The Voyaging Storyteller

I recently realized, quite aghast, that it has almost been a year since I last shared some of my art. A very busy, full year in which I pounced on every spare moment to sketch and paint and develop my skills to get closer to one of my art goals, which is to draw realistic portraits of my family members. I’m not quite there yet, but I’ve been very pleased with how far I’ve come and am excited to finally share with you some of my recent (well…recent as in this past year 😂) artistic forays.

You can never, ever go wrong with flabbergasted bunnies. 😍

I sometimes get these random bouts of mushroom obsession, where I develop a strong urge to sketch fungi. This was a result. You have no idea how satisfying it is to draw fairy mushroom houses.

I’ve been experimenting with drawing cute things, because cute things make one feel warm and cuddly, and…and…LOOK AT HIM. Admittedly the idea was not mine, I stole it from a Pinterest inspiration, but he looked SO ADORABLE and forlorn that I couldn’t resist.

Also umbrellas, surprisingly, are much fun to sketch.

This was a gift to a dear friend who loves horses, and I must say, I was very hesitant to add color. Shading and blending with pencil is one thing, but colored pencils require much wrangling and perseverance, especially for strong, rippling horse muscle. At some point I moaned in despair that I completely ruined this darling horse, but I think it came together alright in the end.

I sketched this on one of my ponderings about Time. There is something about hourglasses that is so…mystic and transcendent, like the entity it represents.

Another case in my Cuteness Experiment. The thing about these darlings is that it takes just a few minutes to create them, and they beam with adorable joy through my sketchbook for all time.  🥰 

This is a drawing that I am exceedingly pleased with, because I managed to get the facial proportions right without having to erase the whole thing and try again seventy-four times. It’s also a drawing that I attempted last year and gave up on because it was too hard, so I was delighted when I finally could draw it.

I also adore the concept, and #TeamGlasses, though the original idea came from…you guessed it, Pinterest. 😛

Along with bunnies, you can never go wrong with epic dragons. It took me a while to get the face in the right shape, because for a long time it resembled a long horse face, but when I stopped eyeballing and started measuring things out, everything fell into place.

Measurements work, y’all.

I don’t know why, but I find great joy in drawing cat noses, and there are no words to describe the satisfaction of adding in whiskers at the end.

In order to achieve perfect balance and unity in the world, if I draw a cute cat, I must draw a cute puppy. My mother asked me why I kept drawing such sad poor things. I said because they are cute and they need representation and, most of all, hugs.

Give this poor darling a hug.

A few months ago I began to gain enough confidence to attempt realistic drawings. Before I do my family members, I want to be confident in my accuracy. Thus I turned to the Avengers and tried to have my family guess who I drew.

I cackled like a witch when they correctly guessed Tom Holland’s Spiderman.

(But seriously, why are British lips so thin and almost nonexistent??)

Tony Stark gave me much headache. I completely sketched out his whole face and erased it and did it again, three or four times. Then I redid his eyes several more times. Then I agonized over the complexities of facial hair.

Then I took a step back and…recognized him! Best of all my family recognized him too, despite his eyes, which are still not perfect, but are the best they’re going to be.

I’m not gonna lie – this is one of my proudest achievements. I started off with my usual method, eyeballing and hoping for the best, but that got me nowhere after a long tedious hour. So I began to draw lines and mark off measurements on my reference and in my sketch:

And it worked. You guys, it worked. Those lines gave me so much more confidence and allowed me to get all the proportions right. Why I didn’t start off doing this, I have no idea, but this is finally the method that I will use to achieve my dream of drawing accurate portraits for my family. It’s also much faster, unlike the ages I took to do Tony Stark.

I am so incredibly happy I was able to render Thor, my favorite Avenger, justice. It’s not perfect, obviously, and I still detest facial hair (and hair in general 😂) but this new method of lines and measurements has given me much hope.

If you look carefully above this eye, you will see many other erased eyeballs. Those came from several (failed) attempts to draw Thranduil after a long break in art, before I ditched him and sulked. I was beginning to believe that I was so out of practice that I had lost all artistic ability, until I found this eye tutorial, wiped my tears, and proceeded to draw a crying eye.

Never give up, dear reader. In every single drawing, there comes a point when it looks so hideous, so unlike what you imagine, that you become tempted to give up. I think it’s the same way in all of life’s endeavors. Don’t let a fear of failure stop you from persevering until the end. You will surprise yourself. 😉

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That’s all for today! My next art dump will not be a year later, I assure you. 😅 I’ve been dabbling in the hallowed medium of ink and watercolor, which I will share with you soon.

Also, I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest (if you haven’t noticed XD) so if you’d like to check out my art board and try some of those ideas, here’s the link!

Until next time,

Bon Voyage!

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What artistic endeavors have you been doing recently? Do you have any art boards on Pinterest you’d like to recommend to me? Do you have any tips for realistic portraits? I’d love to talk in the comments! 🙂