• Seeing the flaws πŸ‘Ž in what’s been drawn is easy; finding ways to prevent πŸ‘· 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 πŸ“ˆ
    🐢🎨

    two (unshaded) pencil sketches of dogs lightly shaded pencil sketch of a dog
  • 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.πŸƒβ€β™‚οΈ

    straight bike path with canals to the right and left and grassy landscape
  • The obligatory cat sitting inside and thinking outside the box, ogling for mischief.
    πŸŽ¨πŸ±πŸ“¦πŸ‘ΏπŸ’₯πŸ§ΈπŸ—‘

    ballpoint sketch of cat in a cardboard box
  • People drawn as chess pieces?
    🎨

    ballpoint pen sketch of the microβˆ™blog team
  • 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?).
    🎨

    13 pages filled with pencil sketches of mostly animals
  • Mentioned on the recdiffs podcast 201 Lessons on How to Draw by Hokusai
    🎨

  • 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.
    βš“οΈπŸŽ¨

    pencil sketch of Patrick Star as a smoking pipe
  • 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.
    🐭🎨

    pencil sketch of a mouse
  • 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.
    ✏️🎨

    pencil sketches of animals
  • 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
    πŸ€–

  • 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.
    🐰🎨

    pencil sketch of rabbits
  • 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.
    🐢🎨

    pencil sketch of boxer dog
  • I like this quote, supposedly by Einstein:

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

    πŸ’¬

  • 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.

  • Yesterday I was too tired to draw (or do anything else but rest). Today’s sketches seem so off-model, yet they still resemble somewhat their references. I guess they’re Frankenhorses' severed heads.
    🐴🎨

    pencil sketches of horses' heads
  • So, it appears that being grateful is largely thanking randomness in the world, or divine intervention if you believe in such things. I believe randomness (read: entropy) is a thing, the other thing, not so much. I can’t thank what happens anyway.

  • Finished reading: Taking a Bite Out of the Apple by Rob Janoff πŸ“š

    A book in a series for young adults. I found the twothirds dealing with the Apple logo interesting. The rest dealt with Rob Janoff’s further carreer. This book is clearly meant for wannabe graphic designers.

  • To speed things up, I rushed through the tutorial and quickly sketched a portrait of a beautiful cat. Maybe not the best way to learn how to draw, but it is, after all, a challenge.
    🐱🎨

    pencil sketched calico cat portrait
  • I’m not doing tutorials about how to draw animals. Getting far into a drawing and then realizing your anatomy is off, is both frustrating and enlightening, an opportunity to learn something. I need to get better at simplifying what I see, so I can easily correct it early on.
    🐀🎨

    pencil sketch of a flying bird
  • I suggest you watch The mystery of Michaelsoft Binbows on YouTube. It’s a love letter to niche write-ups on your website of things you love and probably very few others, yet those who do will thank you for it.

    photo of storefront of the Japanese Michaelsoft Binbows shop