All posts tagged 2025

Drawrch 2025 #16: Another Beard

 Martin · 81 days
An illustration of a man with a mustache, beard, and headscarf, looking to the left. The man has a medium complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes. He looks like he is scowling slightly, as if he is looking into the sun. His beard is trimmed neatly but is also growing in on his neck a bit. His headscarf is covered in various red and white patterns. He is wearing a magenta shirt. The background is a light blue that fades to white at the bottom.

Another late Drawrch illustration, and another beard (which you may recall I am very tired of trying to draw).

I picked this reference because I thought it would be simple to draw, which is sort of was, but then the pattern on the headscarf took forever, and now its past midnight. At least the sketch was easy to do! 😵‍💫

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Soft air brush for shading, 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:

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Drawrch 2025 #15: Sunglasses

 Martin · 82 days
An illustration of a woman in profile. The woman is facing right and is wearing a pair of sunglasses. The woman has a light complexion, pink lips, and green eyes. She has blond hair with a darker brown underneath and towards the bottom, and it is tied up behind her head. She is wearing a silver hoop earring in her visible ear. The sunglasses are a transparent brown with dark blue lenses. The woman is drawn in black outlines with painterly shading. The background is a purple that fades a little darker as it goes from top to bottom.

The more I work on Drawrch illustrations, the more I find myself sitting there thinking, "man, I hate drawing _____". First it was beards. Then hair. Now sunglasses. And yet every time I get done drawing them I take a step back and things weren't really so bad. I didn't actually have that bad of a time illustration these things. I think I just find them sort of tedious.

It's especially egregious with hair, since I feel like this project often makes me spend more time on that than anything else, but it's all in service of practicing, so I can't complain too much.

By the way, this drawing marks the halfway point for this project - just 16 more to go! I hope you'll join me tomorrow for the start of the second half of Drawrch! 😊

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, the Old Brush for shading, and the Soft air brush for a few fades/gradients.

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:

2025artartworkdrawrchillustrationipad proprocreate
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Drawrch 2025 #14: Mask

 Martin · 83 days
An illustration of a person in a black body suit, from the shoulders up, wearing a round mask with a smiley face on it. The mask is lime green and has scratches around the edge. There is a crack forming in it at the top right. The body suit is dark gray, and there is a light shining down from the right, brightening the edge of the mask and the right shoulder. The background is a pale green split in half with a darker green going diagonally down the bottom half. The image is made to look like an old comic book illustration, with blotchy ink lines, faded colors, and a thin layer of grunge over the entire image.

Today's Drawrch illustration is a little bit of a throwaway, but after a long week (and yesterday's epic 3.5 hour drawing session), I needed a break. That's two weeks of this project done, by the way!

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Rusty Nib 1 brush for linework, the Rough Dot Shader 45/Light and Vertical Line Shader Light brushes for shading, the Worn 3 Subtle and Toner Grit Detail 2 brushes for grunge, and a small assist from the Syrup brush for fills.

The Rusty Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib Pack, the Dot and Vertical Line brushes are from the Beat Tones pack, and the grunge brushes are from the Fast Grit pack, all by True Grit Texture Supply.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkdrawrchillustrationipad proprocreate
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Drawrch 2025 #13: Cold

 Martin · 84 days
An illustration of a woman looking to the left. Her face is in profile with wind-blown shoulder-length hair sweeping out from either side. She is clutching at a scarf around her neck. Her face is almost fearful, and her mouth is slightly opened showing clenched teeth. She has a pale complexion, bleached blond hair, light green eyes, and bright red lipstick. She is wearing a gray coat and a dark gray-blue scarf. The background is pink with a grungy magenta swooping in at the bottom half.

Today's Drawrch illustration took me waaay longer than I thought it was going to, but I like how it ended up.

You can see in the time-lapse that I spent a lot of time going back to the eyes, nose, and mouth to get the shape right. In the end, it does look like the reference to me, so I don't hate the effort going into it. I just lament that it took me past midnight to finish. Procreate says I spent 3 hours and 31 minutes on this. Yikes!

Anyway, this was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for everything else, save for the Hartz brush for background texture at the end.

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:

2025artartworkdrawrchillustrationipad proprocreate
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Drawrch 2025 #12: Laughing

 Martin · 85 days
An illustration of a man laughing. The angle of the image is from below and to his right, looking up at him. His head is tilted back slightly, his mouth is open and smiling, and his eyes are slightly squinted. The man has a light complexion, he is bald, and he has a beard, soul patch, and mustache of stubble. He is wearing a dark collared shirt with a closed button at the top. He is drawn in black and white with halftone shading. The background is cyan with puffs of spray paint splotches behind his collar, neck, and eyes.

Today's Drawrch illustration is based on a reference that I pulled a year ago for 2024's version of the project but never got around to drawing. I think I avoided it because of the angle of his head, but after the last few drawings I've done, I was feeling confident and went for it.

Overall, I'm, pretty happy with how it turned out, although I think if I wanted to spend more time on it, I might have reworked the shading to be a little more in line with the reference.

