Post 3: Perhaps I was too ambitious

    This drawing didn't really turn out nearly as good as I hoped it would. I think that I need to spend a lot more time studying rather than just drawing references. But I think in general this reference was a lot more complex than the stuff I usually draw. I don't think that I'll finish this fully since I'm lacking the motivation.

    This isn't to say that I've gained nothing from the experience of drawing this reference. I've realized that for especially more complex drawings like this, focusing on the simple aspects and not trying to complicate everything too quickly can be beneficial. I think when looking at the final product I unconsciously tried to mimic the bits of hair and every single little fold in the clothing. This led to a lot of frustration. 

Watching this video really helped: Speedpaint. It becomes clear that even for good artists the first sketch isn't pretty. My guess is its really just more of guides on how to form the rest of the drawing. They then add the more complex bits like hair strands, folds, etc. I think I've been trying too hard to make my first sketch way to complex. I need to probably make 2 sketches. One for the base form and the other for adding the bits on top.

Also, the coloring adds a touch to the drawing that I think you can't capture with just a sketch. I need to forget about trying to perfectly match the reference and just accept the fact that there will inevitably be some differences. 

Overall, the drawing was not close to my best but I think I gained some useful insights.

Post 2: All bow to the lasso

 Today's drawing turned out not too bad. I'm planning to finish it either tomorrow or the day after. Here is the ref: Miio Ref.

 The arms aren't drawn very well, but since the clothes were going to cover them anyway, I didn't focus too much on them. The rest of the body is proportionally passable thanks to my lord and savior, the lasso tool. Being able to shrink and rotate came in clutch. Still, I need to work on getting proportions right on the first try.

My main focus today was on making a cleaner sketch. If you look at my Hatsune Miku drawing, the messy lines are immediately obvious. I read that relying on messy sketches is a bad habit for beginners since I'm not yet using the lines purposefully. To fix this, I tried to plan each stroke before drawing it. It's still not perfect, but there's improvement.

My most important goal for tomorrow is to watch Mogoon's anatomy video and actually practice drawing different body parts. Then, I want to finish drawing at least the hair and clothes of my character. If I finish all that I possibly want to try coloring. I really like the color scheme that Miio gave her.

Post 1: The right arm got out of hand

This is the first drawing that I made after a while. It is of the goat, Hatsune Miku. The reference is linked here: Hatsune Miku Ref. This is obviously a sketch and not something even close to finished. 

Lately, I’ve been focusing on capturing both the face and body proportions in my drawings. I think I’ve reached a point where I can draw the face reasonably well, though I still need to experiment more with different expressions to gain enough confidence to create original characters.

Where I’m really struggling is with getting the body proportions right on the first try. One useful insight I had is that the upper arm — from shoulder to elbow — tends to align roughly with the bottom of the ribcage. That helped, but for some reason, I just could not get the right arm to look correct (you can see in the image I didn't include it). I suspect it’s due to a weak understanding of its structure.

Back when I was studying perspective, I drew everything as cylinders. That helped with some parts, but I still don’t have a solid grasp on the arm’s underlying form. I’m currently working through Mogoon’s art course, and I’ve just reached the episode on the body — hopefully that’ll help things click into place

Overall, I think there's room for improvement but its not bad.