in to copy. Also experimenting with graphite techniques, shading, line weight, etc.

HOMSE. But yeah, I saw a pic on pinterest and had a burst of inspiration. Once again I fudged the proportions and at this point I started making a conscious effort to improve my proportions and ability to eye-ball proportions.

The fruit of my labor. Carefully measuring everything and making sure things are in the right place. Started it on the train, developed it during a LOUD birthday party (that I was dragged into) and finished it at work during break. Also went ahead and shaded and rendered it using all the knowledge I pooled on shape, form and graphite drawing techniques.
Its called "power-leveling", sweetie.

Inspired piece by my favorite artist. Ref from pinterest, get the main idea down and get to work. Sketch, render, sketch... After getting the figure down and the main idea, I put my own spin on it. The drapery in the back is pure imagination and the additional figure on the right is also mostly imagination. Some refs for stuff I couldn't completely imagine but otherwise I'm pretty pleased, except for the torso proportions (yikes!).

Same inspiration as before. Found a nice dramatic ref on pinterest and practiced careful measuring. Cloth from imagination is kinda hard though, I get the principles but the overall shapes might not be correct.

Quick skull study with alcohol marker experimentation. I stopped doing the studies early as I realized that dragon heads are a mish-mash of different animals, and not one particular animal. Basically, it wasn't doing me much good copying animal skulls when I should be combining them.

Latest piece, started only 2-3 days ago (I should really be dating these). Copying my favorite artist and putting those expensive copic markers to use.

Digital

So yeah, that little mod for HoI4 got me into MLP. At least for a little while anyway. Dunno who this guy is but he sure looks... ominous. Smug too by the looks of it.

Spontaneous sketch! I love when these happen because I don't even think and my hand moves on its own. Some draconid from the unwritten universe I have planned. He doesn't like humans very much...

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So what else has been happening? Surprisingly, I now have a student that I am teaching. Well not officially, basically someone who has a passion for art and is looking for guidance. In a month I did more teaching that I did in my whole life. Guides, assignments, critiques and even recording a lecture with voice-over. And its been a joy to do it as well since I learn some stuff myself.

I really gotta thank @Brohawx for this, your prompt and detailed critiques inspired my own. Albeit they're not posted here.

I feel like I've graduated from beginner to intermediate artist, and I can go out and do whatever I want. Still have room for improvement, but I can now guide others who were once beginners like me.

The joy of making mistakes and failing is that I always learn from them and do better next time. Get out there, make a mess, and learn from it.

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Next post won't be for another couple months. As mentioned previously things have rapidly picked up, but even so I'll have a slew of things to share here in this diary.

'til then.

S (aka Strelok).