So I'm doing art now, sorta

[Misery]

May as well show a few examples.

I'm not very good yet, dont expect magic. Expect unsteady lines and me not knowing how to use an eraser without smudging stuff.

First, pastels:

Ignore the shadow on the 2nd one, I'm too lazy to retake that.

Done using... uh... not oil pastels. I have some oil pastels but that aint what that is. This is the sort of thing I make the most commonly.

2nd most common thing I tend to do:

Brush lettering. Would you believe, this is WAY harder than any of the other things? I've got a big book that I'm learning from. It's a very, very slow process. This is also the most painful type to do. This will wreck your wrist if you're not careful. I went into lettering thinking it'd be easier on my arm. Nope.

Next:

Not very good, those. And before someone says "Oh sure they are!", no, they're not what I'd refer to as "true" drawings of those characters.

I just put images of them I found up on the screen, and then copied *exactly* what I was looking at onto the paper. It's one of the only things I know how to do. Ask me to take the same characters and come up with unique poses or expressions or situations, and you'll get a hideous scribbled mess.


Now, let's move on to today's abomination:

I set out to draw some rolling hills or something.

I did not get rolling hills. Instead I got... whatever that is. I tend to just start making lines at random for no reason until I get something that looks like something, even if I dont know what that something is.

Colored pencils, there.


And just for fun:

My art station. It is always a hideous mess. I havent gotten to the acrylics yet.


There, I'm done. Not much else to say, I think.

 

[elbowgrease]

I always liked calligraphy but I never felt like I had anything to say that was worth taking the time to write in fancy lettering.

 

[Rocco]

Lettering is extremely difficult for me too. Keep on creating! Some nice work here.

 

[Joshua the Writer]

You did a pretty good job!

 

[BrokenBoy]

Who's the guy in the drawing before the one with Wilson?

 

[Misery]

Who's the guy in the drawing before the one with Wilson?

Baron Blade. He's a villain from Sentinels of the Multiverse. Superhero themed co-op card game, that. It's on Steam (and there's a physical version too), has about 5 billion expansions, pretty darned good. It's one of the games that got me into my board gaming hobby, so it seemed fitting to draw one of the characters from that.

 

[Wolfsage]

The last one looks like what I call shape art. Where you draw random lines into shapes and color them. Fun even if you don't get an image you recognize. Doesn't mean it's bad though. Art is subjective to people and what they perceive. Example. One person sees Elvis in butter. Another sees John Wayne in a water stain on his wall.

 

[BrokenBoy]

Baron Blade. He's a villain from Sentinels of the Multiverse. Superhero themed co-op card game, that. It's on Steam (and there's a physical version too), has about 5 billion expansions, pretty darned good. It's one of the games that got me into my board gaming hobby, so it seemed fitting to draw one of the characters from that.

Will you ever do non Picasso-esque (For the lack of a better term) art or is that your preferred style?

 

[Misery]

Will you ever do non Picasso-esque (For the lack of a better term) art or is that your preferred style?

Frankly I wasnt even aware I had an artstyle at all. I've just been replicating characters... as in, drawing them *exactly* as I see them... or smashing shapes together at random, as I dont really know how to do much else.

That being said I have been sorta looking to different sources for some inspiration. Dont Starve is one of those, as I'm a big fan of that game and its overall aesthetic. I think I'll try to draw Maxwell next as he's my 2nd favorite of that cast.

As far as weird Picasso-ish things though, well, I suddenly remembered that I did this recently:

Though again, I did not create the character. She's actually from an animated series on Youtube... quite the trippy thing, that series. I always tend to get really obsessive over characters every now and then, and she's the most recent one. Chances are that series as a whole will be an influence, though the overall artstyle is... hard to describe. None of the other characters in it quite look like that but they're all still super bizarre.

Chances are though that aside from drawing game characters like Wilson, most of whatever I do will have some surreal aspect to it. Or just be more smashed up geometry.

The last one looks like what I call shape art. Where you draw random lines into shapes and color them. Fun even if you don't get an image you recognize. Doesn't mean it's bad though. Art is subjective to people and what they perceive. Example. One person sees Elvis in butter. Another sees John Wayne in a water stain on his wall.

Huh, I'd never heard the term "shape art" before. Interesting.

 

[BrokenBoy]

She's actually from an animated series on Youtube... quite the trippy thing, that series.

What's the name?

I always tend to get really obsessive over characters every now and then, and she's the most recent one.

Same, I even drew a crappy drawing of a character I really like even though I don't generally draw. I gave up on that dream forever ago due to being incompetent.

The character is Dapper Bones from Puyo Puyo.

Also, are you gonna set up a Deviantart or whatever to post your art?

