Art

The drawing prompt for the Draw Every Day app was wrench, I found in SketchFab, and drew in IbisPaint X.

I’m pleased that drawing from observation goes so much better than a week ago. It all starts with estimating the bounding box around the shape, then drawing in a rough shape and applying blobs of paint.

Theme: “Dessert Island.”

Based on my previous sketch I made a pixel art version. To me it doesn’t look very convincing, which probably means I have to revise my process.
👾

I decided to go smaller than my previous 240 by 240 pixels in IbisPaint X, and use 160 pixels squared. It’s amazing that even at that scale one get a recognizable image. I guess I don’t need Glaze art protection to “prevent” some rogue AI to steal my art for profit.

Also, drawing small is cute 😻

I almost did a spit take when Daniel said how he’d pronounce Humane’s product name “Ai” (instead of the regular spelling “AI”) in the latest episode of the Core Intuition podcast 572.

Drawing is a kind of storytelling, at least, it is to me. So whether or not a drawing is “good” depends on how well I illustrated a story in an image. Apart from the obvious anatomical errors, I think I did well enough.

Another drawing to practice my observational skills, done in IbisPaint X. I started with a rough sketch, corrected and then refined. After picking my color palette, I roughly colored the sketch. The reference came from the SketchFab app, in which I posed the 3D model so that it looked nice.

Having some kind of process to capture the big shapes with (modified) simple shapes is a neat skill to have. So I decided to practice it in this drawing of a black and white kitten from a photo reference. While it’s close to the original, there are some slight differences, as there should be.

To compensate for not publishing a drawing yesterday.

It looks all out of proportion. Maybe using a raster is what I need as a (temporary) drawing aid. It’s fine to stylize once I know I can draw in a semi-naturalistic style.

The photo I wanted to use as a reference was mediocre at best, so I ended up tracing the face and hair by hand, then coloring it with my own colors, instead of those in the photo. Because it went so badly, it needed two days to be made. And yes, I learned some things.

I did some practice with simple shapes, and decided to try a more ambitious object, a teapot I found through the SketchFab app of 3D models. Again, I guessed wrong initially, but saw my mistake and corrected by deforming the drawing. Despite that it took over an hour, I’m pleased with the result.

If it wasn’t clear already, I lack a steady hand in drawing. I tried this alarm clock I found a photo reference of on Pexels. I guessed the proportions, and guess what? They were off. Other than that, the lines are just too wobbly. Luckily, it resembles an alarm clock. So that’s good.

It is said that one has to wade through a lot of bad drawings to get one descent result. I comfort myself with that wisdom, drawing from reference. It’s a bit better, though.

The next step is probably to develop a better feel for shapes, by drawing lots of simpler subjects. Improve by attrition.

Sometimes I have no idea what I’m doing, only to realize that most people don’t.

So I really shouldn’t fear mistakes. It is part of the creation process. It’s a flow of subconscious actions, consequences be damned. Still, stopping and thinking about what to do next seems apt. Me: scrap this!

Earlier yesterday I bought a year subscription for Ibispaint, and made a quick rough sketch. I thought this was roughly my current skill level.

However, after doing some pencil sketching, I knew I could do better. Today I did just that. Of course, there’s always room for improvement.

I asked myself, am I really that bad at portraits? I remember being better at it than I currently seem, doing those portraits of kids. So I checked. It isn’t bad, but the proportions are a bit off. That’s to be expected after so many months of not drawing portaits.

I knew Ibispaint on iPad can do pixel art, sort of. However, its pixel brushes give more an impression of pixel art, than actual pixel art, more as an art meme rather than something to be displayed on a cathode ray tube. That isn’t a bad choice, especially since it allows art forms to be mixed.
👾

I must say that once I’ve identified the flaws in my portrait drawings and started correcting them in many attempts, the results are quite good. One thing I’m still not confident with is “presence.” Drawing from photos can make one’s art uninspired and flat.

I’m trying to improve my portrait drawing skills in order to draw better drawings for Catober. Since cats resemble young children somewhat, it makes sense (to me) to focus on those. As my models I use photos from Reddit Gets Drawn. Of course, I’ll give back as soon as I feel comfortable sharing full drawings, not just quick sketches.

I can see many technical problems with the sketch. The overall shape, the relative sizes of parts of the person, the shading, and much more. It all seems to me still a bit of trial and error, which explains its “amateurish” look and feel. There’s no clear sign of intent, no authoritative look, showing that I’ve done my homework by doing a lot of practice. It could also be that I’m prone to the art student’s dilemma, which is that in order to draw better, one has to see better, which includes any flaws in the drawing. This is why art from years ago looks so stiff and uninspired (read: bad). Of course, this is all irrelevant if the student doesn’t correct the flaws, and keeps repeating them.

I’m already a day behind on Catober, but since I’m not drawing in competition, I can proceed however I want. Being able to draw with intent is more important to me than completing a challenge. The challenge is more of an excuse/motivation to draw every day.

To be continued, no doubt.