Muahahahaa! That’s me as a devil, reigning in hell – and that’s my darling little Sputnik, who most definitely would never go to hell, because he is an angel.
Specs:
Corel Painter 2019
Wacom Tablet
Time: 2-3 hours?
I promised myself I would dedicate myself more to art now-days, for a number of reasons – one being that I’ve neglected my art since school, even though art was one of my first loves. Unfortunately I could never see how I’d ever be good enough to make a career out of art and I let it slide in favour of writing, though of course making a living *actually* out of writing is equally – in fact, I’d say rather a lot more so – tough and unlikely. Writing requires opportunities and contacts first and talent last; as with any art, it’s my experience (and that of many very talented people I’ve spoken to) that it’s nothing to do with pure talent, or a love for it, or a passion. While of course you need all of these to succeed, it doesn’t mean a right lot if nobody thinks you’re important and nobody knows you exist.
Art is probably the same, but then it depends where you’re coming from. If you’re a fine painter then you’ll have a very different experience to a cartoonist, or someone who does watercolour pet portraits, and so on. ‘Art’ is an umbrella term which encompasses so many things. However, being a visual form, it is much easier for people to access, and therefore you can get a lot of satisfaction from art without ever needing to be recognised, famous, or “successful”. The love of creating art feeds the soul. It’s for those reasons that I wanted to turn my learning back to art, because it’s a pure joy and you never stop learning.
With that in mind, I’ve been practicing on my Wacom tablet over the last few months, though not as much as I’d like to because of work and travelling to and from my partner’s house. I’ve been proud of my progress and I believe I am defining my own style. Youtube has been a massive help, as well as Instagram – it’s so inspiring to see the amazing artists out there, and what’s more is that they’re all more than happy to share their techniques and tips. I seem to enjoy drawing portraits of women the most, and my style is a kind of two-tone comic book style – I did develop this a little in my teen years, but I had such limited knowledge, tools, and access to support that it just fell away. Back then, Deviantart was an amazing resource, but it was the *only* resource. Youtube wasn’t nearly as full of self-made content as it is now, and Instagram didn’t exist. Today, tutorials are so much more accessible than they were back then, and you can get them for free.
One thing I’ve gotten much better at recently is drawing bodies, hands, and feet. My style used to be chibi/caricature (massive heads, small bodies), which is a style I loved years ago, but it probably reflected the fact that I preferred to draw heads. Bodies were much harder, and I wasn’t used to drawing them on a bigger scale. What I’ve learned to do is sketch with a digital ‘2b pencil’ and draw a figure much like a wooden art model (the kind with the ball joints that you can bend and manipulate), and use a photo of a model in the pose I liked. I could then draw a clunky model from the photo and then compose my art on top of the model I created. Neat, hm?
So, I finally felt ‘good enough’ to do an art challenge! I drew myself as a devil because I’d recently watched Keanu Reeves’ Constantine (a favourite from my teens), and also because I’m reading Hellblazer: Original Sins (John Constantine), so I’m all about demons and the occult. I also watched the Netflix documentary, ‘Hail Satan?’, which was really interesting, so this all combined to put me in a devlish mood. I was inspired by someone who posted their ‘draw yourself like a villain’ challenge in a Facebook group, and I just had to take part. I hope you like it; I’m very proud of it!
Other news
I’m back in the office full-time now, which is great, but the floor’s all taped up to keep us 2m apart, and we have to santize and spray every surface after using it. It’s not so bad; it’s just different, like everything right now.
Best news of all: we finally got our mortgage approved! My lovely boyfriend and his adorable kitten are moving across the country to be with me in our gorgeous new house. I honestly never thought I’d see the day that I’d be really happy, but here we are, starting our lives together. It’s mad how fast things can change over the course of a couple of years. There’s talks of marriage and babies, but for now we just want to get into our new house and make it ours. There will be pictures – oh yes, there will be pictures!
Best wishes,
Ashleigh
As Told by Ashleigh 