inspiration: mall licudine

mall licudine is someone that i have followed for a very long time. her artwork is so inspiring to me. she uses different methods within her artwork, from painting and drawing to using tape to create images. 
i really love how she has a different style and aesthetic to what is normal and i love how she shared her struggle with us, not knowing where to go with her style. she didn't know what she wanted her work to be like, but she carried on doing it and in the end is really grateful for every step of the way. 

 



i especially love it when she does her work on wooden boards! she uses gouache and acrylic to make her colours really vibrant. it really looks like it's photoshopped onto the wood instead of painted on! i would love to try this out one day.

inspiration: cyarine

bcyarine, aka laura brouwers, is an illustrator from the netherlands. i have been following her on instagram for a long time and i think her artwork is so beautiful and inspiring to so many people (over 200k on instagram!!) 

she does helpful tips on youtube which help with people trying to learn how to digitally draw and these have helped me a lot in the past when i've tried to tackle drawing digitally. 

here are some of her drawings!

defining illustration into categories

10 questions i want to investigate

1. what makes a good concept artist?
i want to investigate this question as it is a career path that i have an interest in. is it all about digital art or traditional? i want to know what skills i need to invest in and what i can expect from a job like this. by finding the answer i hope to know whether this would be a career choice i would like to be in, or go down a different route.

2. how do i get myself out of using only 2 medias?
at the moment, i seem to find myself drawn to fineliner and watercolours. although these two medias are amazing and i love them dearly i want to discover other things that i can with illustration and different ways to solve problems using different medias. by finding the answer to this question i hope to be a better illustrator, or at least be able to choose some different medias to work with if i feel like it.

3. why do you suck at drawing poses?
as having an interest in character design, you would think that i am skilled in the art of posing characters. however, i am not. by finding the answer to this question i hope it helps me to realise why i do indeed suck at drawing poses and what i can do to fix this and hopefully get better.

4. how do i sell myself as an illustrator?
being quite a shy and introverted person, i find it quite hard to openly tell people everything that i'm good at without thinking that i sound like an asshat. i want to investigate ways to gain my confidence in myself and my work and be able to show off about what i'm good at and why they should hire me.

5. how do i get myself out of my comfort zone?
i seem to find comfort in drawing little characters and using A5 sketchbooks and just being neat and little and introverted in my drawings. i want to investigate how to get out of this, become big and open and draw more things and use more materials and be a better illustrator. in finding the answer i think that i will become a better person in myself and a better illustrator.

6. is having a visual signature bad?
after having a big head talk with Kyle T Webster and his advice of being open in your visual signature and not holding yourself down to one way of working, it made me question whether having this 'style' is good or bad? do you want to be easily recognisable or make a living? i hope that in finding the answer to this question i can figure out what i want my visual signature to be and make a statement.

7. how do i make illustrative connections?
illustration is a very connection driven job. so i want to investigate how to make good connections (hopefully no bad ones!!) so that the world of illustration as a job is easier for me to handle. finding the answer to this question would mean that i know how to be a proper illustrator and help get myself more commissions and work in the future.

8. how to develop my own visual signature?
whether or not having a visual signature turns out to be bad, i'd still like to investigate what it means to create a visual signature and how i can develop myself. right now i think my work has some sort of stamp of 'beth' on it, but i want more than that. by answering this question i hope to be recognisable as an illustrator.

9. how do i overcome creative block?
i sometimes get stuck with ideas and start to have a brain meltdown when it comes to ideas and developing myself. i want to investigate how i can get myself out of this rut. to do this i think i need to draw a lot, even when i have no ideas. by investigating this i think it will help me in the future if i am ever stuck on a project or commission.

10. am i good enough?
i want to investigate this question as quite a personal one, as i feel that often in class i feel like i'm constantly comparing myself to other people. i want to know if i have the ability to be an illustrator or concept artist or character designer or whatever profession i decide to do in the future. by answering this question i think it will help me define myself as a person and as an illustrator and perhaps be more confident with myself.

worries, why i'm here and what i want to learn

identify 5 things that you want to improve

figure drawing
although one of my strengths is character drawing, i want to improve on my poses and different body types. as i feel like i always go for safe poses and am not very good at perspective.

drawing males
i don't really practice drawing men that often which will be bad if i want to go into character design so i'd like to practice more at this.

being organised
i want to be more organised with my work this year and make sure that i keep up to date with things and don't just waste my year away drawing useless crap that doesn't have any context.

developing a brand 
developing myself as a brand is something i really want to do as i think selling yourself as an illustrator is important. i want to learn how to be professional and have my own practice.

drawing backgrounds
when i draw characters, i never seem to draw them in a proper setting. i want to improve on this so people can get a real feel for my characters and the world they live in, and the world that i envision in my head but can never seem to get down on paper.

identify 5 skills that you think are your strengths

it's difficult for someone to specify what they think their strengths are without feeling like they are being big-headed but i'll try! 

character drawing
i find real enjoyment in drawing girls and characters, although id like to work more on a diversity of characters i still think human figure and cartoon is a strength of mine.



hands!!!
although a lot of people moan about this i feel like i have really improved with hands recently and i'm really proud of my development! :-)

damn look at those hands

being neat

some people may see this as a bad thing but i think that being able to be neat with my art is something that i enjoy and enjoy looking at when i finish.

"sketches"

being motivated

i enjoy drawing so much that i always feel motivated and ready to get sketching which i think is a good strength to have when doing a competitive course like this one.