Practice and Highlights

It has been a busy week for me or month, and I’ve been looking for ways to spend my downtime that don't involve just scrolling through updates and viral topics. I’ve been wanting to get away from strictly realistic proportions that had been my plan before, so I sat down today to see what happens when I push the anatomy a bit further.

In this study, I really wanted to lean into those exaggerated shapes. Bigger than big arms and chest.slim and tapered pants and legs. The basic silhouette is not working for me so I added just a few more lines to define the hair, the face, chin and clothes

I also spent some time playing with light, trying to add a few highlights to create some actual depth. I find that dropping everything onto a solid black background helps those highlights pop, even if I'm still figuring out the best placement. It’s a bit of a departure from my usual process, but it’s interesting to see how changing some of the elements can shift the whole look of a character.
I’m looking forward to seeing how these experiments develop as I continue to practice. It’s all about finding that balance between intentional design and just letting the pen go where it wants.
make, go with the flow, edit, meh, keep what’s working and learn from mistakes