I teased this post in my summer art review post which I made a few months back where I said I’d share some of the traditional art I’ve made over the summer (and not over part of the semester). I have no really good reason as to why it’s taken me so long to post this besides that fact that every time I managed to think about it, it would slip my mind when I actually sat down to write a blog post.
All that being said, here are a few art pieces I’ve made over the last few months.
I think a few of my favorites are the mouse in the tea cup, the girl in the ballcap, the girl with a ponytail, and the close up of the cat. I wasn’t a huge fan of the green dress fashion sketch as the shadows just didn’t look right and I regret not giving her face (even though I feel it should be alright not to have to draw a face in a fashion sketch). Anyways, I hope that you found these little sketches interesting or at the very list give you a little inspo as to what you can sketch (or if you find them awful, use them as an example of what NOT to do when drawing :P)
Anyways! That’s all for now! Have a good week my friends and, if you happen to be on fall break like me, have a fabulous fall break where you drink lots of pumpkin spice lattes and attend a lot of campfires and soup potlucks.
One thing I alluded to in some of my life update posts is that I have new art that I am very excited to share. Most of it is digital so I decided that this post would contain my new digital pieces that I’ve created over the last couple of months. I’ve been trying to focus a lot on portraits and faces more than anything. Hope my practice has paid off and you enjoy!
This is a portrait I did of my friend Megan over at Megan’s Musings. Really happy with how this one turned out!This is a mixture of a photo edit/art piece. Certain parts of the piece like the face and some of the hair are drawn while other parts I edited and blended into the piece. The base picture is one that I took myself and used for reference.This is another edit/art piece where I took the photo I used as a reference myself except I did a lot more drawing for this piece than I did the other one. Perhaps in another post I can share the original photos vs. the art pieces but I’m not sure if people would be interested in that. Regardless, that is a post for another day!This is a portrait I did of my friend Becca! This is one where I really struggled with the hair and background but I’m pretty okay with how it came out.This is a portrait I did of my younger sister. I would love to redo the background but I think by the time I was getting close to finishing, I was simply ready to be done. I’m sure many of you artists out there understand the feeling.I really enjoyed playing with colors in this piece. The reference was a photo my sister took this time of me playing in chalk. It turned out super cute and am actually proud of this one.
And that’s it for now! I have some traditional pieces that I may also share in the future but I was mostly excited to share my digital pieces this time around. Thanks for checking them out! And if you like what you see round here, maybe consider dropping a follow or a comment below! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Alrighty! That’s it for now! Talk to you later, lovelies!
While I generally enjoy populating my blog with tips for writers primarily, from the few art posts I have on my blog, you can probably tell that I dabble a bit in the realm of drawing both digitally and traditionally. It is not a source of income for me nor do I ever really plan on it being however, I still find myself in a much better mood having created something that appeals to my eyes (for the most part. Every artist knows you must create an abomination every now in then to keep thinks spicy).
So, all that being said, I felt like it would be fun to make a little “tips and tricks” post for my fellow artists out there for keeping motivated to draw and create even when you feel like you’re not improving or find yourself in a rut creatively.
1. It’s okay to have a pretty scuffed sketchbook.
I know first hand the discouragement that Pinterest drawing journal inspo can produce. On one hand, I feel inspired to create such beautiful pieces myself! On the other, it can cause me to obsess over the “cleanness” and perfection of not just my individual sketches but the state of my sketchbook itself. And, like I often say over here on my blog, perfectionism can be one of the biggest obstacles an artist must overcome. So take heart, artists with beat-up and banged-up sketchbooks! It is totally fine to have a collection of drawings with a few “scrap” pages and maybe a few coffee stains on the cover. Actually, I’ve found that I often draw more when I have a slightly scuffed sketchbook as it prevents me from being nervous about messing up the book with a less than perfect sketch.
2. Draw, Draw, Draw. Quantity (mostly) over Quality.
Just like with writing, often skill comes overtime with the production of a lot of creations. This is the whole practice makes perfect phenomenon. Not that you shouldn’t try of course. Keep trying, by all means. But try not to get all caught up in creating the perfect piece now.
3. Not every art tip you find online will apply to you.
This is another important thing to note when you’re an artist with an internet connection. You have an endless supply of lists of “Do’s and Don’t” that you should follow when drawing. However, while it is good to at least CONSIDER these tips when making your own art, you probably shouldn’t follow every single one. Certain things are creative decisions and a piece that follows all the “rules” can sometimes feel boring or devoid of creativity.
4. Practice the things you struggle with.
I don’t like this tip but once I decided that I was going to draw a hand every day for a month, I saw a huge (though gradual) improvement with my ability to do so. Now that’s a pretty intense solution that I don’t think everyone should do, but I think you get the idea. Try not to avoid things that you struggle with and feel you aren’t good at it. Not that you have to now make your living as a hand-sketcher but it really pays off to put extra practice into those artistic pet-peeves you have whether it be drawing hands, eyes, people, animals, etc.
