Published Dec 8th, 2024, 12/8/24 10:00 am
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Welcome back to my Sketchbook Journey. I’m Stubbs, and I have now been drawing every day for an entire year (holy cow, that is a lot of drawing! o_O ). Join me this time, as I round off our first year of drawing, and FINALLY focus set our focus on the features of the face, how to structure the face, and how the perspective affects the way everything looks.
While I may not be a seasoned artist (yet!), I hope that you might learn something new or be inspired by this entry, as we chart through the progress from day 301 to 360.
Have you used similar methods in your learning processes? How have they worked for you?
Share your experiences and questions you might have in the comments below.
(New blogs will be uploaded every 60 days)
Table of contents:
- Showcase / Comparisons
- How this journey started
- Approach / Mindset
- Materials
- Goal
- Part. 1 – A chaos of a start
- Part. 2 – Setting the rules
- Part. 3 – Skull studies begins
- Part. 4 – Setting myself back
- Part. 5 – A test of skill
- Tips from the community!
- Plans for the future
This blog is part of this video! | ||
Showcase:
This is my day 301 and day 360 drawings, using the same reference:
Day. 301 and Day. 360
How this journey started
My path into drawing began through a series of revelations about the choices I had made in my life. Initially, I pursued music, convinced that it was my calling, until my studies in child psychology led me to discover the self-destructive patterns underlying that choice, since it was not my own choice, but my parents’ choice. This realization spurred a profound shift in me, that ultimately led to me dropping out and moving to Germany to study intellectual history – a field of study, which doesn’t lead directly to a conventional job (like studying psychology).
In 2023, after having moved to Germany, I began reading the manga “Beat and Motion” by Naoki Fujita, which in many regards, mirrored my own disillusionment with music and helped redirect my passion towards art-making. The kicker for me to finally go out and buy the equipment and start following my dream of becoming a full-time artist, was actually PewDiePie’s video: Teaching myself to draw for no reason.
So! On the 9th of December, 2023, I bought my first A5 sketchbook, drawing pencils, an eraser and a pencil sharpener for 20€.
This blog-series, is my Sketchbook Journey, from having never drawn before, to going full-time.
In 2023, after having moved to Germany, I began reading the manga “Beat and Motion” by Naoki Fujita, which in many regards, mirrored my own disillusionment with music and helped redirect my passion towards art-making. The kicker for me to finally go out and buy the equipment and start following my dream of becoming a full-time artist, was actually PewDiePie’s video: Teaching myself to draw for no reason.
So! On the 9th of December, 2023, I bought my first A5 sketchbook, drawing pencils, an eraser and a pencil sharpener for 20€.
This blog-series, is my Sketchbook Journey, from having never drawn before, to going full-time.
My approach to learning / mindset
NOTICE: The following sections might change in later entries in accordance with me learning new stuff
⁍ Draw → Reflect → Learn:
I find that doing repetitions of the Draw → Reflect → Learn cycle, is the best way to notice my repeated mistakes, while also helping me hone in and improve on aspects of drawing, where I am currently lacking. This method has proven itself to be especially effective in digital art, with the introduction of layers, and being able to use references as overlays that instantly lets me know, what I did right and what I need to improve on. This cycle also builds upon all the other methods for learning, and is in a way the glue that keeps everything together in my approach to learning.
⁍ Consistency (Pomodoro):
Another key part of how I learn is consistency. Consistency means I draw every single day, with no exceptions. I started at 10 minutes, and now draw for between 1-2 hours. As for reaching 1-2 hours each day, I like using the Pomodoro method – specifically the 30/5 or 15/5 timer (30 or 15 minutes work, 5 minutes break), depending on how much energy I have.
⁍ Benchmark drawing:
Benchmark drawing is closely tied to the Draw --> Reflect --> Learn cycle, but a benchmark drawing can technically be any drawing that I have ever made. The thing to note however, is that from day. 335 and forwards, I have put in place a few rules for what counts as a benchmark drawing. Specifically, I must draw something specific, like a body-part, without using reference. There are two points to doing this:
1. A benchmark is supposed to honestly portray your skills at a specific point in time --> meaning you are not locked to the first benchmark; the first benchmark is the departure point, showing all the areas of improvement that you currently have.
