bees and turtles help you draw better

tuesday, october 3, 2023

i keep thinking i need to have a reason to make a post when this is literally my site. girl just write if you want.

it's october! this is usually the month that people take on a month-long art challenge, which is something that i both admire and envy. the thing with me is i can never commit to doing anything consistently everyday because it starts to feel like a chore that way... (except habits that are necessary chores, like brushing my teeth.) i remember i made an attempt at inktober back in high school and was semi-successful – i probably skipped seven days that whole month, which i'll count as a win. but i never attempted it again.

this year i decided to challenge myself on a whim. i don't have a name for this challenge, but it involves me trying out something i usually avoid out of fear/intimidation – ideally art-related, but irl is good too. i've chosen not to make a prompt list, because i know seeing it all laid out will just make me prematurely exhausted, so i'm winging it and feeling out what i want to do each day.

i'm happy to report that, three days in, i've had a 100% completion rate! here's what i've done each day:

• day 1: traditional sketching + photorealism (art), + bugs (irl)
  • i'm not a classically trained artist so anything to do with imitating life scares me. i also am not a fan of bugs. anyway, on a whim, i just decided to copy a photo of bee in pencil. it turned out okay for a drawing i did not cross reference with bee anatomy pics, and i gained an appreciation for bees.
• day 2: background heavy illustration (art) + the beach (irl)
  • i love a character-driven illustration, and i do not like the beach. backgrounds freak me out because i don't know perspective and composition very well, so i decided to do something simple and follow a tutorial on drawing water/ocean waves. it was very therapeutic!
• day 3: drawing without sketching (art)
  • i really admire people who just slap stuff on a canvas and find it looks great. i have to sketch everything! so i tried just slapping colors and carving a headshot out of it. it was a fun exercise, and it reminded me how much i love doing lineless work.

i would post my results, but i'm 1) lazy... and 2) really trying to keep this a non-output-based thing. it's not about how it turns out, but more about how i felt about the process and if i'd later feel less scared of tackling something similar. :)

what else... i'm really into mutant mayhem these days. i'm a very new turtles fan (i've seen clips of rottmnt and been meaning to watch it, but that is something i'm notoriously bad at) and i don't imagine i'll start consuming ALL the tmnt media, but i really adored mutant mayhem! the style was amazing and it was so cute and funny. donatello has consumed my every thought, and i've been through hell and back trying to capture his cuteness in my own drawings.

pictured: traceovers of donnie from my frowning donnie collage. please note the scribble that says "Teeth super cute & important" — they are!!!!!!!!!!!!

in the process of trying to draw donnie, i feel like i've been improving a little bit. i highly suggest everyone become obsessed with characters you cannot draw easily – you feel motivated to draw them lots because you love them, and you get the added boon of diversifying your skillset.

my september was really just me shuffling between any of these three obsessions at any given moment:

1. mutant mayhem donatello!!!!!
2. pokemon violet DLC (teal mask), specifically KIERAN
3. hamtaro. stan and sandy...

i need to decide on an easy-to-build-on structure/design for a shrine so i can start doing so with these obsessions, because i have so many fucking thoughts. aethy has been a delightful dumping ground for some of them, but i am still shy about a lot of the selfship, and would probably feel better about them if i just had them in Specifically My Own Space.

ah! i guess on the topic of sitely and social media stuff, i have been thinking about stuff in the way of naming and hosting. without getting into details, i'm thinking about renaming my site! i'm making a few decisions re: how i organize my work on social media, putting "stuff i'd feel comfortable sharing with acquaintances" (like general fanwork and polished original stuff) under one handle, and "stuff for a smaller, more intimate circle" (indulgent work, sketches and drafts) under another.

i'd like this site and the stuff i put on it to be in the latter category, so it will probably undergo a rebrand to match the handle i choose for my "messy" social media. this won't be for a long time though... i still really like my room theme and i worked so hard on my freaking button!!!!! so my current look and handle are here to stay for now. :)

edit: i forgot to talk about the hosting......... OK well all i was going to say was i'll probably change hosts when i feel it's time to get the rebrand in action. i'm quite happy with neocities and all the people i've met through it, but i think hosting elsewhere will be a nice change of pace for multiple reasons i'll talk about in another entry, probably.

okay, i'm tired of writing so i'll stop here! that sure was a post. thanks for reading if you did, and support mutant mayhem! here's one of my favorite scenes from it: