Updaaaate

Two more weeks until summer. sdf;asjfdlaklsd;flak I'm seriously excited. And nervous at the same time. I'm going to be a senior in high school. It's a very strange feeling.

I should be able to gather my portfolio together over the course of the summer, and hopefully I'll have built on to what I've got so far. Right now I'm focusing on the flexibility of my style. I'm trying to explore new styles and media. I don't think it will be much longer until I find a good little niche for myself.
As I approach my fourth year as an artist, I feel like my entire high school life can be reflected by the art I produced.


This is the first drawing I've ever scanned, circa April 2008. Late freshman year. This is from about 7 or 8 months after I actually started drawing to get better. I have drawings of mine from as early as November of 2007, but anything earlier than that has vanished into thin air.
For only having a few months' worth of experience when this was made, I think this is pretty good. It's colored, for one. But I didn't understand the concept of "shading" at the time, I guess.
I'm tempted to post some of my art from 2007, but it's too much work right now. I may do a similar post sometime during the summer, with a full timeline of my improvement.

This I finished in December of 2008, middle of sophomore year. This was my Arina Tanemura phase. ._.; Here's the point where I started drawing more women than men, something that I still do. This is also the biggest turning point of my career as an artist. Everything from this point on went through an improvement "boom" where I started to actually get better, and I started to study a lot of other artists, etc. I think I can also blame the sudden inspiration on several major events that were happening in my life during this time. I think sophomore year is my biggest year of art I've had so far.
If you follow my art, you're probably familiar with this picture. Even though it's somewhat outdated (I drew it in late July of 2009, between sophomore and junior years), I'm still really happy with it. This was really the first drawing I actually relaxed about. I wasn't expecting much to come out of it; I thought it was just going to be a sketch. But I sat down with my iPod ("Pretty Girl" by Sugarcult was playing on repeat for the majority of the drawing) and art supplies and I just relaxed. I really haven't done that with many other "good" drawings since this one.
I actually plan on doing a remake of this drawing during the summer, just to see what's changed in my style over the course of one year. Although it may not be Anarithia as the subject of the drawing. :/

After that picture, nothing too big really came that I haven't already posted on this blog.


Now for the real reason I decided to make a new post. I have an update on the WIP I posted last time.


Remember when I said the skin was giving me hell? It still is, GRAAHH. Although I think I'm getting better at anatomy and shading/lighting. I'm very happy with the shoulder muscle, although I think I'll go back and add some more highlights to help distinguish it more from the neck. I hate male anatomy, and I really should study more of it. HE HAS BREASTS, EUGH.
This work has a bit more of a "painterly" look to it (which is what I was going for). Critique very welcome!

Here's another WIP:


I plan on coloring it. There's something very wrong with the guy's face, but I seriously cannot place it. Tips?
I've already sketched and traditionally inked this drawing, this is the scanned version, ready to be colored. I don't plan on changing any of the actual line art, unless it's a very subtle detail that can be changed very easily with no problems of noticeability. So basically I'm asking for advice on future drawings. I cannot draw men's faces, in any direction. They end up looking too feminine. Which is okay in some situations, but sometimes I want to be able to draw masculine-looking faces without them being completely distorted, thanks.

Well, it's getting late. I should probably get to bed now.