Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Art Practice Continues

Last week, I think I mentioned that I'm practicing with Krita and my new 2-in-1 laptop/tablet thingy. This week, I have a piece that I did 100% in Krita with the pen! Is it hyper-realistic? No. I'm beginning to think that perhaps I am more prone to simplistic, chunky, goofy art rather than intensely realistic art. Especially when it's my early attempts at digital art!

"Wombuddy"; digital art, 2022

So this scribbly little guy is something I'm shockingly proud of. I have very little idea what I'm doin in Krita, so having something come out roughly the way I want is always a fun surprise! I'm especially pleased with his blocky head and tiny eyes, to be honest.

Pieces like this Southern Hairy Nosed wombat are excellent teachers, I've found. They may not be the most refined images, but from this little guy, I learned that: 

1) I can absolutely create art in Krita with the 2-in-1

2) Reducing animals down to their basic shapes (squares, triangles, circles) will absolutely give you the character and essence of those creatures when you draw them

3) Refining images can take a long time and you don't always end up with as fun a drawing as when you leave it a little messy

4) Using your shadow tone (a dark teal in this case) as the undertone for the entire body makes everything look more cohesive and works with the image.

5) signatures are hard. Use smaller brushes for that.

I have done some more practice drawings both before and after the Wombuddy, but he's the one that stuck out the most, so into the blog he goes lol.

How about the rest of you - do you have any digital art tips/tricks?

Also, if you want to have a say in next Thursday's art, feel free to go over to my Ko-fi account, buy me a coffee, and leave a message telling me which of the following categories you'd like to see next:

• Animal
• Vegetable
• Mineral
• Dedbert
• Location
• Geometric
• Word

In the meanwhile, though,

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Worked Digitally!

Today was... hot. It was about 86℉/30℃ and about 60% humidity most of the day. What's funny is that I felt... fine? Until now, when it's about 75℉/23,9℃ outside, but since I am above the kitchen, it is probably still 86℉/30℃. And if I switch my window fan to intake, I get bugs. Tomorrow's high will feel like 93℉/33,9℃, and we'll be getting rain - which I'm actually super okay with.

I quite enjoy a rainy walk in hot weather, generally.

Especially if we get some wind, too!

I'm less okay with the fact that I'll have to take my window fan out. Sounds like I'm spending a lot of time downstairs tomorrow.

But the main factor in me getting super toasty up here today was that I was on my computer, hunched over the tablet and keyboard, working on today's art!

The theme today was "WORD", and the word in question was... well... see for yourself:

"WOMBAT" digital art 2022

"WOMBAT" with background, digital art, 2022

I used Paint.net for this work, along with my XP-Pen Star G430S.

You wouldn't expect the thing that took me the longest to be that background, yet here we are, 3 hours after I started painting it!

It's because I couldn't decide what kind of background I wanted, how it should look, or how to make it.

I'm planning on making a bunch of "background images" I can copy/paste into any piece, too!

If you have any suggestions for types of backgrounds, colors, etc, I'd love to hear your ideas!

And if you want a say in what I draw or paint next week, feel free to shoot me a coffee over on Ko-Fi along with a message telling me which category you'd like to see next!

Those categories are, of course:

• ANIMAL
• VEGETABLE
• MINERAL
• LOCATION
• GEOMETRIC
• DEDBERT
• WORD

I hope you liked today's WORD, and hopefully, you'll like whatever comes next! For now though, I'm going to try to get some sleep - I'm wiped and tomorrow's gonna be toasty as heck!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which There Was a Delivery And I Drew!

Today was very very busy! The other day, I got a delivery of art supplies - my Buff Titanium watercolor stick from Daniel Smith and a paint box by Emooqi - and since then, I've been looking forward to testing them.

Unfortunately for me, I don't paint well while stressed, and with Evie the Wondercat going to the vet's tomorrow for her annual tooth cleaning and polyp check, I'm pretty stressed. I knew painting was going to have to wait.

Here's what I got, though:

This box is cardboard and has a magnetic flap as a closure!

I'll be honest, I just bought this set of 48 paints to put myself over the free shipping limit, but I was so pleasantly surprised at the quality! It really is worth every penny on Amazon (I'm not affiliated in any way, I'm just impressed!). I've never heard of "Emooqi" but if this is the kind of stuff they put out, I'll have to keep an eye out.

A swatching card for the paints!

Watercolor paper! Two Water Brushes! Three Fineliner Brushes! A Drawing Pencil...
A Fantastic palette! (Plus the Daniel Smith watercolor stick I also ordered)

I expected, when I picked this up, that the palette would be cheap plastic, but as soon as I picked up the package I was surprised by its weight.

Guys, that tri-fold palette is METAL!

You read that right, the palette is made of metal, has a hanging loop on the back, and holds at least one water brush (or multiple traditional brushes). There are wells for holding wet colors and trays for mixing colors, and it's just... it's fantastic. I'm in love with this big, heavy palette.