2. A benchmark is a point of reference against which future work can be compared to --> meaning if you're like me, and struggle with the feeling that you never seem to get any better at drawing, no matter how much you practice --> benchmark drawings are (with complementary use of the Draw --> Reflect --> Learn cycle), going to prove that idea wrong, the more benchmark drawings we create over time!
⁍ Relying heavily on art-fundamentals (The 20/80 rule):
I strongly believe in the Pareto Principle (the 20/80 rule), which states that you can draw 80% of what you want, from learning the 20% of what it takes to draw. Breaking down what the 20% most likely is, I like to refer to ‘The 5 skill pillars’: (1) Composition, (2) Value / Light, (3) Color, (4) Form and Perspective, and (5) Technical ability with tools.
Currently I mainly practice form and perspective, without much thought given to any of the other skills. However, I see all 5 skills as the 20% that I need and want to learn.
⁍ Draw → Reflect → Learn:
I find that doing repetitions of the Draw → Reflect → Learn cycle, is the best way to notice my repeated mistakes, while also helping me hone in and improve on aspects of drawing, where I am currently lacking. This method has proven itself to be especially effective in digital art, with the introduction of layers, and being able to use references as overlays that instantly lets me know, what I did right and what I need to improve on. This cycle also builds upon all the other methods for learning, and is in a way the glue that keeps everything together in my approach to learning.
⁍ Consistency (Pomodoro):
Another key part of how I learn is consistency. Consistency means I draw every single day, with no exceptions. I started at 10 minutes, and now draw for between 1-2 hours. As for reaching 1-2 hours each day, I like using the Pomodoro method – specifically the 30/5 or 15/5 timer (30 or 15 minutes work, 5 minutes break), depending on how much energy I have.
⁍ Benchmark drawing:
Benchmark drawing is closely tied to the Draw --> Reflect --> Learn cycle, but a benchmark drawing can technically be any drawing that I have ever made. The thing to note however, is that from day. 335 and forwards, I have put in place a few rules for what counts as a benchmark drawing. Specifically, I must draw something specific, like a body-part, without using reference. There are two points to doing this:
1. A benchmark is supposed to honestly portray your skills at a specific point in time --> meaning you are not locked to the first benchmark; the first benchmark is the departure point, showing all the areas of improvement that you currently have.
2. A benchmark is a point of reference against which future work can be compared to --> meaning if you're like me, and struggle with the feeling that you never seem to get any better at drawing, no matter how much you practice --> benchmark drawings are (with complementary use of the Draw --> Reflect --> Learn cycle), going to prove that idea wrong, the more benchmark drawings we create over time!
⁍ Relying heavily on art-fundamentals (The 20/80 rule):
I strongly believe in the Pareto Principle (the 20/80 rule), which states that you can draw 80% of what you want, from learning the 20% of what it takes to draw. Breaking down what the 20% most likely is, I like to refer to ‘The 5 skill pillars’: (1) Composition, (2) Value / Light, (3) Color, (4) Form and Perspective, and (5) Technical ability with tools.
Currently I mainly practice form and perspective, without much thought given to any of the other skills. However, I see all 5 skills as the 20% that I need and want to learn.
My art materials
This list showcases all the materials that I actively use - but PLEASE note, that most of them are more luxury than necessity.
You only need some paper and pencils from the super-market to learn how to draw.
Sketchbooks:
A5 spiral-sketchbook w. smooth paper (good for traveling)
A4 spiral-sketchbook w. rough paper
B6 pocket sketchbook (replaced having my phone in my pocket)
Pencils:
Faber-Castell 6B pencil
Faber-Castell 10B pencil
Pentel GraphGear w. HB 0.5mm
Coloring:
Faber-Castell coloring pencils (Red, Green, Blue)
Digital gear / programs:
CLIP Studio Paint
WACOM Intuos M Pro
Additional stuff:
Pencil sharpener
Square 'no-dust' eraser
15cm ruler
Inspiration/Reference-folder: https://pin.it/19hBx55
You only need some paper and pencils from the super-market to learn how to draw.
