Admin Post: Community Check-In for March 2021

[goss]

Tomorrow's the last day of March, and we'd love to have you check in and chat with us. How have things been with you this past month?

Did you sign up for or take part in any fandom activities in March, or have you been working on any personal art projects? Are you currently trying to meet a deadline? Feel free to share upcoming challenges that have got you excited, any frustrations you've been experiencing, possible goals for the next month, and so on. :)

Our round-up of entries for Drawing Challenge #34: Toned Paper will be posted tomorrow, and we will have a new monthly challenge starting on Thursday 1st April. :D

Comments

[goss]

I really enjoyed the Toned Paper drawing challenge, both in experimenting with unfamiliar materials myself, as well as seeing the wide variety of works posted here at the comm over the last month.

I haven't planned much in the next couple weeks, but I do have one requested artwork hanging over my head to complete. Luckily, I have the next week and a half off, so I'm hoping to get it done during this time. :)

[mific]

Nice to get a break - hope you have a good rest!

[goss]

Yeah, hopefully life will not get in the way, and I'll actually be able to enjoy some downtime this week. :)

[mekare]

Enjoy your break and may the muses be cooperative.

[goss]

Thank you for the drawing vibes! ^__^

[amberdreams]

I'm glad to be able to say I did a Drawesome challenge this month - at last! I've loved seeing what everyone else did with the toned paper.

To be fair, I have been quite busy throughout March. I finished painting my rocket for the sculpture trail in Leicester, I've done a couple of different challenges for the 2021 Sketchbook Revival (details on my journal if anyone fancies joining in), and completed a couple of SPN fandom challenges. Oh and I've done some art I can't share yet, for a fanzine.

Next month I'll have two elephant sculptures to paint; I'm in the middle of trying to sort out logistics of getting them from Luton to here, and having the rocket collected so I can fit the elephants in! Plus some fandom things are due mid April. So yup. More business.

[mific]

Wow, the logistics with those big painted sculptures must be really something! What are they made of again, and is it heavy?

[amberdreams]

They're hollow fibreglass and the weight varies - the elephants are 40kg, the rocket is 55kg.

[goss]

I am so impressed by all the sculpture painting you've been doing. Seems like so much fun! ^__^

[amberdreams]

It is! 😂

[mekare]

It sounds like really fun business though!

[amberdreams]

😁👍

[yhlee]

I loved the toned paper challenge! I'm so glad I finally made myself sit down and try to do a challenge even though I was intimidated.

Mostly I was busy with CGMA's Creating Comics & Graphic Novels course in March, which was challenging but really educational. I've also been experimenting with colors by splashing watercolor washes over some of those adult coloring book postcards (Lost Ocean by Johanna Basford) - having a preprinted design gives me some direction and it's much faster than using coloring pencils, LOL. I'm especially having fun using shimmer/mica watercolors, which don't scan/photograph well at all, but I hope the postcards' recipients are enjoying the glitter factor!

Currently I'm attempting to work through Jason Brubaker's Cognitive Drawing on the male figure. Drawing dude muscles is very entertaining. XD

[mific]

The postcards sound like fun, especially with glitter!

[amberdreams]

Those all sound like fun. I prefer drawing men to women because you can usually see the muscle structure better

[goss]

I'm especially having fun using shimmer/mica watercolors

Ooh, that sounds so cool for postcards. And for card-making in general.

I must look into getting some. As you say, because they don't really photograph well, I never really pursued using shimmer or metallics in uploaded fanart, but card-making! Yes, they would be lovely for art that can be viewed in person. :)

[mekare]

Ah I flipped through that colouring book in a shop once. I love her style.

Also yes drawing muscles, yum yum.

[olivermoss]

I haven't accomplished much besides complaining, sadly.

[mific]

Yeah, it's been that sort of year! Hang in there. :)

[olivermoss]

Yeah, it's been weird :)

[yhlee]

It's one of those years. Take care of yourself. *support support*

[olivermoss]

Thank you!!

[amberdreams]

I think we can all relate to that! What a blooming year this has been...

