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How often do you draw?

DragonKingDragonKing Member Posts: 1,979
So, here is something a little different that I'm sure most really won't related to, but how often do you draw? Whether it's comics/illustrations, concept art, abstract expressionism, or -insert the countless other movements i can name-.

Do you tend to stick to one subject or do you explore ideas and concepts?

Do you do it for fun, or try to make it a career?

Why am I asking this? Because I'm crazy! Hey, makes as much sense as the wild surge that brought my MAC back to life and refreshed all my spells after the djinn killed him.

I'm spending 3 to 8 hours a day sitting in front of a sketchbook just exploring what i can achieve with line. I'm trying to get into color with alcohol markers and colour pencil but those are demons in themselves.

I want to be a illustrator but it doesn't seem like I'll ever reach it.

Comments

  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Just as a hobby. Liked to draw ever since a little child. Mostly focused on nature and fantasy themes back then.

    Things slowed down since adulthood and having a job. When I find the time I usually either do my own 3rd rated custom portraits, pixel art, or the occasional doodles of my Goniurosaurus luii pets. You won't see those extremely shy geckos in daylight. Not to mention deep at night. At least not without the help of night vision goggles or a moonlight. :p
  • O_BruceO_Bruce Member Posts: 2,790
    As for me, I try to draw every day and for the most part I succeed. There are exceptions from this, but these are either because of art block, or because due to various circumstances, I'm "free" for given day very, very late and I have no will to do anything constructive. In days like that, I just don't feel like drawing.

    Otherwise, I think that my minimal time wtih daily drawing is about 2 hours, but my max is hard to tell, because I tend to take breaks from time to time, and thus it is easy for me to reliably answer that.

    Currently I try many things regarding drawing, although most of them are just sketches. Be it gesture drawings, human anatomy, women (sfw and nsfw both apply), drawing from life/photos... Ocassionally I also try to copy/recreate work of people much better than I am, all in order to establish good enough improvement rate.

    In traditional art I tend to use pencils, both cheap ones and also Hardtmuth's, along with Derwent Artists coloured pencils. I would love to get my hands on Copic Markers, but they are very expensive, my current intern is not very good paid and I need to save money in order to buy myself new PC, since the one I use right now is kinda in bad shape.

    Speaking about PCs, as far as digital art is concerned, I currently try to learn how to make digital paintings (not digiral drawings, these aren't the same) and I am also in the transition process between softwares.

    As for why I draw, I guess both for fun and maybe future career, although the later would take huge ammount of effort and time. I kinda regret how many years of my life I actually wasted not pursuing this goal.
  • DragonKingDragonKing Member Posts: 1,979
    These are a lot more response than I thought would happen. @O_Bruce I think we all wish we had started a lot younger, I didn't start drawing until middle school and that was me grabbing one of the most generic, "How to draw manga" books you could've ever seen. When I think of all the time I wasted not actually studying actual anatomy and looking at "how to draw dragon ball Z", I want to cry.
  • JoenSoJoenSo Member Posts: 910
    edited July 2017
    I work freelance as an illustrator. Though it's more of a fun side career where work pop up occasionally. So I draw every single day, either for work or for fun. I try to vary what I draw and explore new things but have many recurring themes. Like mushrooms, carnivorous plants and robots (for some reason).

    Professionally I almost always work digitally, though I like pencils and ink a lot too. And the wonderful watersoluble inktense pencils that combine the two into one. If you don't mind working with water you should try them for some wonderful colors!

    Do you post your drawings online somewhere? It would be cool to see, and the work of other people here on the boards. Personally I've got both my instagram @joensoderholm and my Deviantart.
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    Sometimes I draw flowcharts or other technical/process illustrations. Arts? Never.
  • DragonKingDragonKing Member Posts: 1,979
    @FinneousPJ
    Illustrations are art :smile:

    @JoenSo
    Yes... Yes, I do.
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    I've doodled some maps lately (daydreaming still of being a novelist/worldbuilder), but not much drawing for art's sake anymore. Kinda got displaced by reading, since I didn't seem to improve much. I do my best art in a garden imho, though I'm on a budget and have limited motivation. I need to make a ton or so of mulch, and then spread it. :/

    Maybe I should start drawing again, sounds easier! :p
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Used to draw daily as a child, but in my late teens I got such a bad version of self-loathing of my own pic's I just coulnd't bare continuing. I judged my drawing hard, only seeing the flaws, so I quit and haven't really started since. I had one "relapse" in my late twenties whilst being home after a surgery where I drew (is that the right word: draw, drew drewn?) a couple of decent pics, but that was the last of it. It's around 10 years ago now.

    I applaud you for continuing on and striving to improve! I wish I had your drive and tenacity.
  • JoenSoJoenSo Member Posts: 910
    I think it was Chuck Jones who had this quote about how every artist has thousands of bad drawings in them. The only way to get rid of them is to draw them out and just let them be bad.

    @DragonKing do you want to show any?
  • DragonKingDragonKing Member Posts: 1,979
    @Skatan
    It's not tenacity, it's more, "either make it or end up another statistic." That drives me to confirm to do what I do. If I stopped there is no telling what would come of me.

    @JoenSo I've been posting sketches here for a while now.
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,079
    I don't draw often. Usually either I win or I lose.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    A mild case of dysgraphia makes my handwriting and drawing inherently erratic and unreliable. Instead, I use a computer: I take parts of pictures I like and then manipulate them in Photoshop to create something completely different. The image gets twisted so much that it's impossible to tell what the original one was; the new one has nothing in common with the old.

    Other times I draw stuff from scratch. This one is a mix of both:

    Experienced eyes will be able to see how I made the shadows in Photoshop: I used a black brush to paint several semi-transparent layers in a few places, then softened the edges and smoothed them out with a semi-transparent eraser.

    What do you think it looks like? I see it as a gem of some sort.
  • JoenSoJoenSo Member Posts: 910


    Experienced eyes will be able to see how I made the shadows in Photoshop: I used a black brush to paint several semi-transparent layers in a few places, then softened the edges and smoothed them out with a semi-transparent eraser.

    What do you think it looks like? I see it as a gem of some sort.

    Nice! I really like those bright blue-white highlights. To me it looks like some mix between a sparkling seashell and a nebula.

    I usually use a mix of the eraser and the smudge tool to smooth out shadows. It's pretty hard to get the smoothness you want. I usually give the image some extra texture to avoid making it look too computer-ish. Like here:
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870



    What do you think it looks like? I see it as a gem of some sort.





    Congratulations! You've drawn a very nice specimen of the first instar of Stauropus fagi, commonly known as lobster moth.
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