Sketchbooks:
A5 spiral-sketchbook w. smooth paper (good for traveling)
A4 spiral-sketchbook w. rough paper
B6 pocket sketchbook (replaced having my phone in my pocket)
Pencils:
Faber-Castell 6B pencil
Faber-Castell 10B pencil
Pentel GraphGear w. HB 0.5mm
Coloring:
Faber-Castell coloring pencils (Red, Green, Blue)
Digital gear / programs:
CLIP Studio Paint
WACOM Intuos M Pro
Additional stuff:
Pencil sharpener
Square 'no-dust' eraser
15cm ruler
Inspiration/Reference-folder: https://pin.it/19hBx55
The goal of Sketchbook Journey
My goal is to become a full-time artist, focusing on a mix of educational content (related to manga and art fundamentals) as well as fan-art, primarily funded through Patreon. Even if it takes longer than expected, I am committed to continuing this journey and giving back to the community that makes it all possible. Additionally, my goal with this series is to inspire others, who wants to learn how to draw – thats also why I want to share all my highs and lows throughout this journey – even if at times, it means I yap a bit too much in these blogs hehe.
I am deeply thankful to everyone who supports me, both now and in the future. Your support allows me to pursue my dream of creating art full-time. Even if it takes longer than expected, I am committed to continuing this journey and giving back to the community that makes it all possible.
I am deeply thankful to everyone who supports me, both now and in the future. Your support allows me to pursue my dream of creating art full-time. Even if it takes longer than expected, I am committed to continuing this journey and giving back to the community that makes it all possible.
| Part. 1 – A chaos of a start – Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing |
- Day 301
We're off to a good start this time around! I will admit that I kept the base-sketch as is, and didn't add anything on top of it, because I think the sketch alone is such a great example of just how far we've come. - Day 302-303
I'm still having issues with the way I currently construct the body as I have learned from MangaMaterials and Nekojira, that I don't take into account the hour-glass shape of the female body, which I need to start using. Additionally I have noticed that my understanding of the proportions for the female body is also not particularly great. I did however find that the hour-glass shape and proportions, can fit inside two rectangles that are slightly taller than they are wide – though I am very much still just 'feeling out' the proportions, with no coherent system of measurement that I use. - Day 304-305
I realized this morning that I do have a system of measurement for estimating the correct proportions of the body, which requires me to attach a head to the body, and use that as the measuring stick – though I still notice that I am still feeling out the proportions more often than not. Additionally, I noticed on day. 305 that I seem unable to draw the hips from an angle that isn't a more straight on view, which really annoys me, because the head and torso will be in perspective, and then the hips are just... Yeah I need to look into how to do this haha. - Day 306-308
Today I'm facing the two things that I have actively been avoiding because I feel that the few times I have tried to practice it, I have not seen any improvements at all: Drawing the face, and drawing hair. It is time to change that!
I started off looking at how Nekojira approaches hair, and the first thing I notice is that the hair is divided up into its largest shapes. From what I can tell, the most common way to think of it is that the hair can be split into 3 sections: The front/bangs, the "middle" hair that goes in front of the ears, and the back of the hair that goes behind the ears. Additionally, Nekojira also seems to divide these three sections up even further using ribbon-shapes to create "bundles" of hair.
I also learned from Pikat, that at the end of these bundles of hair, is where artists will commonly apply either the "70/30 rule" or the "60/30/10 rule". The way to think about it is that if we have a straight line, we make indents at the 70% mark of the line, and the 30% mark of the line. I think this is easier to explain visually so here you go – Quick Stubbs1 art tutorial! illustration!
Additionally I also experimented with drawing out the "vibe" of the hair, rather than to think of the individual bundles, which deftly gives a good understanding of the boundaries for where the hair should go, and what it should look like, but tbh, I enjoy using the bundles approach that Nekojira uses. - Day. 309-310
Todays focus is on applying what I have learned about hair, and trying to draw stylized hair, based on irl pictures. I also noticed that depending on which line I draw as the second line on the ribbon, the hair will either be moving forwards or backwards in space. I have yet to really apply this, but I did try it out, and got some decent results. I also noticed that there seems to be a significant difference in the way I usually draw the chin, and how the chin looks irl – something that I'm not sure is a result of the manga stylization, or if this is the root cause of the heads I draw looking so chubby.
| Part. 2 – Setting the rules – Trying to course-correct, instead of avoiding my weakest skills |
- Day. 311-313
Notice how none of the heads with hair on have eyes... Yeah, so I've been running away from drawing eyes because I suck at it, so in order to push myself to start drawing more eyes, I put in place a simple rule: I am not allowed to add the hair, before the eyes. And as a result, I just stopped drawing the hair :D
jk, I want to temporarily focus on getting the face and chin right, as the hair feels like its a compliment that takes away focus from what I am trying to learn about; in other words --> the hair might end up hiding the mistakes I am making, thus making it a lot harder for me to notice the repeated errors I make when drawing eyes.
