I have no idea what tags to use for this. I decided to make my own thread as I practice drawing by using my OCs as my muses. Thought it’d be a good way to see progress too. Assuming I practice enough that the thread doesn’t eventually close itself.
Re-posting some of the ones I posted elsewhere. Rough concepts for James Baxter, and Theodore (Theo) Fratto.
I hated this one so I decided to try something different.
I think I’m on the right track now with the color blocking. I kinda winging it, but I’m open for tips if anyone wants to offer.
you’re so good?? i’m literally in love with james. your style is
wouldn’t call it a tip, but i shade/color block really roughly (i personally like the style of it) and pretty loose if that makes any sense? here’s some art of mine where i think you can tell what i mean? hopefully, at least. but regardless i agree that you’re on the right track, it looks super good so far
(i hope you were okay with others posting, since you said you were okay with tips!)
To be fair, I traced the line work from photos until I get the hang of drawing freehand. I haven’t drawn freehand in years, but this is the last thing I drew like a month ago that was no tracing. Not an OC of mine, a fanart of Hades.
I love your character! Gasp! And the way you shade/color block. I think that’s what I’m aiming for, but I’m winging it at this point. My eyes kind of get confused when there’s color, and I remember my professor used to tell us to simplify our references by making them gray-scale. This way it’s easier to see the shadows without being distracted by the colors. So that’s what I’m trying. Playing with the brush settings too. Your hair looks so good! I can’t draw hair yet.
And thanks for the tip! Bring it on! All the tips!
we have to learn somehow! i personally trace anatomy with 3d models and go from there — i haven’t 100% freehanded anatomy in quite some time to be honest.
and that’s super good!!! my statement about your style is still true, very
and thank you!! yeah, i find color to be Much harder than b/w honestly? grayscale is somehow a lot easier and fun for me, and a lot of people do suggest doing it that way first and then adding color to it, maybe that’d be worth a shot? (also i am terrible at hair don’t let that fool you, the less hair there is the more likely i can fake it)
Right now I’m using Photoshop. I used to draw by hand, scan it in, and then color/ink on PS, but now I’m trying to draw directly in PS. I’ve seen other programs that I’m curious about exploring. Tried Sai once years ago. How about you?
you’re very deserving of the encouragement and more
interesting! personally, i never could get into drawing in photoshop - and i use photoshop all the time for other stuff, so theoretically it should have been easy to adapt to but i just didn’t like the feel of it for some reason. sai is a great program! though if i need to draw on pc, my go-to nowadays has been medibang, really solid program and worth a try :]
i personally use procreate on an ipad right now though ^^
Fighting with Photoshop brushes today. Trying to put shadows on Theo was becoming a nightmare. I hate the way it looks. So I decided to simplify the colors to flat. One shadow, one base, and some highlights. But the brushes!!! Every time I turn off “transfer” in settings it turns itself back on as soon as I use the brush. I’m trying to turn off when the brush has opacity changes based on pen pressure, so when I use the brush, it’s a solid color/weight. Grr. I used to have a class for digital painting years ago in school. Maybe I should search for any notes I might have on that.
So I’m giving up on this rough draft of Theo. I think it’s best I try a different reference, maybe something simpler in terms of light/shadow. I started trying do all this blending and it looked like garbage. Then I went for a more simplified version. His curly/wavy hair is a nightmare.
Version that’s better, but I’m moving on bc screw this one haha
I got so angry at my Theo failure, I decided to have fun, and draw some fan art. Still tracing. Tried downloading some new brushes, and they work well so far. Hades from Lore Olympus.
Drawing is going badly. Very painful. Trying to just focus on drawing eyes/expressions, and I am SO bad. I used to draw stuff all the time years ago, where my professor kept asking me if I wanted to change my major to animation, and now I can’t even draw two proper eyeballs! This is hard. I know I have to force myself or I won’t improve, but damn, getting through the, “I hate everything I’m drawing” part is not fun.
That’s an interesting way to draw them. I’ll try it. I think my problem is trying to draw expressive eyes. Like I’m even looking at expressions and sometimes having a hard time trying to replicate them. I was trying to freehand but it looks like I still have a lot of tracing in my future.
I hated this one so I decided to try something different. 
I haven’t drawn freehand in years, but this is the last thing I drew like a month ago that was no tracing. Not an OC of mine, a fanart of Hades.
I appreciate the encouragement.
So I decided to simplify the colors to flat. One shadow, one base, and some highlights. But the brushes!!! Every time I turn off “transfer” in settings it turns itself back on as soon as I use the brush. 
I’m trying to turn off when the brush has opacity changes based on pen pressure, so when I use the brush, it’s a solid color/weight. Grr. I used to have a class for digital painting years ago in school. Maybe I should search for any notes I might have on that. 
I haven’t drawn any recently though. 
I haven’t drawn her in years. Maybe I should. 
