My First Digital Art | Portrait Drawing Practice #16

 Before I go any further I would like to assure you I'm well aware that the portrait piece posted here isn't very well drawn with the facial proportions being not quite right to put it kindly. (It's suppose to be a portrait of Morfydd Clark who plays Galadriel in Rings of Power, in case you were wondering.) But I'm still posting my portrait practice piece anyway as a means to mark my progress as well as to motivate me to draw better. In my defense, this is my first portrait drawing attempt in more than six years, and my 16th portrait drawing attempt overall. It is also my first ever attempt at digital art.

 What surprised me most in my transition from traditional to digital art is how much my art style remains the same. While I'm still getting used to the Apple Pencil, which I used to draw this portrait using the Procreate app on the iPad Pro, I found it comforting that the digital brushes can mimic a traditional graphite pencil almost perfectly. One thing I don't like is the smooth feeling of the Apple Pencil on the iPad screen. For now I'm not willing to use a paper-like matte screen cover that imitates the feel of graphite pencil on paper because I prefer the screen to maintain its glossy shine.

 Below is an accelerated time-lapse video of my first ever digital art.

 To improve my portrait drawing skills, I have enrolled myself in a few online courses on Udemy. What I hope most to gain is the ability to better gauge a subject matter's facial proportions and transfer them accurately onto the paper/digital screen. One weakness I have is trying to invent details I don't see on a photograph hence making the drawing look unrealistic. For example the reference photo of Morfydd Clark sees her staring off at an angle while I tried to draw her looking straight ahead, resulting in the portrait having wrong facial proportions. Anyway, I'm glad to be drawing again. The important thing is it makes me happy in spite of the latest cringe-worthy portrait drawing results. On that note, may you be well and happy too. And thanks too for taking the time to read my blog!

Happy Lunar New Year 2023

 It's the first day of the Year of the Rabbit, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you who are celebrating this occasion. I wish you and your family wealth and health in the days to come.

Happy Year of the Rabbit (source: pngtree.com)

 In a first, I have set myself a lunar new year resolution to finally read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, thus ticking off a major item in my things-to-do-before-I-kick-the-bucket list. Year after year I have been intimated by the book's prose, and have never ever really got going beyond the first few pages.

The Silmarillion (Illustrated Edition) by J.R.R. Tolkien

 Now, with the help of the audiobook version (as read by Martin Shaw) playing alongside while I read the illustrated ebook edition, I am finally reading The Silmarillion. And I am sure glad I decided to do so because I am loving this book so very much. It also helps that I saw Season One of Ring of Power, which was based on events of Middle Earth in the Second Age. This helped set up the mood for me to tackle reading events of the First (as well as Second) Age of Middle Earth. For context, The Lord of the Rings occurred during the Third Age of Middle Earth. 

Reading The Silmarillion ebook with its audiobook counterpart playing at the side

 So that's it for this supremely short post. I am enjoying a bit of extended hobby downtime as I enjoy The Silmarillion as well as take up drawing again. For the first time ever I am attempting to draw digitally and am having a blast! More on that in the next post. For now, I wish you well. Cheers!

A Look Back at 2022

 Well, it seems bad news is the order of the day, even so early in the new year. As per my previous post, the family car was wrecked in an unfortunate accident at the tail-end of last year. No one was hurt, which is the best news possible. But everything else is downhill from there, pun unintended. Sadly a preliminary assessment of the car may see it being written off as a total loss. So we might be down a car with no means of obtaining a new one. So on to better news then, for 2022 was one of my more productive years in the hobby. I actually finished more than the five projects shown below, but I only had time to post details of the five below, so let's move on to a belated look back ...    

Scale Model and Miniature Figurine projects completed in 2022

 First project to be completed last year was the Bandai 1/12 scale Aratech 74-Z Military Speeder Bike. Part of a two-in-one kind of kit, the bike (see below) was included together with a 1/12 scale Scout Trooper figurine. The latter was completed way back in October 2020.

Bandai Star Wars 1/12 scale Aratech 74-Z Military Speeder Bike

 Second off the to-do-list was a custom paint job for an old non-scale Evangelion kit (see below), specifically the Bandai Limited High Grade (LM-HG) Evangelion Unit-01 Test Type. This project saw me attempting my first ever candy metallic finish on a mecha model kit.

Bandai non-scale Limited High Grade Evangelion Unit-01 Test Type

 Third to end up in the finished pile was another Evangelion kit, this time the smaller non-scale Bandai Real Grade Evangelion Unit-00 (see below). It was one of the few kits that I did minimal work on seeing that it looked good as a straight-out-of-the-box build. So I only applied some stickers and decals, plus added some panel lining. But no painting was done on it.

Bandai non-scale Real Grade Evangelion Unit-00

 Fourth to be completed was one half of the iconic Toy Story duo namely Buzz Lightyear (see below). It was a unique kit because Bandai ever made two in their Cinema Rise Standard line, and both were based on Toy Story 4 characters. Details of the non-scale Bandai Buzz Lightyear figurine model kit were uploaded on my blog sometime ago: for videos (click here) and for photos (click here).

Bandai non-scale Cinema Rise Standard Toy Story 4:Buzz Lightyear plastic scale model kit

 Woody, the other half of the iconic Toy Story duo was completed soon after (see below). Details of the non-scale Bandai Toy Story 4: Woody figurine model kit were also uploaded on my blog sometime ago: for videos (click here) and for photos (click here).

Bandai non-scale Cinema Rise Standard Toy Story 4:Woody plastic scale model kit

 Meanwhile, even in this productive period I still had projects when I just couldn't push over the finishing line. These slow going projects (see below) were the Hasegawa 1/12 scale Girls Rider female figurine resin kit and a Bandai 1/1000 scale Space Battleship Yamato (Cosmo Reverse Version). Hopefully 2023 is the year when both these get done once and for all.

Last thing I worked on for the Girls Rider resin figurine was to repair its damaged jeans color ...

... while for the Space Battleship Yamato it was to install the First Bridge & Missile Launch Tower.

 So 2022 was a promising sign of the 'hobby train' gathering momentum. Despite the aforementioned car setback, it is my hope that the ongoing work I generated for my hobby projects continues to gather pace rather than slow down. While it sucks to take such a major financial hit just as the year begins, I'll repeat ad nauseam that the most important thing is this year begins with everyone I love in good health. On that note, may you and your loved ones be well and happy as we begin 2023!

An unwanted end to 2022, but a blessed one regardless

 It is every parent's worse nightmare come true. To hear news of a car accident that involves your child. So it was with great relief to find out in that same instant that my son was largely unscathed and safe. Miraculously he escaped with only minor injuries. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to quickly exit the vehicle quickly in case it caught fire, which it thankfully did not. While the car is in bad shape and in need of extensive repairs, more important is the fact that he's safe and well.    

 Without a doubt, this was an unwanted end to the year with the accident occurring on the last day of 2022. But as a family, we are also extremely grateful no one was injured in the accident. That's a blessing we'll take over material loss any time, all the time. On that note, I hope you and yours had a safer transition into 2023. And may you and yours be well and happy.