I still struggle a lot with it, especially when the head is not either straight on, or 3/4. Side-view and a top-down, or bottom-up viewpoint still messes with me quick badly, so I need to go practice drawing heads inside boxes, and then try to add the face, while the head remains in perspective. - Day. 314-316
The rule about eyes before hair deftly helps. I'm less afraid of doing the eyes now, while also being very aware that I need to work on doing eyes from different angles without having a reference. Additionally observed two important things: 1. If I know where the orbits (eye holes) of the skull is, I can semi-consistently predict (without reference) where to place the eyes. And 2. The front of a human skull is surprisingly flat, meaning it may be preferable to look into this apparently square nature of the skull. - Day. 317-318:
My close friend who also draws a lot, jokingly pointed out that when the nose-part of the face in manga becomes a bit too long, it starts looking more like a badger than a human – So I did a quick test where I did one semi-long, one short and one in-between these two and as a first try, it seems that the semi-long nose with medium eyes give the character a mature look. The short gives a younger look, and the one in-between seems to be around 16-24 years old. I'm not actually sure if these findings are legitimate, but hey, its worth looking into in the future. - Day 318 – EXTRA (A quick comment on equipment)
Looking at this, I still get that feeling of "Wait... I made that?". It gives me the same kind of excited vibes that I originally had on day. 15, where I surprise myself with my abilities, and can't even explain how in the world the result turned out so well.
However, something that kind of bothers me about this drawing is the way I was able to get the lines to be this sharp. Now, I've been preaching since the first entry in this series that amazing art is a result of skills that have been learned and honed through time and effort, and that blaming my equipment for holding me back is an illegitimate (and harmful) justification for the lacking quality of my art.
I still stand close by this principle, which is why it bothers me so deeply that I have to admit to the following:
In October of this year I acquired the Wacom Intuos Pro M, which is bordering hyper-sensitivity compared to my Intuos S. This means that simply placing the pen on the pad, without applying pressure, allows me to get incredibly thin and sharp lines that the S model just can't compete with. So in this case: The quality of my lines is not tied to my skills and practice alone, but also is a result of my equipment being a lot more sensitive to my actions.
It is still 95% skill – but holy cow, upgrading my equipment (in this specific case) helped me achieve the kind of line-quality that I could only dream of getting while I was using the S model. Equipment matters – In this specific case. - Day 319-321
Today I'm traveling (again!). Most notable thing is that I had a quick 1.5 hour stop in Copenhagen before my train left, which I spent at Glyptoteket. While I know it ain't exactly fine-art students levels of still-life drawing... Holy cow I am so excited about being able to look at the statues and actually ACTUALLY draw them in a way so that it actually looks like what I am seeing!
Additionally on the way home, I noticed a guy sitting in front of me with a cap, and had a very... "Artist moment"??? (I'm not even sure thats a thing); I saw this guy, and noticed that the outline of his face from behind looked so cool! I had to draw it. No idea who the guy is, but hey! I can now check the box of drawing real humans on public transport
| Part. 3 – Skull studies begins – A short detour, that became the groundwork for a new approach |
- Day 322-324
Because of the note I made about the orbits of the skull (eye holes), it is time to do skull studies. Main thing is that through these studies I got the observation of the forehead being surprisingly flat correct. When looking from the sideview, the forehead is just a straight line. Additionally I am quite surprised about the size of the human skull (its a lot bigger than I thought). - Day 324 – EXTRA (A quick objection on self-esteem and talent)
I received a fan pm (Thank you so much!), but there was a part of it that kind of bothered me, because the person is telling me that they can't do what I do because they have low self-esteem, and because they don't have any talent with drawing. I always get kind of sad when I hear people talk down about themselves like this – partially because they remind me of how I used to be – so I wanted to make two short objections on these matters.A short objection on self-esteem:
Drawing starts with exploration and isn’t something that is done to demonstrate high self-esteem–if it is, then it is usually done by tracing and claiming the art as their own, which I myself wouldn’t call “drawing”. I will add to this, that self-esteem is a byproduct of action (not just in drawing), meaning that self-esteem builds itself alongside the actions we take, or the things we actively engage ourselves in.
