All posts tagged Drawrch

Drawrch 2026 #4: Eeek!

Martin · 19 hours
An illustration of a woman looking hard to the side. Her face is pointing very slightly away from the viewer, to the left. Her eyes are turned to the side, exposing large amounts of the whites of her eyes. Her mouth is slightly open, wide, and bottom teeth showing, as if she is feeling awkward on someone else's behalf. The woman is drawn in a high contrast, posterized way, with most of her hair and eyes in completely black, then a single shade of semi-transparent black for details, and finally a layer of white for her eyes and teeth. The mid-tones of the drawing are colored pink, the same as the background.

Today's Drawrch illustration was one of those that looks weird as a sketch but then comes together and makes more sense at the end. I was trying to be relatively quick with the sketch, not caring as much about proportions being perfect, so I was a little surprised it looked decent in the end. I guess that's what it means to "trust the process," a phrase I usually bristle at, but which I'm slowly coming around to. 😎

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, and the Chisel Nib Cleaner brush for everything else.

The Chisel Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, 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:

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An illustration of a man looking downward. The man is looking down and to the right, with his head tilted slightly forward. He has a light complexion, thick eyebrows, and dark eyes and hair. His hair is short and combed upward at the front. He is drawn in a stylized way, with outlines around contours and a halftone pattern for shading. The halftone pattern and linework are colored orange red near the top of the image, fading to a cool, dark blue at the bottom. The background is purple with a blurry halftone stripe going horizontally across the image, and two columns of faded white on the right.

I was in a bit of a rush to get today's Drawrch illustration done. It's been a long day, and I am still getting over a cold I picked up about a week or two ago. I feel bad for being in a hurry to finish when it's only day 3 of this project, but I need some rest tonight. 🥱

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 Soft air brush for fades, and the Rough Dot Shader 45 brush for halftone shading.

The Rough Dot Shader brush is from the Beat Tones pack, 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:

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Drawrch 2026 #2: Skater

Martin · 2 days
An illustration of a woman looking away from the viewer, to the left, holding a skateboard behind her head. The woman has a light complexion, freckles, and dark hair and eyes. She has pink lipstick on. Her hair has a few bright highlights from the sun. Though it is only barely visible, the woman is wearing a backpack with black straps and a striped halter top. The skateboard behind her head is dark green and has stickers on it. The stripe of sky at the top of the image is a pale yellow.

My second illustration for Drawrch this year isn't my best work, but it was a good warm-up for the rest of the project. And, frankly, I could use it. I don't draw realistic stuff that often, and I'm feeling quite rusty right now!

Anyway, 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 the Soft air brush for some fades here and there.

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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An illustration of a man's head, looking at the viewer and smiling. A separate thumbs up is next to the head, and the word "drawrch!" is in block lettering underneath. The man has pink-red skin, purple hair, and yellow eyes, teeth, and fingernails. His hair comes to a small puff over his eyes, then slopes down to the man's skin at the back of his head, where there is a dot pattern representing stubble, as if his hair is shaved past that point. A sideburn comes down in the middle and in front of his large ear. The man is bearing his clenched teeth in a grin, and one of them is shining in the light. The head is drawn in a very geometric way. The word "drawrch!" is in a light blue green color, and looks shiny, with a sharp shadow behind it. There are two lines emanating from the man's head above the thumbs up. The background of the image is a light orange color with two white stripes going behind the man and hand, and the word "drawrch!".

It's march, so it's time for a new Drawrch, a month-long illustration project where I draw a new face/portrait every day of the month. This first drawing is done a bit late, but better late than never!

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Studio Pen brush for linework, the Soft air brush for some light fades, and the Rosette brush for the dot pattern.

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

I hope you can follow along and enjoy the new series! 😄

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Drawrch 2025 #31: Huh?

Martin · 338 days
An illustration of me, in comic book style. In the picture I am looking at the viewer from the side, with my head turned to the left. I have a slight smile on my face, but my eyes are partly squinted, as if I can't believe what I'm looking at. I have a light complexion, dark hair and eyes, and I am wearing a blue shirt. The background is a faded dark green.

Today's Drawrch illustration is the final for this series, and as is tradition, is a self-portrait!

My only takeaway from this one is that I probably need to go on a little diet and get away from the dad bod I've been working on for the last few years. 😅

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, and the Rough Dot Shader 45/Light and Grainy Dot Shader 60/Light brushes for shading. I also used the Syrup brush for some of the fills, and the Worn 3 Bold brush for the grunge effect at the end.

