i should draw my original characters more
today's realization: i don't draw enough of what i enjoy!
if you go thru any of the public platforms where i share my art, you may notice a large gap between the last time i shared an illustration and the most recent one. going thru my private sketchbook will give you the same conclusion.
over the past few years, there is a noticeable decline in the quantity of work that i finish (and share). the quality's going upward tho! which is great! but still, i'd like to draw more. at this point, i'm very envious of my 15-year-old self, who keeps finishing sketchbooks within weeks of buying them. last year's sketchbook took a year and a half to finish.
so! starting this month, i am intentionally making myself start AND finish an illustration within the day! it doesn't have to be polished (even when i want it to be) and it doesn't even have to be amazing (even when i want it to be). it just has to exist!
and to make things easier for me, i drew illustrations featuring my own original characters. somehow i keep forgetting that i love drawing my ocs, and then i act surprised when i remember. drawing what you enjoy is actually freeing??? imagine that??
this post is basically just showing them off.
presenting ... these two! ⋆˚࿔
my favorite trope is when one continues to look fondly at their angry partner
they don't have names yet. i just like figuring out how they'll interact with each other. i don't know anything about them aside from the idea that they're classmates during the 1960s in the philippines. (uniforms probably wouldn't look like that in the 60s; i just drew my high school uniform from memory)
one may have (accidentally) influenced the other to start smoking.
(points) this one's my favorite...
one of my reasons for focusing on strength-training was so that i can lift my partner into a princess carry. i'm not able to do that yet without breaking my back (or other parts), so these two get to do it for me.
initially, this was supposed to be their wedding. but green looks cuter on them. either way, these two are adorable! i imagine this was during a "kasalan ng bayan" (a public and free mass wedding) in their town. one of the brides threw a bouquet, and the guy caught it. his friends tease him about it, and the woman, unfazed, lifted him up.
he raised his bouquet triumphantly, and they ran out of the venue, with the guy still in her arms, laughing all the way.
see, it still surprises me how drawing these scenes and writing about it just brings out joy that i can't find anywhere else. this post is primarily a reminder for myself to keep doing what i love. i hope it encourages others to do the same for themselves.
tools of the trade ⋆˚࿔
i'm using krita, which meant that i no longer have access to my usual brushes in clip studio paint. at the same time, it means i have access to exploring different brushes from the community! here's what i used in each piece:
- lineart: charcoal hard from this set
- colors: ink dip pen diluted, from the inkp bundle
for the 2nd piece, i used one of the default basic brushes for coloring. both illustrations were layered with a cardboard texture from tomb of null's set.
happy making! :>