I have come to find, that keeping my focus on learning and practicing drawing, my self-esteem naturally develops as a result of my actions and progress. My drawing abilities don't grow, as a byproduct of my self-esteem.
If I draw solely to boost my self-esteem, whether that be through posting on social media, aiming to get hundreds of likes and build a following, then improving my self-esteem becomes the main goal, which ends up diverting my attention away from my own actions (learning to draw); meaning I end up using drawing merely as a tool to get what I really want, rather than learning to draw, because I want to learn how to draw.A short objection on talent / being born with talent:
In regard to a notion that drawing is something that we have to be “born with a talent” to be good at – I strongly disagree with this. Labeling me as ‘talented’ deeply oversimplifies the amount of experiences, effort and sacrifice I have made in order to shape the abilities I have now.
For example: Its common to label certain children as ‘talented’; a child who seems naturally skilled at soccer, may have developed a sense for it through countless hours of playing outside, kicking empty cans around the playground, rather than innate talent – the obvious issue is: We, as the observer, can’t be certain where this developed sense may stem from, and the child may be unable to explain it themselves – so we label it talent, since it wouldn’t make sense to sit down and interrogate the child on how they developed a sense for soccer.
I'm not special and I'm not talented – and that comforts me a lot, because it means that I can rely on others to guide and help me in life, and in art–and equally it means that my Sketchbook Journey, is NOT exclusive to some elite "born talented" group of people. I'm a normal everyday Joe, and if we were to be on the same Berlin tram, I would be another average university student–probably staring into my phone reading manga. - Day 325-326
After noticing the flatness of the skull, I finally grasped why Nekojira uses the box that they do. I spent these two days trying to use Nekojiras box-head method, and additionally discovered that I have no clue what seeing the underside of the skull / head actually does to the drawing. I did however notice, that because the jaw-bone has a smooth transition, it acts a lot like the edge of a mug.
Basically: When I draw a mug, I have a circle-shape to mark the outside, and another circle shape to mark the insides, which creates a gap between the two circles. This gap is something the brain registers as a smooth transition, as the surrounding context is what allows the brain to 'fill in the blanks'. Same principle here when the underside of the jaw is visible - Day 327-329
Doing skull studies again, this time with my main focus on figuring out why the forehead keeps becoming too large, and focusing more on the contours of the skull.
For the issue I had with the forehead, I figured out that I had been placing the brows about 1/5 above the middel-line, which caused the orbits (eye-sockets) to be pushed down too far. Additionally I discovered, that the browline (when using the box method for drawing the head), should be placed about 1/3 above the middel-line.
Additionally, drawing the contours around the nose, helps me better grasp what the distances between everything should actually be, as I am now aware that between the root of the nose, and the orbits, there must be space for the root of the nose to have a flat space on top, with curved sides, leading into a tiny bump that sits right between the root of the nose and the orbit. - Day 330 – Halfway!
Since it is the halfway point today, I wanted to do a full piece today – and what better full piece, than to finally draw some of my favorite Oridays work! This is a La+ Darkness (Hololive) piece that I am absolutely in love with. Additionally, I'm actually quite surprised at how well the eyes turned out (practice paid off!).
EDIT (Day. 344):
I've slowly started realizing since doing the full drawing on day. 330, that all I really did was copy Oridays work without much thought to learning anything from it. Looking back, I realize that it bothers me quite a lot, as it makes me feel like I'm lacking severely in terms of being able to draw anything beyond a head, without using reference. I think this is why I've been having a nagging feeling, as we close in on 1. year of drawing – It feels as if I haven't made any progress at all, because if someone removes the reference, then I'm dead in the water and my drawings plummet in quality and confidence. - Day 331-333
Today I'm jumping back into Marc Leones lectures, picking up where I left off. The drawing on day 331 requires a bit of explanation. Leone talks about how an artists actually observes, and that it is most common to use a "grid-view" technique for figuring out where to put everything in a still-life image (or any other kind of image really). The just of it is that each line is not on some kind of locked grid – the lines are supposed to represent placement of features that match up in the reference. For example: The inner part of the eye of the plaster bust, aligns with the nostril --> meaning if I make those two align, the rest of my drawing will look more coherent as well.
Additionally on day 333 I discovered that the cross that are put inside the end of a cylinder, actually decide where the cylinder moves in space–meaning I need to be extra aware of how I place these crosses. To figure out the direction I figured out that if I imagine the cross like an X and a Y axis, then to find the direction that the cylinder/cone will move in 3D space, I make a 45º line between the X and Y axis, and then draw a line through the middle of this 45º line – and that will be the Z-axis, and the way it moves in 3D space.
| Part. 4 – Setting myself back – I can't go on using references forever, even if it means, I'm going to make bad art |
- Day 334-336
I realized that I have unintentionally forgotten to use the Draw → Reflect → Learn cycle in an active way. I have been "using" it more as a passive matter of course rather than an active tool for learning; which in large part may explain why I feel that I have staggered and plateaued with drawing the head and feeling like the skull studies just weren't doing much.
So today I'm changing that up!
1. Draw from memory alone (No references allowed!). This is a benchmark of my current ACTUAL skill level.
2. Reflect on the drawings, pointing out potential mistakes
3. Learn by drawing with reference, and ACTIVELY think about what each line is supposed to represent. If I don't know what the line is for–leave it out! Even if it is part of the reference.
Repeat - Day 337-338
Continuing with skull studies, I have noticed that I mainly struggle with tilting the head backwards, having the underside of the jaw show. I'm mainly thinking that I need to figure out some kind of 'head guide construction', because the mish-mash between Chommang and Loomis that I'm currently using works pretty well for me, but only when drawing at eye-level. Change the perspective and my brain poops itself. So to find such a head-guide-construction, I feel the need to get a proper idea of the contours of the skull, and how it affects the look of mainly the face. - Day 339-341
I'll be honest: I feel so down that I can't seem to get the skull right, so today I decided to jump back into Marc Leones lectures... only to find that I genuinely just... I feel the drawings on day 339 and 340 speak for themselves --> I was not having a good time drawing. So, day 341, I dropped the idea of learning anything, and just copied two cool references I found. - Day 342-344
Jumping back into studying, because I decided today, that I am going to get into a peoples art-school (kunsthøjskole), and that means I have about 1.5-2 years to properly learn the anatomy of the body, so that when I get into the peoples art-school, I will be able to focus solely on learning how to make great art --> not just drawing.
Anyway, so when studying the arms, I've found that I need to divide everything up into the largest and most important muscles, as it feels pretty impossible for me to remember how every tendon connects to where and what it does --> so I have divided the arm up into the following 4 most important groups:
Deltoid, Bicep Brachii, Extensor Group. 1, and Flexor group.
Additionally to remember where the Extensor Group. 1 and Flexor group are, I like to recall that the Extensor Group. 1 is always on the thumb-side, while the Flexor group is always on the pinky-side. - Day 345-347
Moving on the the back of the arm --> Deltoid, Extensor Group. 1 and Flexor Group are still visible, but when looking at the arm from the back, we need to add 3 more important groups of muscle: Tricep Brachii, Tricep Tendor, and Extensor Group. 2. Its also worth noting that the deltoids shape slightly changes when viewing it from the back, compared to the front. I did however (mistakenly) find that the basic shape is still the same, so as long as the rest of the arm is the back, it seems partially irrelevant if I draw the deltoid from the back or front hehe.
Additionally on day 347, I found that the top of the flexor group can be simplified into a triangle --> and if you take this triangle and copy/paste it 3 times, then you've got a pretty good estimate of the length of the forearm. I will admit, it doesn't seem to work every time, but again: Thats why its an estimate ;) - Day 348-349
I feel like I should have learned by now: Its great to study, BUT! Don't study the same damn thing over and over and over without ever taking breaks from it and doing something else. And yeah, this caught up to me on day 348. So I spent day 349 just drawing for fun, before returning on day 350. - Day 350-352
I noticed in my 4th benchmark drawing for the arms (day 348) and in the first arm I tried to draw from irl-reference, that the Flexor group bump on the forearm, constantly seemed to be having the correct measurement of aligning with the bottom of the Bicep Brachii Tendon --> it still looks wrong.
