Admin Post: Community Check-In for February 2022

[goss]

Today's the last day of February, 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 February, or have you been working on any personal art projects? Are you currently trying to meet a deadline? Feel free to share upcoming art 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 #42: Draw Your Hand will be posted tomorrow, and a new monthly art challenge will go up later in the week. :)

Comments

[goss]

I've enjoyed seeing all the different submissions for this month's challenge. And it was great to see some new participants too! :D

I tried blind contour drawing for the Draw Your Hand challenge, and then played around with integrating abstract lines and shapes into the final piece. I think I especially liked using this method because it made me focus more on observing and less on trying to produce a realistic artwork, which resulted in a more relaxing experience for me.

I also managed to submit a completed entry for the Word of Honor Reverse Big Bang. \o/ Thanks so much to mekare for encouraging me to take part in it. <3 I haven't taken part in a fandom challenge in quite some time, so it feels really good to get back into it.

[mific]

Nice to be back into fannish art again, yay!

[goss]

Hoping to continue with some more fanart this month too. :)

[mekare]

And your entry is Sooooo Beautiful!!!!! I cannot wait for everything to be revealed, though that is so far along in the future...

[goss]

Aww, thanks so much! ^__^ Yes, it seems like *so* far in the future! I am impatient. :b

[minoanmiss]

I did not try the hand challenge. But I did start on a drawing for Black History Month. I posted what I have, and I intend to try to shade the drawing to stretch my skills, and to give it a background and other finishing touches. It ended up ... meaning a lot to me.

[goss]

I just saw your amazing artwork. Wow.

I intend to try to shade the drawing to stretch my skill

Cheering you on!

[mific]

That artwork is so poignant. Sending you hugs!

[mekare]

Yes it is beautiful, and keep stretching your skills!

[seleneheart]

I saw that artwork - so meaningful and thought provoking.

[pumpkinlumpin]

Ahh, hello! I've been quietly lurking about this community for a bit now...

It's been an aggressive start of the year for video games, so I keep getting distracted, haha. But I've still managed to squeeze out a few things this month! I made a pixel fanart in anticipation of a beloved little game series (Klonoa) getting some remasters, while in the background I've continued trying to get a handle on gouache again. Some of it got posted, some not.

This coming month I'm hoping I can keep up this momentum of practicing with gouache somewhat regularly! I don't have room for a good dedicated area for traditional art though, so admittedly it took me a bit to get the ball rolling. It's just a pain to clean up a space, then having to clean up afterward and put everything back every time.

[goss]

Hi there! It's really great to hear from you. I love the peacock painting. :D

It's just a pain to clean up a space, then having to clean up afterward and put everything back every time.

Heh. I hear you. One of the main reasons I've stuck with watercolours is that it requires so little space and clean-up, compared to acrylics and other kind of paints I used in the past.

[pumpkinlumpin]

Thank you!!

And yeahh, I'm sticking to figuring out gouache for at least partially that reason too: it's ultimately less clutter and mess compared to other media. Like, I love oil painting, but that's just far too much to deal with in a small, shared apartment. Plus cat hazard.

[amberdreams]

That pixel art looks like cross stitch 👍😁
The cat is so soft!

[pumpkinlumpin]

Haha, thank you!! Working with pixels is fun because of the limitations, but also because it can have that kind of cute cross-stitch/perler aesthetic.

[mific]

Oh I like all your artworks! I've messed about with gouache as well.

[pumpkinlumpin]

Thank you!! I'm trying to get re-acquainted with gouache after a long break (period of extremely small living space), and it's been a fun challenge.

[amberdreams]

Apart from actually doing a Drawesome challenge (yay!), I have done some art this month that I can't share yet because posting isn't for a few weeks, and I've also been busy all through December and January creating designs and submitting them for this year's sculpture trails. So far only two have been picked but I'm looking forward to getting home so I can start painting my giant duck and a flat 1.6m flower with a bee on it. Painting on a 10cm thick flat surface is a bit of a departure for me!

Just posted some art for this year's TAE22 (Twitter Art Exhibition) if anyone's interested in submitting something too, there's still time and it's for a good cause! https://amberdreams.dreamwidth.org/950880.html

How do you post links on DW comments without showing the link? IDK.

[goss]

Looking forward to seeing your painted duck! :D

[mific]

Go you! The duck sounds like fun. :)

[salamandras]

I'm really happy I was able to participate in this month's challenge! This is such a welcoming community. I've continued to draw hands, and I am experimenting with doing less shading and seeing how inking a sketch works out (still in process, though).

[mific]

Good on you for keeping up the practice - hands are hard!

[goss]

We're delighted to have you be part of the community. Have fun with inking! :D

[mific]

Feb was mostly given over to doing things for the Romancing McShep and Psychic Wolves for Lupercalia fests. Mix of writing, podfic and art. I'm in a hiatus with the Stargate Tarot, but am working on the first Court card. So in Feb I did McShep chibis, a due South piece for Flower Crown Day (crowns aren't essential, just flowers), a McShep watercolour/digital piece, and very chocolatey art for Venomtimes Day. I'm now wondering whether to embark on a longer comic for the due South Big Bang, maybe an historical detective noir AU. :)

[goss]

The chibis! Hee. Too cute. And your McShep portraits came out so good! I love how much variety in art you've done this month.

[enemytosleep]

I didn't upload any sketches, but I did sketch some hands in February. I'm also planning my net few art pieces and gathered some refs for those to start sketching this week. Hopefully I can make good progress on each in March!

[goss]

Cool that you did some hand sketches this past month. Hope you get a lot done with your planned art in March! :)

February

[eye_of_toad]

February was sooooo hard. I always find the winter to be bleak, but February is always the worst. Even in years where the weather was worse in January, it's the end of the season when I've used up all my resolve that really gets to me. I'm so tired and so ready for spring (but worried spring won't actually be enough to make me feel better this year).

I've deliberately been avoiding any fandom responsibilities because I just don't have the energy, but I have been doing a little more drawing this last month (including several hand drawings and I even did one more page of practice hands that I haven't gotten around to posting yet).

Re: February

[goss]

Aww, I'm sorry it's been so tough. :/

I even did one more page of practice hands that I haven't gotten around to posting yet

Glad you could get some extra practice in. You can post anytime you get a chance, no rush. :)

[seleneheart]

I signed up to do a Big Bang - actually the oldest Big Bang that I'm aware of. Over at Livejournal. spn_j2_bigbang. I used to do this one religiously 10 years ago and decided to revive my participation for old times sake.

[goss]

Congrats on signing up! I'm sure it brings back wonderful memories.

AFAIK the Harry-Draco Big Bang is the original one, which I took part in many moons ago (I just check - 2005. LOL. What is time. /o\). I'm amazed that's still going after all this time. :)

[mekare]

Whoops totally forgot the check-in!

February was busy with getting my Word of Honor Reverse Big Bang piece into an acceptable state for submission on the 14th. After that I was kind of burned out (I'm only noticing now in retrospect) and I dove headlong into a new fandom (The Lost Tomb series) and have been happily playing around in that new sandbox.

I also submitted another piece for the Automatic Drawing Challenge: here.

Started two WIPs that I'm taking a break from currently: here

Did an animal transformation art for the Lunar New Year here.

[goss]

Yay for a new sandbox! I just love that feeling of diving headlong into a fandom for the first time. ^__^