Aquilla's artistic adventures 🎨 [2024 art review]

[Aquilla]

I made this for my first “draw this in your style” competition on Instagram, and it might be the most advanced and detailed semi-realistic human I have ever drawn :0

It was a pain to get the anatomy right (is it right? I still don’t know) but once I had the final sketch down, I had the time of my life adding as many details as I please. I think I’m starting to develop an art style even. Never thought I’d say that one day - but the way I draw eyes and shade hair has been more consistent in my latest semi-realistic humans. :’)

I hate the net, it looks so artificial and stiff. I lack the skill how to draw it more realistically and had a hard time wrapping my head around how a floating net that’s being grabbed under water might look. Oh well, I’m very proud of the human portion of the drawing and would like to offer this art style in my art shop in the future, when I have time to open it again (and if there’s any interest).

Here’s what the sketch looked like:

My next objective will be to 1) draw more characters in side profile and 2) draw more male characters in general. I seem to have a bias for women with long wavy hair and I need to challenge myself more. :’)

 

[-Mars-]

I made this for my first “draw this in your style” competition on Instagram, and it might be the most advanced and detailed semi-realistic human I have ever drawn :0

It was a pain to get the anatomy right (is it right? I still don’t know) but once I had the final sketch down, I had the time of my life adding as many details as I please. I think I’m starting to develop an art style even. Never thought I’d say that one day - but the way I draw eyes and shade hair has been more consistent in my latest semi-realistic humans. :’)

I hate the net, it looks so artificial and stiff. I lack the skill how to draw it more realistically and had a hard time wrapping my head around how a floating net that’s being grabbed under water might look. Oh well, I’m very proud of the human portion of the drawing and would like to offer this art style in my art shop in the future, when I have time to open it again (and if there’s any interest).

Here’s what the sketch looked like:

View attachment 485998


My next objective will be to 1) draw more characters in side profile and 2) draw more male characters in general. I seem to have a bias for women with long wavy hair and I need to challenge myself more. :’)

Semi-realistic? What do you mean? Your art is hyper-realistic?!? Like how do you even get this good? This is breathtaking, even if you don't win that art contest you go and slay art queen

 

[Aquilla]

Semi-realistic? What do you mean? Your art is hyper-realistic?!? Like how do you even get this good? This is breathtaking, even if you don't win that art contest you go and slay art queen

Haha thank you so much I surprised mysef with this picture- didn’t know I had it in me semi-realistic in the sense that for example her eyes are very stylised and don’t look realistic compared to human proportions.

 

[Aquilla]

Time for an update!

I feel like recently I have developed more of an identity and consistency when it comes to my art. I finally know what I like, what I want, what I can do already and where I want to go. I have been adding more and more colours to my lineart, shading and highlights and it feels incredibly liberating somehow! The picture above was the most ecstatic I've felt while drawing in ages and I think it shows in her expression and the headache inducing vibrancy haha ^^

I‘ve found great inspiration in a new anime I‘ve been watching called Oshi no Ko - the vibrancy of the characters and the attention to detail, especially in their eyes and hair, just blew me away and will undoubtedly be influential for my art from here on out. The picture above was an Oshi no Ko style study and I was overjoyed that the Oshi no Ko style translated so well to how I currently draw.

I've been taking a few chibi commissions lately and feel like I finally have some consistency in my art style in the way I colour and draw eyes and hair - which is a huge relief.

There is, however, one question that's been bothering me for a while. It might sound silly and trivial, but I don't know what to label my different kinds of styles as. My "chibis" don't look 100% like traditional anime chibis. Their features are not squished and exaggerated enough to classify as a true chibi imo. My more mature drawing style (for example the mermaid in the last post or the drawing below) don't exactly fall into anime territory for me, but also not really under semi-realism.
Pls I just want a correct label, also for the sake of my shop TuT

If anyone has read until here and wants to let me know their thoughts and suggestions I'd appreciate it

I'll soon make another post with more recent art, but I think this will do for now!

 

[Aquilla]

Update! I made a lot of art this month!

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Art trade with Blink. (part 1)
I bought some halftone brushes after getting a recommendation from @/Cheremtasy and I LOVE them so much! They will feature more in my future art for sure!

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All of the space icons I've drawn so far! I love to see how many people decided to use my art around here, it means so much to me - I can't even properly express it! I never thought when I picked up digital art roughly 2 years ago that one day people would like my art enough to use it. Thank you <3

edit: oops forgot Mick's... now it's not symmetrical anymore ;u;

 

[Aquilla]

Made new art for S.J.! It's really interesting to see a side by side But I think the big sparkly eyes will never change ^^

2022	2023

I also just finished making this - it's a big moodboard featuring artists and art styles I reference for most of my art and where I get inspiration from. I feel like right now I am super close to some sort of breakthrough, I feel like I'm holding my breath and about to explode! Maybe it's because I finally have a very clear idea what it is that inspires me and what I want my art to look like. I realize the writing is very hard to see, but I think it should be possible to zoom in to see it, if anyone cares why every artist featured here inspires me.

The left side of the poster features art styles closer to my current one, so cell shaded art with very clear and thicker lineart. As for colour, I think I'm leaning more and more into hyperpop territory and would like my art to be even more obnoxiously colourful and bright.

The right side features more painterly art styles, but I haven't truly embarked on that journey yet. I want to focus on perfecting the left artstyle before trying the right ones.

Both sides feature very vibrant art with rainbow shading, so I'm definitely headed there. This poster will probably keep expanding as I discover more and more artists I love and as I keep improving myself.