 

[Misery]

What's the name?

Same, I even drew a crappy drawing of a character I really like even though I don't generally draw. I gave up on that dream forever ago due to being incompetent.
View attachment 64763

The character is Dapper Bones from Puyo Puyo.

Also, are you gonna set up a Deviantart or whatever to post your art?

The series as a whole is just "Ena", as that's her name.

It is this:

I've seen that like 80 times and it still doesnt really make much sense. One of those series where nobody really knows what the heck is going on. But it's only a couple of episodes in so far, so there's alot to go yet. I have no bloody idea why this episode is called "Extinction Party". I love the PS1-era cutscene vibe though.

Also your drawing there isnt bad, there's no reason why you cant keep going and practicing at it. The style in that game looks hard to do though... I notice when I look at the official art of that Bones character there's alot of really smooth curved lines and exaggerated angles. To me that looks *really* hard to draw. I have enough trouble drawing curves of any sort and straight lines require a straight edge of some sort. Even then it takes freaking ages.

As for DA, I dunno. The problem is that DA is mostly for digital art. I do have a drawing tablet but I only just very recently started using it and am very definitely not used to it yet. Most of my art practice so far has been with actual physical stuff. Besides I cant really make anything that is much good yet.

 

[BrokenBoy]

Also your drawing there isnt bad, there's no reason why you cant keep going and practicing at it.

The problem is that I can only draw characters (I can't do backgrounds either) from a "front view" where they are positioned exactly in front of the "screen". I literally can't draw things in a side view or have characters in dynamic angles unless it's traced. My autistic brain literally can't visualize the subject of the drawing like that which makes it impossible to draw. Hell, I can't even draw characters unless it's showing off their whole body. I can't do "zoomed in" stuff. Everything I draw is more like a video game sprite due to all the stuff above.

As for DA, I dunno. The problem is that DA is mostly for digital art. I do have a drawing tablet but I only just very recently started using it and am very definitely not used to it yet. Most of my art practice so far has been with actual physical stuff. Besides I cant really make anything that is much good yet.

Dude, DA isn't just for digital stuff. There's plenty of physical art. They even have a category for traditional drawings. I honestly doubt that anyone would try to troll you or anything over that. And I've seen a lot of awful, terrible artists post on DA and I can safely say that you're probably better. Your style (or the things your artworks have in common since you claim to not have a style) shares some similarties to other, talented people on the site.

Anyways don't worry too much about this stuff. I know a friend who's also an artist (who does tons of physical stuff as well) who also gets really insecure about art things. That's how I know what I know. You just gotta be more confident and practice every day if possible and get feedback.

 

[renaeden]

I like all of your drawings. The lettering one looks very good.

It would be hard for me to learn lettering like that because I'm left-handed.

 

[Misery]

A couple more:

These are both actually older ones that I did awhile ago, but they'd gotten mixed in with the rest of the stuff on my art station (which is now twice as big and twice as messy).

I like all of your drawings. The lettering one looks very good.

It would be hard for me to learn lettering like that because I'm left-handed.

That's not really a factor, actually.

If you can hold a pencil/pen, you can learn brush lettering... simple as that. Which hand you're holding it with doesnt change the techniques one bit.

No, what's hard about it is learning to do the blasted motions in a steady way instead of all wobbly. The movements you use are very slow and careful, so it actually takes a long time and it's so easy to make a mistake that ruins it (after all, there's no erasing). The lettering picture I showed probably took like 40 minutes to do.

Other than that tough part, all you need is a set of decent brush pens, marker paper (never use sketch paper with brush pens or they'll get wrecked very quickly) and books or videos that teach the method (I have a book for it). The rest is all coordination and taking it slow, regardless of which hand you're using.

 

[Markness]

Do you use a specific brand for colored pencils? I’ve been thinking of coloring in my sketch of X but I think the only coloring pencils I have around the house are just cheap Crayola ones.

I think I used Crayola pencils for this back in 2009, IIRC. I actually submitted it to an art contest for a Darkstalkers art book. I didn’t make the cut but I didn’t care. I just wanted to show Darkstalkers support.

 

[BrokenBoy]

Darkstalkers is so cool!

 

[Misery]

Do you use a specific brand for colored pencils? I’ve been thinking of coloring in my sketch of X but I think the only coloring pencils I have around the house are just cheap Crayola ones.

I use these:

https://www.dickblick.com/items/prismacolor-premier-colored-pencils-set-of-72/

That's the specific set I have, and that's also the site where I generally get all of my supplies.