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Smooth Natural Nib brush for linework, the Grainy Dot Shader 45/Light, Grainy Dot Shader 45/Dark, and 45 Degree Line Shader Light brushes for shading, and the Burst spray paint brush for background effects.

The Smooth Natural Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack by True Grit Texture Supply. The Dot and Line Shader brushes are from the Beat Tones pack, also by True Grit Texture Supply.

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:

2025artartworkdrawrchillustrationipad proprocreate
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Drawrch 2025 #11: Red

 Martin · 86 days
An illustration of a woman in profile. The woman's shoulders are facing the viewer, but her head is turned to the left. The woman has a dark complexion, and she has a very slight smile to her face. She has a round earring in her ear, and she is wearing plum-colored lipstick. Her hair and eyes are dark, and her hair is in braids and tide up above her head. She is wearing a thing necklace and a pink shirt with her arm visible on the left. The background is a garish red.

Today's Drawrch illustration is of a woman in profile against a very red wall.

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:

2025artartworkdrawrchillustrationipad proprocreate
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Drawrch 2025 #10: Night Walk

 Martin · 87 days
An illustration of a younger man looking away to the right. He is drawn in a stylized way with slightly sharp features and large eyes and eyebrows. He has a light complexion and dark hair and eyes. His hair is cut short. He is wearing a light collared shirt, a darker coat that is open, and a dark lanyard. The man is lit by an orange light that makes his darker features go purple near the top of the image. The background is a blurry orange, white, and brown.

Today's Drawrch illustration was the quickest one I've done so far. I could add more texture to it, and maybe re-work some of the line thickness here and there, but I think I like how simple it is (and I need to be done with this tonight, haha). 😅

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 Soft air brush for shading and background texture.

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:

2025artartworkdrawrchillustrationipad proprocreate
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Drawrch 2025 #9: Intrigue

 Martin · 88 days
An illustration of a woman wearing a beanie, looking up and to the right. The woman is drawn in black and white with halftone shading. She has long, light hair that is coming out from under the beanie and waving around in curls as it descends. She has on dark lipstick, and her front teeth are visible through slightly pursed lips. The expression on her face is one of interest. She is wearing a jacket that is barely visible, and both the beanie and jacket are dark, but not completely black. The background is black with a light white halftone pattern over it.

Today's Drawrch illustration got off to a rough start. So much so that I did something that usually only happens once or twice during the entire project: I give up on my drawing and start over from scratch!

The angle of this woman's face was a tough one for me, and on my first go, I was struggling a lot with getting the eyes the right shapes and at the right angle, getting the nose to look right, the shape of the lips, and finally the shape of the whole face.

When I started over, I took a difference approach: I started with the head shape first, then drew in the surrounding details, and finally moved onto the face. It was much easier to get the details in at the right angles that way, but it's just not how I usually do it. I'm glad it turned out well in the end though, and I was excited to try out a style that I'd done before in a previous Drawrch, albeit with a more stylized illustration.

Anyway, this was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Smooth Natural Nib brush for linework, and the Rough Dot Shader 45/Light and Grainy Dot Shader 45/Light brushes for shading.

The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.

Those brushes are from the Rusty Nib pack and the Beat Tones pack, by True Grit Texture Supply.

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Drawrch 2025 #8: Long Hair

 Martin · 89 days
An illustration of a man with long hair and a mustache and beard. The man has a blank expression on his face but is looking intently at the viewer. He has a pale, reddish complexion, light green eyes, blond hair, and a blond/red mustache and beard. He is wearing a black shirt. The background is a pastel green split and made slightly darker by a diagonal line across the middle.

Today's Drawrch illustration is of a blond dude looking intently at the viewer.

I chose this reference image for because I thought the man's plain features would be pretty easy to sketch out/render, but it took me a really long time to get the shape of his head and proportions of his face looking right. It just goes to show you how the smallest details make a difference.

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Smooth Natural Nib brush for linework, the Syrup brush for fills and some details, and the Rough Dot Shader 45/Light brush for shading.

The Smooth Natural Nib and Rough Dot Shader 45/Light brushes are from the Rusty Nib pack and the Beat Tones pack, by True Grit Texture Supply.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkdrawrchillustrationipad proprocreate
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Drawrch 2025 #7: Looking Updward

 Martin · 90 days
An illustration of a woman with a medium complexion and dark hair. The woman's head is turned to the left, and she is lookout out and up. She has dark mascara, dark red glossy lipstick, and pink blush. Her mouth is in a small, open-mouthed smile. Her eyes are dark and reflect a bright blue light. Her hair is in bangs which cover her eyebrows slightly, and she is wearing earrings that start with a large ridged black disc, a brass ring, and then a series of concentric brass rings that are very large. The background is a light wall and a window glowing bright blue.

For today's Drawrch illustration, I drew a woman looking upward.

This has been a really long week for me, and it was a moment of sadness when I realized that I hadn't done my drawing yet today. But I hunkered down and did it, and I'm happy with what I made. I probably need to think about that feeling more when it's time to start these drawings on harder days.

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Soft air brush for shading, and the Inka brush for just about 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:

2025artartworkdrawrchillustrationipad proprocreate
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