Thank you for this deeply honest post. As a designer whose work I greatly admire, reading about your persistent journey with art, is truly powerful. Your willingness to share the frustrations alongside the triumphs is incredibly moving and offers real encouragement to others facing their own creative hurdles. It's wonderful to see the satisfaction you're getting from your recent work. Wishing you continued progress and manageable pain levels.
You certainly sound like you’ve figured out a lot of the issues you have with drawing but if I can also give some suggestions that helped for me… I love both digital drawing and drawing by hand. I have found for digital, my iPad, the Apple stylus and the app Procreate to fit my needs. I can tilt the iPad and modify the stylus to help with wrist pain. For drawing by hand, I noticed that certain pencils and pens are just better than others and cause less drag on the paper, which helps with wrist pain also. I invested in a great set of colored pencils over cheap Crayola colored pencils and it makes a difference, not only in your colors and blending but also drag. The expensive pencils glide. I truly hope your pain lessens for you. It sucks to have daily pain. Good luck! And now I’m on my way to Itch to buy one of your games. 😊😊😊
SO inspiring! And the art looks great, Cezar! Don't do this now so you won't lose motivation and skip on all the fun, but if you ever feel the need later on to go back and study the principles (which I think every artist does once in a while, as a 'palette cleanser'), I can highly recommend https://www.thedrawingwebsite.com/
I started drawing for the exact same reason; I needed art for a ttrpg I wanted to do. I found a decent amount of joy in drawing, but it does take a lot of practice! I found collaging to be more fulfilling in the short term and went on a wide tangent there for quite some time. This inspired me to try my hand at drawing again..
Sounds amazing to finally be able to realize those ideas yourself - even though commission art is one way to do it, it’s still not fully yours, I think. It’s a visual representation of what someone else sees in their mind when you describe what YOU see in yours.
Anyways, I’m turning 40 in a month and have always wanted to be good at art, but always sucked at it. I’m planning in getting into Procreate to test the waters with digital art.
I'm in the same boat, have some ability but want to make it more repeatable and effortless 🤣 sorry had to laugh.
I would suggest checking out Eleeza Ivanova, her method of drawing with a mechanical pencil the silhouette and shading with an Art blending stump is amazing. This technique she uses to reduce strain and ease of use for a busy mum.
I get the cervical pain issues. I have narrowing of the C6 neural outlets. Now, often little to no pain. But sometimes too much pain to think about anything else.
I often wake-up with numb & tingling arms and hands.
Thank you for the post. I for one wouldn't have said that Load The Simulation lacked any art. I think what you delivered is glorious and I'm jealous of the final product. I love the vision from beginning to end.
I understand it must be hard and your dedication to pushing through shows. The image of the pirate and the Frogzilla are both amazing and I wouldn't have known they weren't from a professional artist.
As you're obviously tech savvy have you considered the cross over between software and art - creative coding using tools like Processing, P5.js , or Cinder to bring your artistic visions to life?
Thank you for this deeply honest post. As a designer whose work I greatly admire, reading about your persistent journey with art, is truly powerful. Your willingness to share the frustrations alongside the triumphs is incredibly moving and offers real encouragement to others facing their own creative hurdles. It's wonderful to see the satisfaction you're getting from your recent work. Wishing you continued progress and manageable pain levels.
That means a lot, thank you for your kind words!
You certainly sound like you’ve figured out a lot of the issues you have with drawing but if I can also give some suggestions that helped for me… I love both digital drawing and drawing by hand. I have found for digital, my iPad, the Apple stylus and the app Procreate to fit my needs. I can tilt the iPad and modify the stylus to help with wrist pain. For drawing by hand, I noticed that certain pencils and pens are just better than others and cause less drag on the paper, which helps with wrist pain also. I invested in a great set of colored pencils over cheap Crayola colored pencils and it makes a difference, not only in your colors and blending but also drag. The expensive pencils glide. I truly hope your pain lessens for you. It sucks to have daily pain. Good luck! And now I’m on my way to Itch to buy one of your games. 😊😊😊
Thank you! I do appreciate the tips and the support! ^^
SO inspiring! And the art looks great, Cezar! Don't do this now so you won't lose motivation and skip on all the fun, but if you ever feel the need later on to go back and study the principles (which I think every artist does once in a while, as a 'palette cleanser'), I can highly recommend https://www.thedrawingwebsite.com/
Thank you very much, and great recommendation! Bookmarked!
I started drawing for the exact same reason; I needed art for a ttrpg I wanted to do. I found a decent amount of joy in drawing, but it does take a lot of practice! I found collaging to be more fulfilling in the short term and went on a wide tangent there for quite some time. This inspired me to try my hand at drawing again..
Love the frogorilla btw!
Thank you very much for sharing your journey too, all the best!
Sounds amazing to finally be able to realize those ideas yourself - even though commission art is one way to do it, it’s still not fully yours, I think. It’s a visual representation of what someone else sees in their mind when you describe what YOU see in yours.
Anyways, I’m turning 40 in a month and have always wanted to be good at art, but always sucked at it. I’m planning in getting into Procreate to test the waters with digital art.
I encourage you to do so, 100%. I hope you find immense joy in the process!
Hi Cezar, Good luck with art.
I'm in the same boat, have some ability but want to make it more repeatable and effortless 🤣 sorry had to laugh.
I would suggest checking out Eleeza Ivanova, her method of drawing with a mechanical pencil the silhouette and shading with an Art blending stump is amazing. This technique she uses to reduce strain and ease of use for a busy mum.
Here's a link to a great vid demo.
https://youtu.be/YEcJTZiTqlk?si=jdow_4gASt0Upfgt
Also her book The Art of Eleeza Ivanova has tutorials and a deeper dive into her work.
All the best Paul
That is a fantastic tip, thank you very much!
That looks like..
Hypno-ape-toad.
I get the cervical pain issues. I have narrowing of the C6 neural outlets. Now, often little to no pain. But sometimes too much pain to think about anything else.
I often wake-up with numb & tingling arms and hands.
Ah, yes, my arms wake up 20 minutes after I do. My sympathies!
Thank you for the post. I for one wouldn't have said that Load The Simulation lacked any art. I think what you delivered is glorious and I'm jealous of the final product. I love the vision from beginning to end.
I understand it must be hard and your dedication to pushing through shows. The image of the pirate and the Frogzilla are both amazing and I wouldn't have known they weren't from a professional artist.
As you're obviously tech savvy have you considered the cross over between software and art - creative coding using tools like Processing, P5.js , or Cinder to bring your artistic visions to life?