This one is a little bit of a departure from what has been my usual Drawrch style... but I wanted to try my hand at a more realistic shading style. I used to do drawing like this all the time about 20 years ago, but I haven't really done many since. I think it turned out alright - at least for being as out of practice as I am!
This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching and the Oil Pastel brush for everything else.
The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
This is my twenty-second illustration for Drawrch!
Sometimes simplicity pays off, and so I tried to keep the shading light for this one. I feel like I've really found a good style for these (when it works) using mostly just the Inka brush and a few strokes here and there for shading, but otherwise just large blocks of color.
Still, I'll probably do some different styles with these before the project runs its course at the end of the month.
As usual, this was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Inka brush for linework and fills, the Hartz brush for background texture, and a small assist from the Soft air brush for shading.
The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
I was able to pull some good lighting out of a pretty softly lit reference photo this time. Nice!
I also managed to use a red base with purple shading and avoid having it veer off into Obama/hope poster territory. Not that I dislike those posters - the design is prolific - but that's why it's kitschy to borrow their style. It's been done too many times.
This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching and the Inka brush for everything else.
The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
I struggled a lot with this one - you'll see if you watch the time-lapse - I just couldn't get the shading right. It kept looking more like a rash or skin condition rather than proper lighting. Sometimes, it's just really hard to do the shading on faces when the lighting isn't harsh.
It's a shame, because I liked how the initial sketch turned out, and that usually means I'll have an easy time with the final piece.
Anyway, this was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, a bunch of attempts at shading with the Flat brush, and then the Inka brush for everything else.
The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for linework, and the Hartz brush and Splatter spray paint brush for background texture.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
Since it's the weekend, I got back to a cartoony style for this one. No reference images used, but it accidentally ended up looking a little like Aubrey Plaza to me. 😅
Not super jazzed about the background, but this project isn't really about the backgrounds anyway.
This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for linework, and the Fat Nozzle spray paint brush for background texture.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
I wanted to do another image with the Inka brush and some alternate color choices just to feel out that style a bit. And I'm liking it! This one also speaks to the idea of re-doing things you're not happy with; if you watch the time-lapse below, notice how much better my second pass at the hair looks!
This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching and the Inka brush for everything else.
The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
It took me a moment to like how this one turned out, but I really dig the colors - especially that light blue/green color as a highlight - and I feel like the proportions came out pretty good too, though maybe the eyes are just a tiny bit too big. The framing could be better too, I suppose.
This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching and the Inka brush for linework/fills. I'm really liking the Inka brush for stuff like this, though I wish strokes had just a smidge less uniformity sometimes.
The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
This one was a surprise - I'm pretty out of the loop on my Marvel movies, but I like the Guardians franchise. Still, Marvel games are rarely appealing to me, and I tried this one only on the recommendation of a friend (and it was on Game Pass).
It turned out to be a lot of fun. The humor is good (even if it gets a little old over the course of the game) and the story is interesting. The graphics are excellent. It's one of those games that I bought as it left Game Pass and had no regrets.
Tunic
I wrote up a longer review for Tunic, but I liked this one a lot. The way the game makes you play it as sort of a retro experience, where you are learning more about it as you play and referencing the (in-game) manual is a cool mechanic that did bring back a lot of memories of looking at strategy guides as a kid.
Thankfully, the game has some accessibility options that let you enable invincibility and other helpers, because about 75% of the way through, it gets brutally hard - and it doesn't give you many options, save for grinding potions, to make things easier.
It's really shocking how the game went from a challenge to an absolute impossibility for me. Were it not for the invincibility options, I couldn't recommend it.
Stacklands
I read about Stacklands in a Polygon article, and thought it sounded fun. And it was!
It's a little on the basic side, in that the exploration you take on feels a little meandering but on a linear path, but it's still fun to try out things and watch your small community grow and conquer growing dangers.
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin
My wife got me an Oculus Quest 2 for my birthday in 2022, and I was pleased to be able to finally play Rhombus of Ruin, a game that I'd watched other play somewhat enviously since seeing it demoed at PlayStation Experience, back when we were trying to hype people for Divide. I finished it in two epic sessions and loved every minute of it.
Seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff from the development of Rhombus of Ruin in the recently released PsychOdyssey documentary has been really cool as well.
Trover Saves the Universe
I played through a good bit of Trover on my Xbox in 2020 but stopped playing it at some point and just sort of forgot about it. When I finally got a VR headset, I knew I had to try the game again, and so in 2022 I picked it up once more and have really loved the immersive humor.
First Steps for Quest 2
Last, but not least, my first game experience in the Quest 2 was a fun one - and it's just a demo designed to get you familiar with the headset and controllers. Still, the different game modes are fun to play around with and the physics and gizmos you can mess with feel great. It really exemplifies the idea that VR doesn't have to be complicated to be fun.
And that's about it for my favorite games of 2022. Whew, what a list!
I might have to get started on the 2023 edition early with this lateness on my record! 😅
This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for linework, the Inka brush and Procreate Pencil brush for details, and the Flat brush for shading.
The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.
If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:
