Hey cheeky peeps!
I hope you all had a riveting June!

My crisis of confidence continues, mainly because fresh work continues to be elusive. I've applied for quite a few jobs now but the market just got flooded with loads more people. More people = more competition. I could be in this situation for the long haul so I'm probably going to have to explore other avenues. My creative confidence can only take so much and there are only 2 things that keep invigorating me: My weekly sketches (which I admit hit a bit of a hiatus due to this heatwave) and my gaming streams which often make me laugh. My ability to draw the form improves the more I study it, to such a degree that I'm slowly moving into colour work and blending (one of those sessions is in this post). For the next few weeks I'm going to invest more time in my portfolio and less time applying for jobs (which just depresses the ever loving shit out of me). One can only take so much time being wasted and at the moment I just don't feel I'm being taken seriously, so I need to show more of what I'm capable of.

Things followed pretty well from last month. "Week 1" was more about my ability to iterate upon the form quickly. I even tried to apply the cameras position relative to the pose. This follows on from last month when I was talking about sight lines (these ones mostly being low angles). I'm not saying I'm great at it but it continues to baffle me how quickly I can iterate on dynamic form over the more static kind. "C1/2" for example came together very quickly despite being given plenty of cleanup time. "A1/2" I managed to knock up in 20 minutes which in the past would have taken a hell of a lot longer. I'm not saying I'm great a getting proportions right the first time (it takes a few hours for a clean more accurate sketch) but considering this kind of stuff used to take multiple attempts and an excessive amount of hours tells me I'm on the right track at least.

"Week 2" was only 2 poses for the most part. I kind of got carried away with sitting poses as I'm much more comfortable with standing poses. I wanted a challenge and then got completely carried away with "A1-3." Its a basic colour pass with alpha locked gradients and blended clip masks but I really felt I was pushing the form here. This isnt a 1-1 copy but a reimagining almost and it's where I want to go with my art where possible. References are great but I want them to inform my eye not lead it. As far as "B" goes I think I did quite well here despite it being a very basic sketch. I'm getting better at seeing the form through clothing which in the past has been difficult for me. It's small improvements like this that tell me my eye is applying what it knows about the form to these poses rather then simply following them point for point.

"Week 3" was still attempting those low angle standing poses with "A/C" which works better in "C" then in "A." In terms of "A" I honestly don't feel I angled her head enough and gave her a longer neck which kind of moves out of alignment with the body. This needed more time really I think I did okay with the body but the head is nightmare territory. As far as "B" goes... this is one of those poses I kept failing and wanted to go back to. I've attempted it a few times now and this is the best iteration to date. It's still not entirely 1 to 1 with the reference but as I'm trying to put my own spin on things I'm somewhat happy here. I really love that I drew her right thigh accurately, I'm not entirely convinced that the head/body just needs a bit of scaling to make it pop more. Another attempt may be in the cards? Not sure. A good effort all round though.

Experience My June streams in timelapse form:

I've been doing more self reflection lately. It goes without saying that I'm not as passionate about creativity as I used to be. Come to think of it if I'm not sitting around questioning my worth I find myself getting angry. This isn't anger directed at anyone other then myself really. Anger over my lack of confidence, anger over my lack of enthusiasm, anger over not being a better version of myself. I just feel directionless and I'm unsure if I was ever truly good to begin with. I keep comparing myself to that young 20 something kid who ditched Data management in London to pursue passion and a creative career. That guy would look at the pathetic husk feeling sorry for himself in this post and tell him to "shut the fuck up." Is that kid still in here somewhere? I honestly don't know but if he is I need him to help me back to my feet. This shit is getting old, me too.

Sorry that this post is a little more bleak then usual but at least I got to talk about my sketches. That always brings me joy/confidence and valuable insight. I'm probably feeling this way now because it's been a few weeks since I last sat down to draw and this heat has been hitting everyone in my vicinity, so lots of attitudes are being coloured right now (including mine). Come hell or high water I will be streaming tomorrow, it sucks because I was having a good run with it... until I started melting. Maybe I'll see you there 7PM GMT (18/07/2026) right here: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch. One of these days I'll actually deliver a full month of sketches, in the meantime though at least I got a few bits and pieces done. I can still see/feel the progress I'm making. One foot in front of the other right? We got this, I have faith. See you in the next post at the end of July.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hello there,
Delayed again, but what else is new?