Something I've learned is that quality of materials is definitely important for getting good results. Not to mention also just for having the things last longer. With colored pencils, that means less chance of the point snapping off at random intervals, and a better array of more vibrant colors. Though you also want to make sure to have the right type of paper. Something I didnt at all realize when I started was just how many types of paper there are. Cant use sketchbook paper for brush pens or watercolor painting, for instance. The brush pens would be ruined quickly on normal sketching paper, wheras watercolors would just create a warped, soggy mess. So I've also got marker paper, watercolor canvas, and acrylic canvas. Among some other stuff.

So yeah, combine good quality materials with good quality paper that matches the tools used, and you get good results easier. Unfortunately normal craft stores just dont carry anything of actually good quality. They tend to have just things like beginner sets and, well, just cheaper stuff. So I'm glad that site exists.

Speaking of supplies, my art station has been upgraded:

What a horrible mess, eh? As if I'm ever organized.

The wood board at the bottom is a mounting board for stretching the watercolor canvas... I still have yet to try it, gonna need a tutorial on how to properly set it up.

 

[Markness]

I use these:

https://www.dickblick.com/items/prismacolor-premier-colored-pencils-set-of-72/

That's the specific set I have, and that's also the site where I generally get all of my supplies.

Something I've learned is that quality of materials is definitely important for getting good results. Not to mention also just for having the things last longer. With colored pencils, that means less chance of the point snapping off at random intervals, and a better array of more vibrant colors. Though you also want to make sure to have the right type of paper. Something I didnt at all realize when I started was just how many types of paper there are. Cant use sketchbook paper for brush pens or watercolor painting, for instance. The brush pens would be ruined quickly on normal sketching paper, wheras watercolors would just create a warped, soggy mess. So I've also got marker paper, watercolor canvas, and acrylic canvas. Among some other stuff.

So yeah, combine good quality materials with good quality paper that matches the tools used, and you get good results easier. Unfortunately normal craft stores just dont carry anything of actually good quality. They tend to have just things like beginner sets and, well, just cheaper stuff. So I'm glad that site exists.

I’d have to save up before buying that set or go for a set with less colors. I do wonder how they would fair on my sketch pad, though. I don’t know how much my big one that I’ve used for my latest projects cost since it was given to me as a gift but the front says it’s meant for pencils, crayons, markers, pen & ink, pastels, and charcoal.

 

[Misery]

I’d have to save up before buying that set or go for a set with less colors. I do wonder how they would fair on my sketch pad, though. I don’t know how much my big one that I’ve used for my latest projects cost since it was given to me as a gift but the front says it’s meant for pencils, crayons, markers, pen & ink, pastels, and charcoal.

Yeah, you dont need a set with that many, depending on your usage of it. I splurged on it simply because there's usually no reason for me NOT to do that and it's become a habit.

If you look around on the site there, there are many different sets in that line, consisting of different counts of colors, all the way down to 12 or so (or even much higher than 72, but that seems unnecessarily excessive to me).

As for the sketch pad, that doesnt need to be some ultra-quality pad or something. Sketch paper has a rough texture to it... and that's all it needs. That rough texture is simply what causes the material that the pencil (or whatever) puts down to be pulled off of the tip in the first place. Buying more expensive sketch paper wont magically make the pencils somehow work better as it's basically just the same concept but more money.

 

[Skittlebisquit]

May as well show a few examples.

I'm not very good yet, dont expect magic. Expect unsteady lines and me not knowing how to use an eraser without smudging stuff.

First, pastels:

View attachment 64058

View attachment 64064

Ignore the shadow on the 2nd one, I'm too lazy to retake that.

Done using... uh... not oil pastels. I have some oil pastels but that aint what that is. This is the sort of thing I make the most commonly.

2nd most common thing I tend to do:

View attachment 64059

Brush lettering. Would you believe, this is WAY harder than any of the other things? I've got a big book that I'm learning from. It's a very, very slow process. This is also the most painful type to do. This will wreck your wrist if you're not careful. I went into lettering thinking it'd be easier on my arm. Nope.

Next:

View attachment 64062

View attachment 64063

Not very good, those. And before someone says "Oh sure they are!", no, they're not what I'd refer to as "true" drawings of those characters.

I just put images of them I found up on the screen, and then copied *exactly* what I was looking at onto the paper. It's one of the only things I know how to do. Ask me to take the same characters and come up with unique poses or expressions or situations, and you'll get a hideous scribbled mess.


Now, let's move on to today's abomination:

View attachment 64060


I set out to draw some rolling hills or something.

I did not get rolling hills. Instead I got... whatever that is. I tend to just start making lines at random for no reason until I get something that looks like something, even if I dont know what that something is.

Colored pencils, there.


And just for fun:

View attachment 64065

My art station. It is always a hideous mess. I havent gotten to the acrylics yet.


There, I'm done. Not much else to say, I think.