Now let's talk about the Buff Titanium watercolor stick

I have, ever since beginning to follow Nianiani on YouTube, wanted to have Buff Titanium. It's a soft, warm beige color, and she uses it for *everything*. We have a lovely art shop on our main street in my hometown, and they have a gorgeous collection of various tubes of watercolor in every single shade... except Buff Titanium.

So I looked on the interwebs and Amazon had me covered. I could either get a half pan for 7 dollars plus 7 dollars shipping or I could get the stick from Daniel Smith themselves for 10 dollars or so and free shipping if I got up to 25 bucks.

Believe it or not, I didn't fail economics. I passed. For me, getting two useful items for 29 dollars has greater worth than getting one useful item for 14 bucks. 

I've never used a paint stick, though, so I looked up some videos and it turns out it's a lot like a watercolor pencil but since there's no wood coating, you can just use the stick like a pan and brushy-brushy, you're off to buff-town!

I also used that swatch sheet:

The Swatch matches the order in the palette
plus that lil Buff Titanium swatch by itself

I managed to do all that and then I realized I didn't have time to make a good painting.

So I decided I'd combine three things I love - Australian Animals, Autumn, and Drawing.

"Down Under Harvest (unlined)"; colored pencil & graphite; 2021

"Down Under Harvest (Lined)"; colored pencil, graphite, and Pigma Micron PN; 2021

I wasn't sure which look I liked better at first, but I have a definite favorite. The animals are, from left to right, a Quokka holding kale, a Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat perched on a pumpkin, and a Bilby with an apple.

I freaking love drawing wombats. They're such expressive, chubby, adorable creatures. I just want to cuddle them all but I know they'd nibble my face off.

They're biters.

I love them.

Anywho, that'll about do it for me today!

Go Enjoy Something!!!

FC

Thursday Art Walk - Yard Care In The Outback?

In Which I Drew Another Cute Pic!

Blogger is being a bit finicky today, so I'm trying to copy/paste images as opposed to use the tool they built into it.

Also, it's really beginning to alarm me that the underline under my title keeps turning red...

Regardless, I have, in fact, drawn a picture! And it's another Australian mammal! Specifically another marsupial!

It's another wombat - nature's lawnmower/tiller.

"Lawn Care Down Under"; graphite on printer paper; 2021

This is a Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat who has just finished grazing the lawn down to an appropriate height. She's quite satisfied with herself and the enormous meal she's given herself lol!

I should draw more of these odd, large-nosed marsupials. I love how they waddle along, how their butts are both a shield and a weapon, and how they're just so cute! Just... wonderful critters :)

There may not be a drawing next week - I'll be getting my second Moderna shot shortly before then and may be out of commission for a bit.

How are all of y'all doing?

Until next time, then,

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which There Is A Lot Of Cold and Cheese...

I've been hard at work drawing today! Feels good to get something I said I'd do done. Which is a horrible sentence, but hey, I drew! I don't care!

And what did I draw?

Well, a couple of things, to be honest.

See, it's suddenly freezing (literally) cold again. It was all of 31℉ (-0.5℃) when I got up, and there were these horrid little flurries coming down. The birds outside were very confused.

Someone else was furious...

"What the Heck, Spring?!"; colored pencil on legal size printer paper; 2021

Poor Dedbert is not happy that his nice warm days have suddenly been interrupted by fluffy white nonsense fluttering down from a gray, dreary sky!

Thankfully, though, the snow isn't sticking around, and we should get back to springtime sooner rather than later!

Now, my other piece is somehow even sillier, and it also has to do with something white, though this something is delicious rather than precipitous. In fact, it's so delicious, it's begun to infuriate my partner with its awesomeness.

It's cheese, guys.

We're both obsessed with cheese, to be fair.

My partner is also obsessed with wombats - the adorable furry tank of a marsupial that digs burrows in Australia and whose closest cousin is the adorable, yet incredibly dumb, koala.

So I combined those wonderful things :P

"Triple Cream?!?!?!"; colored pencil and gel pen on legal size printer paper; 2021

This is Wommie. He is 100% obsessed with how perfect and delicious brie is, and he's just discovered triple cream brie - which is, in his opinion, overkill. I mean, he's still gonna eat it, don't get me wrong, but he's a bit overwhelmed at the thought of that much cream!

A minor disclaimer here, though - 99.999% of the wombat population cannot and should not eat brie, since they're herbivores and tend to have a hard time digesting dairy. Wommie is special. He's downright magical.

He also has a hard time with his R's, but that's because of the way his mouth is built. It's made for eating roots and grasses, not pronouncing silly human words!

Anywho, I'm ready for a break! If you've made something today, go ahead and tell me about it!

And Go Enjoy Something!

FC