Base

As a self-taught artist I don’t have a solid foundation in art-making. I’m aware of the art fundamentals, but never studied them thoroughly. Even so, I didn’t want to go out on a whimper, so I gave it all I got.
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For my January 2023 challenge, I’ll be drawing 34 illustrations of animals with alcohol-based markers. I have Ohuhu pastel color markers, special marker paper and mixed media paper. However, sketching and designing on that paper with pencil leaves a mess, since the pencil marks can’t be fully erased and muddy the marker colors due smearing of graphite by the tip of the marker. It makes much more sense to design on a separate sheet, and then transfer the final version using carbon paper and a ballpoint pen. I could take it even further, and design on an iPad, print it out, and transfer using carbon paper and a ballpoint pen.

Designing and sketching digitally is cheaper and faster than with pencil on paper. I can simply draw the different stages of the sketch in a separate layer while lowering the opacity of the previous layer. In analog you would partially erase the previous stage and draw on top of it. I should try both, and see what works best for me.

I thought about coloring in Procreate on the iPad as well, which would add (unwanted) complications, time and cost. Digital colors differ from analog colors, and the effect of paper is hard to reproduce, I know from past experience. So I will be coloring with alcohol-based markers. I have little personal experience with those, but I’ve seen enough YouTube videos to know how to use them, in principle. I’m sure I’ll be watching loads more videos while coloring. The whole plan, after all, is to learn how to draw by doing and watching how others do it, steal their ideas, in a good way.

Digitizing the analog art is best done with a quality camera on a tripod, except that I don’t own such a camera. I do have a scanner (all-in-one with scanner and monochrome laser printer), though scanned colors tend to look washed out a bit with the bright light. Furthermore, the size is limited to A4, which isn’t a problem for this challenge, since A4 is big enough for drawing individual animals.

Eventually I want to use a light-box for transferring sketches and a budget digital camera for digitizing, so I can work on a larger canvas. Those things cost money, and I’m on a budget. I use what I have and if I start getting more skilled, I could sell some of the art to buy the equipment. Who knows…

After digitizing I need to put it somewhere, so others can see it. For now I’ll be using my Flickr account. I paid for it, so I should definitely use it.

To remove any kinks as soon as possible, it makes sense to first complete a piece before continuing to the next piece. This isn’t factory work; it’s artwork.

I’m also not expecting professional results which could be sold. The only thing I expect is that I’m able to draw animals somewhat convincingly, in the sense that others can recognize what animal it is supposed to be. It doesn’t have to be photorealistic; I’d rather have it be sketchy and loose, more impressionistic, left to the imagination of the viewer.

Only two more days. I’m excited!

I’m preparing for the next monthly challenge, which will be to create 34 animal drawings analog, using colored markers and ballpoint pen. It’s from one of instructional books I got for Christmas. It will keep me occupied, for sure.

Sand

While sand is abundant on the Earth’s surface, it takes a special kind of coarse sand to use for building things, like concrete, silicon wafers, sand castles. It’s finer than pebbles, coarser than silt, so you can grab hold of it, yet not feel individual particles 🏖️
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I got this double cat hammock for Christmas. The cats seem to enjoy it.
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Examination

The magnifying glass is the staple for the lone sleuth who solves cases the police can’t by lack of intelligence and work ethic. This is, of course, a fantasy version of detective work 🕵️‍♂️
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A Bullet journal seems a project management tool. I usually never plan further ahead than a couple of weeks. Sooo, not getting things done is what my “productivity” seems to be about 😬 “It” needs improvement.

Does any of you can suggest how to best start with bullet journaling?

Parade

When it said “parade”, my imagination went to “marching band”, and the few times in my life (especially when I was in my preteens) I noticed them. They are a lively bunch, attracting immediate attention from the whole neighborhood. In sports events they are a staple.
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Today’s December 28, and the randomly chosen word for a blog post is:

parade

I took that as a marching band in a street. I had no idea what instruments are in such a band, nor how they look, nor are played. So, references galore.

One person’s trash is supposedly another person’s Xmas treasure. They were bought on a whim, yet never used. I hope I’ll put them to good use.
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Defendant

In my experience, when personal attachments are involved, being impartial is almost impossible. We cannot but be irrational about who (or what) we love. I suppose a certain Christmas present will make me continue doing a challenge about drawing cats.
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Chance

Happy 📦ing Day—day of buying schmancy goods at bargain prices.

Now what’s the probability that I didn’t cheat at this ballpoint pen drawing? I had to mirror (eww!) the baby’s right hand, because I seem to have difficulties remembering what’s left and right 😅
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🌿

The alien PLANT was PLANTed as a disguised PLANT with PLANTs to conquer the world with 🎁 presents and 🥰 love.

H^appy C_hristmas ‼️

Forest

Many authors believe in the statement, show don’t tell. However, saturating the readers minds with an abundance of details will put them off, confuse them to no end. There is such a thing as too much. I’m guilty to this as well. Trimming the fat the good way is hard.
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On caturday we eat together, yet separated because of dietary differences. Still seeing the other eat improves the appetite 🐱🍽️

For Christmas Eve Day, December 24, the random prompt for a blog post is:

forest

Fault

Creatives deal with the hard reality that comfort while making, as if by an artisan AI bot, probably is reproducing, not creating. The end product looks so great because of established, proven to work—hence are not creative—workflows. That ”F” teaches us to do better.
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Nationalist

I guess I’m not very patriotic myself. We don’t do a mandatory pledge of allegiance where I live, mostly because of freedom of religion, and separation of church and state. Although populism is certainly a thing here, extreme nationalism is frowned upon.
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The blogging prompt for 22 december is:

nationalist

This is as far as I know somewhat synonymous to patriot. As with everything, it becomes a negative when coupled with covert bigotry and elitism. We are all equal, yet some are more equal than others.

Hike

I suppose I never made a long hike. The problem is that I can’t leave my cats alone for longer than a day. Day trips I have done, several times. The longest day hike I can remember was about 60 km in 14 hours, in summer, no water. That was a mistake, as is the drawing.
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