Voice of the Orator

A digital sketch of a feminine portrait with curly hair.

Day 43: I've drifted away from sketch practice. The value practice is good for future rendering work, but quick idea communication is what I'm after at the moment. I bashed my head into the wall until I found a way to depict curly hair. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

A digital sketch of a feminine figure looking over their shoulder with dark, glossy hair.

Day 42: Trying to settle back into the groove with this, the hair study continues. I'm seeing progress now. I decided to try doing lowlights with hard brushes instead of the highlights and I like how it looks better now. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

Two thumbnail digital sketches of different hair textures. On the left is a digital sketch of locs, on the right is a digital sketch of straight hair pulled back in a bun.

Day 41: After a brief period of study, I'm back with a little hair practice. It should have been obvious, but hair seems to be all about the highlights and lowlights and how that indicates directionality. That is also how you represent different textures. #art #sketch #critique #artsky

A digital sketch of a feminine figure with long hair.

Day 40: Studying hair and oh boy am I displeased. I'm going to see what I can learn from other artists on this platform before trying again. I'd like to study what techniques are at play. Lots of room for growth. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

A digital sketch of a feminine figure crouched with one hand on the ground, the other over the shoulder carrying a katana.

Day 39: Finished this one late. I did some light experimenting with a new brush for shading, I like this one better. Another fun dynamic pose, with some foreshortening that turned out okay. I think I'll practice hair next. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

Day 38: Had a ton of fun with this dynamic pose. The figure practice is paying off, I'm starting to be able to just draw the skeleton, and then I can add my own underlying frame and see when something is off. Lineweights still need work. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

Day 37: A quick one today. This loose baggy fit was a great dive back into identifying the principles of clothing, not just trying to draw what I could see. I think some shading would really make this pop. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

Day 36: I was getting too heavy handed with shading and losing the plot on the clothing study, so I pulled back. I think I'm starting to understand the points of tension in normal cloth, but tight fits will need more work. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

A digital sketch of a feminine figure bounding in the air with cloth draped over their arms that is flowing behind them.

Day 35: I was going to try and make this into a full finished piece, but I started it without any real idea of what I was going to do with it. I'm letting it go for a new idea instead, so here's the sketch. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

art pose reference of a woman in a white t shirt and fishnet stockings.

art pose reference of a woman in a white t shirt and fishnet stockings smoking.

art pose reference of a woman in a white t shirt and fishnet stockings.

art pose reference of a woman in a white t shirt and fishnet stockings.

Free references by TrueRef 🖤🤍

An digital sketch of a feminine figure wearing a long sleeved gown, sitting down and holding their hand upward. The gown is rendered in grayscale.

Day 34: This gown that spills over everything was so eyecatching. I focused too much on what I was seeing and not enough on the core principles of fabric drawing, so I'm going to say some intentionality of today's practice was lost. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

A digital sketch of a feminine figure with a cloth draped over their form. The cloth has been rendered in grayscale.

Day 33: I'm continuing the clothing study and I got caught by the painting bug. I really just wanted to see what this would look like with some greyscale value shading. This is the most excited I've been since I started this exercise. #art #sketch #critique #artsky Ref from @trueref.bsky.social

A digital sketch of a feminine figure wearing a kimono. The figure is in a seated position while holding an umbrella.

Day 32: The oft alluded to and heavily promised clothing study has begun. I'm starting with this kimono study, since I figured there would be many folds to study. Trying to lean into the importance of line weight, directionality, and points of tension in the cloth. #art #sketch #critique #artsky

A set of digital sketches of feminine figures in various poses.

Day 31: While I work on completing pieces in the background, I don't want to stop doing these quick practices, so I did a quick 20 min set. I think it's time to start doing some studies on clothes again, so that's next. I once again forgot how fast 2 min actually is. #art #sketch #critique #artsky

the minotaure

the hunter

the sorcerer

the shaman

dark fantasy concepts using lasso tool and textured brushes
i enjoyed making them a lot tbh
#art #darkfantasy #conceptart

A page of partially finished digital sketches of various feminine figures in different poses.

