Documenting my process of learning digital drawing

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Update as of sometine at the End of October'23 - Enjoying the spooky art season my way~




It's spooky art season with Halloween just around the corner, and I'm here typing this stuff up while sipping iced tea and occassionally snacking on some Reese's pieces. ...Actually lemme repeat that, it's spooky art season yay!~ Now guess who hasn't drawn like one thing for inktober, nuketober, spooktober or any other various annual art events.

Spoiler

That's right, it's me.

But...that's okay, I don't feel as bad or useless about that as I feared I would; plus I have some other stuff I want to draw, don't enjoy overly general prompts that one as an artist can interpret as desired, and have my boundaries + limitations about creating art. Basically I just draw what I want when I want for comfort.

There are so many many variations of the original inktober floating around online, with prompt lists to match almost anything one can imagine. You can even create your very own personal list! I guess my favorite one is cringetober though:

Prompt list here, TW for it being quite rainbowy and eyestrainy

Link/Source: https://www.deviantart.com/notthatalex/a...-986029735

I can't help it, I'm an early-2000s-kid who grew up with neopets and cartoons and I embrace expressing oneself via art, however cringe or weird said art may be. I am the manifestion of 'I am cringe but I am free'. Or so I feel at times.

What I also noticed about me+my art is that somewhat contrary to what dark and emo things I remember drawing in my earlier teenage years, I at times kinda enjoy drawing colorful creatures and sparklefur with lots of details thrown on them just because. When I see a colorful OC from an artist I follow online, I get a subconscious feel like 'I like that, I want to draw that!'. That goes somewhat - or more like kinda to very - contradictionary to pessimistic, introverted and reserved IRL-me who wears all black and preferes not to talk unless needed.

...And that's okay, I guess. Maybe my inner world is a lot more colorful than my view on the outside world, maybe I just enjoy creating artwork to match that, I don't know. But any form of art is nothing more than a means to an end if put in a simplistic way, or as Gerard Way very fittingly once said: "Anything can be art. Anything can be self-expression. Now take your weapon and run with it"

^^^

Footage of me when having a desire to draw like ten things at once, but then getting to create exactly zero at the end of the day

Basically I somehow at times feel like

Context

Hayao Miyazaki as a person is a pessimisted and grumpy-as-heck old man and the creative head behind Studio Ghibli (well known among fans for its colorful and imaginary anime movies), while Junji Ito is a bubbly cinnamonroll and also the creator of some of the most dark and scary manga volumes ever. At least that's the impression I have from them from seeing some interviews and documentations.

...As of earlier I've colored-in a template from a casual art contest from an UK-based community focusing on mental health and cute stationary to brig some joy in an otherwise scary world, of which I am getting a monthly box of stationary sent. The template was just black outlines + the writing, the vampire frog in the corner was added by me as I missed that character on the template. It was very comforting coloring in the checks and lots of fun playing around with effects of ClipStudioPaint to achieve a spoopy vibe, and I'm very very timidly proud of the finished product.

Big image ahead

Here's also a fox base I drew just for me, of which I am planning to make use of to draw some sparkledoggo-ish adopts and OCs from a sfw-furry-artist I follow on twitter/X. He at times posts various various adopts of all vibes, and it's amazing to me how he's able to come up with so different and creative designs just like that.

Pls don't ask how much research and reference-studying it took me to get that sitting pose to look as natural as possible, because it was A LOT. I struggle to get a four-legged creature in a sitting pose just right with how the legs bend, but me feels I somehow DID get it look natural, as I was told so when I asked for critique on that pose.


That's all for now I guess, Phantom out.


EDIT 1: Pls be safe out there, the world's a very scary and erratic place with basically two wars going on right now in Ukraine and in Palestine.

EDIT 2: It's mildly infuriating how the pumpkin spice you can buy at the stores tastes nothing like the one used at coffee shops, but I still kinda enjoy the one I've bought as an addition to coffee, porridge and basically anything sweet.