Drawing process

I was wondering if I could improve my drawing process. I tend to copy what I see, which is fine for studying. Drawing from imagination gives another dimension to one’s self-expression. Of course, to make any sense to an outsider, it has to be based somewhat in reality. So, drawing from … read more

SepPixel for September 30, 2023, prompt: “Treasure."
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SepPixel for September 29, 2023, prompt: “Contrast."
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I gave it another go, and this one seems better. That’s probably because of its roughness, leaving enough room for the imagination, while the drawing is just as cobbled together as what I drew earlier. Still, rougher seems an improvement.

So, I took more time, and it’s only marginally better. I know it’s a difficult subject matter, requiring patience and subtlety. Nevertheless, I assumed I was beyond this skill level. It isn’t bad, nor good, but somewhere in between 😔

SepPixel for September 28, 2023, prompt: “Workout."
👾 ʎʇʇᴉʞ ‘sǝʇnlƃ ǝsoɥʇ uɹnq

If one’s goal is to get better, it’s not enough to claim you suck at it, because that’s true for anyone to some extent, even experts. You should inquire what makes you state that. In this case, I think it’s impatience. I need to slow down, take my time.

SepPixel for September 27, 2023, prompt: “Embrace."
👾 xɐɯ oɹd ϛƖ ǝuoɥdᴉ ʍǝu ɹnoʎ ʎoɾuǝ

SepPixel for September 26, 2023, prompt: “Beverage."
👾 ǝɯ ɯoɹɟ ɟɟnp ou ʇɔǝdxǝ

Tried how my drawing skills of cute(ish) cats are. Let’s say it’s still a “learning experience.” Not much days left until October 1.

When tracing is used to understand what one sees. The goal is to be able to draw hands from imagination, using photos only to add realism, not to copy. This then becomes stylized instead of a literal copy. Still, there’s always room for artistic liberties, or one could better take a photo instead.

SepPixel for September 25, 2023, prompt: “Flare."
👾 spl ǝɥʇ uo ʎsɐǝ

Turning a small illustration into pixel art is still a lot of creative drawing besides tracing. Shown is the intermediate size-reduction step I made in Procreate with a 1-pixel brush, and the 4x even smaller version in Pixaki. It’s based on an illustration from an image search.
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SepPixel for September 24, 2023, prompt: “Belt."
👾 uǝʞoɹq sᴉ ʇlǝq ǝɥʇ

Working ahead a few days in my current SepPixel challenge has shown me that my iPad needs upgrading. It doesn’t last longer than a few hours on a full charge, and drawings apps sometimes crash, probably because of low memory and software development with the M1 or better in mind.
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SepPixel for September 23, 2023, prompt: “Day in the Life."
👾 ǝƃpᴉɹɹod lɐǝɯʇɐo sǝʌol zᴉz∀ 🤭

SepPixel for September 22, 2023, prompt: “Road."
👾 ʎǝlloʍ qɹᴉɔʞ ɹoɐp

I tried Discord for a while, but I don’t get it. A failure on my part, I know, but that doesn’t make it easier to understand. The help functionality is, as usual, written by experts, without the eyes of a newcomer, IOW, pretty much useless for newbies. I suppose they even included a kitchen sink 😉

I’m still bothered by a false notion that if something takes a lot of time, it should be above and beyond something that took little time. There doesn’t seem to be a correlation, or, at best, a loose correlation. Often the last 10% takes 90% of the time of a project, totally unwarranted, yet true.

SepPixel for September 21, 2023, prompt: “Fall."
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