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Erang
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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/cwwgbehb
I hadn't been exactly active in here, have I? Although you could say that there had been Hive activities on my end that randomly popped up - mostly when I needed the money (Yeah, I'm not going to shy away from saying this hahaha), or when I just generally got over the artist block. But in a nutshell, when compared to how my 2020 went, 2021 was rather dry.
To be fair, I wanted to draw so much. There had just been a significant amount of laziness and lack of interest this year, though, and it certainly didn't help that I went through a roller coaster of a year especially in terms of my professional life. My artist (alternative) life had to take the backseat. I am not proud of this hiatus, and I certainly am not happy it had to happen in the first place, but it is a necessity that I felt I needed to heed.
And today...
I still have no new drawing to share. But I can at least take you on a time machine so that together, we can look back on how my art activities went. At least, those that I actually, actually ended up really liking. I'm sharing here a quick video of artworks I drew this year that became my favorites.
So what about them? Well, nothing, really. They're simply drawings that I absolutely, absolutely adore. I sometimes look back at them and think to myself, "Damn, I drew these? How?" It sometimes felt like I wasn't capable of doing these drawings, but I managed. And color this cliched, but those moments that I choose to look back at these are magical.
Three of these drawings were literally drawn in January. Thinking about it now, I had so much free time in January, as I was temporarily out of work for the whole month. It was a very stressful month, but drawing three of these were sincerely therapeutic.
And she lives. is definitely at the top of this list, and was drawn in February. While I randomly thought of the idea, it was one of my very rare full-blown illustration (with background and all). I think if I were asked which one is my most favorite 2021 drawing, I'd say Color You Happy.
Every time I read back into what I wrote about it, it just feels different. In color you happy, I wrote the following:
If at some point, you find yourself lonely, it will not hurt to be reminded that some things exist to represent loneliness. And you would perhaps feel a little better because the Earth is fair and naturally gives happy, and you will find them.
*In a color.
In a bird.
In a flower.
In a word.*
These next four illustrations I love not just because of how they turned out, but because of how I was at the points I was drawing them. I was an oxymoron of passionate dispassionate and dispassionate passionate. I would up returning to how I started - simple portraits - and doing an artwork that severely challenged my very bad attention span (Hide and Seek).
During the half and latter parts of the year, I wasn't just feeling it. I wanted to draw, but didn't want to. Sometimes I end up dreaming about this conflict, and it messed with me more. I definitely don't want to feel this next year - than where art starts feeling like a chore.
2022 Some say we should probably scared. 2022? Sounds like 2020, too. I definitely don't look forward to a repeat of 2020, but I look forward to have similar outlook I have of the arts as I did in 2020. 2021 wasn't bad. But it wasn't good, either. It was dull, but definitely, there were more moments that were beautiful more than the bad.
Thank you for being part of my 2021. See you in 2022!
erangvee.carrd.co
ko-fi | twitter | instagram | nft showroom
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/uyzkyiko
So the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is a phone that comes with a stylus. Basically all other Note phones by Samsung do, and just recently, you can buy separate S-pens for supported phones. Before throwing caution to wind and impulsively purchasing my Note, I had virtually zero experience digital drawing with a pen. OK, so maybe I did have a short period where I did try, but my stylus broke just a few months in before I even got the chance to get the hang of it.
Drawing with the S-pen was exhilarating. I enjoyed using it so much -- too much -- my Air Actions actually stopped working. Someone told me it was probably hardware (too worn out from constant use, I guess?), and I was inclined to believe that. Thankfully, while Air Actions stopped, I could still use it to write and draw, so no harm done.
Until...
That day, I wondered, "How do other people manage to create artworks with just their phones and their fingers?" Because I see all these "finger" artists on Twitter and majority of them are honestly so good in drawing and painting on their phones with just their finger. And I was left wondering, "How the heck?"
Let's roll back to June 10th this year.