[olivermoss]

Yeah, it's been a weird one

[goss]

Hey, glad you're still round these parts and keeping in touch. *hugs*

[syntheid]

I feel you on this...

[mekare]

Here‘s to a new start in April!

[olivermoss]

Hopefully!

[dhampyresa]

*hugs*

[olivermoss]

*hugs*

[mific]

Quite a busy month again, partly with hassles as my fridge died and had to be replaced, but also I got my writing mojo back and did two stories for the Romancing McShep/SGA Valentine's challenges, and after that, a few shorter fics. The traditional art I made in March was for the toned paper challenge. It was fun and good experience - I've never worked on toned paper before. Plus I did a Men of Stargate calendar for an SGA 'modeling' challenge with manips of Stargate dudes. That was fun! :)

[amberdreams]

Yay for productivity - a pox on dying appliances and expense.

[goss]

COngrats on all the writing this month! And the artwork too! \o/

The traditional art I made in March was for the toned paper challenge. It was fun and good experience - I've never worked on toned paper befor

Yeah, one of this things that made this challenge so fun for me was exploring working with new art materials. :)

[mekare]

Yay for writing and I just looked at the calendar, what fun!

[syntheid]

I think I missed February's check-in because I kept thinking "I'll post some of these for March" and now I'm looking at it like these file names say February; I don't know where March went.

Anyway in Feb I finished up this thing for a streamer I follow and started but still haven't finished a new years picture Year of the Ox

Have done a few things in March though. Because some of my friends are finally getting into the Raksura books, I've been doodling Raksura a bit, or at least here's one of Moon lounging awkwardly in a tree that... maybe I will color at some point.

And I joined a new game with the Humblewood setting, so I sketched a pirate duck (specifically a red-breasted merganser) who is my new character.

Kind of nice to write this up since I had been thinking I'd not done anything, and I guess I've at least done some things if not all the things I wanted to (I'm still thinking about doing the pattern challenge!)

[mekare]

Oh wow that first art is so beautiful! I also like the colours on the ox picture and the lounging sketch has great potential.
Writing these check in always reminds me I‘ve done more than I thought, at least usually (not this month though).

[olivermoss]

March just sort of blurred by.

Great pieces! That first one is amazing and I love the color work.

[mific]

Wow, those are lovely pieces. The pirate duck is very cute, and feisty!

[mekare]

Wow March went by pretty quickly? I was so happy to get the challenge done this month but had actually planned to do more on toned paper. But I didn‘t manage more than a sketch for a pattern idea. Still, since my goal this year is 1-2 pieces each month I can count it as a successful art month. I just keep struggling with wanting to do stuff and not having the time for it. It‘s a bit depressing considering how much I produced in 2019, and even parts of 2020. I *know* my energy is sensibly focused on other matters right now, but man I miss those days of sitting down to do art for an hour.

[mific]

Yay for completing a piece. Everything counts!

[dhampyresa]

I've been working my way through Danica Sills's youtube channel.

Aside from that: I continue to bang my head on how colouring/colour theory works, I realised I fucked up and need to redo the long comic project and the last few days I have been feeling like a complete failure at everything wheeeeeeeeee

Anyway. If anyone has recs for art tutorials and/or art youtube channels? Maybe one day I'll figure out how to draw lmao

[mific]

Oh yeah, I follow Danica's channel as well. Hang in there with the technical stuff - and here's a good YouTube tute I like. https://youtu.be/Qj1FK8n7WgY

[dhampyresa]

I watched that tutorial and it was very helpful, thank you!

Do you follow anyone besides Danica?

[olivermoss]

What medium do you use the most? I don't know a lot about color theory but I do color differently in Procreate than in like watercolors. With alcohol markers it's partially knowing the numbering system for the colors.

[dhampyresa]

Pretty much only traditional. Watercolours, mostly. Coloured pencils too.

[seleneheart]

I haven't been able to work in any art time in a long time! But I really enjoyed the Toned Paper Challenge. I'm hoping to be able to participate in more of these challenges.

[mific]

It was fun, wasn't it! Fingers crossed for you being able to do more art. :)