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.

I already felt awful when I woke up this morning. After a 24 km run I feel exhausted. It was supposed to be a 32 km long run. I’ll get to bed early tonight, sooo tired 😫

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.

With three vaccinations 💉 planned this month, each on a different day, it’s going to be busy for my immune system. It will mess up my marathon preparation, so I’ll pick another one than on the last Sunday of October I trained for.

The creative freedom Next Patreon is supposedly promising is mincing words. True freedom is the web, not yet another walled garden, however user-friendly it is. I suppose those VC investors want their 10-fold return on investment, they want it NAOW!

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.
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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.

As Platforms Decay, Let’s Put Users First | Electronic Frontier Foundation

I miss the early days of the Web. The sad thing is that most people don’t know what I mean, since all they know is the platforms they used since they joined; Google Search, Facebook, Amazon, Apple App Store, etc., etc.

TIL: Apple tried to create their own CPU much earlier than you may know, Secret History: Apple’s first attempt at making a CPU, by RetroBytes on YouTube.

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.

For the month of September 2023 micro∙blog organized a photo blogging challenge with daily prompts, and I adopted it for pixel art.
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1. Abstract
2. Buildup
3. Precious
4. Orange
5. Forest
6. Well
7. Panorama
8. Yonder
9. Language
10. Cycle
11. Retrospect
12. Panic
13. Glowing
14. Statue
15. Red
16. Oof!
17. Intense
18. Fabric
19. Edge
20. Disruption
21. Fall
22. Road
23. Day in the Life
24. Belt
25. Flare
26. Beverage
27. Embrace
28. Workout
29. Contrast
30. Treasure

It was mostly a fun experience. Sometimes I had to try another, less ambitious drawing, on other occasions I accepted a bad drawing for that day. I certainly did a lot of tracing to speed things up.