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

Thanks to everyone who followed along with this project over the course of the month! I appreciate everyone who liked, shared, and dropped a comment here and there - all of that really helps motivate me.

I'll be back with another illustration project in June! 😊

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

And you can see all of the drawing time-lapses here on the blog, or on this YouTube playlist.

Drawrch 2025 #30: Yell

Martin · 339 days
An illustration of a man screaming. The man is facing to the right and is frowning. His mouth is open wide, and he has a mean, intense look on his face. He has a light complexion and short hair that is brushed up into a bouffant. He has a light mustache and beard. He is drawn in a posterized grayscale, over an orange background with white spray paint spattered behind him.

Today's Drawrch illustration is of a man yelling intensely. This is another reference image I've wanted to draw for a long time, but never got around to doing until now. I'm happy with how it turned out!

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 the Fat Nozzle spray paint brush for 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:

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Drawrch 2025 #29: Smile

Martin · 340 days
An illustration of a woman tilting her head to the right and looking at the viewer. The woman is smiling very slightly, and her hair is blowing across her face from the left. She has a light complexion, dark eyes and hair, and pink lipstick. Her hair is highlighted to a red-brown color by the sun, and she is wearing a leather jacket that is barely visible. The background is a blurry landscape.

I got started on today's Drawrch illustration pretty late, and guess what? I finished it pretty late too! 🥴

I like how it turned out mostly, but it doesn't look a lot like the reference to me. I tried to fix it a bit at the end, and it helped, but not enough. But it's done, and it was good practice and on to the next. Only two left to go!

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 the Soft air brush for shading. The Syrup brush also made a brief appearance for helping me erase some things properly.

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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An illustration of Fred Flintstone, from the cartoon The Flintstones. Fred is smiling with his mouth open, and is looking up almost like he is rolling his eyes. He has dark hair and eyes, a light complexion, a five-o'clock shadow, and is wearing a scruffy blue tie and orange top. The background is yellow that fades to red-orange from top to bottom.

Today's Drawrch is another cartoon, but I have a good reason for that!

This was one of the first nights in a long time that my wife and I had an opportunity to just hang out and catch up on some TV, and so I wanted to spend time with her while I did my drawing, instead of being cooped up in my office, like normal. And since I can't really concentrate on a complex portrait while I'm watching Top Chef (plus, I usually look at reference photos on my computer, which is in my office), I ended up just doing something basic and fun.

I like this one though, and in my opinion, it turned out better than the one I did of Jane Jetson a few days ago!

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, a small assist from the Soft air brush for the background gradient, and the Syrup brush for everything else.

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

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Drawrch 2025 #27: Flowers

Martin · 342 days
An illustration of an older woman facing to the right, slightly away from the viewer. The woman has a light complexion, brown eyes, and red lipstick. She has a large round earring in her visible ear, and is wearing a thick, braided necklace. She is wearing black-framed glasses that have a slight blue tint to them. She has wispy, curly hair that is coming out from under a hat. Her hair is a faded blond that gets darker towards her scalp. The hat has a green brim, a light blue top, and is decorated with small flowers on top of the brim in the middle. The sleeves of the woman's shirt are barely visible on the sides, green on the left and yellow on the right. The background is a steel blue that fades to white towards the top.

Today's Drawrch illustration is of a woman wearing glasses and a hat, which I have learned are two other things (in addition to beards) that I just don't enjoy drawing that much.

I suppose that I need to just suck it up and accept that a drawing project where I'm illustrating heads/faces is probably going to have lots of those things in them, because those are things that lots of faces have on them... but I like to complain. 😎

Anyway, 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 the Soft air brush for 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:

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Drawrch 2025 #26: Beard

Martin · 343 days
An illustration of a man tilting his head down and to the side, looking up at the viewer. The man has a very pale complexion, green eyes, and a dark beard and hair. His hair appears to be long and tied back. He has a very long, scraggly beard, which is slightly lighter in color and has many stray blond strands. The man is smiling slightly. He has a stud earring in his visible ear. He is wearing a black hoodie with three thin white stripes going down the front. The background is a steel blue that fades to a slightly lighter color towards the top.

Today's Drawrch illustration features a man with a super big, scraggly beard.

I have been avoiding drawing lots of bears this time around, but figured I could do this one by going about it in a slightly more stylistic way, and I think it paid off. Despite the simplified style, the drawing still took me about an hour and a half to complete. 😅

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: