cool crop
trying out something new coloring wise that i learned off yt

Life and women been f***ing me up be we back better than ever

I always loved this thermal vision style of shading, I’ve been wanting to try it for a long time. It usually looks overly whacky and toonish, but this is the best iteration of it I’ve seen done.

thanks fam! i honestly feel like its my first time successfully coloring something outside of basic flats

That’s the weird part about trying new things in art, isn’t it? When you try something new for the first time it turns out awesome, but all your subsequent attempts are less impressive... And then you start to get better agai after a while. Funny, that. Also I’m making an art discord and looking for ppl to invite, you interested?

trueee being able to look back on past work and see its flaws clearly is like a confirmation of progress so i look forward to it and yeah ill join the discord. i dont get on much as of now but i might start

Awesome I’ll add you when I make it. It’s gonna be a smallish group of around 5-6 ppl.

haven't drawn in forever, but slowly getting back into it. still not great, but we getting there

finished my yearly poster in time might still tweak it a bit tho bc of course i will lol might do an impact frame ver too
merry christmas!

*updated

(open in a new tab)

turns out it looks kinda cool in landscape too
i.ibb.co/vdSMzwd/justbombit-final-smaller-horiz.png

That's fire bro

preciate it fam

@op @Thread_Critic_PhD how do you guys go about getting out of creative rut or just creating something unique?

i've been drawing things i see online, but nothing original and want to break that

i usually just do anything but draw whenever i'm in a rut. watching tv, playing games, good music, friends, museums, sightseeing or other hobbies can all spawn an idea when you least expect it.

as far as drawing something unique, I'm still drawing things that i've seen at the end of the day. I think originality is putting elements from your references/experiences/likes together in a way that showcases your tastes and its something im constantly trying to improve on. doing fanart can also help you learn what you like to draw. so imo finding out what exactly you like about a particular piece of media or architecture or whatever could give you a clue towards what you can make your own within your work.

for instance, my BOMBR character's based around my interest in ninjas, vandalism and JSRF. i got a ref for her overalls and part of her shoes from pinterest and the mesh from general ninja/kunoichi media. her hairstyle is an amalgamation of various loc styles bc i couldnt find exactly what i wanted. the bandages are part general ninja / part storytelling / part "i like bandaged/damaged characters". her oversized yellow coat (not depicted here) is because I like big coats on women. her sticker bombing tech came from well... taking the term "sticker bombing" literally + anime ninjutsu logic. and her color scheme bc she blows things up and wanted her red locs and yellow elements to pop when she does. the explosion stylization was inspired by Hiroyuki Aoyama's work. the motion smears she has on the poster were inspired by the motion smears from JSRF and the poster's new bg was inspired by spin art of all things lol

hope any of this helps

If you had all the 'talent' in the world, what would you want to draw (if you have an answer to that)?
What type of things have you been drawing online?
Do you usually only draw one thing, or a variety of things? Or do you draw a bunch of random stuff and haven't found your 'thing' yet?
How long have you been in your rut?
Do you go outside often?

It might be annoying when I ask all these questions, but its the best way for me to figure out how to advise cause everyone is motivated by something different. If you want a straight answer, the thing that gets me going most often is watching a good animated film. Nothing jump starts my creativity like that.

all good questions that i need to reflect on. tbh, i'm always drawing cartoon images/manga characters/anatomy references.

typically, i google "simple drawings", "hand drawings", "manga characters", "cartoon references", etc. it just seems like i'm not producing anything new and redoing the same thing for the past 2 weeks.

i def need to experience more things outside to get more perspective on things

appreciate this advice

no problem! just to add, the explosion stylization ive been exploring was inspired by Hiroyuki Aoyama's effects work (shoutout @MORPHE) so just like GATLA said, watching animation from the greats is def a good way to gain a sense of direction in your own art

Yeaaaah be careful when it comes to learning or studying from fictional, highly stylized references, especially before you learn your fundamentals and basic anatomy.

Truth is, you’re not always going to be having the thrill of your life when drawing. But if it’s something you take seriously as far as wanting to become good at, you gotta commit to it in a healthy way, and push your boundaries and that involves trudging through the ‘boring’ lessons.

If you’re looking for some resources to get started with learning how to draw, check out my first post in the thread. But as far as you being motivated goes. Sometimes you gotta take a break, but you be the judge of that.

appreciate this and will check over the resources again.

i think rushing through and using the stylized references has skewed my abilities a bit. will work through building the fundamentals again

Bruh this art sxn is never happening

What u mean?

Been asking S for a visual arts sxn since last year and he always acknowledges my posts but never actually says anything about it so idk what’s going on even though I and many others really want it

would be dope tbh

BTW I meant to say congrats on this man, it turned out great - If you dont mind me saying I really liked the last draft with what looked like rose pedals in the background though. Still the hot and cool textures of the line are very well done. How do you sell it? Can you post some of the rough drafts before you finally settled on this one? Any ideas for your next one?

thanks man. i liked the og bg too but after i finished coloring BOMBR, i wanted to go all-in on trying to capture the energy of the explosion instead. i always felt my ARMS poster was too static for the actions happening in it (still like it tho!) and wanted to make up for that. i might use the og bg as inspiration for another BOMBR piece (the rose petals were going to be loose stickers btw). as for rough drafts, i didnt save much so its just these:
i.ibb.co/MhwQKbX/justbombit-bones.png
i.ibb.co/3y6fFvs/justbombit-newbg.png

and i wasnt planning on selling this poster. just printing a 24x36 for myself and an 11x17 for a coworker

for my next poster, i want it to be with a group of characters this time so i'm going to design a tour poster for a 5-member jazz / post rock band from the year 2189 that ill also have to design lol. i had fun coming up with the Aerosoul vandals this year so i want to start another proj like it. I also want to do a Power Stone homage but the band is first