Progression in Art

Last week I mentioned it was, from the available evidence, supposedly possible to progress. Provided, of course, you are willing to practice. Currently, the practicing is not really happening, because there are other things getting in the way (like that pesky education of mine), and, lets face it, I'm not feeling the spark - and lack sufficient dedication to practice without it. That is, after all, one of the reasons for this blog - giving me a reason to produce material regularly, whether I want to or not.

As I haven't done much lately, I figure I'll show some older work, and maybe tell you something about the development of my art.

When I was a child, I had a neighbour and friend, lets call her M, whose parents were artists, and who was very good at drawing and painting. I drew, doodled and painted like any other kid, but not in the serious way she did. Somewhere along the way I decided M was the one with a talent for Art, so I had better be good at something else, and more or less stopped trying. I still drew for school and things like that, but not on my own, in any serious way. I became a doodler.



I was pretty happy doodling too - felt like it was something I was pretty good at. Clean(ish) lines, simple artwork. No real requirement to work at it. I'd do designs too - for glassware, cutlery... all sorts of stuff. Jewelery - pendants and earrings - was common too.

When I was in High School I started drawing more seriously again, especially when I was in Canada (2000/2001) - and now I'd draw a lot more people. Always either from straight on or full profile, and always in static poses, or disembodied heads. That's all I was (am) comfortable with.



When I started up again, I noticed I had got much better, without putting in any effort, just by getting older (shush in the back there, this is better, for me). Which made it much more fun, so I kept drawing, and drying to learn a bit more. Inspired by Elfwood, which was the hot place to be at the time, I experimented with digital colouring. All done with a mouse though, as I didn't have a tablet or anything like that at the time.



I'm still pretty proud of that sitting elf guy. It's not super awesome - but it was my first attempt at anything this complicated, first time using an actual model (me), and first time digitally colouring anything I hadn't drawn directly in MS Paint. I does show all the things I have trouble with though: full on side view, no creases or folds, shape-hugging clothing, non-distinct hands, spotty shading, and flat colours.

Dancer guy is just as bad, with the added bonus of having a blurry, weak-featured face. On the other hand, shapes and proportions are decent enough.

Hands continue to be a problem. Look, this guy has some!



This lady however...



And look here - sort of hands...



...but no face. This, by the way, was my first serious attempt at drawing a life-like human, for practice, since High School. That was in 2002, so it's been 7 years. With that in mind, I think this is pretty good. Except the face. Obviously. It even has proper shading - which is only possible because I worked from a photo, I'm rubbish at imagining light sources and shadows.

So these are the things I primarily need to work on in the future:

- 3/4 views and other dynamic perspectives and poses.
- Hands and feet.
- Distinct faces, even at small sizes.
- Use of light sources and shading.
- Dynamic colours.
- Folds and volumes.
- Basic anatomy (everyone needs that - should probably be first on the list).
- Not drawing on crappy lined paper...