How’s it going!?

It is already the end of May! I am not sure how you all are doing, but to me it seem like the days are blurring together. Like going to sleep is just like a long nap at this point. And don’t get me started on this heat/humid wave that we have spent a week in. Ugh I feel like I’m melting. Enough with my self imposed pity party, how are you? Have you been remembering to take care of your self? A lot of horrific events have transpired recently and I know that that is having some sort of effect on everyone. I wish I could do more to help. My sister and I have been trying to come up with ways we can help, even from Vermont. I will definitely keep you all informed when we figure out what we can do. But just keep #BlackLivesMatter in the public face. You have allies here in the Green Mountain State.

Alright! Time to get into some art!

So, my idjit of a self, forgot that I should have downloaded a screen capture software to be able to show you my digital work. But I only remembered that fact when I was almost done with my pieces. The struggle bus just wants to make me part of the pavement it seems. I was able to get my hands on a pretty inexpensive drawing tablet and I wanted to challenge myself. It was really hard in the beginning and I just wanted to quit and illustrate it with my watercolors and markers. But I didn’t give in to that negative voice in my head! I didn’t because I remembered that I am trying to be OK with my failures and to share them even if they should never see the light of day. Regardless, I was pretty impressed with my self.

Quarantine Challenge Project # 11: Re-do Angel

For this project I took a super old piece of mine and re-did it. Like I made this piece like in my freshman year of high school. (I am so old, I know.)

First off, what are proportions? And those wings!? I remember being so proud of this piece. How did I get into art school? Anyway, I started out finding a WAY better composition. Then I researched birds and their wings. I ended up loving Eagle Owl wings! (For information on Eagle Owls: https://www.owlpages.com/owls/species.php?s=1240 )

Once that was all settled, I started out in Photoshop. I used to love painting in PS, but I can tell you that I had a lot of trouble getting it to look like how I wanted it. Like I know how to properly blend colors and give more definition to things with traditional material, but I was having the hardest time in PS. But I pressed on, because I know Rome wasn’t built in a night.

I could not, for the life of me, figure out what I should do with the background. But as you can see, the difference is astounding! I have definitely grown so much. But I didn’t think I could call this done. I decided to push the envelope. To be exact, I took things into Illustrator.

I think I found a new medium that I can learn to love. It was really hard to stick with a more flat, vector looking coloring. But I think it looks 100% better then the painterly look that I got in PS. I also know I need practice with fabric. But I still count this as a win! I still couldn’t decide on what to do with the background. HAHAHAH…

Which version do you like better? You can vote on the pieces on my Insta. Link down at the end of this post.

Welp, that is all I got for this post. Thank you for joining me on this journey! I promise more content again soon. But in the mean time check out my socials! You never know what you are going to find!

Until next time,

Captain Suzanna ⭐

Captain’s Log: Finally Land!

Attention Crew! We have successfully made it to our first piece of actual land! Please bask in the awesomeness that is our fortune. Along the way we have also added more Crew members! Cheers! Cheers, to the high seas and good company!

On a little side note before we begin, I wanted to thank all those who have pressed that Follow button. Thank you a million times! In all honesty, I didn’t think that I was going to get so many follows so quickly! (11 freaking Crew Members!!! I am speechless!) You guys are a true inspiration and driving force! Thank you so much. I promise there is going to be way more consistency and fun along the way! So, welcome aboard!

In my last post I talked about needing to get a new drawing tablet, because of issues. (Let’s not reopen those wounds for reasons.) So, it came and it is freaking huge! My only one was like the size of a note card compared to this thing. It took me a little while to adjust the sensitivity and make sure that it was set up for a lefty. Pro tip: When ever you get a new drawing tablet, ALWAYS calibrate it for your drawing style. For example, I can be heavy handed while drawing and I want to make sure that the tablet picks up when I want it to be light strokes, because my light strokes could be your heavy strokes. Plus being a lefty in a dominated right handed world, you have to make sure the tablet knows that you aren’t having a stroke, you are just left handed. (PS right handed scissors are going to be the death of me.) It took a bit to get some what comfortable with the tablet. I am still getting used to it. Like breaking in new shoes, it is going to be painful, but it will be worth it in the end.

ON TO THE ART!

First redo project! So, just as a reminder, this first project is going to be like a bookmark. Just something to help get my sea-legs and see what I have forgotten and need to study more. So I am going to be walking you through my process and the talking about what I think I need to work on. Please feel free to comment on your own thoughts about what I need to improve on.

Original Sketch 2010:

In 2010 I was in my junior year of high school. Yeah, so I am going to leave it at that. (Sweet Neptune, my phone still sucks.)

The first thing I did before doing any kind of redraw was look for reference photos. I think that is one of the main things that was drilled into me at college; you are only as good as your experience and references. I got major inspiration from butterflies and flowers. (I blame the binge watching of a certain fairy and her movies *hint, hint; nudge, nudge*)

Inspiration drawing/concept:

Clean up Sketch:

One thing that I know I need to work on is HANDSSSSSSS!!!! LOOK AT THOSE THINGS!!

Cleaner Line work:

Next thing to also work on in my line work. It isn’t as smooth as I would like it. Plus I still need to work on proportions. Those arms are a bit off, I think.

Coloring:

NEED TO STUDY SHADING AGAIN! But overall, it turned out pretty well.

Final edits:

MAGICAL!! Photoshop’s lighting was just not cutting it for me. So, I popped this bad boy into Illustrator to add some flares. Then I tried the Live Trace tool on this piece. In college for my thesis, I would just that tool to clean up my lines and such for my comic. I just tried it for shiz and giggles. And it was baller! I liked it way better than the painterly version in Photoshop. In hindsight, I should have picked a different background color. And the flames kind of faded away into the hair a bit. Whoops.

Things to study:

Hands
Shading
Line work
Proportions
Other (Let me know what else!)

Unneeded Information Alert: This piece took over 6 hours, over the course of three days. The struggle.

This project turned out WAY, WAY, WAY better than I thought it was going to. It felt really good to get back into the art groove. I loved it. I highly recommend for anyone to try this. It doesn’t matter if you are just crawling out of your hole like I am, or you have been arting for years, or just starting. Find something that you drew/doodled a long time ago and just redo it! You will see improvements and get inspiration!

In other news, I am getting more active on my Insta. Please feel free to check out what I have been sketching recently. With all the new followers, do you guys want me to set up some sort of community platform? I heard Discord is a good place, or Artimino? I’ll do some research if that is something you guys are interested in it. Twitter shall be my archnemesis. I’ll get one eventually, please hold your rope. Next projects are my friend’s Twitch emojis and another redo. Plus studying! Look forward to some studies on Insta. The challenges are mounting!

Last words from your Captain! Alas, the celebration has ended and it is time to set sail once again! This time with more Crew members and higher hopes. Our course is not set in stone. We are blowing towards were ever the winds takes us. The sea is a vast and majestic place. Be prepared for anything and everything. Lessons are learned every day. Let us sail into tomorrow with cheer and merriment!

Your Captain,

Suzanna