Yeah. Just a book full of designs and illustrations.
[NOTE: This book may contain either digital or photographed art. Please take note of future spoilers as well.]
Okay, I need to work on those hands soon XD Also, I'm trying to find a good nose for my art style. That's why it looks long, not . . . buttony XD
Anyway, it's just a sketch. I'm not sure if I wanna color it or what (I made it in PicsArt, which is a first, since my main is SketchbookX), but I've a feeling it'll look awesome in color. I have JUST the idea, but it's late at night and I don't wanna exhaust myself again :P
Anyway . . . compare today's picture with this:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I suddenly regret inserting that picture XD It's an old entry in this very same art book. Feel free to look.
It's an old concept of Element (or Emerald), back when Emerald used to be my account representative. Emerald was really created for a fantasy setting, and her original personality (tomboyish, smart, and somewhat lax) felt fake. So I let her mature into who she is right now (a pure OC, now a calm, collected, and intellectual) and went for Element, who will inherit my identity as a person and carry it over to my own works as a representative. Call her a self-insert, but hey — at least I feel like it's really me! <*hugs an Element chibi doll*>
Also, I just wanna reminisce to the past. The second pic was when I was fantasizing about being able to draw in manga style. I tried to copy the eye style, but obviously, it went messy (just look at that! XD). And my hand proportions are horrible. Shoulders and torso I'm kinda fine about (I managed to learn body structure early), but limbs? That would be a NO THANK YOU for twelve-year-old me.
Why this specific picture? Well, both pictures are made on PicsArt. That old drawing was an old sketch of mine back when I was still trying to get used to drawing without a pen, pencil, stylus — anything. It's just my finger, the whole time. I struggled as a kid, even with references (remember that Pikachu sketch?). It was back before I used SketchbookX, where my progress just . . . exploded.
At twelve years old, I created humans correctly but without any ensuring that I'd ever go past the "stiff-stick figure" standard. Most of us in sixth grade (the time I made this) weren't as inclined as some of us and would marvel at any work we make. As a sixth grader, I thought I'd be stuck with that style.
It was in seventh grade when I decided to be diligent. I found a manga tutorial book and bought it (thanks, Dad) and tried to get my style close to the examples, almost every possible time. I made an announcement in this very book about being excited to learn the manga style. And . . . I guess I made it.
I just read all this back up and remembered that until now, I'm still looking for ways to improve. I got the human style already, so what's next? Animals. Wings. Dynamics. Battle. Emotions. Freaking animation, for god's sake. Without knowing, I've driven myself to improve even after I had broken the standards I set when I was younger. I'm an artist (and newbie animator), and I want to improve. That's my set goal right now.
So, any of you readers artists? I know some of you are artists. So I have a piece of advice: Don't go for better. Go for best, and chase it. Do the best you can, and strive to prove to yourself that you can definitely go farther than where you're standing right now. An artist's canvas is theirs to rule: Paper, canvas, cloth, screen, fiber, anything. It's your world to rule; Knock yourself out!
