dividedbyblue | One fanart pencil drawing a week

Since the end of last year, I’ve started making pencil drawings again. Quick things, mostly, at first. But then I started to make a few quick portraits of characters of the Spanish telenovella I was watching Sueños De Libertad. Now, drawing faces is something I've struggled with for quite some time. I became better at it when studying the Loomis method some time ago, but still. It was always a hit or miss. And so were the first fan portraits I made of these characters last year. However, I started doing them more regularly, and they became better. I decided to post them online in the fandom of this telenovela. The first ones were not particularly good, but I started getting better. I saw other fan artists doing weekly drawings, posted on Saturday or Sunday, and I decided to join in. For some three months now I’ve been making a weekly fan drawing. Today I finished and posted this one:

Marta and Fina

All the drawings are posted on Twitter as well as on my fan art Instagram account.

I usually search/make a screenshot I like of this couple and try to make a nice black and white pencil drawing of it. Doing this weekly for three months has permitted me to improve my pencil skills and given me an insight into how many hours a drawing like this takes to complete. Both are valuable. At the moment, I’m seeing this fan work as a place in which I can make decisions on how I want to improve/ grow. In that regard, I’d like to do two things. I’d like to try to make such portraits in acrylic. I’ve already done one in black and white last year, and it turned out well. Another way I wish to take this, is that I want to be able to construct scenes of my own with these characters, instead of only relying on a screenshot. I’ve seen fan artists do this. They construct a pose with a setting for a couple they like, then use corresponding pictures/screenshots of the character’s faces to be able to draw them with a good likeness. This takes considerable skill, and I’m going to have to practise and learn a lot to be able to do this.

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That is such a lovely drawing!

Thank you ^^

You did a great job with shading and texture there.

Thank you! I recently changed to a drawing paper with a soft grained surface, and that is what makes it possible to have that texture. The quality of my drawings improved when I started using the paper.

Sometimes the right materials can make all the difference.

This is a really beautiful drawing! I look forward to seeing your acrylic work.

Thank you so much <3

That is beautiful!! Your use of tone is so very good, aah! The contrast between dark hair and light skin catches the eye and won't let go, to say nothing of how wonderfully tender both of them look together <3

As for constructing scenes with existing characters, I do that a lot and I can tell you that your practise with drawing your favourite ladies' faces will come in handy. You won't be able to pass up on using references to nail down what they look like when coming up with your own scenes but having a previous understanding of a specific person's proportions helps a whole lot. Say, when you want to draw a certain expression but there are no screen captures of that particular actress in the angle you want, mirrors and cameras will do the trick and you have to be your own model -- but if you've already accustomed your hand to how far apart her eyes are or what the slope of her nose is like or how full her lips are, it gets a lot easier to put that knowledge of someone else's face on top of whatever facial expression you're forced to do yourself by way of reference.

All this to say that if you want to construct your own fanart, using your own ideas for poses and scenery and whatnot, then you're on the right path by getting acquainted with what the subjects of your art look like and how to reproduce those traits of theirs on paper! :)

Thank you so much <3

Thank you for sharing your insights into how to create scenes like this. I really appreciate it. I’ve used reference photos of myself for various poses in original art, but I’ve never thought about using them this way for fan art. It’s a great idea; I’ll try it!

if you want to construct your own fan art, using your own ideas for poses and scenery and whatnot, then you're on the right path

Thank you! I’m really looking forward to trying this out!

<3

Go for it! The best reference for poses or expressions we’ll ever have is ourselves, haha. There are a lot of online options out there but when you have a very specific idea in mind nothing beats looking into a mirror or taking a picture for that special angle we want to draw, even if we're just going to put someone else's face over our own afterwards :)

I’m certain you’ll create some fantastic fanart if what I’ve seen of your work by now is any indication! <3

Indeed, taking the reference picture yourself is the best fit for whatever you have in mind and want to draw. You just have to make sure you put someone else's face over it, otherwise things get weird :D I had that happen when I was younger. So sure was I that I couldn’t draw a likeness to someone that I just assumed nobody would see it if I used a reference pic of my face to draw something, and only change the hairstyle (or gender lol). It… didn’t work. People saw my likeness in them and started asking me weird questions about it, as though those works were autobiographical. They weren’t; it was just an unlucky coincidence that you could still recognize my face in those drawings :)

I’m certain you’ll create some fantastic fanart if what I’ve seen of your work by now is any indication! <3

Thank you so much! <3 I hope so :)

Oh, dear, LOL. At least that makes for a very funny anecdote today!

<3

One fanart pencil drawing a week

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