*flop*

[rydain]

My focus on drawing has slid me down into the asscrack of the Dunning-Kruger curve. I can see knock-kneed hints of professionalism, see how far they fall behind the superb form and gesture and composition and volume in the works I admire. Art is hard, for reals. You read the classic references, like the amazing Andrew Loomis. You study pro

Comments

[oudeteron]

Well, damn, that last pic is good. The progress is obvious. There's a completely different texture to the drawing now.

[rydain]

Thank you! It had a lot to do with getting a better digital setup and starting to understand how Loomis et al. achieve that realistic sort of nuance in simple lines. I also got a much better sense of the underlying form, which is critical if I want the texture and detail to enhance the piece instead of looking weird and off. This is why my earlier work is so plain - I tried to understand the structure under the surface, but I just wasn't getting it well enough. (Especially with fabric, which I very much need to sit down and study.) I have half a mind to go back and redo some of my old stuff from last year, perhaps when I'm recovering from NaNoWriMo.

[oudeteron]

You're doing NaNo again this year? Good luck! I considered it to get a move on with one of my non-fandom-related writing projects, but...I had a thesis deadline not long ago and I guess NOW I need to recover. (The fact that I'm already in my Master's and having reports/write-ups to do every day doesn't help, haha.)

Anyway, keep the good work coming. :D

[rydain]

Ayyyyyup! I'm rebooting Arise, the modern legend of Cao Cao I started last year. I had fun and got some good on-the-fly ideas to repurpose, but it was mostly an exercise in learning just how much more research and plotting I had to do. My basic premise made sense, but I needed a stronger conceptualization of the setting to develop it in proper detail. Writing historical fiction was a good precursor to this. I had to keep siphoning information - all sorts, not just what seemed directly relevant to my questions - and hashing out ideas until I turned a corner and felt I could plausibly extrapolate on my own. I have a much better outline and a satisfactory concept of the overall plot from beginning to end, whereas last year I went into NaNo with a vague Act 1, a collection of entertaining scene ideas, and a prayer that more substance would magically poof into place.

Hooray for met deadlines! I hope your other work is proceeding well. I couldn't imagine doing NaNo on top of the demands of higher academia.