Rarely am I so happy with how a sketch comes out that I even think about taking it beyond the sketch phase. So rarely in fact, that I'm embarassed to admit that I'm not even sure how I would go about it at all. Whoops, it turned into a vent post.
ok, bear with me for a minute
I work in traditional, and I never take pieces past sketches. I've actually never bothered to learn how to. Yes, part of that is I've never really thought any of my pieces were good enough or worthy of being "finished," but there's more to it than that.
Almost all of the art videos that youtube's algorithim surfaces for me are of artists working in digital. Sure, I know artists who work in traditional media exist, in theory. There are even a few on cohost that I really like (@scribblitz, @kinomoto, @unibrawn). But my overwhelming perception was that traditional wasn't even worth learning because it was just a second-rate substitute until I could make the switch to digital and become a "real artist." And sure, part of that was the fault of my lack of initiative in exploring beyond what the algorithm showed me, but I think there's also a bigger picture here.
I was thinking of myself as a temporarily embarrassed billionaire. If you're wondering why if I want to work in digital so bad, why don't I just get over whatever hangups I have about it and "just switch," it's because that shit costs hella money. My narrative basically since I started drawing has been that one day, I'll roll up to the ipad dealership flush with cash, slam down a cold 1k down on the counter, and finally be granted the title of "real artist" along with my new ipad.
I feel like such a clown. Yes, I've always worked in traditional because it's all I could afford, but I could only see it as an inferior version of what I would one day surely have. The fact of the matter is, I don't think that day is ever going to come. And if it does, I think I've actually started to come around on liking pencil and paper on its own merits. Having come to terms with all that, I think it's time I finally start meeting my artistic parctice, and the material conditions in which it exists, half way.
So, having resoundingly buried the lede under 7 miles of rock and dirt, I wanted to reach out to my fellow chosters for guidance about what options there are for rendering colored pieces in traditional media are. here's what I'm looking for:
-
Something that layers over graphite. Sketching is exclusively what I've put my time and effort into, and frankly, it's a crutch I don't think I'm ready to give up. Maybe I can get around this one with tracing paper somehow?
-
I would prefer that it be something i can hold like a pencil or pen, rather than a brush, because paint seems kind of fussy and also like a whole new set of motor skills to fine-tune.
It's also probably worth mentioning my interest is pretty much exclusive to character drawings and other subjects in service to that.
well, that's it! I would be really grateful for any advice anyone has to offer on this, and thank you for reading this far!
also, also, last thing while I'm shouting out cool artists on here: @mushroomhaus is making really cool 3d stuff and also posting cool mushrooms