Jan. 14, 2015 - Studies

Continuing what I started on the previous entry.  I really liked this new form of study.
Same as last time, picture on the left was the original image, next is traced while trying to understand the form and structure of the image, next one is done by looking at the image and not tracing, then last is done by removing all reference and doing from the mind.

These are really pleasing to do and I don't know why.  I can genuinely see how i can get a lot out of these and will continue doing these.  I surprised even myself with how "not absolutely terrible" some of these are.  I still have a lot to learn as far as structure and forms and such go, but when i get that going again i will better be able to apply that to these studies.

Jan. 12, 2015 - Return of the Dailies and new Study Method

Before the post I'd just like to say that I'm changing up the terminology a bit in 2015.  I used to throw terms around a bit with the blog but i want to redefine a few of these. 

Studies are now more focused studying of the figure or other principles or styles done.  No time is set for these.

Dailies are now the quick 30 sec to 2 min+ drawings I do.

Sketches are now drawings of my characters or other characters.

Doodles forgettable aimless sketches that are done with no direction but for some reason I saved it anyway.

and something for "completed" things.



With that out of the way, here are today's dailies!

Then today's studies.
I heard this method of studying in a random art stream a long while back.  The concept was to draw the picture 3 times in a row.  First time is tracing the image, trying to get a feel for the figure and understand the form.  Second time is to look at the image and draw it  (the way i usually do) Lastly, clear all reference and draw the image from memory. 

(I likely will not include the original image in future studies.  I dont have a problem with nudity personally (and i imagine most artists following this blog dont mind either), I'd like to keep this blog as PG 13 as possible.  Not to mention I'd rather not get in trouble with any photographers or models.  I understand this is why these images were created to be used for but I'd just rather not risk it.

This was a really interesting study.  I learned a lot from these.  1.  You can actually learn a lot from tracing an image.  So long as it is with the intention on learning the forms, lines, and just trying to figure things out.  2.  My ability to look at something and draw it isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was and that I need to do longer studies like this to really put the body together in my mind.  3.  While it is a notch worse than the previous 2 images, they aren't awful.  Its nice.


The biggest thing I think I put together from ALL this is what I have been saying for ages...  I NEEEED to get back to vilppu studies and follow him and other masters!  They are so full of wisdom and not doing so is only hindering my progress.  This month GET BACK INTO VILPPU!  It's time.

Jan. 10, 2015 - Nona & Gigs

Started out as a random pose study but turned into Gigs and Nona.
Probably catching up on old times.

Really need to start working on the Lore and backstory of my characters.  :P
Every time I draw them my brain rushes with ideas

Moving Foward Into 2015

It's been a while since I've done one of these.  It's been a while indeed.

I've put off doing this update because I didnt really know how to word everything so I'll just go nuts and get a few things off my chest.~~

I've had a really rough past 10 or so years.  Granted, the entirity of the 10 years hasn't been rough, but it seemed like every passing year there would be a new chapter to an unfolding story that would increasingly make things more difficult and things really escalated these past 3 years till finally the sudden conclusion to a seemingly endless journey of somebody else's bad choices.  I suppose I didnt have a chance to fully realize how much the entire dilemma wore me down till the whole thing came to an abrupt stop and I was able to reflect on the years.

When it all ended I was so ready to just throw it all behind me as quick as possible to catch up on lost time.  To jump back on a train that I felt had long past.  But suddenly it all hit me.  All of the years that I had lost, all of the time that had slipped through my fingers at no fault of my own but rather the situations that life threw at me.  My dreams felt irrelevant and suddenly all my accomplishments felt like nothing.  Yea sure made a few silly things and helped a few people but none of that seemed to matter.  I tried to carry on doing as I usually did but it seemed that despite my best efforts things were just off.  It was a terrible place to be.  Loneliness wasn't an issue with this whole thing, I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by many many great people, but it's a grueling feeling of despair that just drained my energy. 

"I'm 26" i kept telling myself.  "I'm in no place to be 'starting' anything"

Then came the dreaded "younger brother syndrome."  I've always felt inferior to my older brother.  Having grown up where the parents always put his priorities first, where my friends would want to come over only to end up visiting with him and seemingly forget i even existed, and where everything he did seemed to overshadow anything I did.  Be it good or bad I guess he's just a more enjoyable person than I.  I remembered looking up to him as a kid and how he all but ran away from the family to go be cool and do cool things after dad passed away.  I completely understand that it was his way with dealing with the loss so I can't hold anything against him.  But i just...  Of all things Why was this all running through my head?

