#abalisk art

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One thing I really love about Kpop Demon Hunters is the fact that it combines all the things I really wanted in a female character ever since I was a little girl. Beauty, strength, a killer sense of humor, and using the power of song in battle

Which is, hilariously, the very reason I made Leith XD

It's absolutely not a coincidence that I made her look like a Kpop star back in 2020

Can you tell I was listening to a lot of K/DA?

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"But Abalisk!" you might ask, "If that's the intermediate exercise, then what about ones for beginners? How am I supposed to draw a shop vac anyway?!"

I'm so very glad you hypothetically asked this question, because I'm gonna share with you something that blew my third eye WIDE OPEN when it was told to me by my instructors. It literally changed the way I see the world and I've never been the same since...

The secret ingredient and quite literally the fundamental core of all things are these three simple words:

Mother. Fucking. Geometry.

More specifically the Triangle, Square, and Circle in various configurations and dimensions. And no, I am not shitting you. I'm being perfectly serious.

Because one of the things that is usually missing from a lot of "learn how to draw" books (i had a few of them as a kid too) is this rule and really is the main reason why the joke "now draw the rest of the fucking owl" is so on point. They aren't building you up properly so that you can have a strong foundation for your art and this is generally why people perceive drawing as some difficult achievement that only a select few are capable of.

But this is not true. Anyone can draw and anyone can build the skills they need to view the world through this geometric lens. It just takes practice.

And believe me, I was skeptical too until my instructor literally sat down and showed us an example.

Clip Studio goes into further detail here, but basically as you can see here with this dog, when broken down to its core shapes, is mostly a series of circles and rectangles (and for me personally they could have done a better job in breaking down the leg joints but that's a personal pet peeve).

The same can be done for humans, albeit we're a lot more complex... More so than a shop vac anyway lol (and here is an example of my own human anatomy work from my college days):

So many cylinders (which is just an extruded circle btw).... but as you can see the point is to break down what you see into simple shapes, because in doing so you simplify the entire process. Understanding shape and applying it to your understanding of the world makes the task of replicating that image into something you can make with your own hands SO much simpler.

And eventually you'll be able to draw the form without going into too much detail on the shapes.

Remember what I said earlier? You know, about "building a solid foundation?"

That's right, baby, drawing and drawing WELL is just glorified Building Blocks. You're WELCOME.

As for the art exercise, just take your object and draw it in as simple shapes as possible. Then once you've accomplished that, try to add more complexity in subsequent iterations.

Does this mean you're gonna be drawing a shop vac a whole bunch of times? You betchur ass it does!

But by God you'll know that shop vac by heart in the end and THAT my friend is the goal. Repetition paves the way to understanding. And understanding is what allows you to make and break the rules later >:)c

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Been slowly flexing my drawing muscles lately and have resorted to performing one of my favorite intermediate exercises from my art college days:

Which is "take a mundane object/animal and make it non-mundane," in this case I took a grandfather clock and turned it into a monster (one of my favorite things lol).

But "non-mundane" doesn't ONLY have to mean "monstrous." It can also mean "magical" or "futuristic" or even something totally out of this world! The point is to just take something that people would see as ordinary and try to make it extraordinary, whatever that means for you.

It's a very fun exercise and one that I look back on very fondly, so I recommend you give it a try whenever you have the chance :)

Here's a list of mundane objects to get you started (they may vary in complexity but don't let that stop you):

Standing Clock

Teapot

Ladle

Coffee Machine

Dresser/Wardrobe

Standing Full-Length Mirror

Wheelchair

Shop Vacuum

Shaded Lamp

Now go forth and ask yourself how you're going to approach the non-mundane. Does the object crouch? Or bend? Or float? Or crawl across the ground? Does your object glow or have a light source? Is it fey or supernatural in origin? Can it talk? Or have any external function beyond its original intent?

Really just let your thoughts flow and allow those to translate into your pen, make a story for your object if that helps.

And if you're not satisfied with one? Then try a different approach. Push the limits of your imagination.

And most of all, have fun!

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Watch this video on Twitch Live

Hello! Today on stream we are doing some art! Come hang out!

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Watch this video on Twitch Live

Heyyyyy~ I'm gonna be starting an art stream over on twitch! If you'd like to hang out, come in and say hi!

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Thanks to everyone who showed up and hung out for the stream! And a special thanks to @mothman-etd and @windwardstar for their stellar suggestions to keep me entertained. We made some Shoops!

And they were glorious~

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Behold! The noble Shoop.

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Everyone deserves a hug from our favorite sharkman~