That was actually a very important day. Heck, it was so important, I remembered that it was a Thursday and I was wearing a long-sleeved white dress shirt while seated in the corner of my aunt's guest room... and the weather was sweltering and I was sweating buckets but at the same time felt cold because I was nervous. So nervous, because it was my interview day for a job I'd been literally praying for since December last year.
The interview was online, but I was restless. I couldn't focus on anything. So just a little less than an hour before the interview, I ended up doing what I felt could take my mind off the source of my anxiety -- I drew.
But I couldn't be bothered to come up with anything. I just wanted to... I don't know, just color? Paint? So I did that.
So I tried digital painting on my phone with just my... thumb. Jyundee is absolutely one of my favorite artists. I guess you can say that she influences my techniques one way or another. There's this one tutorial of hers that I just couldn't forget, because it was the first I'd watched from her, and I was reminded that she has a lineart that everyone can play around with to practice. (You can download the lineart by Jyundee here.)
My curiosity about digital painting with my fingers on my phone, plus the availability of a lineart, won over my anxiety for the upcoming interview.
I tried my best! And, suffice to say, my thumb was a numb mess after that, but I can see why doing this activity is both fun and challenging. On top of that, I was forced to explore and get creative when using the available MediBang tools.
Aaand here is the result!
The tutorial. Kind of. In a nutshell, I used the following Android apps on my Note:
- MediBang Paint for Android
- Snapseed (optional, for color adjustments)
The video below shows a timelapse of how it went, and a few comments from me. Enjoy?
Basically, I experimented a lot with the watercolor brush. Everything in its properties is adjusted every once in a while to fit how I wanted it to flow, the way I normally do with the S-pen, except this time, the adjustments were more drastic.
In particular, I played so much with the opacity and ease of mixing colors. You can set the ease of mixing colors setting to a higher value so that the colors blend easier. It was essentially filled with trials and errors, but it was definitely enjoyable!
I ended up using Snapseed to adjust the brightness, contrast, ambiance, highlights, shadows, and warmth along with the color curves. I felt that, while the final painting looked lively enough, it wasn't as lively as I wanted it to look like.
Will I do this again? Uh, not in the near future, definitely. Maybe in the next five years? LMAO. To be honest, I've been having a hard time drawing lately. I could show you some of my ongoing artworks that had been sitting on my gallery for months now, never seeing the end of the tunnel.
But it was really enlightening. If there's a will, there's a way. And that saying applied so much when I tried this. I half thought that this was going to end up really badly, but it surprisingly is decent. Brings me back to few of my conversations with my big sister, where we discussed drawing with our fingers.
I said the painting part wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be, but I was 100% sure drawing linearts with just the finger would be the death of me. Who knows? Maybe the saying "If there's a will, there's a way" will once again apply should I find the drive to try.
Non-related Notes So I said above that the interview was for a job that I had been praying for since December last year. I got the job. I'm here now. :) So the day this finger painting challenge was taken on is definitely a memorable one to me.
erangvee.carrd.co
ko-fi | twitter | instagram | nft showroom
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/fieyfwdm
So I enjoy doing painting exercises lately. What better way to do them than by painting through reference?
Painting the Dolls I'm keen on painting people. It's pretty apparent in my timeline. Then one day, something happened.
Doll No. 1 I was happily browsing through Pinterest when I came across this particular reference. It was of a boy with long, silver hair and very strict expression on his face. I thought, "Wow, he's really pretty!"
Granted, he looked effeminate, but I'd definitely not miss the chance of drawing him... except he wasn't human. He was apparently a doll.
Painting him was a pretty crazy experience. The saturation was below what I was used to. It was a struggle getting the colors I wanted.
You can watch a timelapse painting of this one here.
Doll No. 2 A few days later on, I came across another reference from Pinterest. I was so sure it's a doll this time, but she's harder to resist!
And heeelp, she was too cute! She was also pretty darn fun to paint. In the reference picture, she's got these necklaces around her neck and a bag's strap across her shoulder. I just happened to get bored trying to make the necklace look a little realistic so I forewent painting them in.
