One of my fave artists (she made my custom Shepard portrait) is helping me become a better artist and has been sending me really helpful tips and exercises to do that will help me relearn how to draw while dealing with arthritis (it’s been really hard on my hands). Her name is Cheyenne and she’s wonderful (you can find her work on Tumblr and her words over on Twitter). First step: gesture drawings to focus on how my hand moves.

Since I can’t stop watching Yuri On Ice (I’m watching it for the fifth time now), all my gestures are based on figure skating poses. These are each quick 30 seconds sketches to loosen up my pen flow. I’m still pretty slow and rigid, but I’m getting there and it means a lot to have the guidance of an artist I admire so much.

I’ll keep getting better every time I draw. One sketch at a time!

I had mentioned before about the accountability swap I’m doing with my friend Meg. We were both absolutely swamped the last couple of weeks so it ended up falling off the radar, but we’re getting back at it. Our last topic was the Avengers (Meg’s choice) so I decided to do Lady Loki. Here’s the work in progress of it.

Lady Loki channeling her inner Xena

One of the things I’m hoping to get out of this project is to work on my anatomy skills and attempt to draw some more dynamic poses and more realistic styles. I felt like doing a super hero was the perfect time to try to push myself on both of these things. I’m somewhat happy with it, though I’m definitely still struggling with anatomy. I used a comic book reference of Loki himself for the pose. One thing this is teaching me though is that I’d really like to start going to figure drawing classes again. I think it’d be a good reminder on how the human body works and moves.

What this overall exercise is also teaching me is that I really need to start actively making more time to draw. It’s so easy to let work overrun everything and then just climb into bed and ignore the rest of the day. I have a full-time 9-5 job and a part-time job on weekends (and some evenings), so drawing tends to be the first thing that falls to the wayside. But when I make myself actually sit down and be creative and force myself to set aside time, I always feel better. There’s a certain zen to drawing that I don’t feel with anything else and so I’m thankful that this accountability is there.

Anyway. If you have some anatomy advice or anything else, feel free to comment and let me know! ♥

It’s been awhile since I drew on a daily basis, but I’ve been attempting to make it a regular thing again. Thanks to my awesomesauce friend Meg Smitherman, I’ve been at least doing it weekly. We’ve been doing an accountability sketch thing where we give ourselves one weekly topic and then draw it or sketch it however we see fit. Figured I’d do an art dumb of some of the sketches I’ve been working on for the challenges.

Topic: Star Wars | Sketch: Asyr Sei’lar, Rogue Squadron

Topic: Mass Effect | Sketch: EDI

Topic: Harry Potter | Sketch: Luna Lovegood

Tiefling Barbarians FTW!

That last one isn’t for the sketch thing – I just wanted to draw up an avatar for my Tiefling Barbarian that my play in our D&D campaign. Her name is Orianna and she’s loud and brash and likes shining things. She’s also very sarcastic and smooth with the ladies. I love her.

I’ve also been doing a little post-it note doodle challenge with myself to try and get the creative juices going in the morning. Usually I do these while I’m on client calls when I’m not taking notes (having my hands moving keeps my mind focused on what I’m listening to – I was a notorious doodler in classes too but it really does help) so they’re pretty small and silly. You can find these over on my twitter account. I try to post them pretty regularly. When I’m not sick. Fighting off a bad cough and cold right now so I’m a little slow.

Will post more art later! Working on finishing that Asyr sketch and the Luna one. Wish me luck!

Chickadee-dee-dee-dee.

Happy New Year! Resolutions? Sure. Why not. 1. More Art. 2. Less candy (crap, failing this already). 3. Be more fit (got kicked out of bootcamp on the first day because of a hurt disc but I’m joining a yoga/stretching class so we’re doing good on this one). 4. Bring back The Family Menagerie. 5. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes (agh). 6. DANCE MORE.

I don’t think any of those need elaborate explanations. Mainly, my focus this year will be on health and personal growth. I want to be healthier both in mind and body and so I’m turning to things that make me happy. Drawing of course is good for the soul, as is dancing (and singing – which I’m quietly going to try to do more of – Ash got me a ukelele for Christmas so I’m teaching myself to play), and making mistakes is important for growing (I’m horrible at allowing myself mistakes). I have a horrible reputation for not taking care of myself physically so I’m making that a priority this year. Get healthy. Eat more veggies. Treat my body with respect. Be Good. And all of that jazz. Excitement!

I’m slightly less excited about the whole “less candy” thing.

My favorite part of the resolution is drawing more. Keep an eye on this space as it’ll be updated again in the very near future with more sketches. For now though, since really this post is about my favorite things and being happy, you should all check out my tumblr since that’s my virtual happy place. It’s full of shiny, happy things.

And that, ladies and gents, concludes this first “life” post of the year. How have you been? Have any resolutions you can’t wait to kick into gear?

We’re going to split this down into different posts so I can focus on my intentions for each. Do I know how many there will be? Nope. I honestly haven’t given it much thought, so I’ll blog about them as I come up with them. That’s just how I roll. Speaking of roll, I could really go for some sushi.

Maybe New Years Resolution Numbero Uno should be stop getting distra-

PUPPY.

Or blog more. I’m sorry. I’m being left to my own devices. Which means eating a lot of sugar. Let’s see if we can get this post back on track. Where was I.

Resolution: MAKE MORE ART.

So I continually make up excuses for why I don’t draw anymore. I’m too busy. My room needs to be cleaned. There’s too much to do. The cat stole my eraser. It’s endless. So what I’ve finally realized is that if I want to draw, I’m going to just have to do it and to hell with all the other responsibilities I have. Is this responsible? Maybe not but it sure will make me happier, right? Right.

So this is my first New Years resolution (better late than never huh?): MAKE MORE ART. So check out my deviantart page and feel free to kick me in the butt and tell me to update it more often. I don’t need an eraser, right? The cat can have it.

So, even if it’s just one small doodle a day, I’m going to start making a conscious effort to get more art finished and out the door. I’m sure the thousands of people I owe art to will appreciate this. Again… better late than never, right?

Right.