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...

Aspiration Inspiration Perspiration

It's been said that "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration"[1]. I'd like to add aspiration - the will to succeed - because without that it is very hard to move from inspiration to perspiration.

Today: Aspiration

My current drawing and story-telling levels are not where I want them for this project, so before I can produce anything I'll be happy with, I need to do a lot of work. Someone said it is a big mistake trying for a certain style (in art), before you have the basic skills - and I will try to take that to heart, and raise my basic skills before doing too much drawing for the actual comic. Meanwhile - here's someone I wish I could equal.

Der-shing Helmer

This extremely talented individual is the writer and artist of The Meek, a webcomic that's only been running for a short while so far, but which is shaping up to be an excellent read.

The Meek is about a young woman named Angora, who, when the comic begins, is running naked through the forest for some unknown reason. Gradually it is revealed that she is on a quest, though what the object of the quest is is still unclear. I don't want to say too much, because I'm a complete spoilerophobe myself, but it is very mysterious and interesting so far.



The art of The Meek isn't perfect, but it looks almost exactly like I wish my comic would. The level of abstraction is perfect, the colours and composition are lovely, and the site itself is beautiful - if simple.


(Images, of course, copyright Der-Shing Helmer. Click through to get to the larger images on DeviantArt).

Sometimes when I see something like this - just what I want to do, but much better than what I can do - I get dispirited, because it feels like I'll never get there. However, ArtBloom gives me hope :o) Click through and see that it is indeed possible to progress, with practice.





[1] By Thomas Edison.

The Start of Something...Hopefully Pretty Decent

For some time now, I have been involved in writing a sort of serialized comic fantasy novel with two of my friends - it's called The Tale of Westala and Villtin. The first book can be read at that address, the second book can be found here: The Tale Chronicler - it's not yet finished (and currently sort of on hiatus), but it's there.

For some time now, I have also been reading way too many webcomics (hah! as if there is such a thing as "too much" quality entertainment...), and, inevitably, the two came together in my head, and an idea formed; Wouldn't it be awesome with a Tale webcomic? Yes, yes it would.

So that's what this blog is for. Here I will chronicle the progress of the Tale Webcomic Project, provisionally titled Finding Home. Before anyone gets too exited, there will not be an actual comic for quite a while yet - for several reasons:

1. Finding Home takes place after The Second Tale of Westala and Villtin, and will contain spoilers for it, so I will not start posting any actual comic content until after the Tale passes the point of divergence. Which might take a while, given the recent rate of progress.

2. I haven't actually drawn any of it yet, and the script only consists of about 5 pages of thumbnails so far.

3. I have to learn how to draw. Tricky stuff, like 3/4 view profiles. And hands.

So, yeah.

Until Finding Home is ready to launch this blog will be where I post sketches, teasers, character designs, my drawing practices, and sundry other bits and bobs from the creative process. I will also use this space to introduce and discuss a number of other webcomics that I read and am inspired by (see long list on left). For the time being, the blog will update once a week, and I will try my darnedest to make that Wednesdays. Except next week, because I'll be on vacation (boy, she's off to a brilliant start!).