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List of Monthly Drawing Challenges for WHOLE Year

Update 01-04-2018: I did it! I uploaded for Inktober 2017! Well, I'm still uploading for it. But that's because I want to hit my go...

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Sketch Diary: Sitting on a ledge in color


Played with colors here. I like the skin. Fabric looks ok from a distance but I didn't get the smoothness like I wanted. Hair just fell flat. I don't have many purples. This was on thin paper so I couldn't rework the colors or overlay much at all without ruining the paper. Ah well. Still fun.

with love - M

Monday, January 29, 2018

Sketch Diary: Inktober Day 21 - doing the up-do


Another quick inked drawing. I wasn't thrilled with the original pencil sketch but I like this inked version a bit more.

with love - M

Friday, January 26, 2018

Sketch Diary: Inktober 20 - Slender all over


Ain't she cute?! I don't usually draw thin styles like this but it was really fun to try. I hope to keep trying more varied shapes of people.

with love - M

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Sketch Diary: Inktober 19 - 'the page is too small' portrait inked


Quick inked sketch using a new brushpen. Gotta use it on bigger paper. I don't have the brush control for those tiny skinny lines yet.

with love - M

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Sketch Diary: Inktober Day 18 - Birdperson inspired inked


Ooooo isn't he just the hunkiest. I'm not sure why but I love how this turned out. For a goof around sketch, I'm pleased as punch.

with love - M

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Sketch Diary: Unimpressed flower girl


Didn't intend for her to look so sassy but that must have been what I was feeling at the time. I've actually lost track of the amount of creative stuffs I've done so far this month (sketch, ink, marker, etc) and.... I don't remember the last time that's happened.

I'm feeling rather pumped about starting some new projects... bigger things than I've ever done before with my drawings. I hope you're feeling some fire, too. If not, don't worry too much about it. The last few years were super dim for me (for drawing stuff). Sometimes other things have to take priority.

with love - M

Monday, January 22, 2018

Sketch Diary: Mirror Mirror on the wall color version


Mirror mirror on the wall... who's got the cutest butt of them all! Oh do I love that fire-y hair. This was a fun sketch to warm up my marker skills on. I'm excited to work on more marker stuff now. This was on printer paper... not good paper for markers hah but I made it work. But don't worry, I did pick up a real sketch pad that's supposed to be good for markers so I'll break that in soon.

with love - M

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Sketch Diary: TBT - Elf girl with wings inked


Throwback to 2011! That was 7 years ago... I'll let that sink in for a minute.

I'm happy to say, I still enjoy this drawing. This was when my drawings started to feel less flat. They started to feel more fleshy, like they take up space.

with love - M

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Sketch Diary: Watching you indifferently color version


This drawing became an experiment in multi-media. I started with a sketch on some old card stock paper. Then I inked it. Then I colored the figure in with Copic markers. But then I did something a bit different from my usual.

I colored the background in watercolor... madness! Not really but it definitely saved me a ton of time. I just wanted a simple orange background and didn't want to waste a ton of Copic marker ink on it. I got really worried though, while I was doing it, because the water made the page super ripple-y. So I sandwiched it in a heavy book for a couple days and thankfully it smoothed out rather nicely.

The stars are bit childish maybe... but I like them. I wish I'd done more haha.

with love - M

Thursday, January 11, 2018

My Best of 2017 Drawings


I took the stats from my blog to figure out what images had the most hits from 2017. These are the winners.

And look at that! All of these are from my attempt at Inktober 2017. I think that's a real testament to how important it is to set goals and projects for yourself. I really tried to not get hung up on the 'completion' aspect, needing to do all 31 drawings on the designated days, using the prompts. Instead, I focused on just putting pen to paper and not much else.

For me, my biggest hurdle right now is combating my 'imposter' thoughts. And I'm finding that what helps me be successful in that fight is allowing myself to draw what I want, when I want. I definitely think that if I had tried to force myself to stick to someone else's schedule, prompts, whatever, I would've gotten overwhelmed and burned out before I hardly got started. That style of pushing myself has never worked for me. Following what feels good has always brought me better fortunes.

So draw what you love. Fit in learning and technique training when you can.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Sketch Diary: Pearl practice


Fan art of Pearl from Steven Universe! Not my character so please go check out the show if you like it! Such a great show - no matter how old you are. I hope I did Pearl some kind of justice. I was trying to do her character in my own style. The hair was fun. I keep flip flopping about liking the pose. Something is wrong with the arms. Back one is too short and front one is angled weird.

with love - M

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Sketch Diary: Iterative face practice


I get stuck drawing the same kinds of faces sometimes, especially when I have so little time to draw. So I do these iterative practice pages to help get used to changing details, small and large, to change the look of a face. Check out Sycra's video - Iterative Drawing - The Fastest Way to Improve.

It's funny because I see several old styles that I used to do - different stages of drawing. The top right  was definitely a phase I had in 2004. But the middle right is definitely my current mood.

with love - M

Monday, January 8, 2018

Sketch Diary: Relaxed mohawk lady


I might have not drawn anything for a month... let's not talk about that. Let's talk about how SWEET this pose is?!

with love - M

Friday, January 5, 2018

Sketch Diary: Warrior concept


This is what happens when you watch too much Viking and Ancient Rome related movies and shows. Love those braids, though.

with love - M

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Sketch Diary: TBT - Armored blonde elf


An throwback oldy! Hailing all the way from 2008. Probably colored in 2009. Still struggling with drawing hands...2018 haha.

with love - M

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Sketch Diary - Warm up collection


I hadn't drawn in a while and needed a page to just scribble on for a bit to get my wrist loosened up... also to get my brain loosened up. I definitely recommend doing warm ups before you sit down to draw that super cool idea you have. Get the junk out on a junk page. If that junk page ends up being super cool, great! But if not, you don't waste too much brain power just scribbling around and instead you get nice and warmed up for that super cool idea.

with love - M

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Sketch Diary: Inktober Day 17 - Short hair portrait practice


Working on my lineart skills. Feel free to color - but please give me credit, link back here, and tell me! Cuz I wanna see it.

with love - M

Monday, January 1, 2018

Sketch Diary: Inktober Day 16 - Moana inspired


I know. Inktober is over. But I told myself I was gonna do 31 ink drawings for Inktober 2017 and if it takes me all year, then it takes me all year. I wanted to start the new year on the 'right' foot so here we go. A drawing inspired by Moana, sketched in July, inked in November.

Did you participate in Inktober 2017?

with love - M