I've been more productive art-wise this month, but not in the context of webcomic production. I'll explain.
June Summary
This month I've really leaned into my traditional art roots. Not only have I been doing a lot of art journaling, but I've also started doing more gouache paintings. They have been very relaxing and fun to do, and I hope to eventually improve my painting skills to paint more vibrant and picturesque sceneries.
In the last image, you'll find it looks a bit different and that's because I wanted to try my hand at watercolour once more. Let me give a bit of a story behind my journey with watercolours, since it holds a special place in my heart.
In the past when I first started out anime drawing, I used to colour my anime illustrations with watercolours, and that was my main medium I identified with for a while. Over time, as I got more involved with digital art, I stopped watercolouring altogether. For a while, I wanted to keep my roots in watercolour anime art alive, but I felt like there was no place for it anymore. I still don't think I will return to watercolour anime art because I think the things I want to accomplish is better fulfilled with digital art. But I still miss how fun it was mixing and playing with paints.
So I want to find my own unique identity exclusive to watercolouring - I didn't want it to be comparable to my digital style, nor my gouache style. I want all of my art ventures to be unique and special in it's own way. I don't want to be painting with one medium and think "It's easier or turns out nicer in another medium" - I want to be special enough to think "this can only be accomplished with this medium alone" and thus, I keep the spirits of each alive in their own ways.
With watercolouring, landscape art was out of the question - it's too unforgiving of a medium, and I'm the type of artist who always needs a sketch. If you have a sketch with watercolour art, you either have to lineart it, or have it neat enough to just paint over it and be a part of the painting. I can't have a neat sketch, and I don't feel landscape art goes well with a lineart. Eventually, after much contemplation...I ended up with architectural sceneries that were lineart dependant. And that's what's led to my new evolved watercolour identity of unique shopfronts and architecture. I'm quite satisfied with the art journey I've made this month, and I can't wait to see how they evolve.
In addition to my traditional art ventures, yes, I've also finally completed the digital art illustration I've been working on since late last year:
Finally, it's complete! Finally, another digital illustration! I've done a lot of illustrations with Abel, but I've never drawn one of him with his long hair. So I thought I ought to pay a homage to this look before it's gone ... :)
During the phase of this look, he is quite antagonistic towards our cast, so I wanted to portray him as such in this image. Originally, it was going to be the new thumbnail of the comic once it was complete, but I think it might just be a little too soon for that. I hope to be able to portray his story well in the comic!
Technically, I completed another illustration this month as well. It's a special halfbody commission for a client which wont be shown publicly outside this blog :) It's probably one of the more vibrant illustrations I've done from all the different light sources, I'm quite happy with what I've learnt about drawing fire in this commission!
That's about it for the updates this month - I did a lot of illustrations, but unfortunately nothing comic-related. I'm going overseas next month so I doubt I'll be productive in this department. Nevertheless, I hope to continue growing my spirit and love for art, no matter the medium.
July Goals
No July goals for this month either. It'll be a surprise :)
See you in next month's update! Ciao!
Comments