Week 2 3/4

I started this draw-something-everyday thing on September 3rd and it’s pretty amazing since I’ve made it this far! I’m sadly the type of person who would usually slack off in the middle of something (which is also why I find the fact I’ve been working on my book Blunt for 3 years now is quite an achievement! Although I work on it on-and-off, it’s a good thing that I still have the determination to continue editing it! More on this later~) It’d be my third week on this personal project starting tomorrow, so basically it’s still Week 2 3/4…. so… anyway…

To kick it up a notch, I decided to put more time and effort to my sketches to also push myself to draw more sensible things rather than just doodling pretty much anything I see (which isn’t such a bad thing either.) So I thought of coloring and doing proper-ish line art (I think that doing the outlines is the most tiresome and boring part of the drawing process, both traditionally and digitally lol but that’s just my opinion) instead of the usual pencil drawings. While laying in bed before I slept one night, I thought about how it would be nice to draw people I know in the way “I see them.” Since I didn’t know how it would turn out, I decided it would be best if I tried to draw myself first (so that if it ended up ugly, well, it’s my portrait anyway! No one gets offended hahaha)


It looks NOTHING like me but oh well! I actually had to Google references for the Lavenders and Sunflowers since I’ve never drawn “real” flowers before! I almost always just draw petals or random swirls that are supposed to look like roses in a bird’s eye view.

The next day I had a sudden urge to update my novel, Blunt. If you’ve read my blogs @ CrazYanka.com before it got temporarily suspended, you’d know about how Blunt started out as a Sims 2 game and ended up being the story it is today As of the moment the storyline has already changed quite a lot from the original, but most of the scenes and dialogues from the 2008 copy are still present. I aim to publish it by next year at the latest, but it wouldn’t hurt to have it done by the end of 2011! Even as the author, I’m torn between following what I want for my characters and what I feel my characters would want! It’s pretty crazy, if you ask me! Here’s a little snippet from one of my more recent chapters:

A comfortable silence enveloped us and I surrendered to the ache of my heart. For some reason I felt awkward about myself. I couldn’t put a finger on a reason why. It wasn’t unusual for me to feel a pang of guilt whenever I was overjoyed, given that I’ve always been like this ever since I could remember. It’s as if I couldn’t accept being happy, like I don’t feel that I deserve to be. I know that shouldn’t be the case, but it is.

Just a little note — the first copy of Blunt had 16 chapters and almost 60 pages, and the current revision (I revised it since I felt that the ending was rushed and there were quite a lot of inconsistencies and grammar errors) has 10 chapters and almost 50 pages, and it’s nowhere near the ending yet! I’m quite excited to finish, since the ending I have in mind is something I’ve been planning since my Senior year! [1 page = 1 US Letter size paper] Also, the chapters I’m currently working on are pretty much still a part of the “beginning” of the story since I haven’t even introduced the problems yet. If you’d really want to know what I’m thinking about right now, it’s this — “I can’t wait to write the part where I’d have to kill someone in my story.” Weeee

I drew some scenes from the story in my sketchbook as well, but they’re still random scribbles since I couldn’t draw the male characters in the same way I see them in my head just yet. (Male hair is so troublesome!) Since I wouldn’t want to spoil you guys on the new scenes just yet (ohoho) I’ll just share my colored sketch of Lian I forgot to take a photo of the pencil sketch, but luckily I managed to photograph it when I finished the line art.

I used quite a lot of colors to finish Lian’s portrait!

I have yet to draw my friends’ and family’s portraits though… hahaha I fear I wouldn’t bring any justice to how beautiful they are in my eyes! Eseyyyy it’s never too early to suck up for Christmas presents, ‘ayt?

On the other hand I draw random stuff every now and then, and lately I’ve been experimenting with perspective and facial expressions.

Last night I decided on drawing something with some sort of background, and I also had an itch to draw something fashion-related-ish, so I ended up drawing something ad campaign-esque. A part of me regrets coloring her hair pink (I knew I should’ve just gone with brown) but a part of me also regrets coloring the whole thing in the first place. Hahaha! In the end I still like how this turned out.

Next week is going to be the hell week of my first term of school since I’ll be presenting my work already. I’m really nervous since I don’t know what my grade would be… I’m quite confident that I’ll get quite a good grade though, but I know I can’t be complacent! I hope I’d do well in my presentation so that it could serve as my back-up to raise my grade a bit if ever it wouldn’t be so stellar (but I hope that wouldn’t be the case!) Hoping for the best! I’m visiting home next week as well so I’m super excited for that!

Random personal photo for the lolz

Fridays and Sundays

Before anything else… It’s been ten years since 9/11 happened and although I wasn’t affected directly by that tragedy, it wouldn’t hurt to reflect a bit on that event… Many people died that day and hopefully their souls are now at peace, and also the souls of those they left behind.

Anyway.
Last Friday I decided to visit a local park and planned on sketching a bit and maybe finish a book. Apparently the book I brought with me was uber boring and it made me feel so sleepy that I almost fell asleep on a park bench. I didn’t sketch much either since I lost interest after reading barely a third of that novel. Luckily I brought my (heavy) camera with me so I decided to take some pictures of the trees and grass… and myself. Hahaha! Okay, maybe a little more of myself! It sucks when you don’t have anyone else to photograph, and you get tired of all the green after a while. I was at the park from 3 o’clock to about early 5 PM.

Don’t you think I look different with and without glasses? Even though my eyeglasses are rimless… I’ve never tried having plastic frames though but I’m sure I’d look awful with them hahaha

I guess you’d get bored if I posted the photos individually, so here’s a lame collage of some of the more decent photos I took that day.


Experimented a bit with my poses… There were some joggers, passersby and security that trotted along ever so often, but I didn’t mind them and I guess they didn’t mind me either.

Ever since September 3rd, I’ve been drawing every day! I must say, practice really does help! I’ve been looking up for some artists around the internet and their works have inspired me a lot! I study how they draw eyes, lips, hands, and chins… basically every body part since I haven’t had any formal training on how to draw so my drawings aren’t exactly anatomically correct. Here’s a comparison from when I first started this “Draw Everyday” thing and a drawing I made five days after, on September 8th:

Results?? Hahaha! Still got a long way to go before I could make anything decent enough. Once I feel more confident about my line art, I’ll start to draw digitally again to bring color to my stuff! I adore details, and colors are one of the things I really pay attention to. So anyway, here are some random close-ups of the drawings I’ve made from September 4th to today, September 11th.

I drew myself! I actually like this one since it sort of looks like me. Lol! I used a photo from my Photo Booth as a reference. I was wearing glasses in the photo but I wasn’t confident enough to draw some specs!



I tried using guidelines to make this one. ^

The ones below were drawn yesterday:


I copied a drawing for the one above. It looks NOTHING like the original (goes to show how I can’t imitate people’s styles lol but I guess that’s a good thing since I add a “personal touch” then) but I sort of like how it turned out!

Copied facial features from other illustrations. I like to pick up some “styles” from other people and incorporating all these different “styles” to my own “style” in order to improve somehow. I don’t know if that made sense but oh well!

And this is what I drew a few minutes ago –

Crappy background I know, but I’m trying to add more details to my drawings and I think the background should be given just the same importance as the subject. I’m also having difficulty with drawing males and hands but for now all I could do is practice!

I’ll be visiting the Philippines the week after next and I’m super excited-slash-nervous-slash-scared! Hahaha! Next week will be done in a flash and before I’d know it I’d be presenting my projects and boarding a plane back home! AHHH Can’t wait to know how THAT would feel!