Day 30: A month of practice has put me here. I'm happy with the growth certainly. I think it's finally time to stop focusing on speed and start focusing on completion. I want to see what it looks like when these efforts come together in one image without the timer. #art #sketch #critique #artsky

Day 29: I didn't feel like doing figures, so I did some concept work on the Soul Collector masks. This is inspired by brutalism and art deco. I think that this more geometric kintsugi look gets me there. I've also discovered that I'll likely stick to photoshop for rendering. #art #sketch #critique

Day 28: Digital this time. It didn't help me get over line confidence issues, but the digital is the format I'd like to use eventually, so I'm gonna keep practicing. Many different forms here, but an ineffective use of line weight is holding back more dynamic sketches. #art #sketch #critique

Pen sketches of various feminine figures in different poses.

Pen sketches of various feminine figures in different poses.

Pen sketches of various feminine figures in different poses.

Day 27: Steady on with figure work. I find myself missing my multiliner felt tip copic marker, but I'll be better if I don't use my tools as a crutch. I think I'll go back to scanning the sketches as annoying as it is, since that would present the work a lot better. #art #sketch #critique

Pen sketches of a few figures.

Pen sketches of a few figures.

Pen sketches of a few figures.

Day 26: These 2 min sketches actually look better. I've been comparing them to the ones I started with and I've clearly grown a little. I'm so excited. The form and perspective is getting more readable as I go. I just can't seem to shake this line habit though. #art #sketch #critique

A pen sketch of a masculine figure crouching with one knee raised. The figure looks away from the viewer.

Day 25: One last figure. The head sketch practice helped. I love how these half finished sketches look. It feels like the full sketch is slowly be unveiled beneath. I really loved the pose in this one. Shoutout once again to @trueref.bsky.social for the dope pack. #art #sketch #critique

Hi! Been a while since I posted! And I actually have painted haha but before that I’ll drop some old works just because of nostalgia <: this is my friends character He Fei

I'm starting to love art again, especially figure drawing. If I can just get these lines down more confidently, these could start being really cool. I can visualize it in my mind, but my hands just aren't quite able yet. It might be good to go back to line confidence boosting, 2 min figure sketches

A pen sketch of a woman leaning forward and looking off to the side. Her thumbs are in the line of her underwear.

Day 24: Proportions are looking better, though still off a bit. I'm starting to get a hint of my own style, which is incredibly fun. Reference comes from the @trueref.bsky.social sample demo pack. I spent more than 30 mins on this one, but, in my defense, I was having fun. #art #sketch #critique

Sketch of a woman holding a sword with a cowl draped over her neck.

Day 23: I started by just doing the hatching. Having lines to guide where that hatching goes speeds up the process drastically. Lesson learned. The face has a dark feeling to it since it's different from everything else which is fun. Probably won't try it again though. #art #sketch #critique

I'm seeing technical improvement immediately. I'm happy with how the stomach shading turned out especially. I was too afraid to try messing with folds on clothes. I guess that's on the learning to do list. It never ends.

Day 22: I started with the face again, but at this small of a scale I don't feel like I have the control I want. I was struck with the idea of skipping the outline completely after finishing this one. I could just do the hatching and see how that turns out. #art #sketch #critique

There's still work to be done on the hair and assessing body proportions, but I could definitely practice this daily. I bought a new sketchbook today solely for the purpose of this exercise. Let's see how it goes.

Day 21: Another 30 min figure. I started with the head this time. Proportions are much better, though the left side is still a bit out of whack. Physical media felt much better. I also got much more done at once. I haven't done hatching much before, but this will do as a start #art #sketch #critique

I think I should commit myself more to each line. I should just accept the lines as they are and build from there like I have to do in physical media. Lesson learned. Probably.