On the good news front I've been drawing a hell of a lot more... I'm trying to raise my game a bit as I continue to apply and ultimately get rejected for my next role. No one said my next creative opportunity would come easy (they never do) but I'm confident that once I "lock in" I can figure out a few ways to be more attractive (then I already am). The fact that I'm drawing more then usual also means my eye has been getting a much needed creative injection. You'll see this time, things are definitely getting better. I'm challenging myself more with perspective, which is (in turn) getting my mind to think more in 3 dimensions. I was waiting for things to "click" and I think in my more recent work they have. I could kick myself for not pushing my artistic journey further and faster but at least were here now and I don't plan on stopping anything. I'm better with poses that have a detectable exaggerated rhythm (that draws the eye through the pose) I'm still not great with poses that look more generic. Anyway, check it out!

For "Week 3" I set my sights on trying to grind out my understanding of perspective. I've watched numerous videos all telling me to get comfortable with dimensional shapes. Then I found one that told me to utilize that knowledge after discovering the eye line. This is not the easiest thing to do as you have to identify the flattest plane in the form. The trick is once you find that plane you know that on one side of it you will be looking up at the volumes and where as the other side you will be looking down on. When drawing "A" I identified the line at her hips (at least I think) with "B" I felt it was at the upper portion of her hips. "C" was a hell of a lot more tricky with the camera skewed, I fixed the angle in that pose. Out of all of them the one I'm most proud of is "C" which is why I polished it up a bit. Things still need more work but were getting there. My first successful bit of foreshortening.

"Week 4" was a little more of a step back but still had some notable improvements. For weeks I have been trying to draw the reference utilized throughout pose series "A." This pose has spanned a few blog posts and its still confusing. I think I've diagnosed why. It feels as though a vanishing point is coming from where her hand is placed not to mention the other 2 perspective points off camera. The eye line here still eludes me (maybe in the middle of her face?). "B" was a little more dynamic in sketch form and found its way to a side on drawing with polish - not my best attempt. "C" is probably my best pose in this stream and it only had 30 minutes. D/E were imagined poses I knocked up off stream, I miss doing standing poses. Sitting poses continue to be frustrating. I'm going to need to continue to tough this out though. Wish me luck!

"Week 5" I wanted to go back to basics a little. I referred to a shaky reference sheet to see if my artistic eye was still functional. I also wanted to see if I could grasp looking up at a subject. I spent the longest on "C" which still ended up being front on and not from below (like the reference). "B" was more successful and I even managed to complete the pose and give it some extra polish. "D" was a pose that kind of fell into my lap but I had a go. I ended up drawing the subject more from above then looking from the lower view. I really need to sit down and figure out how to draw more subjects from below it's clearly a weakness. "A" was done entirely off stream as yet more of my own desire to draw a standing pose. Maybe I should start there when drawing my next series from below. Keep your eyes on this space I hope to fix this flaw.

Experience My May streams in timelapse form:

My artistic journey continues as conflicting as ever. If it's true when they say "the best artists are always learning" then my plight surely covers the category. I've been chasing this particular rabbit down this hole for a very long time and the results have always been few and far between. I often wonder if I'm too hard on myself or if I were taking things more seriously would I have done more by now? A common theme of mine is always to doubt myself and I'm sure in certain cases that's justified, I know that. On the other side of the coin though I wonder about the times when I didn't fight my corner and just acquiesced... was there an argument to be made? Should I have had more faith in myself? If I did would things have gone easier or produced a better result for all? I guess it doesn't matter anymore what's done is done right?

I realise were in the middle of June but these posts take a time to make and while I don't plan on stopping delays with my online activity are inevitable. My YouTube channel is continuing to grow, Twitch not so much. I will never drop my art stream but I should try to find a better balance between the two. Maybe when I'm unemployed things will be easier to sort/manage. I'll have another post ready soon (hopefully at the end of June when its due) and we'll see what I've managed to apply from my ramblings. I'm also working on a few other things in the interim so keep cool if things are still a bit behind. See you guys next Saturday 7PM GMT (20/06/2026) on my art channel here: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch. If not no worries, I appreciate you reading my blog posts all the same. Have a lovely month and I'll see you in the next one!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hello peeps!
Sorry for the delay again!