5. It takes time to find your style.
Not to mention it also evolves constantly. That’s alright though. That’s actually good because if you weren’t changing, you wouldn’t be improving in the slightest. Remember, change is (usually) good.
And I think that’s about it! Thanks for dropping by and reading! Also feel free to let me know in the comments section below of what tips really helped you as an artist! I’d love to hear them!
Hey, everyone! Thank goodness it’s the weekend. I started a new job recently as I’m sure some of you have heard about via a blog post of me basically saying “Haha I’m tired because of work so sorry but there will be less posts hahaha”.
But it’s Saturday! And this post has been something I’ve wanted to share and talk about for a week or two now but just haven’t found the time to really MAKE it. Honestly, this post isn’t quite like a normal one for me. I usually splash my blog with writing related posts, a few personal posts, and maybe a FEW art posts here and there but writing seems to be my real bread and butter. I haven’t really had any inspo for writing prompts or tips though so HERE WE ARE.
Wow, that’s a lot of backstory without any real context to the specifics of what I’m talking about. Apologies. Getting to the point is not always my strength. What was I talking about again?
Oh yeah!
I found an interesting though slightly obscure art app that I wanted to talk about with ya’ll. It’s called Wombo Dream. It is an AI art tool that generates pieces based off of your “prompts” which tend to consist of a few keywords and phrases. It’s a fascinating tool and I’ve played with it on and off for a few weeks now. I think the best way to really explain this AI and how it works is to share with you some of the results I got while using it as well as the prompts I used.
The prompt for the image above was “Circus Tent” and, as you can see, the results are pretty trippy yet also recognizable. Let’s try another!
The prompt for this guy was “cozy coffee shop”. You can definitely see it, even if not everything in the picture is completely identifiable.
The prompt for this one was “Rivendell” which is a location from Lord of the Rings. I can recognize this one really well, especially with that waterfall in the background.
The Prompt for this one was “Emerald Castle”. You can really see the AI doing its best here to create a structure that resembles as such.
You might be able to tell the prompt for this one already, but in case this structure doesn’t seem at all familiar to you, the prompt that I used was “Tardis Castle.” As in, the Tardis from Doctor Who.
This one is definitely a little vague but hopefully it seems recognizable when I tell you the prompt. The prompt was “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”. I can see them twirling in a group here, their skirts swirling round them creating such an appealing composition for the image. It’s crazy to think that an AI generated this!
I think you get the idea now so I’m going to stop explaining the prompts and just show you a little showcase of other beautiful images I got from using this tool. Let me know in the comments if you recognize any of them!
I know this was sort of an odd post but hopefully you found yourself just as fascinated as I was upon finding out about this app. Just the idea that a AI tool could create things that look so familiar has such neat implications. Will there be a time when this AI is perfected so well that It will be hard to tell the difference between AI art and human art? I don’t know but until then, I definitely encourage you to check out this art tool. Not only is it fun to play around with, but it might be good for art inspiration or even writing inspiration for when you have a fictional place but aren’t sure how to exactly describe it.
Oke doke! I think that’s about it! Thanks for sitting through my rambling review of an obscure art app.
I read a tweet awhile back (as all good stories start I’m sure) and I just really wanted to discuss it. It’s a tweet that is by a woman named Elicia Donze (an artist) that reads as follows:
I immediately knew I wanted to talk about this, especially since I, myself, am a creator of art. All different kinds in fact, the biggest one being writing. And, subsequently, I know a few writers (and artists) follow me as well. So I think this is good for both me and my readers to hear.
Sometimes you spend a lot of time working on a piece of art, usually for me it’s a writing piece. I work and work on it until I’m done. I step back and reread over the piece and instant dissatisfaction. Not because it’s BAD but because it just doesn’t sound like I want it to. I want it to sound like that narrator in that book I just read a few days ago. The one that was particularly clever. I want it to sound like my favorite authors. In short, I want it to sound like someone else. Because, apparently, the sign of creative genius is your work sounding nothing like you. Something like a stranger wrote. This is, of course, a lie. One that I am often guilty of without even realizing it.
It’s hard when I get so inspired by the world around me that I want what I create to look EXACTLY like that. But, in doing so, I’m defeating the whole purpose of me creating. The joy comes from MY specific take on something. The point is it becomes unique by the fact that I’m merely creating it. If I am creating something correctly, it should look different from everyone else’s work. But it should also sound like ME. And, as the tweet above states, that’s the valuable part of your art.
I know this is a short post but I really wanted to talk about this because I think it’s something that many creators struggle with. Let me know in the comments below what you think! Have a lovely day!
I’m slowly getting more and more comfortable sharing my art and digital piece and editing on my blog here and while I wanna mainly keep my blog as a place for writing prompts and writing advice/student advice, I do still enjoy sharing some of my favorite pieces with you guys!
Part of me has been debating on whether or not I want a start a separate blog for my art (both traditional and digital) but I don’t know if anyone would be interested in that. Please feel free to share your thoughts on that as I’m just sort of considering the idea. I don’t know if I’ll actually act on it yet.
