Tag: Copic markers

Ali

Ali

This is Sktchy muse Ali. I’m generally pretty good at capturing a likeness these days but every so often I’ll have a run of missing it every day for a week or more. I’m having one of those runs right now. I’ve missed Ali’s likeness completely in this portrait. My last several portraits haven’t been so far off, but they haven’t been quite there either.

I don’t worry when I miss the likeness. The process of drawing is more important to me than the outcome. But I do think about what it says about me and what’s happening with my drawing at the time. Often it can mean that I’m not as focused as perhaps I should be, or I’m rushing my portraits because I don’t have as much time to work on them as I would like, or it can be a sign of personal stress.

Sometimes, it’s a sign of progress. It’s what I think of as the “one step forwards, two steps back” progress that comes with creative development, that means it feels like your work is getting much worse just before you make a breakthrough and step up a level. That might sound a little nonsensical but I hope some other artists recognise it. I’ve come to understand that that’s how my work progresses.

Right now I’m quite stressed so I think this loss of likeness is probably down to stress and a lack of focus but there’s a little bit of me that’s hoping I’m about to make an unexpected creative breakthrough. 🙂

I drew Ali in a Midori cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.

Juliana

Juliana

I’ve been trying to access NHS talking therapy during the lockdown and it’s such hard work trying to navigate a system that makes no sense and I’m getting nowhere. The only other way I have of processing my emotions is to draw them out.

I drew Juliana in my Midori Cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.

Holly

Holly

This is Sktchy muse Holly. I drew her in a Midori cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.

Saghar

Saghar

I drew Saghar’s portrait with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils in a Midori cotton sketchbook.

Sassa

Sassa

Drawn in a Midori cotton sketchbook with Copic markers.

Mr Bandit: Life through a Zoom screen

Mr Bandit

This is a portrait of one of my Sktchy artist heroes Mr Bandit. It captures my life so perfectly right now, since I mostly live it through a Zoom screen. I spend several hours each day remote working, having virtual coffees (with colleagues, family and/or friends) and participating in online classes. And then I spend an hour or two drawing and playing Animal Crossing on my Switch (yes, another screen) to keep me off Twitter.

I drew Mr Bandit in a Midori cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.

May the fourth be with you: Happy Star Wars Day

Today is one of my favourite days of the year – even lockdown isn’t going to burst my Star Wars bubble and stop me drawing my annual May the Fourth Star Wars portrait. This awesome Yoda cosplay portrait is inspired by a photo posted by Beth on Sktchy.

I drew this in a Midori cotton sketchbook with Copic markers.

Brittney

To mask or not to mask

I drew this in a Midori Cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.

Cola: A Good Drawing Day

Japan is very high on my list of places I’d love to visit, though for a whole host of practical and health reasons I’m not sure I’ll ever get there. So I loved every minute of drawing Sktchy muse Cola’s Portrait, drawn from a photo taken in Yukata. I was very nearly transported away from lockdown Britain to a tearoom in Japan for the couple of hours I spent drawing this – it was possibly my favourite drawing session ever.

I’m so glad I learned to draw, especially now. Anything that can give me an escape from the anxiety of lockdown is precious indeed.

I drew Cola in my Midori Cotton sketchbook with Copic markers and Posca pens.

Nande: is anger better for my mental health than anxiety?

This is Sktchy muse Nande, wearing hospital scrubs and basic PPE, or personal protective equipment, which is now the subject of so much political debate here in the UK because hospitals are running out and Public Health England has been suggesting staff should reuse some of it.

My husband is a resuscitation practitioner in our local hospital, so he’s currently training other staff to resuscitate & intubate, as well as working in A&E, ITU, in operating theatres and on COVID wards. When he comes home my daily questions are “Did you have enough PPE today?” and “Was anyone you work with diagnosed with COVID-19?” I’m trying to stay angry at the incompetence of the government because I think anger is better for my mental health than anxiety, which just consumes me… and it’s not hard to be angry at this pathetic excuse for a government right now.

I drew Nande in my Midori Cotton sketchbook with Copic markers.