out with the old

In with the new

I have been extremely dissatisfied with that old style for a while now, I was worried it would cause another art block like last time I did a mass transition of styles, but I'm actually rather pleased with the results and it didn't even hurt as much as last time.

Now I'm not going to talk about each picture 'n all that like usual, I'm just taking this as a chance to catch everyone up so they don't get left behind. I'll say that this style is definitely getting much more realistic than my previous style, which makes me very pleased, near this style is pretty much what I've been working towards

I've still got a ways to go, but it's always nice to progress to an even better state of art. The important thing to do is to draw and draw some more.

Now I have to focus on a few more things such as redoing how I draw bodies, and backgrounds. But soon, in the very near future (hopefully) I might be able to start drawing up some comic books, and that will be awesome right?

That's really all of the interesting art related things going on right now. If I think of anything I missed, I'll adress it in my next blog. I promise that I'll make much more of an effort to update this blog, because I've gotten complaints from the people who read this in real life before.

Until next time,
Pikachao

Here And Back Again

Hey, I finally finished star ocean two (expect characters from that game to show up now and again) So that means I have all the time in the world to spend drawing/blogging…it’s not like there’s much else to do…summer is deceivingly uneventful...as far as time wasting goes. Drawing wise I’ve made large leaps in skill since summer started. Sure I can’t draw bodies yet…but I am getting better at drawing shapes/drawing rough shape centric drawings, and it is awesomely awesome. Sure, a year/month/week I won’t like the drawings I’ve made very much, but they are stepping stones to higher point in drawing. Every bad picture I make helps me improve in some way (except for my fiasco with four legged animals, that baby was a dead end.)


…

I’m monologing right now, aren’t I…yeah…umm…I’ll just get started on my non intro part of my blog right now…





Anyway…in the actually blog post…I should probably talk about what I’ve been doing (art-wise) since I last wrote to y’all. You see it all started when I was in the Wahacan jungles of Guadalupe. After I periled…umm…oh yeah…this is the wrong story, that tale shall be saved for another time.

I admit, part of the absence as of late has been laziness, pure and simple… and lately I have been doing some (“) diligent (“) drawing practice. I found some really good tutorials for drawing Furries. I must say that I found quite a bit of use out of them. While I didn’t copy them completely or anything, I did gain new abilities I didn’t have yet.

The other half has to do with the sketchbook I got from Madame Mystery. You see the issue has to do with my scanner and it. If I want to scan a page from the sketchbook, I have to take that piece out of the sketchbook which, in my experience, usually means I’m not drawing anything new on that paper again. Not wanting to waste paper, I try to prolong my scanning experiences. Right now is just one of those times when I’ve filled a page. Granted my drawing is smaller than usual, but when I get more comfy in my own britches, I’ll probably take up more space when drawing solo pictures.

Now that I’ve got the explanation out of the way, I can start talking about just what I’ve been drawing lately. I must say that it has changed radically over the last while. It’s become a lot less cartoonish. I can’t draw any more than heads still, but I am becoming comfortable in drawing skeletons for my characters. It’s really great for me, as I am not very partial to the cartoony look of some pictures (including the ones my pictures had.)

These last weeks have marked quite a few firsts for me, but I’ll mention those as I come to them. First I want to talk about snouts. Drawing snouts are a love-hate relationship. I can’t draw snouts easily, but I really, really want to be able to. Luckily, the tutorials I found were pretty helpful on that, but looking at someone show you how to draw them only gets you so far (I’ve talked about it a lot. If you really want to know which it is, I can post a link). I had a lot of failures before I even got the first success.

My first snout related success.

 

More Snout success

I tell you what. That success was so great just because I actually…well, succeeded. That was followed by more failures, of course, but I got some to work every now and then. (Word of advice: if you’re going into art, be prepared for many, many, many failures. If you aren’t familiar to the term failure yet, you will be soon.)

But, alas, it was not enough. Not for me anyway. I had to do different face positions. I probably failed on that more than I’ve ever failed on a specific thing before (at least not on ones that lead to success anyway.) It was long and painstaking, but I finally did it. Here it is, in all it’s hard worked glory.

I admit that this contributed a lot to the lateness. I was hesitant to call this picture “done” and rip it out of the book (see paragraph 5)

This makes me proud for many, many reasons:

1. This took me quite a while. Usually I can finish a picture in thirty minutes, max. That made me unsure though, because everyone else said it took them hours to do pictures of theirs. Believe it or not, the length it took me to finish this is one of the contributing factors in my happiness, as weird as that sounds.

