This is a spectacular failure.
Is this me saying my art is bad? No. I’m not allowed to say that anymore. In fact, I get annoyed when artists better than me call their art “bad” when they’re clearly better than me, so I’m not gonna do that.
I will say this though.
This is NOT better than yesterday. I was really happy with yesterday’s work, but today, not so much.
Here’s yesterday’s work for those just joining us:
So, here’s what happened.
- I tried an experiment, with the underdrawing being blue instead of brown. It doesn’t look as “dead” as when I tried black and white, but I don’t think the experiment was successful.
- I tried using the Linear Ruler in Clip Studio Paint. Trying to figure the new tool out ate up some time, and unfortunately, Clip Studio Paint’s ruler tool makes it harder to make more “organic lines” So, they look very thin and not very real.
- On that note, the “underdrawing”‘s lines are too think.
- If you look at yesterday’s work compared to today, I used broader brushstrokes to build up the shapes. To me, it looked slightly diagnal in some areas where it should have been straight, so I tried to fix that problem. Here… I think I was focusing on getting the lines right. I ended up not achieving my goal anywhere and making more problems
- The colors in the reference are warmer than my version. My brain was going, “Oh! Night! Cool colors!” But they’re TOO cold.
Lessons
- Focus on values first (shading and lighting). After drawing in the basic shapes, get the shading down before moving on to the countour lines and details.
- Be sure to have a balance of warm and cold colors.
- When you’re pressed for time, focus on a specific subject. I think if I were to go back and do this again, I would more roughly sketch in the buildings, and focus on making the fountain more detailed. Your eye is probably drawn more the background in my version.
- Probably the most important lesson: Sometimes improving a skill is 2 steps forward and 1 step back. If the goal is to be better than yesterday, then tomorrow will most certainly be better! Can’t wait!
Reference
My Version
Thanks everyone for joining me today! If you would like to take part in this challenge, please put a link in the comments so I can see your progress! Please read my comic, Dragonrider’s Dance on dragonridersdance.com or Webtoon Canvas! It’s an exciting fantasy/fairytale/action comic about a world where dragons are all female and disguise themselves as princesses!