Things have been a little crazy. Obviously I'm still on the job hunt and what time I have between is still indulging in my usual vices - gaming, streaming, eating, sleeping, etc. While not perfect I've been trying out some recommended artistic approaches to my perspective figure drawing. My pose tools are taking a bit of a rest while I come to grips with this new paradigm: Using cubes and cylinders more to inform/ground my poses. One of the things I've garnered from this is trying to find the eyeline in a reference. Once you've found that then you can plan how far down you are looking and how that informs the shapes in perspective. Then you can turn those shapes into limbs, torso, etc. I've tried this route before but I've not really considered the eyeline before. I hope this will move the needle a bit more. I need to invest more time really. My artistic eye is probably at the best it's ever been so that certainly helps with some of these complex references, even if things look a little "off" on occasion. Oh well!

Well, despite additional efforts "Pose A" is still the bane of my existence. I'd tried to draw it a few weeks back but things continue to feel "off". Overlapping volumes are a continued source of difficulty for me. I just under or over-estimate how the limbs grow as they come towards the viewer. "B" came out pretty well even if it is lacking some dynamism in the upper torso. "C" was my attempt at trying to draw a pose from a different angle and despite liking what I started to do with the upper body, the lower body just doesn't feel like its coming close enough to the viewer. The foot should be much larger (kind of like "B"). As far as "D" goes I really like how I drew her form but I'm not sure that the upper body pushes things far enough. Mind you this was a 4th pose and I don't tend to do those. I was just so dissatisfied with "A" I needed to redeem myself a bit.

"Week 4" was more ambitious (at least for me). I think I went a bit too crazy with "A" compared to the reference but when I knocked up the grid next to the pose something kind of "clicked". I'm not excusing the angle of the head - that was a mistake but I really liked what I achieved with the lower body. Something about it just works. "B" was once again my stab at trying to draw overlapping volumes and frame them in perspective. Unfortunately, I'm still weak here. I attempted to re-align the pose to a top down angle which I think worked but getting my mind to compute that angle and place the pelvis behind the torso and the head in front of those was too much to ask. Lastly "C" (which is my favourite), looking up at her from a right angle worked pretty well. Even the feet and legs look bigger then the torso. Baby steps seem to be the way forward.

Experience My April streams in timelapse form:

I'm still continually unsure if what I'm doing is the right thing. Not only with my art but life in general. There is a part of me that's always scared that I'm incapable of being truly happy with my work. If people challenge me or something I've done, I immediately think I'm in the wrong even if that may not even be the case. I don't have strong conviction in myself or faith that things will always be okay. I say "they will" to make myself feel better (fake it till you make it right?) but maybe that's a thing I will always be unsure of and do people want that in an artist? Damn this is coming off a bit too dark, sorry about that. I just want to put my best foot forward. If there is one thing I believe in it's that regardless of anything - you keep your word. If you can't do that why should anyone trust you or believe in you? I like to think I've done that at the very least across my career.

All in all I'm glad I'm leaving my current employ. I haven't been happy there for some time (staying primarily for the money). Plus you keep hearing that the job market is as competitive as ever (to be honest I don't think I've ever seen it as anything but that). Of course you underestimate how much of the creative sphere is now trying to incorporate "AI" and while I see there can be benefits to its application I have no interest in training it to replace me or others like me. I never begrudge a tool it's place but the tool should always need me to wield it or define its application. Anyway, I'll be on Twitch tonight 7PM GMT 23/05/2026) (Join me there if you wanna chat: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch). Apologies for this being so late, at least its here now. I'll keep ahead of the next post (which should be here next week or the week after). See you then!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hello there!
I honestly have no idea where to start.

I've spent the last few weeks trying to become more knowledgeable about foreshortening/perspective and this is what I've discovered - It's fucking hard haha. The strategies I've found myself falling back on are the ones recommended by most online resources - to "use shapes." It's the overlapping of shapes that I tend to find quite difficult unguided. Not to mention changing these shapes into form appropriate anatomy from angles that require vastly more study. My understanding of the male form I thought after such a long hiatus would be lacking but I managed to fall back into the fold quite easily with my old "demonic self design." This caricature was a challenge I was meant to look into some time back but work didn't really make it possible. I've decided to continue refining this for an eventual animation related project. Having just thrown my job in (due to numerous factors) I need to produce some work to propel me into my next position. I'm gonna need all the luck I can get! Anyway!