Turns out: The issue is that I kept making the Bicep Brachii itself too much of an oval, and realized that its actual proportions are closer to that of a kidney-bean (no I'm not joking). Following that revelation, I have been able to consistently get the arm to look like an actual arm when viewing it from the front --> which also allows me to move it slightly more freely around, compared to before. - Day 353-354
More arm studies, but notably on day 354, I realized just how close day 360 actually is. And instead of repeating what I did on day 330, where I just copied Oridays work without adding anything myself --> I have decided today that on day 360, I will do a drawing from scratch. The only reference I will be using is a character sheet to ensure I get stuff like the proportions and clothing of Aoki Ruri correct (Yes my last full drawing of year. 1 is another RuriDragon fan-art (You can't stop me!! >:D )) - Day 355-356
The last arm studies (for now), and I realized that one of my main problems is that I have no idea about the actual proportions, as using just a cylinder for the arms, confuses me quite a lot. So, I opted to spend these two study-sessions looking at the bones, which I have an easier time estimating proportions. Additionally, I found that if we take the Humerus bone, and divide it into 5/5 equals, the ulna will be 4/5, and the hand should be 2.5/5. The measurements are pretty general, but I noticed in my 6th benchmark, that the proportions have started looking more consistent.
I also found out something that I will temporarily be ignoring: There is apparently some specific differences between male and female arms, as females (according to my anatomy studies), have a pouch of fat, where the humerus bone has that dent outwards at the middle of the arm.
| Part. 5 – A test of skill – Testing my abilities without references |
- Day 357-359
It's time!
No more references! (except I still used references on day 357... woops).
But day. 358 and 359 was done, by only using a character sheet of Aoki, just to make sure that I still end up drawing Aoki and not just me guessing what Aoki looks like haha. Additionally, I'm not too happy about my line-quality with the mechanical pencil, and so, to practice and get better line quality, I have switched back to using my fineliners (specifically the 0.05 and 0.1), to do the finally lines. And oh boy... Day 359 turned out so well! - Day 360 (comparison of day 301 and 360)
Thats the last main-series entry of year. 1! And honestly... I have so much to learn holy cow. I can't ignore the hands, and I can't ignore the inconsistencies in my ability to keep the proportions correct. In many regards, I can't quite put my fingers on it, but something still feels off in both the 301 and 360 drawing (including many of my previous full drawings). I will need to experiment and learn more–maybe even find myself a master to follow haha.
| Art-tips from the Community! |
| Sttaarr: "I think my tip this time will be that I just learned how important it is to imagine there is a skeleton inside the character Im drawing because just imagining it makes it easier to draw the body correct" |
| To be continued – My future plans for day 361 to day 420🪴 (aka. Sketchbook Journey 7) |
That wraps up a year of learning to draw!
Thank you so much for reading
If you have any questions or tips, feel free to ask in the comments :)
| Predictions for pt. 7! – Predictions on the next entry |
This section will be reviewed in pt. 7!
Torso studies
My first prediction is that I will be able to redo my torso studies, and finally get a more consistent idea on what I keep messing up with the torso. I originally had in mind to do torso studies here in pt. 6, but thanks to the detours I took in this entry, I managed to discover benchmark drawing, MangaMaterials and Tom Fox' book on anatomy for artists.
Anatomy adventures!:
My second prediction extends a bit further into the future, which is that I believe that there will come a LOT more pages, where the majority of especially pt. 7, will be pages reminiscent of day 342-359, with benchmark drawings and studies, instead of pages filled with more comprehensible stuff like character-art or copies of references.
Completing sketchbook 2.5:
"Sketchbook 2.5?!" --> Yes, 2.5, because this sketchbook originally started on the 19th February, while I was still working on Sketchbook Journey. 2. Sketchbook 2.5 is my A4, which up till the 4th November, didn't have much of a purpose or use to me, since my 5A fits me. However, I predict that I will have filled out the remaining 39 pages by the time pt. 7 comes out, because I finally have a use for it, that is worth talking about.
