Death Valley

 

Oh boy... Compared to some of my older works on Deviantart the rendering is very disappointing, BUT I'm giving myself a little grace because I'm just getting back into it and I did do this fairly quickly. I used to spend 8+ hours rendering any given  piece to the point where I took out the linework entirely. In the end I decided to leave these lines because it IS a sketch. But I would be lying if I said it didn't disappoint without the lines. It's got good bones, but my rendering has suffered quite a bit. I had a way of doing things and I just need to find the PATIENCE again to figure that out; but that is a challenge in and of itself. I know I'm capable of better, so I'm hoping to improve with practice. That being said, I needed to color this to see how bad I'd gotten. I wanted to quit halfway through, and it didn't used to be that way. I'd render all-night until I could barely hold my eyes open and wake up to rushing to finish. I miss those days, but to be fair, my process has changed since then. I always wanted to be faster and so I prioritized 3D over my tradigital methods and because of THAT is why my skills have suffered. So, to go back, into my old rendering ways, like this is definitely difficult. They were always time-consuming, though, which is something I may not have the patience for anymore. So, that being said, maybe I can work at painting faster and I'll catch up to my old technique. This took a little more time than I wanted to give, but I did patiently render it except for the hair, which I left a loose interpretation. In the end I think it was good practice, but I'm nowhere near satisfied enough with it to post it on my Deviantart for example. I used to be much better! But like I said, it was good practice, so I'll leave it at that. Til next time.

Death and Glory

 I think I'm getting some of my fundamentals back. I gotta keep practicing though. It wouldn't hurt to use some references either. This is just my full body female; My male needs some serious WORK. I tried to sketch a man in my sketchbook yesterday and it was not good. She looks good, though. Especially since I sketched her on the tablet, which is much more challenging than pencil to paper. I must admit. Usually I scan my work in and color it from the sketch phase, but since I don't have a scanner I'm doing it straight up digital, and that is a challenge in itself.  I want to get better than I used to be, though and I'd say this is about caught up to where I once was... I am comparing my work to Midjourney, though... I don't know if that's healthy. All I know is my Pinterest is full of inspirational images that Midjourney created and I love the style. I haven't even tried breaching my old painting style yet... That is another story entirely. But today was a good day for sketching so I'll take it. Merry Christmas, ALL!

She Samurai

 Trying to keep that same energy. Trying for more detail. I need painting practice too. Which makes me a little miserable, because I get discouraged when I see how primitive it looks, but if I don't try I won't improve. SO. My sketching is improving. I'm glad of that.

Slow and Steady

 It has been literal YEARS since I've drawn (sketched) anything or used my old tried and true art techniques. In recent years my art has taken a more 3D  and Secondlife blogging approach which I became somewhat comfortable with. But ultimately after AI art became a thing, my creativity has somewhat stagnated. I wish I knew why, but all I know is I want that old passion of mine back more than anything and I'm willing to fight for it. I'm very out of practice, but fortunately not that bad at my old style. It's just that if I'd been practicing the ENTIRE time, I'd be much better at drawing. I try not to beat myself up seeing as I at least have a little bit to show for it. So today, this took me two hours on tablet to get down. I'm proud of it, but I want to color it and ultimately do some more challenging landscape work to push myself. I've all but given up on having a career in art because I've gotten older and out of practice, but I still want to love making it for fun like I used to. It has always been so satisfying to see my sketches from start turn into a final polished and colored digital work  in the end. I miss that feeling. I don't much care about a following or social media presence anymore, since that's never been my strong suit, but I think practice is important. Never forsaking the fundamentals of what one has been taught is important and I want to get back the love I once had for my art at its source. Not just for the quick and easy methods of 3D, but as a painter. I used to love figuring out the process, so that's what I'm trying for, once again. A part of me feels like that's moving backwards, but I can always improve my drawing skills. They're not that good, but they're not that bad either. And I should take care to nurture them over my lifetime just for continued growth.