Ello! So... back in the day (circa 2015-2019) I used to do art, primarily fanart of characters. I did mostly traditional art for a long time, using colored pencils and copic markers, before transitioning into digital art using a drawing tablet (I forgot what type!) and photoshop. Well, in high-school, I sort of transitioned outside of art and started to develop a love for poetry and reading, which felt more personal to me as a creative outlet. I quickly ditched art altogether, feeling like it took too much time for such little reward, and gave away almost all my art supplies to my niece (who is now going to school to be a tattoo artist, how cool!). Recently, I've been interested in dabbling back into drawing again just for the sake of pleasure. I would love to bring my own characters to life and just have the ability to create more visually. This time, though, I want to really strengthen my anatomy and style, and fix the mistakes of my past art. I bought myself a fresh sketchbook and have loved studying references and learning again, despite minor frustrations! My husband also bought me an iPad so I can draw using Procreate! This forum will serve as a documentation of my new journey with falling in love with the process of art and drawing again and finding my style ♡
The first page of my new sketchbook: General studying using past knowledge + references on Pinterest. Ignore my super sloppy handwriting (way messier than my usual handwriting) haha. Also, the side profile of the lips is bothering me... I need to fix that.
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Last edited by deleted46 on Wed Dec 17, 2025 2:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Tackling the daunting task of hands. Took photos of my left hand, broke it up into simple shapes, and ta-da! Pretty proud, as I used to always avoid drawing hands. Breaking anatomy down into circles/lines/shapes has really helped me understand placement and size. Really fun nevertheless!
The first piece on my iPad! Genuinely surprised with how well it turned out, and it has made me excited to draw more. Big thanks to my husband for the idea for the hairstyle, so cute! She looks pretty good if I do say so myself!
Today, I took some time away from looking at anatomy and more so tried to learn more about digital art and procreate in general. One is my attempt from yesterday… sort of falling back on older drawing habits from my teen years (flat.. boring, not really what I was going for). The second one is my attempt from today after watching a few videos about procreate and such! Turned out a lot better haha. I think next, I really wanna do more anatomy studies, both drawn traditionally and on the iPad. It’s been really enjoyable to learn and challenge myself! I have so much more to learn and improve on!
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Small journal entry: Today I took more time watching tutorials and taking notes, as well as just watching artists and see their process and what they do. I also looked at a lot of references, particularly skull and head references. I feel like I have learned a lot, and gained a lot of inspiration just by watching and looking at them. And then I wondered, did I not do this in the past? I know I would sometimes look up references, but it was few and far between, and never did I ever bother to actually research and learn correct anatomy and techniques. I can't tell you why. Age? Pride? Ignorance? I had plenty of resources back then, so honestly, I am not sure why I didn't take advantage of it. Maybe a part of me thought "oh well i'm drawing in a less-realistic style so i don't need to learn realistic principles" WRONG, GIRL, WRONG! Whoever said the quote "To break the rules you must first learn them" or something like that is correct. It has really shaped how I have gone into drawing this time around, and hasn't deterred me but has rather made me intrigued. Part of me thinks it's because I am more curious now than in the past. When you're in school and being told what to learn, it's hard finding the will to want to learn/study anything else. Well, now that I am done with school, I have found myself a lot more curious and willing to learn in my own time! Anyways, now, I see opportunities for art everywhere. I've been piling up reference photos I hope to study soon and practice. Been finding some really useful videos and artists, too! Overall, I'm just excited for this new journey and it has really reminded me of when I would get so excited to draw back in middle school.
Drew this yesterday while looking at a reference!! While it isn’t 100% accurate to the original photo, I’m very proud of it because I was able to learn a lot about anatomy while sketching and coloring! I don’t plan to draw realism, but studying it helps me understand how I can incorporate it into my stylized versions. Also, I added a watermark! If anyone is interested in seeing the reference photo I used, I can include it in my next post.
Current WIP of my girl Draculaura! I know I need to start doing more full body and dynamic poses and expressions, but honestly, I'm still trying to figure out my style and how I want to go about lineart + coloring, all that jazz. It took me a while to get to this point in the WIP, so I'm having to be a bit more patient with myself. I used to be able to do a whole drawing in one sitting, but perhaps that was the problem. Now, I am taking time to really think about what is wrong with the piece or what I dislike so I can edit it accordingly without getting too overwhelmed. Anyways, here's her so far. Gonna try to finish her up and try to do some full-body studies and doodles in my actual sketchbook.
AHHH YESSSS I had all the Draculaura dolls as a little girl (along with really really old Facebook fan pages...). I currently have 3 of the dolls still and she's still one of my beloved fictional characters.
After spending HOURS doing line art, coloring, and rendering of the Draculaura piece... I felt so unhappy with it. There were parts of it I did like, like pieces of the coloring and such, but overall, I was disappointed and frustrated. So, soon after, I did this doodle of Rapunzel and colored it messily all within 30 minutes and liked it so much more than the Draculaura piece *facepalm* I think a big problem is, I am falling into the habits of my older digital art. And while my old art isn't terrible, all the things "bad" or "wrong" (in my eyes) about it showed up in my Draculaura piece. BUT the Rapunzel doodle helped clear my head and try a totally different technique at a faster speed (so I wasn't so obsessed with the details) and I think I learned a lot. I learned what I disliked, and what I liked in terms of each piece. So, while today was full of frustration, I ended it feeling pleased that I at least learned something. If anyone was wondering, I really like the sketchier look of the line art (as opposed to the clean, black line art) and the coloring technique. Some artists on Youtube recommend using a more painterly style of blending rather than an airbrush effect, and I definitely see why. I also have been taking notes of other artists I really like, and seeing what about their art I could potentially incorporate into my own style and technique. For the sake of my sanity... I won't be posting the finished Draculaura piece. Even though it isn't terrible, I'm not the happiest with it.
Ooooh the painterly coloring/shading is lovely! I'm a big fan of how you render eyes
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Quick Journal Entry: Ahh! I don't know what better way to describe it. I have really loved the process of learning when it comes to art! Every piece I do, or bits of practice, I am able to observe what I can do better. I have super enjoyed both traditional sketching and digital art and I am brewing up lots of inspiration. I once saw the need to learn as a negative thing, and would beat myself up for not automatically being perfect, but I am really enjoying the ups and downs of art! I also have been observing aspects of my favorite artists that I can incorporate into my own style. Some super helpful Youtubers I've been watching are: - pikat (I watch her streams as well) - Samdoesart - hassaneart - LikelihoodArt - AlicjaNai - Halleyvision - pateseich
bye!
