@Elena-Marengoni I really like your sketches - very loose and expressive!

What do you use your sketchbook for? Do you use one/more than one at a time?

I used to be so good about finishing a sketchbook before starting another, but recently, I just sort of dive into whatever I'm feeling like at the moment. I tend to use my sketchbooks to work out ideas for illustrations and also to doodle whatever I feel like. I particularly like going on Pinterest and drawing a few things from reference with no particular aim because I think it's fun.

Do you have a specific theme for your sketchbook, or is it a mix of everything?

Mine tend to be a mix of everything! I used to try and keep separate sketchbooks for different things, but I always ended up neglecting one in favor of another and then feeling like I could never finish that book because I wasn't into that subject anymore.

What size is your preferred sketchbook, and why?

Gotta be a 8x10 - 9x12 size for me, though sometimes I like larger. I just really love to cram as much onto a page as possible and I like the freedom of having room to put more. I've used the smaller ones before but I have felt kind of cramped by them in the past.

Any tips that helped you evolve your sketchbook practice?

Lee White's idea of "thinkings" vs "drawings" has helped take some of the pressure off for sure. I still get stuck in the "my sketchbook has to be pretty" mindset sometimes, but I find I'm way more loose and less stressed when I just let the drawings be "bad" and just use it as a space to experiment, figure things out, and have fun!

One thing I'd like to do going forward though is date the pages because right now I'm keeping a soft bound bristol sketchbook so the pages come out easily and fall out of order. Plus, it's neat to see what you were thinking when.
I'm also looking to build a visual journaling habit this year!

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@jvartandillustration Something I've done before I make a list of 12 things I love drawing and 12 things I hate drawing. Then I roll 2 dice and I have to draw an illustration with a combination of the numbers rolled from each list. If you're feeling really creative you can add a third list with things like colors or emotions to really mix things up.

@R-Fey-Realme @K-Flagg @Nico-Ecenarro @LouD Thank you all for your feedback! I really appreciate it!

@Nico-Ecenarro Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it!

Hi, welcome! I can see improvement already in these drawings! ☺️

Since all of your characters are from the same angle you could try doing the gesture drawing course to get comfortable with more poses! I'm excited to see more of your work ☺️

Alllright - final 3!

Idea with this guy was he'd be a poisoner by trade, and since they carry their young on their back, it's a built in mobile defense platform!

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My kids were very clear that the Axolotl was the king. So... I tried to make him more of a head honcho. Thought maybe I would mirror the design a little of the Olm since they're very similar, but where the Olm would be an evil character, blind and deaf in his cave, the Axolotl would be the good ruler.

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And..... the holy cross frog. A friend of mine reminded me of that frog in Chronotrigger for the SNES. Totally forgot about that guy! So, here is a kind of ultimate badass inspired by Kaeru 🙂

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@skillydan that’s a great idea, thanks!

@miranda-hoover Thank you for the feedback!
I showed the drawing to a few family members and, from a distance, they couldn't make out where his arm was either; I think I need to put more effort into making sure the design remains visible/readable throughout the image, as all the small details of his arm really make it congested in certain areas, I think.

Thanks again!

Here is the finished piece after many many corrections. Thank you all for your help and feed back. Now of to the next challenge of drawing 🙂

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Hello Georgios! These characters are so cool~! It looks like they'd have a ton of fun adventure. The one thing that stood out to me was the character on the far left. His head is significantly larger than everyone else's, and though I get that he's a big character, I think if you made the head size a little smaller, he would fit a little more with the rest of the group. Right now it looks like if he was scaled down, he would have the same proportions as the character to the right of him. If you made the head smaller, it would make the rest of his body look bigger in proportion, similar to what you did with the character on the far right. Just my two cents! Thanks for sharing this fun cast of characters with us!

@ina thank you so much I do need to remember to think of it as "I grow each time"

@MyArt-Multiverse I understand the tablet thing. I used the same small wacom for about 15 years. The next one I got was a much larger one. There are pros and cons I suppose as there are times I miss my smaller one, but I do enjoy the feeling of being able to get my arm more into the game with the larger wacom. 🙂

@phoenix-yip yes. I think you want the focus to be their faces? The bright lightsabers keep drawing my attention more.

Hello again fellow artists!
So guys, listen!

Staying safe from the virus and being Quarantined at home sure is interesting. You find time to deal with a lot of stuff, and also concentrate on stuff that you want.
So I have been thinking how can I help in this situation!

In order to help some artists that might feel a bit cornered right now, I am giving away free lineart designs for you to color or tweak however you see fit!
The linearts are mostly Fanart designs, cause most of my Instagram requests were Fanart.

If you have any fellow artist or any child that might feel good with those lines, please notify me!!

Share the word, so that other fellow friend artists learn about this too!

Let's all do what we can for the world and help in any way we can think of!

Stay safe and healthy!
G-Chris

Ps.this is the link of the original Instagram post, if you feel more comfortable communicating from there! I also upload some of the examples! Hope it brings happiness to someone!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-XUbWSjL02/?igshid=1clc1dsmk9arv

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Thank you!

@Kevin-Longueil Took a bit time to answer, sorry! Thank you Kevin, this is helpful! Critique is always welcome 🙂 I am going to redraw her completely and post her here. Yes, everything was slightly squeezed, which I noticed when I mirrored her. I gave more space to the ear in the bottom drawing already. It was based on a really fast sketch.
Warmer skin tone in dark areas - this is interesting to me, because I used to choose a colder tone for shaded areas as this was what I learned to see. (reflection of blue sky light). I will experiment with that. Making the eyes pop = 👌

@Kevin-Longueil said in Going Digital ... Feedback, please!:

just checked out your Instagram - some really nice stuff!

Thank you!

@demotlj I Love that google picture idea!! thanks for the reply

Wow, I feel like a bad student, need to be doing this stuff more. It will improve you from the ground up and there is no better way to build up your skill!

@amberwingart Okay this time I did...

A Gradient pass on Screen of a bright orange from bottom to half way. This is to simulate the light coming from the bottom and fading out above him. A Gradient pass on Multiply in a dark blue from top to half way. I erased the edges from the outer oval where it had become blue to match the warm bottom of the oval background I did some bright circular gradients in a light blue on the bluebird. And finally I selected the inner back ground and turned the contrast down to match the top darkness to give the illusion of going back.
I think the last part was the most effective. You could do this with a dark glaze in your painting. I would test it on some canvas paper first though. I could make the foliage under his arm more green, but you get the gist...

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Appreciate the insight and responses Audrey, I agree I think this is a wall or hurdle I have to get over to push myself more into developing that art habit and stretch myself. So different than IT, but in a good way 🙂