Filling my sketchbook

This update marks the completion and the end of this DK30 and truth be told, I did not manage to complete the original goal of filling my sketchbook; I still have seventeen pages left.

I fell behind last week due to a ridiculous amount of overtime at work and I didn’t manage to catch up. Regardless of this setback, I’m quite proud of how far I came. I believe I’ve overcome much of the fear of the blank page I felt prior to this DK30 and I’m definitely more loose and relaxed when doodling for fun. So, overall I’m quite thrilled with the work I’ve put in and I’m also really proud of some of the drawings that seem to just come out of nowhere, like this one I drew last week:

It’s a little crazy as a sketch, but I think I’ll redraw it digitally and see if I can make it cool-looking.

Let’s have a look at the drawings from the previous two weeks: Sorry, there are a lot this time, but at least it’s pictures!

First up, I did something stupid. Great start, right? I swatched some watercolors, which of course you should not do in a normal sketchbook. So this swatch is more or less useless, but hey, I had fun.

I’ve done a lot of pose studying, and I forced myself to redraw things to see if the outcome would be better or if I could nail the pose faster on a second run. It’s great exercise (and a great warm-up, since you don’t have to be very creative)

I also tried to make more stylized versions of poses from reference.

I continued creating characters from random shapes as warm up. I see animals a lot…

A page of deconstructed eyes, because why not?

A portrait of a very cool lady I had the pleasure of meeting through my work.

This is supposed to be arctic foxes but they look a bit more like wolves now that I look back. Calls for a redo some other time!

Fox leg study.

This is a page from one of those days I was frustrated about work and nothing good would come out of my pencil. Also inspired by the song Circles by Jack Garratt.

And here’s a proper song lyric sketch. Jack Garratt - Weathered. One of my favorites for many years.

Also a song lyric sketch. From Son Lux - Easy. Is this how you vent through art?

Let’s end with this ballet frog and dubious cloak fella. Mostly because the cape is such a cheat, but I like the outcome anyway!

That’s it, crazy scrollers - the end of DK30, but certainly not the end of sketching! I will leave the book out to tempt me in the evenings and Sunday mornings until it is overloaded with animals and objects, moods and emotion, mess and beauty, and everything in between! I’m already looking forward to getting my hands on my next sketchbook! I’ll have to paint the new cover. I think I shall honor Ori with the company of Hornet in anticipation of Silksong.

I’ve been enjoying this DK30 so much and I’m already looking forward to the next one! I have so many projects I want to start up. Until then, stay safe!

This week I’ve fallen behind a little, but I’ve still been drawing every day so that’s a big win. I might have to work overtime next week to be able to fill the entire sketchbook in time. Or simply be even less precious and blob something down!

I’m getting better at varying between detailed sketches and quick doodles and I found a great warm-up exercise: Creating simple characters from random shapes. It’s always nice to not have to deal with that crisp white page when you have no idea what to draw.

Let’s have a look at some of this week’s sketches:

First up is a spread with poses which is not from reference. I guess I felt confident that day.

Another pose, this time from reference. I did a few thumbnails, then a larger quick sketch and then I decided to refine the details that I messed up, but instead of erasing and trying again I just drew those parts (the hand and the head shape) separately. That way I could reference my first sketch to better see what went wrong.

Here’s the first spread of characters from random shapes - I think some of these turned out pretty darn cute. I tried making the original shape green and the line art black, but it’s hard to see in the picture - sorry!

Just a random Halloween inspired page.

And then a simple illustration of a little bat character. Pot-bellied or pregnant? Who knows…

Playing with some watercolors here. Anyone else a fan of the card game “The Mind”?

“Bee in a bottle” - drawing prompt from my partner. I don’t know how to draw bees, so…

Another week has gone by and a whole lot of drawing has been done! Despite having a ton of work, I fitted in at least an hour a day to sketch. I’m actually halfway through the sketchbook, which is a pretty exciting milestone!

And I really am enjoying myself - I’ve been all over the place this week, which is quite visible in the mash up of styles and methods and moods of the sketches. I’ll try to describe my thoughts and processes for each of the pages I’ve chosen to show this week.

Pose sketches from reference. I wanted to practice some clothes folds and some more interesting poses. I chose to use the green ball point pen to make the sketching quicker and more loose and flow-y. I’m really happy with these pen drawings - It’s a challenge and a blessing to not be able to erase, and when I succeed in making something look right, it feels great.

Sorry if this creeps anyone out! I wanted to play with expression in eyes, cartoonifying the shapes to not get grossed out myself. And because I want to practice stylization some more. I did a whole spread of these eyes, and I enjoyed making the pages streamlined and sort of scientific-looking. I’ll probably trace the sketches with a black liner later.

Yay, here’s a fun page! It started with me using a whole spread drawing a simple cartoon fire again and again and again… and again, varying the shape just a little to imitate animation. Then I needed a break and just drew whatever came to mind, which started with a flame, became a mask, became a study in horns and then moved to leathery wings for some reason. It’s not particularly pretty or well thought out, but I like it nonetheless. I felt free. Like I could do anything.

A few days ago I just really wanted to do some lineart and make something simple and clean. So I chose the Inktober prompt ‘float’ and drew this. As mentioned earlier I’ve been all over the place this week. And I was certainly in a mood while drawing this, but I felt pretty good afterwards.

Know how many handwritten fonts happens to not include the Scandinavian letters Æ, Ø, and Å? Most all of them, as a matter of fact. Don’t worry, I’m going to change that terrible wrongdoing! I copied this pleasant little font and attempted to design the three Danish letters to go with it. I do not particularly enjoy fudge, btw. It’s what we say at home instead of the less charming f-word.

Let’s end on these happy doggos. I draw a lot of animals. I think half my sketchbook is animals. What can I say - they just make me smile!

Quick update ('cause dinner’s almost ready…)

Did some good progress filling some pages this week. I’m definitely getting better at moving on and not overworking, which feels pretty great. I used reference (real life or photos) for most of the drawings this week, and I think that sped things up a lot. But I need to be able to sketch from imagination as well, so I’ll make sure to practice that the coming week. I’ll need some prompts, though, and I’m not really feeling the official Inktober list, so I need a different source - maybe some lovely Day Knights could help me out?

Let’s have a look at a few select pages of the sketchbook, 'cause who doesn’t like pictures in updates?

• Pose study from references

• Hand study from references

• Sweet rodents - Inktober prompt

• Mushrooms

• Plants, venturing into the good old-fashioned use of a non erasable blue pen.