Crystal100challenge - Blog Posts

Finished up Theme 5! Again, I based it heavily on the previous drawing I did (now over 2 1/2 years ago! 😳 ). I was still aiming for a postcard-like look, but I wasn’t sure what to do with the border in the end. I’m pretty pleased with it overall though. And his smile is endearing as always. 😊 Hope you enjoy~

Finished up the inking yesterday. I experimented with adding hatching! This is something that I’ve been wanting to try, but I wasn’t sure about how it would turn out. I got out of my comfort zone and just did it anyway. Hope you like it!

Honestly, I didn’t think I’d struggle this much to keep up with the drawings…but I’m still going! Here’s the sketch for Theme 5: Welcome.

Theme 4 on Friendship is complete! 😊 I like how this piece has a subliminal yin-yang quality to it; it was unintentional, but it works. 🔹⠀ Feel free to interpret this piece however you like. I have no idea what these two friends were laughing about, but I’d love to hear your take on it. Also, I did color the sky a light blue, but I think it got washed out in this photo… That’s something I’ll keep in mind for next time. I hope you enjoy! There’s more coming~

Inked it! Now for the fun part, coloring it in. 😁 🖊

Going for a somewhat abstract background on this one and I’m pleased with the results. 😊 Maybe I should do this more often?

I finished Theme #3 Color! I'm kinda cheating actually... This one was already done, and I didn't want to redo it for the project because I already spent sooo much time on it.⠀ 🔹⠀ First, a little excerpt about this piece. It features my OC named Acid, who is part chameleon and part "giant" Komodo dragon. His name is a direct reference to psychedelia and LSD (aka acid). He changes colors! Here we see he's made friends with an average chameleon, and he's copying the chameleon's color.⠀ 🔹⠀ (3rd image) A year ago, the original drawing from 2015 was my inspiration for this digital painting. (2nd image) After one semester, I spent several hours and got pretty far, but my prof and I both knew I could do better. (1st image) A second semester later, in the same class, I worked several more hours on this painting.⠀ 🔹⠀ I know I could keep working on this, but I'm calling it finished for now and moving on. There's so much art that needs to be done and not enough time! I hope you guys enjoy. 😊 I'm working on the next one as I speak (er type...) Stay tuned! 🐲

Finally finished Theme #2 School! Again, I ended up taking more time than I wanted to in order to finish this. I'm going to continue trying to make more time to work on these Themes so schoolwork doesn't eat up my time. 🔹 I don't have much to say about this scene, other than my OC Helyna (pictured here) loves reading books, so I thought this scene would be most fitting for her. One thing that kind of bugs me about this scene is that it's too orange. I would've liked a better color balance, so that's something for me to keep in mind for future Themes. 🔹 I wish school were this peaceful. 😣 Lately, it feels like I've been in a whirlwind of busyness. I'm not sure what else to do other than to keep moving forward and constantly trying to utilize my time better. 🔹 Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy! And to my fellow college students, best of luck on your studies! 😊✏️📚

I've finished inking it in. The amount of times my new micron bled out more ink than I wanted is ridiculous though. At least the line work looks decent overall.⠀ 🔷⠀ I started school again two weeks ago and it's been difficult to find a new groove that works for me. I'm settling into this new schedule slowly but surely, so I hope that I will be able to make more time for drawing in the near future.⠀ 🔷⠀ Enough with my mini vent. I hope you enjoy more details of my OC Helyna at "school." 😊

I spent waaaaay too much time on the background on this one. Who knew that drawing bookcases in perspective was going to be so much work? 😣 Hopefully it'll pay off when I ink it.

I'm finished with Theme # 1 Name! 😊 Took me quite a bit longer than my target goal, but what can I say? Life happens. 🔷 Here's where I tell you a bit about the scene. When I first made the list of themes, I picked "Name" as the first theme because it stood out to me; I thought it would be a great starting point for the project as it would give me a chance to introduce myself and what's in the name. The name itself being Crystal; short for Crystal-the-CC being my artist alias. I came up with this name a few years ago when I was making a DeviantArt account, and because I've really liked the name Crystal (for as long as I can remember), it's just stuck with me. 🔷 Since the time I started creating characters, I named my first one (on the right) after the obvious, Crystal, simply because I liked the name. The character on the left is also named similarly, but more so because the character is my fursona, or my animal personification. As for the object in the middle, it IS a crystal; the thing which I've named myself and 2 OCs after. 🔷 In retrospect, I think I've always had an affinity for crystals and precious gemstones, but didn't realize it until more recent years. I still like the name today. I can't see myself having any other artist alias other than Crystal-the-CC, as I think it very much fits me and what I like to do the most: create creatures. 🔷 Aside, I thought I'd share my old drawing of this theme as well. Looking at it and my new one side-by-side just astonishes me. I don't know what else to say other than that I'm very happy with the improvements that have been made thus far. 🔷 I hope you guys enjoy what I have to share! There will be many more of these to come (99 more to be exact) so stay tuned! 😊 💎 ✨

I've finished inking it in! One more step to go (the coloring!) before it's finished. 🔷 Inking drawings seems to always make me a *little* nervous 'cause ink, if you don't know, is very unforgiving; there's no room for error so you either do it right or own up to your mistakes. However, I feel it's very rewarding in the end, as I get to see my idea start coming together. This makes inking my second favorite step in my current art process. 😊 🔷 Side thought: I'm thinking of "reposting" my art pics alongside each other like this so you guys can see my progress. So I hope you guys are okay with seeing repeats as it were, though I'll be showing the newest pic to you first. 🔷 I was hoping to be done with this today, but I've been busy lately getting ready for a family vacation trip. That being said, this may be my last post for the week. Until I get back, I hope you enjoy and see ya later~ 😎 ☀️ 🏞 ⛺

Late night sketching, trying to get in all the details before I start inking it tomorrow. 🔷 I’m thinking of posting more WIPs like this so you guys can see my progress/art process. But what do you guys think? Would you be interested in seeing more sketches, inkings, and behind-the-scenes stuff?

I'm starting a new art project today called the 100 Themes Challenge! I originally started this project at the beginning of 2015 and was keeping with it for about two and a half months, but after a while, I just dropped off. After feeling inspired to do it again (with the intention of finishing it), I've done a lot of thinking about it and decided to pick up this project again and restart it with a new vision and new goal in mind. 🔷 The first part of my goal for this project is to finish a theme within 7 - 8 days; originally it was a theme-a-day for 100 days, but for my new vision to work realistically, 1 day is simply not enough time for me. 🔷 The second part of my goal is to fully realize/render a theme within 7 - 8 days. You see, my aim for this project is to practice my art process. I've noticed in the past that I would mostly just sketch and *maybe* ink my drawings and call them finished. Nowadays, I'm not satisfied with that; I want to do more with my art and make it look more complete. 🔷 In this first pic, I'm showing you guys my list of 100 themes so you can follow along with me. Of course, feel free to use this list however you choose! I just ask that you credit it me for the list should you decide to use it. It did take me some time to come up with the list, even though it was heavily inspired by several other themes challenge lists on DA back when it was made in 2014. 🔷 The second pic shows my initial rough sketch as I am redrawing the first theme that I drew back in 2015. I really liked the concept of the scene so I’m not changing it too much, but I am looking more towards real life reference for the crystal in the middle and the body poses for the characters. 🔷 Without further ado, I'm excited and a bit nervous about the future of the project, as I have yet to execute my plan, but I hope you guys are willing to join me along for the ride!