Welcome back! Hard to believe it’s been (over) a whole month. If you’re new here, this is the first in what I hope will be a monthly series where I document my creative progress. If you want to check out my initial post where I introduced this challenge, you can find it here.
I had a couple of hiccups, and took more time than I was supposed to, but I still managed to create a few pieces I’m really proud of. Scroll to the end to check them out, or visit my Insta to read more about each piece. (Side note: the new grid update is terrible. Thankfully, they still show up as squares on my phone, but I’m sorry to everyone else who has the new layout.)
What I Used:
- Procreate
- YouTube
That’s it.
I’ll admit – I ended up drawing everything over around a week and a half instead of spacing things out properly. Whoops! But all’s well that ends well. Here’s how each prompt went.
Drawing from a Tutorial
This got off to a rocky start. I spent a little while trying out a bunch of tutorials and it felt pretty frustrating to follow exact instructions WITH visual guidance and still end up missing the mark.
Sometimes I wasn’t moving the brush right; other times, I just didn’t understand lighting and shading properly. I eventually found a tutorial I really liked, and that made a huge difference.
Drawing from Real Life / Drawing from a Reference
This was by far the most creatively stimulating. Unlike the tutorial, I had to figure out textures and brushes on my own, which led to me spending a lot of time just playing around with different settings in Procreate, which I really enjoyed. It was also fun keeping my eyes peeled whenever I went outdoors to scope out references.
Drawing a Pattern
This was the easiest and the most therapeutic. There’s something about repetitive patterns that’s calming, but more engaging (to me) than coloring pages (I’ve tried some but usually get bored – I suppose my attention span just isn’t there yet)
Drawing Something That Doesn’t Exist / Drawing a Character
I’m grouping these together because I had a clear vision for both from the start: a play on the Venus Fly Trap and something Helly R-related. I used references for specific parts (like the teeth for the VFT and flowers for Helly), and it was fun figuring out how to merge them into a cohesive design.
Takeaways
My linework and shading have definitely improved.
I have a much better understanding of Procreate’s different brushes and tools (my favorites – HB Pencil, Mercury, and Water Pen)
Having a creative outlet has significantly improved my mental health. I drew this last week after seeing a similar cat online and it honestly made me happy for the rest of the day. There’s no way I could’ve made something like this even a couple of weeks ago, so I’m pretty proud of it.
What Would I Change?
- I ended up combining the “draw from real life” and “draw from a reference” prompts, which I should have just planned from the start.
- I should NOT have started with the tutorial – It’s impossible for me not to compare my own drawing to the artist’s and lose motivation. For this month’s challenge I’ll save it for the end.
March Challenge: Food!
Even though we’re already a few days in, here’s the plan:
Prompts
- Draw something from memory
- Draw from a tutorial
- Draw from a reference
- Draw from media (cartoons, movies, etc.)
I’m also hoping for a piece or two that are completely unrelated and just something I draw when inspiration hits.
Resources
If you’re interested, here are some things that helped me out last month:
See you in 3 weeks! Here’s everything I made in February:
Labyliner 
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