Underwater

 

Colored one of my studies from September Abstractions

Drive home

 

Lakeside trail

 

These aren't the most refined value thumbnails; they were limited to about 5 minutes each and I wanted to be honest with myself. Over time I think I will improve as long as I continue to monitor my progress. 

The goal is to lay down the major shapes and values. It is easy to get caught up in the details, which is when the 5-minute time limit reminds me of what actually matters.

Even though they aren't polished, it still leaves plenty of opportunity to continue where I left off on any of the images. I struggle with decision paralysis because there are so many photos to choose from. Curating sets of 3 to 9 reference photos lessens the pressure to decide on one image. I'm having a lot of fun with these. 

Balloon boy is back

 

Rapunzel

 

Long hair is a crucial part of Princess' identity. She is a role model at the boarding school which values a chaste woman of God. A woman's hair is her glory and should never be cut. At the boarding school, haircuts are given as punishment- the worse the offense, the shorter the cut. She has never been punished, and her long hair is a symbol of pride and moral status.

She must feel trapped in her role though, whether she realizes it or not. She can't leave her role as a big sister and holy role model. Part of her wants to escape this role but she's also quite complacent with her superstar status as well. She is used to being adored and fawned over; knowing she has real influence over the younger and more impressionable student body, and that all the girls want to be just like her. They tell her she's perfect and she does whatever she can to maintain that.
 

Ninth grade abstractions

 

A selection of 5-minute value studies based on fairly abstract photos from middle school.

September Abstractions

 

Small value studies. These were about 5 minutes each. I tried not to go over the time limit so I could be more honest about my capabilities.

Aerial Apollow WIP

 Made some significant changes. At this point I am probably going to rework the image entirely

Princess Peach

 

I referenced an old artwork by Yoichi Kotabe. The art style he used for the characters is absolutely adorable, especially for the princess. 

Messing around with pixel art in SAI2. Who remembers OekakiBBS? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

Marco sketches

 Some sketches of Marco, one of my favorite characters from Attack on Titan. Half are from screencaps, but I also tried to draw him on my own. 

Journey to the headlands

 

Red shimmer

 Vash is the Red Shimmer. He is the elusive mirage in the desert; sought by many, caught by none.

The man in the red coat is mysterious and elusive, much like his lofty ideals that the coat symbolizes.  He is only known through rumors and secondhand information. Nobody knows what to look for. By the time people realize it was him, he’s already gone.

This idea was originally meant for my OC but I feel this could be highly applicable to Trigun as well. Part of why I loved Trigun is because Vash encapsulates so many of my favorite character tropes.

Song comes from Akiko Shikata.

Aerial Apollow WIPs

Slowly working on this. Not really sure where it's headed

The return of balloon boy WIPs

 Balloon boy is back with a vengeance

Mackinac Island

September check-in

 I've been slowing down. I haven't done much art and even my personal projects are taking me weeks to complete. I went on a family vacation earlier this month and got sick immediately afterwards, but it somehow wasn't covid? And just recently, almost my entire immediate family has tested positive in the past few days. Thankfully it seems to be a mild case for all.