2. It actually looks really good. It’s based off of shapes, yet doesn’t show said shapes too noticeably. If you look at my past pictures (even just those two other pictures in this very blog post,) the shapes are pretty… there, but this seems to hide it better than all my earlier drawings.

3. It looks more complete than my usual drawings. I always hated how my drawings were all sketches, and my sketches were always finished drawings. It makes me happy to think that this is not a sketch, and I’m proud to say it.

The only thing I feel I need to focus on right now is hair, so expect that to be my focus in future blogs. I’m sorry this isn’t that long for a five week hiatus, but it was a fulfilling hiatus for me as an artist, so I hope you understand. Not much else to say really, just…see you next blog post, whenever that may be.



Cheers,

Pikachao

More than meets the eye

Well, whatd’ya know. My styles changed already. Not drastically or any of that, but enough to point out, Mostly with the eyes. Interestingly enough, Eyes are both the most integral part of my art, it’s also the part I change the most (I had to change my whole style completely when I changed my eyes for the first time.) I actually went through two styles of eyes over this week before settling on the ones I have now.




Not only that, but I also worked on shading via digitally. I had more success than I thought, but more on that when I get to that picture:

First of two side views, both were done back to back

I think I like the next one better, this ones snout bothers me too much. What you can see of the ear is nice, if only because of how it hides into the hair. Not too much to say on this one actually.

This ones snout looks much better if I ever said. The hair does look a little odd, but nothing too bad. If I keep working I could actually keep side views looking consistent (Side views used to be as daunting as drawing arms and legs are right now.) Notice in both of these pictures I used my old eyes (eyes number one.) I drew this on the same sheet of paper as the next one. The next picture was originally just an eye doodle, but I liked the eye, so I drew a head around it…see this is why my in-class doodles are always cut off.

Hehe, I just realized how much this looks like the Avatar movie Poster

Introduce eye number two (hi eye, nice to meet you.) The eyes are certainly more feline than the other ones, but looking back on it, I don’t think they’re my favorite. I did multiple other drawings with these eyes on them (which I refuse to show anyone) and they just don’t look…right on them.

I might as well point out that this face is suffering from being way too similar to a circle. I circle qualities in the face, but this one is way to…umm…circle-y.

Hey look, more stuff I haven’t ever showed you before

SNOUTS! This is a first for me. I studied up on how to draw them and attempted it. Lo and behold, it actually worked. It looks pretty nice; it was so nice that I digitized it (That’s a term on Digimon, right? I haven’t watched that show in ages.) The only major thing that bothers me is the hair. I’m not a master at hair, so I don’t know how real this looks. It’s a nice little style I think, but the presentation could use some work on it. This is also the only picture I did with eyes number two that I actually enjoy.

No, I’m not exactly sure what kind of canine it is. I guess it could be some coyote or fox or something. It doesn’t matter immensely, because if I make it into a character of mine I’ll figure it out then. I think she’s probably some desert dog thing.

I didn’t color the shirt for a reason

I have always been a little worried about digitally drawing for three reasons:

1) I recently got a tablet for Christmas, but I am not good at drawing with it yet. I think it has to do with hand eye coordination. Until I get good at it, I’ll always be a little worried about digitally drawing.

2) I never seem to pick natural colors for my characters.

3) I don’t have a system for shading.



Well, wow, I am honestly surprised by how this turned out, the shading especially. It was a mixture between using the burn/dodge tools and using a method that takes a while to explain, so I’ll just call it method purple (and that isn’t a random color by the way.) I fixed some of the hair so it looked more natural. I actually really like how this turned out. It’s easily my best digital work ever. I’m really quite proud of it. I’ve always preferred digitally drawing as opposed to inking my art, so if I get more consistent with this, I can finalize pictures via digital…Huzzah!







Why yes, I did draw this upside down…how’d you know?



Finally, eye number three, easily my favorite of all three. It’s more malleable, thus I can show more emotion with it and it’s the easiest to draw consistently (Plus I just love how they look like Dots…I love that candy <3)

It’s a little weird, how I advance in drawing I mean. Usually when it’s something that stays, I didn’t ever study it. It just kind of…came out of thin air. It was hints of inspiration. I guess it just comes from drawing almost 24/7. Hey, I don’t mind, whatever gets my art better I’ll probably do. I guess I’ll show you guys next week what strange thing I’ve done next, until then, so long.



Adieu, Adieu, to you and you and you-u-u,

Pikachao

It's all about Eileen isn''t it

Hey y’all, it’s me again (Of course it is, who else could it be, it’s still only me.) I have a lot more stuff to show you. Weirdly enough, it’s all Eileen. You know…the raccoon girl I talked about in the last two posts…ring a bell?


