Discord question from @Lilyofthe328Valley: How did you get so good at realism?
"When I started drawing I just drew what I saw! It was not an intentional decision to focus on realism. But when you draw what is around you, that IS realism!"
"I have done some cartoon or caricature work, but even that often comes back to learning solid realism skills first, and then applying simplification."
Discord question from @DeavorBoopz: Do you draw everyday?
"Definitely not! Though if you want to progress quickly, it certainly helps. And if you want to go pro, it is a near necessity."
"I just do it when I feel like it. Sometimes that will be days on end, and sometimes taking months-long breaks."
Discord question from @pastelshaark: What type of art do you enjoy drawing most? If it's realism, what type of realism?
"I am fascinated by trying to figure out realistic lighting, especially in nature. And my particular style often forfeits detail for trying to get a bit more of a lighting effect. Of course, sometimes that goes wrong, and as @madwurmz often points out my “style” winds up being blurry, dark, and often lacking highlights! All that is true. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I would recommend people learn a more traditional style that focuses on laying out the drawing in lines first, and using more opaque brushes. But for me, I just enjoy doing it the other way, trying to find the shapes without using lines."
"Ultimately I enjoy learning about things. Art helps you to observe the world better. So I enjoy it because it is fun to learn how light works, how muscles move, how plants look, etc."
"Well that was long. If anyone read this far I am positively shocked!"
Discord question from @razrdraws: How did you get to "marry," for a lack of better words, darker colors and smooth brush strokes into the realism genre? What gave you your unique touch and style?
"The darker tones started out as an accident of my method. I tend to decide later in a painting that I want more contrast and use a darkening method to achieve that in the shadows. But the corresponding method doesn't work for lightening as well. If I were using colorslive I would likely use dodge and burn. But in the Android version that is not available.
However, I also find my dark and light balance varies depending on whether I am painting in a light or dark room, or my screen setting."
"Of course, now that I am aware of the paintings coming out darker I sometimes try to mitigate that. Other times I don't. The softer, or let's face it, sometimes blurry, brush strokes are an attempt to get more of an oil paint look, but I sometimes over do it. With traditional media you want to be careful over-blending, especially because you can lose the dynamic random brush stroke look. However, with digital that random look is a bit harder to get, and I tend to smooth things out considerably. Possibly more than I should. So while it is partly a style and look I am going for, it also sometimes goes beyond what I would like."
"When I started drawing I just drew what I saw! It was not an intentional decision to focus on realism. But when you draw what is around you, that IS realism!"
"I have done some cartoon or caricature work, but even that often comes back to learning solid realism skills first, and then applying simplification."
Discord question from @DeavorBoopz: Do you draw everyday?
"Definitely not! Though if you want to progress quickly, it certainly helps. And if you want to go pro, it is a near necessity."
"I just do it when I feel like it. Sometimes that will be days on end, and sometimes taking months-long breaks."
Discord question from @pastelshaark: What type of art do you enjoy drawing most? If it's realism, what type of realism?
"I am fascinated by trying to figure out realistic lighting, especially in nature. And my particular style often forfeits detail for trying to get a bit more of a lighting effect. Of course, sometimes that goes wrong, and as @madwurmz often points out my “style” winds up being blurry, dark, and often lacking highlights! All that is true. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I would recommend people learn a more traditional style that focuses on laying out the drawing in lines first, and using more opaque brushes. But for me, I just enjoy doing it the other way, trying to find the shapes without using lines."
"Ultimately I enjoy learning about things. Art helps you to observe the world better. So I enjoy it because it is fun to learn how light works, how muscles move, how plants look, etc."
"Well that was long. If anyone read this far I am positively shocked!"
Discord question from @razrdraws: How did you get to "marry," for a lack of better words, darker colors and smooth brush strokes into the realism genre? What gave you your unique touch and style?
"The darker tones started out as an accident of my method. I tend to decide later in a painting that I want more contrast and use a darkening method to achieve that in the shadows. But the corresponding method doesn't work for lightening as well. If I were using colorslive I would likely use dodge and burn. But in the Android version that is not available.
However, I also find my dark and light balance varies depending on whether I am painting in a light or dark room, or my screen setting."
"Of course, now that I am aware of the paintings coming out darker I sometimes try to mitigate that. Other times I don't. The softer, or let's face it, sometimes blurry, brush strokes are an attempt to get more of an oil paint look, but I sometimes over do it. With traditional media you want to be careful over-blending, especially because you can lose the dynamic random brush stroke look. However, with digital that random look is a bit harder to get, and I tend to smooth things out considerably. Possibly more than I should. So while it is partly a style and look I am going for, it also sometimes goes beyond what I would like."