Timelapse of Doll 2 So I'm sharing here a timelapse video of painting the second doll. I hope you enjoy!
Notes It's been a pretty busy week and a lot went on in my life in the last few days -- I'm just glad it's finally Friday!
erangvee.carrd.co
ko-fi | twitter | instagram | nft showroom
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/slocbxbc
Nanami Kento
I've seen many anime and read just as much manga. There are plots that were all right but wouldn't stick, and there were also characters that were too plain, I immediately forget about them.
Then there's Jujutsu Kaisen (JJK). I have watched the anime first before I read the manga, but there's a genius in it that I always look for in anime that I watch and manga that I read: the characters.
Written and illustrated by Akutami Gege-sensei, JJK is quite the unforgettable story with unforgettable characters. When I first told my friends to, "Hey, go watch JJK!" I was immediately asked, "What is it about?"
I had to pause for a while, gather my thoughts, and tried hard to explain. It was a difficult feat. I felt like I needed more words to talk about it, because just glossing over the concept was a gross understatement to the complexity that was the plot.
I initially thought that the characters were... meh. Normal, as in any other shounen stories. But the more I fall into the rabbit hole, the more I find how wonderfully fleshed out these characters were. One of the most well-written, and I have reasons to believe this, was Nanami Kento.
Nanami was the kind of character that was very complex, but at the same time relatable. His person was at the opposite ends of many things, it's crazy. I tried to find very good reviews of Nanamin, and I found the following that perfectly echoed what I had in mind:
- Nanami: the duality(s) of man
- Character Analysis: Nanami Kento
The two blogs were quite a long read, but definitely insightful of Nanamin's character!
Drawing the Nanamin Fan Art I wasn't initially planning on doing a fan art. At least, until I came across this DTIYS challenge on Noise.cash's ArtPark. This week's challenge is Nanamin, and I had a hard time resisting. I was already content viewing and supporting other artists' works, but I was sooo tempted to create my own rendition. (It didn't help that I was crushing sooo hard for Nanamin.)
I was struggling to draw him, so I found a couple of inspiration on Pinterest. There are sooo many very good fanarts, my eyes are blessed.
My drawing style feels a little too soft for someone as hard-edged as Nanamin, but I tried to make it work. In the timelapse video, it's obvious how difficult it had been for me, especially on the face.
I intended to include the lineart, but it was so bad. I couldn't make the lineart work even if it would save my life, so I tried to define the painting as best as I possibly could by working on the color values some more.
You can download the fan art in high definition 16:9 over through my DeviantART. It's 3600 px by 6400 px at 300 DPI.
Timelapse I edited the timelapse video using CapCut on Android. It was actually a really good video editing application -- I was surprised!
It was while editing that I realized I left out a lot of other things. 🤦♀️
Notes I decided to change my "branding"! I start with a change in my signature. Instead of my usual written signature, I opted for a simple watermark of my nickname, Rang.
erangvee.carrd.co
ko-fi | twitter | instagram | nft showroom
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/tmmytgjf
Working full time in the computational science field can get crazy. Many times, it required me having to make do with 3 hours of sleep in as much as two weeks straight. It was only back last year, when the pandemic was in full swing, that I ironically had some more rest.
I took advantage of the extra time a work-from-home set up entailed, and finally managed to catch up to some of the "main stream" anime that I initially never got the chance to check out. There were lots of anime and manga that I watched and read since last year. In my head, I think some of the story lines got messed up because I would end up binging one too many anime and manga series at once. One of these anime was Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba I first watched the anime on Netflix around May last year. At that time, it's been completed, so I didn't have to wait each week for episodes. Right after watching though (I think I completed it in under three days, LOL), I just had to read the manga.
I binge read the manga in under two days, when it was still ongoing. I'm not even kidding. It surprised me that many people didn't like it, because I thought it was an awesome and action-packed story. Granted, it's a generic shounen story-telling and character building, so maybe there really is more to work on (in theory).
