a retrospective on redrawing my old art
in 2022, i was feeling lost and overwhelmed (as one does)
so in an attempt to distract myself, i redrew my art from 2019 to remind myself i’m getting better in at least some aspects of my life
despite my frustration while making these, i still like these pieces a lot! not just because of how it turned out, but making these helped me realize several things:
- what direction i want to take my art to
- what part of the process i like and dislike
- what i like to draw outside of fanart 3
now for the comparison
here's the actual art from 2019:
(2019) vintage lady no. 3 and no. 4, respectively
the naming convention was simply because i was heavily referencing vintage photographs for these pieces; guess i have no energy left for naming files
there are areas of improvement, notably:
- hands are partially hidden this time 4
- faces are distinct from each other
- clothing folds make sense somehow
- backgrounds exist now
- characters interact with the space they occupy
- variety in color choices
that said, i do acknowledge the change in taste, and how it translated into style
i wouldn't consider the switch from a cartoonish style to a semi-realistic one to be an improvement per se; my current draftsmanship would benefit either style, but it's more of how my art evolved to better fit the stories i want to tell
the change is a bit jarring, to say the least.
even looking back, my artistic roots were largely inspired by series like Over the Garden Wall, Steven Universe, and OK K.O.! 2019 was the year when i was obsessed about Phineas and Ferb; it felt like nothing would change
but i guess things did change! and here i am now
conclusion
i'm still changing! and my art will continue to reflect those changes, for better or for worse.
since 2022, i've been pushing myself to improve with my art, mostly to combat the feeling of "i can't do that if i'm not yet good at it" and/or "i won't do it if others don't think i'm good at it," but that's a topic for another entry.
i'm still struggling with this one, but here's a snippet of what i originally posted on cohost last year:
make stuff regardless of how it turns out! and also not let performance indicators on the Internet dictate how i feel towards what i make
thanks, 2023 polvoronii
it’s thanks to this piece that i discovered the joy of (drawing) grass↩
stylistically, i love this. but it's time-consuming, and i hated that↩
exclusively drawing fanart isn't necessarily bad, it's just that over the years it felt like it was holding me back from making my own stories↩
for one hand hidden inconspicuously, another one is shown in full view; it's a good enough balance for someone who dreads drawing hands↩