Soon, children...

Look alive, sunshine. It's me, Dr [D-09], and I'm gonna change the background cause the colour scheme works way better with the website setting. `\_(^J^)_/`

That said, I'm going to be posting some speed drawings, tutorials, character sketches, etc. soon. Once I set up an editing software-compatible computer, we're golden (and no, that's not just a procrastination-induced excuse) (honest).

This is Dr [D-09], signing off.

(It's a My Chemical Romance reference.) (Not sorry.)

- nessa

Background Variations

Sup, nerds.

So, my name's Vanessa. I am arguably human. I draw stuff.

Introductions aside, it's been awhile since I've drawn a horse. So as I was listening to a little Linkin Park (of course), I suddenly got this weird urge to draw a pegasus (specifically Thunderbolt, a character of mine created at age 7) (it's a dweeb thing). 

I started with a rough sketch, solidified some the outline, inked and pencil-coloured it... It took me about two albums to create this:

Not too bad. The proportions could be more exact, but my main concern was colour and background.

So I took this to my old friend PicMonkey. After gathering a few stormy skies on Pinterest, I went to work adjusting color balance (I used cooler temperatures for this pic) and adding thunderstorm overlays (Hardlight was my go-to effect). Result:

1. A little loud; this one washes out the horse a bit, but the yellow eyes and blue wings make a great contrast against the background. The only thing I really like about this one is the colour scheme, even though it's a bit much.

2. The colours on this one are a lot tamer and ultimately not as busy. I changed the eye colour to silver, so the pink-and-blue wouldn't take away from the rest of the picture with its over-the-top contrast. I think the eye is a good match for the lightning effect.

3. This one's a lot darker and even more muted. The way the light falls gives this one an ominous feel, with Thunderbolt's unedited eyes standing out just enough against the black clouds, and the moonlight illuminating his wings and markings. 

To be honest, I meant for this to be an energetic drawing, but the last background spun the mood of the picture from fiery to creepy so perfectly that I've abandoned all efforts of keeping its original feel. I didn't even have to do much of anything; the background totally "fixed" everything for me.

When making art--and this applies to lots of other things too, like story writing and cooking--don't force it. Sometimes I like to have an end goal in mind for creation, but I prepare myself to drop that idea in a second when faced with an alternate option. It sounds weird, but I'm not really in total control of my drawings. I just kind of let it do what it wants to do (in other words, I zone out and think about Tumblr screenshots/baby goats while I draw).

After all that, I still like all three backgrounds. The final one just seems the most professional and balanced, but I love the others' dramatic flair.

To commemorate the birth of My First Post, Background #3 will be my background image for this blog. Wahey!!1

Until next post,

nessa