The characters -- I think the antagonists more than the protagonists and deuteragonists! -- had such depth to them that I ended up being heavily invested in them, especially one of the Demons, Akaza. While he's my most unforgettable Demon Slayer character, he's a story for another day. :) Let's just leave it to me being an emotional mess about many of the characters' back stories.
If I had anything to complain about, though, it was how, as the story progresses (in the manga), its pacing suddenly turned for the worse, at least in the final arc. Now that I think more about it, it seems that this was where most of the criticisms to the story fell; how some of the deaths felt unnecessary and -- dare I say it -- cheap, like there is more that could have been done... except it didn't.
I wish I could write more about my thoughts on how the story played out, but I have little to no recollection of my critiques on Demon Slayer from last year. (I could have sworn that I had many.) If I had any final say, it's that I didn't enjoy it from the onset, but eventually grew on me. :) It's worth the shot of checking it out.
Kochou Shinobu Akaza was the sole Demon Slayer character (and antagonist) that I got so hung up on, but Kochou Shinobu comes a close second. There was more to her than was initially presented and while I couldn't relate, her personality and points of view were things about her that I could understand.
The Fan Art I drew my second Shinobu fan art, and I think there's a vast improvement on this one compared to the fan art I did last year. That said, it makes me a little prouder on myself.
Here, I was testing out a drawing style I've been trying to work on since a few weeks ago. I'm ever-so-slowly getting the hang of it, but it's still far from what I was aiming for. The purpose of drawing this was two-fold: 1) practice; and 2) check on my improvement.
I believe that the best way I can practice is by drawing fan arts or portraits of real people. Processes that would require me to have references.
The whole thing took me 3 hours of work, but I think the improvement I saw from how I did last year was definitely worth the time and effort I put into this.
I mean, look at this. The picture on the left. That was my first ever Kochou Shinobu fan art, and I cringe looking at it right now. Perhaps in the future, when I look back at this second Shinobu fan art, I might cringe again and hoped I didn't share it with anybody. xD
Here, I have a little more control over how I draw and color, and I have more knowledge of how I could fully utilize the programs I use in drawing -- MediBang Paint for Android and Adobe Photoshop. That said, even with all the cringiness, it's fun seeing the obvious difference in the techniques I had then and now. :)
What do you think about it?
Below is a close up of my DTIYS Kochou Shinobu. :)
The Timelapse The timelapse video is the progress I did when I was drawing on my phone, with MediBang. I did some final touches on the drawing with Adobe Photoshop, which wasn't captured in this video.
Music is IV by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk].
Notes Now that was fun! I still have a couple of other anime/manga/webtoon fan arts I started in the last couple of days but never really continued (Solo Leveling and The Beginning After The End). Their progresses would depend on how motivated I would be. :P
erangvee.carrd.co
ko-fi | twitter | instagram | nft showroom
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/jkeroyls
Enchanted
It had been days since he was transported to this very odd world. He had encountered all sorts of creatures - some, he'd never even imagined existed. He was awed, but more than anything, he was scared.
What other creatures were out there? Would they be as tame as those he'd found yet, or would they be dangerous?
Night had fallen, and he needed a quick respite. He had been walking for hours trying to find some semblance of comfort. Air to a pair of deflated lungs. Food. And even a shed above his head. Then a buzz. Suddenly, around him were bright, glowing fireflies that lit his surroundings. Then there were moths that glowed, too. He felt one touch him on his forearm, as if urging him to follow it, so he did.
When he walked past thick foliage, a swamp greeted him. Then, he was enchanted.
Playing in the murky water was a pink-haired woman-like entity with blue eyes he'd never before seen in anyone. Fish and splashes of water played around her, and when their eyes met, she turned her back on him, then left without a word.
