I finally drew something again. It's also Pokémon fanart, but it's digital this time! They're not impressive, and some are pretty rough, but I had fun. Digital art is kinda difficult. I used three different softwares (Procreate, MS Paint and Aseprite), and, to be honest, none of them was very easy for me.
Also shading. Dear Lord, shading/lighting is so hard. Between you and me, I didn't really know what I was doing. I went with what "seemed okay" and they all turned out pretty boring because I got scared and couldn't dare go further; everything I tried felt wrong, somehow. This is a topic I really need to study (besides... well, everything else, aha).
Still, I had a good time, overall. So, here's some fanart of two of my favorite Pokémon, Altaria and Dragalge. I want to give Mega Drampa a try next time, and also some favorite Digimon.
I’ve been doing more work in procreate. Still figuring it out. Let know what you think 🤔. . . . . #draw #sketchingtime #sketchbook #sketchup #sketchbookdrawing #sketchingdaily #drawgraphite #drawingpencil #pencilportrait #pencilsketchings #practicedrawing #arttraining #artpractice #artstruggles #artist #artistic #artists #arte #dibujo #myart #artprocreate #procreateportrait https://www.instagram.com/p/CR7Te-Lth_f/?utm_medium=tumblr
My “class room” today for @pcad_illustration ! The students are awesome and showing a flexibility that will serve them well in their careers 😁👍🏽 #stayhome #stayhomeanddraw #pcad #pcadillustration #artschool #artclass #arttraining ##classroom #mikehawthorneart https://www.instagram.com/p/B-sCIqpjrh5/?igshid=k0ntnlqygbjy
I went back to my new favorite place in England... WALES. This is heaven for plein air artist, there are stunning views and things to paint, all you need is loads of paint, canvases and time. I have done two new paintings in oils and took loads of photographs for the cold winter days when I will be working in my studio.
Hey there InstaFam! I took a really exciting figurative workshop this weekend! Learned some classical #reillymethod techniques from @erik_m_gist ! . Here you see my final drawing from day 2, swipe left to see the head study and quick sketches that led up to the final. . . By the end of the weekend, I was able to place the figure on the page where I wanted, and not cut off the feet arms or head! Very exciting for me, thanks again to Erik Gist and thanks to @aaronmiller and @platformstudioschicago for hosting! #levelUP #platformstudios #figuredrawing #arttraining #studies #charcoalpencil . . . #JG2D #Chicago #artist #traditionalart #art #artistsofinstagram #create #lifedrawing #workshop (at Platform Studios Chicago)
Okay, I've decided to experiment with different traditional media and drew three of my favorite Pokémon.
I didn't title this "drawing lessons" because... well, I used my previous "knowledge" (a rough, untrained understanding of the basic technique) of each media rather than actually following a tutorial and experimenting a bunch of times. No lessons were truly taken, I suppose.
Turns out my previous knowledge leaves much to be desired, but that's okay, I guess; at the very least, it helped me figure out which medium is harder (more frustrating) or easier for me to use at the moment.
Here's a Skeledirge, drawn and colored on a... brown-ish textury paper (that I don't know how it's called) using a sanguine pencil, a woodless graphite pencil, white dry pastel and two ordinary colored pencils (yellow and dark blue).
So, uhm... the whole idea for this was to limit myself to these two "cool pencils" that I have, and Skeledirge almost completely fit the bill regarding the palette, being majorly orange, white and black. I have two white dry pastel sticks which I also used to make something like a mix-media drawing, and the result was... underwhelming, to say the least.
I lost a lot of my sanguine, the woodless graphite pencil is very hard and dark and heavy to handle, and I have no clue how people draw using pastel sticks because they have no pointy tips. My hands got dirty and I smudged the paper. Also, Skeledirge has a very difficult "anatomy", and I should've probably copied a pose instead of making one up. Oh, yeah, I TRIED to add a BIT of shading, but I could barely understand what was appearing before me, so I gave up basically at the beginning of the process.
This was annoying and I hated it, but I have actual zero experience with every single one of the materials I used here, so I don't feel terrible about it. I don't know if the paper I used is adequate for those pencils/pastels either. Needless to say, I won't be coming back to these pencils (and specially the pastels) for a long time.
Okay, here's a Hydrapple, drawn on ordinary white paper using ordinary colored pencils and ordinary coloring markers (I don't know the brands).
This is another Pokémon I should've limited myself to copying a pose, but I wanted three heads and didn't use a reference for the two on the sides. I don't know why. I should've, now that I think about it.
Anyway, colored pencils are a lot easier to use than sanguine/graphite/whatever I used for Skeledirge, because I learned some in my teenage years, but I ended up feeling like I could've done... more? Like, I could've colored more, or harder, I'm not sure. There could've been more shading and more lighting, but I think I got scared of being too bold and messing it up. It feels a little... washed out? I don't know how to explain it.
The markers were used for the lines, and they, uh... did NOT match the color of the pencils (the apple isn't so bad, I think), but it's what I've got at my disposal. I'm thinking about buying new supplies because the ones that I have are, like... stuff you buy for school, and pretty old, but they still work. Kinda?
Last but not least, a Dragalge on common paper and a blue ballpoint pen.
I had a lot of fun with this one. Dragalge is one of my top favorite Pokémon, and I think leafy sea dragons are one of the coolest animals out there, so I gave myself a bit of freedom and used a photo reference of a sea dragon and made it into a Dragalge, sorta.
I feel like I could've been bolder with this one as well, but once again, I chickened out. I saw one person drawing using ballpoint pens a few years ago and tried to use the same technique. I realized I kinda messed up the anatomy (or the positioning) of its head leaf-things (they should've been more... horizontal/laid down kinda), but I don't think I would've been able to make it more accurate because shading is so damn difficult.
I'll definitely be going back to ballpoint pens and probably colored pencils as well in the future, but I still need to watch some tutorials on both. I don't even want to look at the other supplies; I almost ruined them, so I guess we're enemies now. :/
(Oh, yes, also posted on my Bluesky and deviantArt)
My “class room” today for @pcad_illustration ! The students are doing an amazing job of adapting to a difficult time! Proud of all of them! If they can manage THIS they’ll manage working with clients just fine! 😁👍🏽 #stayhome #stayhomeanddraw #pcad #pcadillustration #artschool #artclass #arttraining ##classroom #mikehawthorneart https://www.instagram.com/p/B-aBkIrjqE-/?igshid=1tkvgrrshyoyc