Current stats
Year. 1 (2024) | Year. 2 (2025) |
Part. 7 – (coming soon) | |
507 x 290
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1. The 301 and day 360 comparison. Are the times spent on each drawing more or less the same?
2. Day 302-303. I think understanding the differences between male and female anatomy difference is a good skill to have;
3. Day 306-308, the casual link-drop to a rather useful (judging by the comments) hair-tutorial. I’ll be watching that one;
4. Day 309-310. Pigeon! Are those clothing folds placed on your own knowledge or from the reference? At least I haven’t read your yapping about that;
5. Day 319-321. Those urban sketches look good, especially the person from behind;
6. Day 345-347. Wait, is this Biology class?
7. Day 350-352. Nice job on portraying different kind of emotions;
8. The one thing that I find interesting is how you often manage to express emotions on their faces. Yet emotions of faces doesn’t seem to be a field you dived into it (can’t remember reading it in earlier sketchbook journey’s). Which I think is quite impressive.
2. Agreed. I actually removed this story from the blog because I was yapping too much, but here it is anyway: I was at university while studying the arms, and was so confused by the anatomy books that seemed to show this extra patch of fat on inside of the arms, but when I pushed on my own arm, there was none --> realized it may be a unique feature to the female body, so asked a fellow student (female) if I could touch her arm, only to realize like 2 seconds after saying that (because I forgot to give context) just how creepy that was to ask. Had to apolegize and run over and get my sketchbook to explain that I was studying, and I did not intend to be a creep. But I can now confirm: females have a patch of fat on the inside of their arms, that men do not have, which gives female arms a softer shape :D
3. I think its a good all-around introduction to hair, though I did find the sections 05:03-08:08 to be the most useful as Pikat talks about construction and introduces the 30/70 + 10/30/60 rules in this section
4. First of all: Thanks for that video link (holy cow that is a helpful introduction to the 7 types of folds O: ). Second: No, I'm legit guessing xD The closest I can really come is that I am still using some of what I learned during day. 111-119 (drawing clothes from reference images). I think those drawings made me sort of subconsciously be aware of specific key areas where clothing usually folds, without understanding why those specific areas are points of tension
5. Thanks, glad you like them :D (will be doing more during my travels to Denmark this December)
6. In some ways... yes :'D But theres a legitimate reason for it–callback to day. 84: "(...) because I've done this study, I now subconsciously will be able to spot if for example the trapezius is missing or not defined enough." --> I basically find it easier to draw something, if I have an understanding of the underlying structures that give that specific thing its shape and function. Though, as I mention in this blog: I simplify the groups, because technically there is a tendon for each of our fingers, and I'm only looking for stuff that decides the shape of things.
7. Thanks :D
8. Agreed, its a field I haven't dove into, yet for some reason I have unintentionally dabbled with it. And genuinly, I just find it way more interesting to do expressions, even if I don't actually know what I am doing, and have yet to understand or experiment with what parts of the face, actually controls what emotion is being expressed. Thats also why, in a lot of my drawings, I make angry eye-brows, blushing cheeks, and open mouth --> I think its more fun to draw eyebrows that affect the shape of the face, and a mouth where the teeth become visible. The blushing is simply put there so that they don't actually look "angry" angry, at the viewer, but more the kind of tsundere angry thats common to find in every anime romcom that features a tsundere character :'D
4. Yup I know. I need to restudy that one (yes I still draw, just not here on PMC anymore)
8. Talking about expressions, I remember a video about those. Which I need to re-watch.
I'm super glad to hear that you're still drawing. Are you still primarily working with drawing architecture and still-lifes? I may be reading it wrong, but it sounds like you've begun to study clothing folds o:
Oh hey! Emirichu <3, didn't actually know that she had made a video about this stuff. Saved it for a later date, as exams just started haha, so focus will be shifting away for some time :P
Good luck with your exams!
The drawing gods blessed me with skill I do not yet posses, as I magically peaked with that one drawing, and haven't been able to replicate that same level ever since
keep up the motivation and awesome work for Part 7 and beyond! :D