Drawing Enchanted It's Hive.io's first birthday, and I'm grateful to the community for a lot of reasons. The most important reason is that I got to engage in the arts again, while at the same time receive all sorts of comments, support, and tips from everyone.
I learned quite a lot, and I like to think that I improved from the first time I posted an art here last May.
Trying a different style Back when I joined Hive in May last year, having a "style" of my own was a difficult feat. I didn't know what style to keep, what to let go, or how to draw. I was so confused, that I ended up doing studies... that I enjoyed so much, I thought I finally found the "style" I was after.
Today, I decided to unlearn some of the things I've been doing in the last few months and draw enchanted in a way that's unusual for me.
What is unusual to me? One is using MediBang Paint's pen tool in a lot of things aside from the line art. I used it to define the highlights even more. I am the "soft paint" kind of gal, so that's a big deal to me.
Next, I've always been so obsessed with making sure I crossed all Ts and dotted all Is. I pretty much didn't care with the tiniest of the detail this time, so you'll find that most of the strokes here were random and a little messy. When I get used to this, I hope it'll come more natural to me. I'm still kind of conscious about it.
Finally, I wanted to stray a little from from realism. It's what got me obsessed with the details so much (I would take so long a time painting the skin alone) that I figured I have to unlearn it if I wanted to learn something different.
And that's it. I hope to improve in this kind of "style" - and that's my goal this year. :) It definitely won't be easy re-learning things again, so I pray for more patience and diligence on my end.
The Timelapse To start off this personal project, I thought it'd be nice to "record" it in a timelapse video. It's cut short halfway through because I polished stuff and adjusted colors using Photoshop.
Music is Fall Colors by Ann Annie.
Below is how the adjustment with Photoshop went.
This artwork is minted on NFT Showroom in 1 edition.
Notes Happy first birthday to Hive! ❤️
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/snvofvib
The Little Red Riding Hood
I didn't remember Chacha until I was around 13 or 14, when a local cable anime channel re-aired it. I thought, "Why does this seem familiar?" I was at classmate's house, doing project, when her mom said, "You don't remember? That's a popular anime when you were little kids."
That felt like the trigger I needed, and an avalanche of scenes replayed in my head. Suddenly, I recalled the klutzy magical little red riding hood and her "master", Seravi, who happened to be my anime crush when I rewatched it as a teen. Then there were her two best friends, who crushed so badly for her, Riiya and Shiine.
The Story
AnimeDB Easily one of my favorites, Akazukin Chacha follows the adventures of a young witch, Chacha, who has been raised by the greatest wizard in the world, Seravi. Despite being under Seravi's tutelage, Chacha just couldn't get her magic right. There was a (very unforgettable) instance where she aims to summon clouds (雲, kumo) with her magic, but ended up with spiders (クモ, kumo) instead. The whole anime was pun-filled thanks to Chacha's mistakes and impressionable personality, which make the story-telling a hundred times more enjoyable.
A Quick Review The characters were so unique from each other that they each left lasting impressions. For instance, Orin, a small ninja, has skills that were top-notch. Then there was Elizabeth, Seravi's most beloved doll, who talks and has a personality of her own (thanks to Seravi's ventriloquism). They were side characters, supporting at best, but they were unforgettable.
The character and story developments were definitely to look out for when watching this. Some episodes seemed random at first, but they were plot devices one way or another.
The Fan Art The whole artwork took approximately 5.5 hours; I recorded the whole thing (as shown in the timelapse video below) just because I was feeling extra. :)
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/gdqeaebj
Tickled Pink
I had to find good reference to test out the new app I've downloaded, and I found this photo on Pinterest. It was of a lady smiling so happily I'm envious. I already knew it was going to be challenging as I would be trying out a foreign app, but I did anyway.
Details * Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ * Apps: + Clip Studio Paint for Galaxy for Android
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/ofmuifxi
Like last month's Jisoo drawing, I wasn't meaning to draw anything BLACKPINK related today. However, a BLACKPINK post crossed my Instagram newsfeed, and I ended up finding this particular pub mat that would then be my reference.
