Digital sketching progress

I think daily practice is starting to pay off a little. Two months ago, whenever I tried to sketch directly in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet, it felt so awkward; I scrapped drawings a few times in frustration.

Tonight I worked while using a photo reference, but the sketching felt must easier. I was able to softly erase lines like a kneaded eraser, layering up an under sketch until I had the line I wanted. Then I would solidify those lines to be darker while erasing the rest. I worked on a single sketch layer. I also really like making the background layer something other than pure white – it feels like priming the canvas.

I’m also getting used to working with Photoshop kind of scrunched into half my monitor, while the other half is Firefox with Pexels open. I am lucky to have two monitors set up, but the right one was devoted to the show I was watching. ^_^

The trickiest part of the sketch was the right hand – it’s cut off in the source photo. I tried looking at an amalgamation of raised hand photos for reference, but I also had to guess a bit. The right thumb seems especially off. More hand studies are in order! Whether digital or in my sketchbook.

The version above is how I was working in Photoshop, with the figure oriented vertically, like the source photo. I wanted to mix it up for the post’s featured image. I like the horizontal orientation, it makes it feel dreamy! The downside is that I was working on a small art board (2000x2500px), so I will be keeping this as a study sketch, since it can’t really ever become an art print. I could do another version on a larger art board, though, perhaps add some fancy costume, keep it horizontal, make it more dreamland themed. Hmmm… I will file that idea away for a future night.

Tonight’s art session was accompanied by the first episode of Wanda Vision. Excited to see how the show goes, even if I know some of the spoilers. I rather like knowing spoilers ahead of time – that’s often what convinces me to tune into something.

Oh, and I finished watching Critical Role C2 Ep 128. Ugh, that super cliff hanger! Is it Thursday yet, indeed.

Last night was sweet, because Ricky had done all the dishes and picked up without me. Yay! Extra sleep was welcomed. But alas, tonight there is indeed the daily pile of dishes to go deal with before brushing my teeth and going to bed.

‘Til next time!