Then probably the roughest memories were those of my poor little Jewely...  I didnt mention it here on the blog but if you follow me elsewhere you know what happened.  My poor little jewely didnt make it.  Just before things in personal life land took a terrible turn for the terrible, Jewely passed away back in July (i believe it was july) from a terrible case of Anemia.  All the time I spent with her to keep her healthy.  I was devastated.  I couldn't even bring myself to type about it.  With everything going on in personal life land, all I wanted was to help little jewely have a good life and man oh man did I feel like a failure.  Even thinking about her now has me running all the "what if" possibilities in my head.  but again...  Why was all this running through my head?

All of this started happening shortly after my last blog post and just kind of snowballed out of control.  Then I started beating myself up for not being able to focus (again, a long running problem of mine) but I got to thinking... perhaps these feelings were justified?  I did just go through literally YEARS of problem after problem.  I suppose it's a bit silly to assume that even I could bounce back like nothing after all of that has happened.  So I took a step back to look at the situation.  A BIG step back.

Sitting around being depressed doesn't help anything, but it's a thing that's happening.  So after clearing my mind a bit and letting things blow over, I began to look at the things that really make me happy.  Remembered the things I've learned from creating things and remembering the things I learned from this blog and I used that to set things in motion.  Focus seems to be a thing that always comes up over and over.  When I'm able to focus and get things done I feel accomplished.  I can feel the wheels moving and can feel like progress is being made.  This whole art thing is still a thing I want to pursue, I know that for a fact so if anything is getting done.  If anything can pull me out of this depression, it's building up some kind of schedule or system to keep me on track.

So the better part of the last few weeks has been to simply to work on a schedule.  I wrote out everything I do, and everything I need to do (still adding to the list but I have it there)  I charted out my time to have some kind of schedule that makes sense.  Then even blocked off specific times to dedicate to particular tasks.

Working on this whole schedule thing alone has drastically improved my mood and has reignited something that I felt I had lost over the past few months.  I've also taken the time to look into inspirational things.  Speeches, books, etc.  Currently I'm listening to an audio book by the name of "The Artist's Way"  I'm setting myself up to hopefully kick things off in the right direction by this new year (2015).  I have a lot of hope that things will turn around for the better.  At least with this new schedule I'll be able to better plan things out and optimize my time.  I haven't fully jumped into it this year, but from what I've tried, I am very pleased with it.

Nov. 5, 2014 - Gestures and Mikasa

The month has barely started and I've already drawn more than last month.  Let's keep this going!

Did some more 30 second drawings.

I've noticed while watching that art vlog the other day that my gestures are still pretty off.  This is still a thing I need to study further but it is something that I thought of half way through these and tried to be more aware of during the rest of the ones that I did.  I feel I had mixed results.


On that same note of gestures.  Gestures aren't a thing that are meant to always be drawn very quickly.  I've heard this from many artists of notable position, namely vilppu.  With this in mind, I cranked my timer up to 2 min to see if I was able to focus on capturing the movement and gesture alone and not so much the contours and other details I normally focused on in 2 min sketches.

I feel like I gained a lot of knowledge when doing these.  If not from the simple fact of focusing on the gesture for longer than 30 or so seconds but as a reminder to myself that gestures are actually a very complicated subject and that it's ok to spend a little extra time on them.  I think I'm to the point where I can start slowing down again.  Get back into longer studies and sketches.  More learning More learning!!

OH and forgot to post this yesterday.  This was an art trade I did with my buddy Melly.  I did Mikasa from Attack On Titans.

Was just a silly fun sketch, but he liked it.  Pretty pleased with Mikasa's pose.  I wasn't able to find any reference for exactly the pose I wanted so i just winged it.  Didn't turn out half bad.  The titan is a bit derpy but.. eh.


It's a nice feeling to know that in the span of 2 days I have already drawn more than the entire month of October.  I had a lot of crap going on in october, but it's a nice feeling regardless.
Anyway MORE TRAINING!

Nov. 4, 2014 - Sketches

Back to the 30 second sketches.  I noticed there were quite a few poses last time around that were incomplete.  Missing arms, heads, etc.  This time I tried to focus on finishing these.

Nov. 1, 2014 - First Vlog Just Do It!

Fresh Start.  Let's get the ball rolling (again)!
Took a while to really get used to all the changes that happened recently, but LETS DO IT AGAIN!

Finally started up that first art vlog.  It took a while to finally work up the courage to do it.  But it is now a thing.  I will be doing these as often as I can.  It will basically just be a video form of what already happens here on the blog.  Me talking about art stuff and things I've learned.

This is an extremely experimental series about art stuff.  Much like this blog, It's not aimed at showing how amazing of an artist I am, but rather some form of informative inspirational documentation of my progress while I ramble about various things.


Anyway, here's the post pics i drew in the video.
Some quick 30 sec drawings.

These were 2 min sketches.

I know I hadn't really drawn much these past few months, but some did turn out pretty decent.  Don't want to critique them too much because it's been a while.  So I'll just focus more on getting that mileage in for the time being.  Learning the anatomy, gestures, and faces are still a top priority. 

MORE TRAINING!