When I started drawing as a child, I usually wanted to achieve realism. That is to say, I learned how to draw strictly by using references. I don’t consider myself to be a particularly “good” realistic drawer – shaaaaading! – but I do know scale, and balance, and accuracy in that regard. When I draw a face, you see who it is immediately. While it’s a calming and satisfying exercise to achieve likeness, it never stimulates me enough creatively. On the other hand, in photography, I want to “work with what I have” and take beautiful photographs of places, people and objects just as they present themselves to me. Sometimes I’ll use a filter (such as for my fractal florals project) but for me the challenge is in using light in a way that uplifts scenery, or capturing the right emotional expression and moments. With conceptual photography, I usually work…
One of the reasons I started exploring digital art, is how easy it is to make adjustments when needed. Corrections or alternate versions are just so easily achieved, and in my brief experience that means I should strive to do my absolute best and focus on the details, much more so than I would with a regular sketch. Sketching to me is usually impulsive, expressive. But these illustrations are meant to be very deliberate, and that’s how I’ll approach them from now on. I made some alterations to my “Fuck You! Love, Me” piece and feel a lot more confident as a (hobbyist) illustrator. And quite comfortable with the process and medium. I am also discovering how much easier it is to include watercolored elements to digital works (something which held me back from doing more with my art, and my more I mean “selling” #SorryNotSorry) and will work on…
If you’ve known me a bit longer, then you’ll know that I occasionally draw and paint. It’s something that comes and goes, but it always comes back again. I’ll spend a few weeks immersing myself in watercoloring or portrait drawing, and then it goes on the backburner for a while. Despite it not being a part of my daily life – for many artists, it’s second nature – I do feel that it’s a part of who I am. My preferred methods have always been traditional. I started with pencil drawings, moved on to acryllic paint in my teens / early twenties, went back to pencil drawings and then finally found a love for ink, watercolor and gouache. But I live and work very digitally as well, as a photographer. And a lot of what I wanted to achieve, didn’t quite fit with the supplies and tools I had at…