Knowing that what I drew is most likely not very similar to the reference is one thing. Telling myself it isn’t any good is just a silly thing. That it’s different from what I expected, sure, but bad? Excepting one’s shortcomings is tough, especially not wanting to except.
🦆🎨

Drawing skill is mostly an observational skill, be it direct or from imagination. I’ve always noticed that I’m slow; it takes time to absorb information, which means I often get it wrong. Still, practice makes better.
🎨

When I spend considerably more time on a drawing, a few things happen. First I see how horribly off my initial sketch was, because it doesn’t all fit together, nor is there any resemblence. Then I see minimal improvement on what I drew before. Maybe this is how it goes, badly?
🎨

Doodling all these ducks made me realize that these resemble ducks more than for example bears or crabs. Drawing duck-like shapes with intent is perhaps the best to aim for ATM. Making them do something interesting may be still too hard.
🦆🎨

I asked myself: “What are AI bros?” This articles defines them as mostly white male Elonites. They’re rampant on Twitter (d’uh!), Reddit and wherever white supremacist frequent.

AI bros are now taunting starving real artists with slurs like ‘drawslaves’ and ‘paint pigs’ - AFRU

I suppose if you had a good night’s sleep (>8 hours) and still need a long nap (>2 hours) during the day, it’s a sign to make today a rest day 🏃

Seeing the flaws 👎 in what’s been drawn is easy; finding ways to prevent 👷 them (read: correct them in your mind before committing to paper), not so much. Here I tried simple shapes (boxes, triangles, ovals) and relative sizes. Still full of mistakes, yet a step up 📈
🐶🎨

Yesterday I was running a half marathon race and was so tired that I didn’t notice the beauty of this scene. I did okay, but am still very tired the day after.🏃‍♂️

The obligatory cat sitting inside and thinking outside the box, ogling for mischief.
🎨🐱📦👿💥🧸🗑

People drawn as chess pieces?
🎨

There’s an idea that any drawings are better than no drawings. This may result in “bad drawings.” That’s a good thing, since it demonstrates taste. Still, these doodles together feel to me like a wall of shame, because I know I could do better (so why aren’t I?).
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Mentioned on the recdiffs podcast 201 Lessons on How to Draw by Hokusai
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I had this idea of combining something I like with something I don’t. It’s a sketch drawing. I liked the texture on the smoking apparatus. Patrick looks quite wonky. I used references but didn’t copy.
⚓️🎨

There’s a tendency in me that says that if I practice hard enough, I can draw anything I want with ease. I think I need to revise that into: if I practice often enough, I don’t mind doing what takes time and effort. Of course, subject matter matters, a lot.
🐭🎨

The last day of the challenge month I tried to do more than usual. If I go by what “serious” artists claim, drawing for an hour a day isn’t going to bring much improvement in skill. Their aim is every waking moment 😨 I am not that serious, TBH. Maybe that’s my problem.
✏️🎨

When I watch creators kitbashing robots and compare those with hobbyists assembling functional robots, there’s an extreme discrepancy in appeal. Imagined robots look cool, yet are glued stiff. Real robots work, yet have rudimentary designs. I want both cool and functional robots
🤖

The sketches below are of the quality I wasn’t willing to share, since they aren’t finished (rendered). However, getting the shape right is important too, and rendering is overestimated most of the times. I tried to start with simple shapes and elaborate on those.
🐰🎨

This month’s art challenge turned out to be a disappointment. Nevertheless, here’s a dog I drew today. It turns out that every artist needs to develop their own way of sketching. Still, drawing from simple shapes is a good way to draw from memory, instead of copying a photo.
🐶🎨

I like this quote, supposedly by Einstein:

“Weak people revenge. Strong people forgive. Intelligent People Ignore.” ~ Albert Einstein

💬

My januari drawing challenge seems in a shambles. I’m being too self-critical while creating. Good thing I’m not a professional artist, or I’d starve. It’s too easy to find distractions, like being out of shape, leaking roof, sick cat.