Drawing of the Week

Another drawing this week! And a good week it has been for me so far. I've been in a good mood and feeling more positive and confident than usual, for some reason. Hormones, probably. But, this is the month in which my birthday falls, and I've been doing a lot of reminiscing about the past decade. I guess I'm pretty happy with the way things are going in life. Even though this webcomic/blog is a completely unprofitable endeavor -.-... Anyway, this week's drawing marks a kind of turning point in my drawing technique. I'll explain after the jump...

 

Joia in a Floral Dress

Inspired by: Myself! Back in 2005, I did a series of character drawings on pastel paper (see 'em here).

YJ just loved them, and they got some attention on deviantArt when I posted them last year, so I thought I'd take another crack at it. 

What I Used: Pencils and water-soluble graphite on Strathmore pastel paper. The paper has a rougher tooth that I really enjoy working on. And y'all know how much I love drawing on colored paper. 

The Artist's Best Friend: Water-soluble pencils. The Prismacolor kind comes in dark, medium and light; but I also used General's Sketch-and-Wash pencils. I said before the jump that this drawing marked a turning point. I painted the floral pattern on Joia's dress with a brush, using as my palette a piece of carboard rubbed with the pencils. It was so much quicker and easier than having to draw and shade the little flowers with tortillons, and it looked great. And it was fun. So, starting on Page 49, I did a lot of the shading work with the water-soluble pencils and a paintbrush, and have continued to do so. The painterly effects give the pages more depth, interest, and clarity (you guys won't see Page 49 for a while, though -.-).

Thanks for reading! BTW, I will occasionally put exclusive sneak-peeks of future Shapeshift Fantasy pages on my Facebook page. ^^ See ya on Friday for Shapeshifting & YOU Pt. 6!^^