My current learning objectives are:

• be bolder with lines and colours
• take risks, don't get stuck doing the same stuff
• more varied, bold backgrounds
• composition (I currently completely ignore composition)
• MORE COLOURSSSS (๑•̀д•́๑)
• clothes studies ._.

 

[Aquilla]

My current learning objectives are:

• be bolder with lines and colours
• more varied, bold backgrounds
• MORE COLOURSSSS (๑•̀д•́๑)

I did it (ꈍ ᴗ ꈍ✿) now to keep it up!


This is slowly turning into a @Blink. fangirl thread

Dark Mode

Light Mode

 

[Blink.]

I did it (ꈍ ᴗ ꈍ✿) now to keep it up!


This is slowly turning into a @Blink. fangirl thread

Dark Mode

Light Mode

I LOB THEM FOREVER
SHES SO PRETTY
I CAN DIE HAPPY

 

[Aquilla]

oops oh noooo didn’t mean to post, wrong thread ;u;

 

[Venn]

Wow, I see a lot of major improvements in your skills!
Now, I kind of want to see your challenge yourself by taking one of earliest pieces and redoing it to see how much you have improved

 

[Aquilla]

Wow, I see a lot of major improvements in your skills!
Now, I kind of want to see your challenge yourself by taking one of earliest pieces and redoing it to see how much you have improved

Thank you! it feels unreal when I go back to the first page of this thread haha! I'm up for the challenge! Why don't you pick one of my earliest pieces you want to see re-drawn? ^^ That makes it more motivating for me~

Post automatically merged: Aug 27, 2023

14/04/21 My first ever digital doodle (it's my cat)

@Venn click here to go back to my first ever digital drawings ;P

 

[Venn]

Thank you! it feels unreal when I go back to the first page of this thread haha! I'm up for the challenge! Why don't you pick one of my earliest pieces you want to see re-drawn? ^^ That makes it more motivating for me~

Post automatically merged: Aug 27, 2023

@Venn click here to go back to my first ever digital drawings ;P

Ok
I choose this one:

 

[Aquilla]

Little sketch drop!

Here's my sketch for the re-draw Venn suggested. The OC was created by Plume and I made some unsolicited art of it some time in 2021 so that's that :>

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And here's another wip! I always dread the line art stage ugh!

 

[Aquilla]

I'm in a bad mood, so wanted to make something different :] drawing the skyline was fun and the repetitiveness of it weirdly therapeutic. It's nice to draw without references and just *exist*. It's currently nearing 3am and I wanted to draw what 3am feels like for me.

 

[Venn]

Little sketch drop!

Here's my sketch for the re-draw Venn suggested. The OC was created by Plume and I made some unsolicited art of it some time in 2021 so that's that :>

View attachment 511787
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And here's another wip! I always dread the line art stage ugh!

View attachment 511788​

Wow, even in a sketch, you can see the improvement!
Also, not sure who the second sketch is, but looks super cool already

 

[Aquilla]

T

Wow, even in a sketch, you can see the improvement!
Also, not sure who the second sketch is, but looks super cool already

Thank you! Yes the second one is a commission I’m trying to catch up with

 

[Aquilla]

Man, I have a lot of stuff to update this thread with - just haven’t had time to export > imgur > copy paste here. I’m crazy busy for uni, so for now I’ll just leave this here. Been working on if for two months, not much time for personal projects these days but happy I finally got around to it! I love seeing other artists make these, so here’s my “meet the artist” :3

 

[Aquilla]

- Reserving this slot to put all art contest entries from this year and some more artworks -

once automerge timer is done I’ll update this thread with another post with an art summary of 2023 :3

 

[Aquilla]

2023 Art Roundup
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Spoiler: Last year’s summary

Another year has come and gone and I always like doing a little retrospective at the end of it. In terms of my art development I’m extremely happy with how this year went. Since picking up digital art in 2021 I have drawn several times a week, if not daily in some months and it’s the first time in my life I’m managing to stick to something long term and enjoy it. I am starting to see a clearer line in my art and while there are many areas I still want to improve at, I think that I’ve already come a long way and I can see quite clearly that I’m getting better, especially comparing my now to my 2022 summary. I feel extremely privileged and also proud that my art has been nominated for contests here on tbt time and time again - I never thought I would get there back when I first started out, and 2018 me would be screaming if she knew what I can do now. I hope that I can look back on my 2023 summary next year and see just as much progress. ^w^

The goals

I had set myself a little guideline what I wanted to work on this year and I wanna take a quick look at this too. I have to admit I got carried away by my art shops and commissions and kinda lost sight of my goals a few months into the year. The whole “pick one and focus on it for month” idea went completely down the drain and I didn’t consciously work on any of these goals on purpose that being said, I was still able to cross off some goals now - not with as much intention and purpose as I had hoped, but task failed successfully I guess?

Green indicates goals I completed successfully and to my satisfaction, yellow means “I kinda did it a bit but want to work on it some more” and red means “NOPE I really have to look at this in 2024”.

Some areas I desperately need to work on

- clothes (how to drape them, how to shade them, how to draw folds) - shading in general (more intentional, bolder shadows) - drawing more male characters and masculine features - careful not to develop “same face syndrome“ (it’s great that I have a more consistent style but I have to be mindful of this) - distinguish between my art styles more. Where does chibi end and anime begin? The line is kinda blurry rn.

I’m excited to create and draw more, I’m already getting sick of looking at my 2023 summary lol. ONWARD AND UPWARD!

 

[Foreverfox]

Here to comment on some similarities! I was admiring all of the details in your intro drawing and I’m INFJ too! Also, I just got a Fjällräven Haulpack and I’m obsessed. Best decision. Plus, their mascot is a fox, so