miniemode

[miniemode]

30 Days of Art Improvement Challenge

Are you tired of feeling like your art just isn’t improving? Do you want to do a 30-day challenge that’s actually useful? Welcome to 30 Days of Improvement Hell. >:D

I made this because I’ve been feeling super ‘blah’ about my art these days, and I needed something to kick-start myself. Who wants to do this with me!? Start now or whenever you can (now you procrastinators!). Challenge yourself and have fun at the same time!

Tag your posts with #Improvement Hell so everyone can follow along and see each other’s awesome artwork. I may even create a blog and reblog them! :D

What are you waiting for? START!

Self-Portrait - Introduce yourself

Draw a figure using a reference - link to reference

Draw a figure that’s in action, using a reference - link to reference

Draw a part of the human anatomy you have trouble with. x20, with atleast 5 being skeletal/musculature studies.

Draw more figures. Quick gestures and silhouettes. x20, with atleast 10 different body shapes

Let’s have some fun. Design a character from either This or This character generator! Be creative and bring something to life!

Pick the weirdest object in your house/room. Draw it. Shadows and Highlights.

Find 2-3 objects, make a scene with them. Draw it. Bonus points for creativity. Double points for dramatic lighting.

Draw a landscape of a place you’ve never been or drawn.

Draw a BG with 1pt Perspective. Negative points if it’s a railroad or an empty street.

Draw a BG with 2pt Perspective.

Look out a window. Draw what you see. Bonus points for adding something interesting.

Draw an interior setting with the character you designed on Day #6 in it.

BG with either bird’s eye or worm’s eye view.

Halfway there! Draw three 'action’ scenes with different compositions in each. Quick sketches are fine, just make them interesting and understandable! Bonus points if it’s the same scene, but different composition.

Draw a single page comic with 5-7 panels (the story begins and ends on one page). 

Draw an animal you’ve never drawn before. x10  Link references.

Draw a car. Negative points for whining. Hint: Use a perspective grid.

Think of the thing you hate drawing the most. Guess what? Draw it! Negative points for lying to yourself.

Pick an object in your house/room. Now design a character from it, using the shapes, forms, textures, purpose and colors as inspiration. Also link/post the object you used. Negative points for using a humanoid action figure.

Draw a character/object/scene, and shade them using ONLY solid blacks and whites. Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows

Draw a different object/scene/character. Shade using hatching, crosshatcing, and/or pointillism. Bonus points for lights/shadows and textures.

Colors! Pick a color palette, and paint a scene/character/object using only those colors (some blending allowed). Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows.

Draw and color a scene/object/character - no lines allowed! (aka - lineless art). Don’t forget light and shadows!

Draw a scene/character in a style you’ve never drawn before. If emulating an artist, credit+link. Bonus for color style.

Draw a character. Draw 10 emotions/expressions. Bonus points for 'uncommon’ emotions. (i.e. anxiety, guilt, despair, loneliness etc.)

Draw three random shapes using your opposite hand (or your foot). Now design characters from those shapes.

Turn on the tv (or load your illegally downloaded movies). Pick an actor and draw them.

Almost done! Let’s have some fun. Draw some fanart. Bonus points if it’s super obscure and unknown. Make people guess what it’s from.

Last day! Find a drawing you did within the last year. Now draw it again using what you’ve learned! Link it for comparison!

 Look at all that amazing improvement! Congrats!

[Update] There is now a sequel challenge, Draw All The Things!

[miniemode]

30 Day Art Challenge: Draw all the things

My first challenge, Improvement Hell, was a way to inspire people to draw different things different ways, drawing outside their comfort zone, and most of all to draw every day. I had a few people ask for a follow up. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the sequel: Draw All The Things

Each day has three prompts. Some are specifics, others are vague, but all are geared to spark your imagination and inspiration. Take from them whatever you want. Design a character, an illustration, a collage. Singular or plural. Literal or symbolic.

Casual Mode: Pick and draw one prompt each day

Normal Mode: Combine and draw two prompts each day

Hard Mode: Combine and draw all three prompts each day

Tag your artwork #Draw All The Things for others to follow and be inspired!

Wild animal, Thief, Winter

Jewel, Water, Contrast

Garden, Teeth, Bright

Old book, Pangolin, Clutter

Deep, Earth, Curse

Greed, Glass, Temple

Three, Rain, Shadow

Wire, Bottle, Pale

Sunshine, Track, Abandon

Cliff, Tattoo, Journey

Bone, Laughing, Free

Corner, Scripture, Dusk

Stairs, Amber, Guard

Vast, Alien, Glow,

Jazz, Pen, Urban

Sand, Royal, Red

Child, Fur, Cookie

Tree, Crime, Lizard

Tech, Tank, Silver

Scales, Vibrant, Smile

Naga, Knowing, Tribe

Witch, Jacket, Pattern

Secret, Melanism, Wings

Rogue, Bat, Dysfunctional

Passage, Fox, Chime

Star, Bridge, Mask

Observer, Forest, Unique

Degrade, End, Iron

Vivarium, Gradient, Mix

Imagination, Pencil, Borderless

Good Luck!

(alternately, this can be a writing challenge too, if that is your preference!)

[miniemode]

I loathe some of the designs for xmas paint brushes on neopets, so… ima redo them 🙈🎄✨

Acara and Meerca got completely redone because their original designs are atrocious!! 😭 Blumaroo and Chomby merely received retouches because I thought the candy design was a really cute, so I just wanted to amplify the overall aesthetic. 🍫🍬

I know reindeer is an obvious concept for Acara, but I don’t mind because I think the result is really cute (and bc this is Neopets fan art, I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel lol). As for Meerca, a few kind of abstract ideas popped into my head, but the concept of a lump of coal felt the most fun to me. Is it a lump of coal carved to resemble a Meerca, or did a Meerca get stuck in a chimney? Both are plausible…

It’s not clear exactly what Blumaroo is supposed to be in his design, so I assumed it was meant to be candy cane like some of the other pets. Some pets receive more detail in their designs in later years, and I imagine Blumaroo would look like my retouch if he got the same treatment! More definition was added to this body to imitate the glittering of spun sugar. Chomby got a few of its design elements swapped because they just felt super clumsy beforehand. I kept the holly, but placed it on the wreath as a bow (again similar to other pets). I added detail to Chomby’s spikes to make them look more like peppermint bark, including putting crumbled pieces in the spots the holly was originally placed (this also looks much closer to Chomby’s base design!) More warmth and a bit of shine was added to its body to help get closer to the appearance of molded white chocolate, which looked extra cute with the retouched peppermint bark embedded in it!

Each design received touch ups and added detail to their strands of lights! ❤️💚💛💙 Meerca’s ribbon tail needed to look like those super glam velvet ribbons with the posable wire inside. I’m super happy with all of the looks so far~

Which ones should I try next?