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DaliteDraws

Nichola Coleman
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Do you have any goals for 2018? How do you feel about your last year? Any achievements? Any goals you hit? want to hit for the next year? tried and didn't succeed? New mediums tried or to be tried in the next year If so tell me about it.

As for me, 2017 was the year of highs and lows. Life was extremely busy but looking back, I am quite happy of how things have gone.

There are over 130 submissions for the last year, yes some of them are line art and then coloured versions so not unique art but others are 3 drawings or so in one. Regardless, my output of work compared to previous works really shows. There have been certain things especially in November I have not posted...was just balls and cubes and shapes etc but majority is here so majority is reflective of what I have done this year. So quite happy with that!

I think I am starting to see improvement, I certainly have a long way to go still but can see steps forward (though admittedly sometimes a step back happens and a terrible picture comes out! But that happens, it does and que sera sera)

I think my anatomy is starting to click in place in certain aspects, hair is certainly a mystery I have not even started to unravel yet! 

I have predominantly stuck with drawing people this year as well, predominantly ladies.

Pretty much just worked in ink and graphite.

So anyway, lows of 2017: didnt hit my 3 a week target. Didn't complete mermay or inktober. not where I want to be skill wise. Still have a lot of bad art coming out. I dont think i touched watercolour at all!

Highs of 2017! I actually came really close to hitting my 3 a week target. I did a lot more of mermay and inktober I expected to. I can see some improvement and think I am taking steps towards the right path. Someone actually bought a few of my mermaids as adoptables? I didn't even know what they were until they messaged me asking for them and explained. have dealt with a lot more requests. Have done my first draw this again meme though am up to like 4 of them or something? A lot of watchers, a lot of nice comments and notes from people so that has been great. A few features etcetera.

Goals for 2018- Carry on, draw more,  dont be afraid to keep it basic and just sketch, not everything needs to be a finished piece of work- something i think i have really learnt in 2017 and want to keep. perhaps dig out your watercolours. STOP BUYING SKETCHBOOKS. STOP COLLECTING ART SUPPLIES AND NOT USING THEM. Experiment with subject matter, mediums, surfaces, whatever you want. most importantly...have fun.
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So I got up to 24 inktober pieces posted. I do have another 2 in my sketchbook but they are unfinished and I have no desire to finish them so therefore I am letting the official count to be 24.

 

So question is, did I fail Inktober? The challenge is to draw for 31 days and in ink (though this can be adapted to people’s needs and some do digital etc). Now I certainly didn’t hit that criteria, I certainly didn’t draw all 31 days or finish with 31 drawings but I don’t think I failed.

 

The whole point of  challenge is to walk away learning something, whether it is just proving something to yourself, to improve your skill,  to experiment and see if a medium is for you, whether ideas are for you etc etc etc. Thought I didn’t do the whole 31 days, for me personally I don't felt I failed, I certainly acknowledge I didn't achieve the full potential but I feel happy with what I have done, what I have learnt.

The things I have learnt/reflected on etc

 I did better than last year. I came close to the end. Next year might be my year or maybe mermay next year or march of the robots or whatever it is.

  1. I need to do more studies. I knew this before but it really brought it home. I like to draw, I like learning to draw, in all honesty I am not great at it, I am ok at it but I want to be damn good at it so therefore though I know I need studies, I have to do them. So less of this “finished pieces” as a majority and more sketches.

  2. I need to look into more realistic practice. I think as artists or people interested in art, there is a lot of concentration of “finding one’s style”. Yet there was someone who once said ( i can’t remember who) and many people who have echoed, style is deliberate, style is where you know the rules, know the fundamentals of art and adapt them to make your style, have the skills and too often the word style is used to cover the lack of skill and knowledge. That is what I have, I have a lack of skill and knowledge, I draw how I draw not out of style, not out of choice but because I don’t know enough not to, I am not trying to find my style, I am trying to improve. Though I had heard artists say, always look to do realistically first and then you can go into stylised things or different types of art, I thought oh no I will go down the more cartoony route to learn some basics of anatomy and improve slowly that way. Though I think there has been some improvement, I think I am certainly at the point where I need to look more realistic to try to understand. Mouths elude me, hair is a puzzle I cant figure out, eyes....how the heck do people get them to look the same at different angles? Haha.

  3. Bad art is ok. This is another thing that artists say and I have learnt this month. Just accept that sometimes you can’t get the drawing right, you sometimes ruin it, to make good art sometimes, you must make bad art sometimes. Though you want to hide it away and not show anyone, accept it, post it on the internet or keep it so you can have a record of it, look back at it and see improvement. As they say, you learn better from your mistakes than from your successes.

  4. Winsor and Newton gold ink is my absolute favourite. I appear to be having a secret love affair with it. Seriously though it is gorgeous, a great metallic coverage and also water based so you can plop it in your palette, use what you need, let it dry and reactivate it.

  5. I want to maybe look into more silhouette art. I did a piece that I liked and would be interested in doing more similar down the line but not yet cause.....

     

 

The Plan:

 

Oh yes to learn more from all the things above, I have a plan. I am going on an art detox. For the next couple of weeks it is going to be just me, a graphite pencil/s, eraser, sketchbook and studies. I want to walk away with a minimum of 14 pages of graphite sketches and pages properly filled. If I don’t achieve this in 14 days then I have to continue until 14 pages are filled, it is for whatever one comes last.

 

I am going to study the fundamentals. Starting off with boring spheres, shading etc as this will help with values and light and dark.

 

Doing this 14 day/page detox I am not allowed to do one finished piece of art. At the end I can, maybe a redraw of an inktober piece perhaps to put it into practice and see if there is any improvement in this little course, perhaps not. We will see. 

 

 

So all watchers, apologies if you like the ink drawings but hold onto your hats as we are in for a sketchy fortnight. See you on the other side!

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Featured

Looking past at art 2017 and onwards to 2018! by DaliteDraws, journal

Failed Inktober? Art detox? by DaliteDraws, journal