Details * Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ * Apps: + MediBang Paint for Android * Brushes: watercolor (at varying opacity settings); pencil (100% opacity); pen (100% opacity); blur
Here's a timelapse video that spans the whole process -- from messy sketches down to the coloring. Somewhere in the middle of drawing I got distracted for a while, and when I returned forgot to record. It was unnoticeable, I think, so enjoy!
Music is by MRIR on Youtube, and is the instrumental cover of BLACKPINK's Lovesick Girls.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/sguesxsy
When I found this picture on Pinterest, my mind went haywire and all I can think about was, "This is it. He is Jack Frost."
(He isn't.)
Blue Hair For one, he had blue hair. And then... he was human. He wasn't the younger-looking version of the Old Man Winter. But he came close because of his eyes and how his hair was styled. So I drew him.
Details * Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ * Apps: + MediBang Paint for Android * Brushes: watercolor (at varying opacity settings); pencil (100% opacity); pen (100% opacity); blur
Notes I wonder how long I'd be able to keep up with this drawing spree. I sure hope longer, as I'm sincerely enjoying doing this. It helps so much that I receive a lot of support from family, friends, and strangers alike. So if you're reading this and have been cheering me on since I got back to drawing early this year, thank you from the bottom of my kokoro!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/tusyfwiv
A few weeks ago, I found my old sketchpad and decided to do some pencil portrait drawings (see here). Two of those were of Alice Vink. Tonight, at this side of the world, I managed to draw Alice again (using the same reference I used in the pencil portrait), this time, in digital. I swear, I should stop drawing at night. My poor eyesight just gets poorer. :P
Details * Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ * Apps: + MediBang Paint for Android) * Brushes: watercolor (at varying opacity settings); pencil (100% opacity); blur
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/cabulkvw
The reference once again comes from a pin in Pinterest. It showed up while I was searching for a Princess Mononoke reference I can use for a fan art. I tried to search for the model and the photographer, but to no avail. I was thinking it is part of a body paint photo shoot.
Details * Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ * Apps: + Autodesk SketchBook * Brushes: legacy pencil; texture brush 4
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/mryhvodt
I'm not even sure if it's proper to call this Magenta, but I did anyway. This is based off a reference from Pinterest. The pinned page was in Spanish (I don't speak Spanish... kind of), but it appears that the photographer was Assiah Alcázar.
Details * Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ * Apps: + MediBang Paint for Android - Brushes: pencil (100% opacity) + Autodesk SketchBook - Brushes: synthetic paint; smudge + Snapseed
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/muoahvac
About the reference
This drawing is based off one of Gabriel Sosa's colored gel photography projects called Firestarter. I tweaked the drawing a little (like basically making the model naked) to make it more consistent with Catching Fire.
The photography by Sosa looked engaging, which is most definitely a feat. The dynamic feels to it is so attractive that it's literally what made me want to translate it to a digital drawing.
The drawing I did as I usually would in drawing (as in the timelapse video below). Probably 90% of this drawing utilized MediBang's watercolor brush while the rest was pencil.
The background (minus the sparks) was drawn in using Photoshop's pen tool (and a lot of Gaussian blur). Then the sparks themselves were once again drawn in MediBang on my mobile with both watercolor and pencil brushes... and a few more Gaussian blur.
Finally, about the hair. I decided to screw it and just draw the hair as I can, with little reference to the original photo.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=erangvee/owbnfaik
Drawing this had been a difficult challenge (aren't all artworks?) and I wonder until when this adrenaline for drawing will last. xD I'm slowly getting back into the mood for my actual work that I find less time to draw.
I ended up getting really distracted from work, hence the title. Hahaha.This drawing took me nearly 6 hours today.
Details * Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ * Apps: + MediBang Paint for Android + Snapseed * Brushes: watercolor (at varying opacity settings); pencil (100% opacity); smudge; blur