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  • 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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    pixel art of a dragon guarding his hoard
  • SepPixel for September 29, 2023, prompt: “Contrast."
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    animated pixel art with photos of manton, jean and vincent changing in contrast
  • 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.

    pencil sketch of a little boy with hat on, crying
  • 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 😔

    pencil drawing of a smiling girl
  • SepPixel for September 28, 2023, prompt: “Workout."
    👾 ʎʇʇᴉʞ ‘sǝʇnlƃ ǝsoɥʇ uɹnq

    pixel art of stylized kitten jumping rope in workout area
  • 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.

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

    pixel art of stylized octopus grabbing a smartphone
  • SepPixel for September 26, 2023, prompt: “Beverage."
    👾 ǝɯ ɯoɹɟ ɟɟnp ou ʇɔǝdxǝ

    pixel art of several bottles filled with colored liquid
  • 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.

    colored pen drawing of a stylized cat
  • 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.

    side by side photo with painted hand and the original hand
  • SepPixel for September 25, 2023, prompt: “Flare."
    👾 spl ǝɥʇ uo ʎsɐǝ

    pixel art of the psychedelic song Bright Eyes
  • 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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    pixel art from small drawing of stylized cat
  • SepPixel for September 24, 2023, prompt: “Belt."
    👾 uǝʞoɹq sᴉ ʇlǝq ǝɥʇ

    pixel art of old car assembly line
  • 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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    pixel art of 26 of the 30 drawings for SepPixel
  • SepPixel for September 23, 2023, prompt: “Day in the Life."
    👾 ǝƃpᴉɹɹod lɐǝɯʇɐo sǝʌol zᴉz∀ 🤭

    pixel art of breakfast table with cat reaching into a cup to eat
  • SepPixel for September 22, 2023, prompt: “Road."
    👾 ʎǝlloʍ qɹᴉɔʞ ɹoɐp

    pixel art of the yellow brick road from the movie The Wizard of Oz
  • 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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    pixel art of a city skyline by night and superman diving down to confront a situation.