No?

Oh well, you’ll catch on soon enough. Well, I have a whopping four pictures to show you, that’s a new record. I’ll just show you them in chronological order, oldest to newest. So why wait, here they are:

What’re you talking about…of course I…pay attention…in German (In my defense, this was a time without any work to do.)



As with all of my doodles, some of it is cut off (Weird isn’t it.) I think it’s quite nice though. The face is a good shape and the ears look mighty fine on her. Overall, it’s rather nice. The hair was my proudest accomplishments with this though. After that sketch in the last blog I drew another picture with that hair that was hideous (No, I’m not showing it to you.) So this was a nice second attempt, even if the hair is cut off by the paper.

The second of the bunch

Unlike the previous one, I have a lot more problems with this one, mainly with the head shape. I don’t like it, it just seems off. My other ones are more like circles and look rather nice, but this one is more of an oval and I it bothers me. I don’t know, maybe I’m just paranoid (Or at least that’s what the man tells me…BUT I DON’T BELIEVE THEM.)



*ahem* moving on.

I did like some stuff on this though. The tail looks nice; I like the shape of it all. The hair is another success, especially the part that flows between her head and shoulders (Does that even make any sense?) I’m still scared to move into either legs or arms in positions other than the ones in this picture. It scares me a little, walking off into the unknown.

My first good profile view

I probably wouldn’t be showing this one if it wasn’t a first for me. For the longest time I have been unable to draw side views of my characters, so even something semi good is amazing to me when doing this, Her snout might be a little long, but I think it’s good overall. It’s a step in the right direction (what is that song from…crap, that’s gonna drive me crazy now…I don’t even know how to find out)

Technically I made this before the last one, but that was in pencil. I digitized this last.

If you’re astute (Or I pester you about it over and over again) then you’d already know that this is my new avi. If you aren’t then bah ram you. Meh, some of the proportions on this are not as good as others, but that doesn’t worry me too much. This little picture was tiny, I don’t know why I drew it so small, but I did and that caused problems. The right ear looks a little messed (that’s both the errors of both pencil and computer.) The mouth also bothers me too, it looks weird. Before I get on to the big thing I liked from this, I noticed while coloring that, with color, she looked kind of like a Dalmatian. Am I the only one? Good.

As with all pictures I do, one thing always stands out to me over everything else. This one was the eyes. Yep those puppies could only be done on the computer (unless you can draw.) I really, really like how it turned out. It’s a happy moment for me.

One more thing to note before I sign off is that you can’t see it, but the stars behind Eileen are formed into Orion. Mandatory education level reached. Three new quests are opened. Would you like to save game?



Take this; it’s dangerous to go alone,

Pikachao

Cats And Dogs

Ah, the age old question: Are dogs better than cats? The answer, yes. A million times over yes. Dogs are amazing creatures that bond with you, but when I’m at a friends house who owns a cat, I never see the cat. They avoid me and hate any contact with their owners. Now I know exceptions can be made for each side of the argument (Some cats like attention, just none that I’ve seen of course) but no matter how you slice it, dogs will always be better (I realize that I will not survive the next time I see my friends after this blog post though, but I stand by what I say.)




Oddly enough however, my preferences seem to switch when I draw them. I prefer drawing cats over dogs. I don’t know exactly why, but that’s how it works. I know that because of my dog I drew over the weekend.

It’s not that I hate it, by no means is that true, it just feels a little un…doglike. I believe that mainly comes from the snout, I could not get the snout long enough, and that was bothering me quite a bit, so it’s shortened. I guess it could be some short snouted dog species, but you know…It still bothers me.’


I did draw a body that, I must say, I am actually quite happy about. Albeit it’s not all that expressive or anything, but it looks natural. It’s a good step for being able to make working bodies, a thing which I’m nervous about attempting (I believe it’s more of a “I don’t want to ruin a good picture by adding a bad body to it” than a “I don’t want to draw bodies” mentality.)







I did actually doodle out a cat during German and English (don’t worry, I was doing it during times that I was allowed to…yeah…definitely) I was doodling a nose and the rest of the head went with it. I did it at the top of the page, so some of it’s head is missing.

Well it is a sketch

It’s pretty similar to my other, newer, artwork, but the hair I really enjoy. Of course I didn’t get to try the whole thing, as the top of the head is missing, but from what I did do, it’s an improvement. I also had her mouth open, which was…well semi-new. I’ve drawn mouths open, but most were more done from the forward facing pictures and the ones that weren’t were a little less…umm…what’s the word…I don’t know…a little less…that way?