Okay! Enough blathering! On with the art.
So I was thinking of a concept recently. A vintage/retro style CGI disney movie about some 1950’s housewives getting into some zany situation or something. I don’t know what the plot would be exactly but I couldn’t help but ponder on how BEAUTIFUL and COOL a movie like that would look. And so I set about editing some characters and coming up with some character concepts.
Part of me thought it would be cool if they animated from of the classic actresses from that era. So you may recognize some of these faces if you enjoy some old black & white movies…
So what are your thoughts on this concept? I really want to know!
Also, sorry for the lack of writing themed posts as of late! I should have a few coming out here soon. 😉
I usually don’t share my art on my blog but today I wanted to share a few little digital doodles I did this week for no real particular reason besides the fact that I have blog posts I want to do but no real time to write them until this weekend. So feel free to scroll through a few pieces of mine and offer your thoughts and critiques. Have a wonderful day, lovelies.
This a quick Azula sketch I did the other day. Avatar the Last Airbender was a huge part of my middle school years so why not?Had a few ideas for some concept art of some butterfly cats so here we go…I made the wings rather fancy on this one.Here is a collage of the neon versions.
And speaking of cats, I also drew a cat sitting on a skull for funsies. Above is displayed both the uncolored and the colored version.
Just a few gentle-manly skull sketches… (these were my favorites I think).
And here are a few collections of fashion sketches I did while catching up on a few shows. (Mainly The Book of Boba Fett <3)
And finally we have a fish haired princess. I like the color and concept of this one though I would love to do a cleaner version in the future.
Hello, bloggers & readers! Today I’m just gonna ramble a bit about some of my favorite works of art. These vary from classic paintings to paintings done by lesser known artists whose work (in my opinion) is just as beautiful. I’m no art expert, sure, but if I see a painting and think “ooooh, I want that on my wall.” I think it’s pretty darn good. And I don’t think you come to this blog for impeccable art advice or critiques (if so, I am both perplexed and amazed).
So let’s get started!
Paintings by Regina Argentin
This girl. Her stuff is incredible. Her works are both ethereal and haunting. Some of my favorite pieces are down below.
This piece is called “Demeter”. It’s probably my favorite of hers. The vintage gown and look to the body contrasts so beautifully with the untamed vines sprouting from her neck. Chef’s kiss. Truly amazing. I also just now noticed there is a bat in this piece so double points.This one is titled “Alfalfa”. I adore everything about it from the flowers to the intelligent and uncomfortably sentient look of the coyote (or whatever creature it appears to be. I think its a coyote? Anyone is free to correct me in the comment below, I’m about as much of an art expert as I am at identifying dog-like animals).This one is titled “Alfalfa II” and it is equally as breath-taking. The green , earthy feel of the painting mixed with the calming blues is a wonderful combination. The painting feels so mysterious and feels like s belongs in a green-house somewhere to keep evil spirits at bay. 10/10.
Link to her profile where you can view more of her immaculate work: click here
Paintings by Van Gogh
Van Gogh’s pieces are probably some of my favorite out there in the art world. So if I ever scrape up a gazillion dollars, I totally plan on buying one. But my interest in the artist doesn’t just stop at the popularized “Starry Night” piece. No, I also can’t help but adore his “Iris” painting, “Wheat Field” painting, “Almond blossoms” painting, “Sunflower” Painting, and “Starry Night over Rhone” Painting.
Starry night is gorgeous, but, if you haven’t, I implore you to browse his other works.
“Starry Night over Rhone”Somehow even with the bright yellows of the blooms, this painting feels melancholy. I love it.
A positively haunting piece.
Another favorite of mine. The blue and white blooms just seem so serene and striking to me. I would love a dress in this pattern.And of course, the classic Starry Night. There’s a reason this piece is so popular. Positively striking.
I want to conclude this section with a recommendation of the wonderful and touching movie, “Loving Vincent”. It is a gorgeous piece of cinema that I discovered this year where the whole movie is animated to look like a moving Van Gogh painting. If you’re interested, the trailer is below. I rented it on Youtube for about three or four dollars and cried like crazy while watching it the first time through. Can’t recommend it enough.
The Paintings by Monet
Another popular artist whose work I love. I primarily enjoy his nature paintings, especially the ones with water and water lilies.
These pieces absolutely slay me.
Paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
My obsession with this man’s work probably is rooted in the same part of my brain that is obsessed with fairytales. His work has a very fantastical feel to it and has many portraits of beautiful, princess like women that I find entrancing and ethereal.
I love this painting but this could also very easily be a dude with luxurious hair. That is the only problem I have with this guy’s paintings. I can sometimes not tell but they’re beautiful pieces so I don’t care much either way.This painting invokes the exact feeling that I feel during the school year. I don’t know how, but it does.
In Conclusion
I’m not an art expert. I cannot positively identify a coyote. I really can’t tell a lady from a knight with luxurious hair. But I can point to a painting and say, “Now there’s a looker!”
Low Expectations 