An interesting thing to bring up is that only one of the characters I’ve drawn lately actually has a name. All the other ones are just people that have no thing about them except on art improvement. The character in particular is the one in last posts picture. Her name is Eileen. Yeah…just…thought that’d be an interesting tidbit.





I stand by my beliefs, dogs are better than cats…Unless I’m drawing pictures. I will never change my mind on that opinion right there (not the first part at least.)





Fleeing from the angry mob of cat lovers,

Pikachao

Priorities

Hey y’all, did you miss me. You know…for those whole entire…two…days. Well, no need to fear, I’m back, though I carry news. It’s not major news or anything; I’m just saying that my posts may be, for the most part weekly. I’ll have other posts stuck in their too, but, in its essence, it’s a once/twice a week plan. It’s more for me than anything. Writing a blog takes enough time as it is, but to have an accompanying sketch everyday is even worse. I can make a picture in a day if I’m really into it, but I’m not always that way, so a few days would be more helpful for me.




Anyway, it isn't a sketch blog without a sketch to accompany it, so... onto the picture.

I usually have pupils that fill up the whole eye. Unfortunately, that doesn’t leave me much room to make emotions; regardless of how cute it is (It seems more like they’re trying to be cute when they do that anyway.) Thus I’ve been testing out size, and for the most part, I’ve been rather happy about it.



Usually I’d complain about hair from these drawings too, but I’m not to distressed by the hair on Eileen here. I’m happy about the fact I’m getting better at that too. Though since we're on the subject of hair, for the longest time, that fur that comes out on the left side of the snout drove me insane for quite a while. It's still not the best I feel I could do, but it's...tolerable.



Though, for the first time in a while, I’m not too pleased with the neck. I’m not sure why. I guess it could be too big or something…I don’t know.



Overall I’m pleased by my picture, and next time, I might even venture into *shudder* under the neck line…what horrors await beneath the shoulders of drawings. Time will only tell.




I’d complain more, but I’m a lot more confidant in my shoulder up on my characters than under that. When I show you characters with more body, I assure you, I’ll have some worries (and don’t even start me on hands. I'll give you many fun hours on why hands are terrible to draw.)



Live long and Prosper,

Pikachao



P.S I still do not know if I have a co-op blog partner, so don’t uncross those fingers yet.

Order of buisness

Hey guys, it’s me again, just you’re friendly neighborhood Pikachao. There are two orders of business today, but don’t worry, I didn’t bring a boring slideshow for you to have to painstakingly scroll past (I know your type, I’ve got my eyes on you.)

Instead I’ll do it with a long paragraph of uninterrupted text with little to no pictures, doesn’t that sound great? Yeah I think it does too. So without further ado, I present to you, the incomparable, order of business:





Order of business number one: You guys have no clue what my art looks like. I haven’t posted any of my art work yet, the only pictures you’ve seen were of painted eggs. Well I don’t want to keep you waiting any longer, for here is my art:

Pretty dang exciting huh?

If you haven’t been able to tell now, I draw furries, in all their glorious action. I like faces the best. As for my skill, I’m not the best yet, I can draw them facing forward and slightly at an angle, but that’s it. Side views have proven extremely difficult. So…yeah, expect to see furries from me, ‘cause humans are not my favorite thing to draw.

Speaking of humans

Order of business number two: You know that one friend of mine, the one who I actually do discuss art with? (It was at the bottom of the first post)

No?

You don’t?

Oh, well she draws too, and we talk about art, and lately (yesterday) we talked about a possibility. Can you guess what it is?

Wrong! She might be joining up in the blog. Yeah we’re chatting with each other online and She was like: “Your blog’s cool.”

And I was like: “Yes it is.”

And she was like: “I wish I had one.”

And then I was like: “Join mine.”

And she was like: “I’ll…think about it.”

I won’t know until later today, so I might be wrong, but hey, won’t that be fun? now I can do less work.

I can tell you now that both her drawing and writing style are vastly different than my own. Not only do I get to do less work, you get more variety, win-win-win. See, unlike me, she actually can draw humans. For example, I have this one picture that she drew of one of my characters.

(I might get in trouble for putting this up, I have yet to get actual permission to put her picture on here *Crosses Fingers*)

Isn’t it just great?

Yeah, I think so as well.

Yeah, I’m not getting my hopes up or anything, but now wouldn’t that just be cool, I’ll have a partner in blogging crime, that way if we get caught, she’s the one getting the blame. So, everyone knock on wood, cross your fingers, and wear your Pajama’s inside out. Hopefully that will be enough, but I have my lucky rabbit’s foot as an extra precaution.

Thank you and Namaste,

Pikachao.