I know some of the poses for "Week 2" are not exactly "Extreme perspective" but just indulge me for now haha. None of these were easy to do and I found myself using warp/perspective tools in procreate to push shapes bigger and overlap where possible. "A" despite loads of obvious flaws (I loath the arms) was probably the most challenging. "B" clearly needed much more work to push the upper body and head much larger - overlapping the torso and lower body. "C" was the easiest but I had the least time on it. I tried to clean up "C" more by producing "D" and filling in the features and pushing the curves/bends around the hip region. Looking at it now, the legs at the end should have been pushed further out and made smaller. As it stands her legs look too close for my tastes. I'm quite happy with the torso/upper body.

"Week 4" unfortunately was the only other time this month I didn't feel exhausted. I know I keep firing these excuses but this year has been a very crunch heavy time (when its usually our quiet time), it's one of the reasons I'm leaving. Initially I did an imaginative sketch (A) and then used my "sticky bones" tool from across the room. I then set to the main purpose of my stream. Refining my hades inspired demonic persona (D) complete with "tear chalice". I drew this initially a few years back (C) and told myself I'd come back to it one day. I had feared that my long hiatus from drawing men would have given me a more effeminate effort initially but thankfully it didn't. I've never drawn wings before either so you will have to bear with me here. I'm gonna work on this more often with my other poses. Hopefully this should lead to a nice finished piece - watch this space!

 Experience My March streams in timelapse form:

I get the feeling there will be many more haphazard sketches to come as I continue to understand foreshortening. It's yet another area which will require ground up understanding and the patented failure requirements I've mentioned in the past. To those of you not familiar it's long been my understanding that an artists best tool when confronted with something they can't draw is to fail over and over in drawing it until their mind understands how to. For a long time I could hardly draw what I saw but through repetition my eye has evolved and so has my understanding of the form. It's why I never give people the out that they "can't learn to draw." They can, because I did. I'm not saying I'm the best but I've certainly come a long way from some of my earlier sketchbooks. My ability in University was below average at best, I got there in the end though!

As always I'm sorry its another lack lustre month of updates but I only have 3 months of my notice period remaining at Inspired. I don't know how soon it will be for me to pick up my next role but in the meantime I will be doing a lot more work on my own personal projects. I want my next position to be something that I'm proud of and can enjoy. A position in a games company would be amazing but as ever it's highly contested and I never seem to be the fit they want. Oh well. Maybe I'll see you guys shortly over on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch. I'm going to be doing another 3 hour session tonight 7PM GMT (11/04/2026) so if your around an want to hang out/draw along with me your absolutely welcome. If not, well I hope the next post will be a full month's worth of development. See you guys there!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey guys, sorry for the delay!
I hope your all doing good!

It's been a hectic few months, I feel like I've achieved hardly anything and yet the time still shot by with me non the wiser. My work has been absolutely relentless and accountability is higher then ever which is raising my stress levels to excruciating highs. The people in charge of my employ have just kept kicking issues down the road and now things are finally coming to a head. People are starting to leave in droves and I for one don't blame them. I'd be surprised if my role is around in the next year but stranger things have happened. Anyway, I wanted to tackle a creative facet of drawing that I'm notoriously terrible at - "Foreshortening". Things came to a head in January with some of my poses and I've been taking a bit of time away from the pose tool to try to explore techniques. These involve largely going back to the perspective grid and back to primitives - boxes/cylinders/etc to explore the various angles of form. I will be doing this for some time I think... so, bear with me!

In January I drew a top down sitting pose (Week 5 - Pose B) which I drew in like 30 minutes. Its a rough as bones sketch. I challenged myself to try to improve on that drawing in this stream and just focus on trying to achieve a top down three quarter perspective. My initial sketch was rough (A) and not as high as the original. This made all the subsequent adaptations a little limited although I was pleased with how the closer of the two thighs was larger in "Pose B". I feel my later sketches "C" was better then "D" and now that I'm looking at them both side by side. Her head just looks too small (in D) and the closer of the two thighs doesn't look closer to the naked eye. This is the issue I sometimes find with my sketches, the more effort I put into them the more I shed away the dynamism. I'll have to tackle this pose again at some point. It just bugs me!

"Pose A" was the origin of this series as it was inspired by a reference... kind of going off of the same ideas in the "Week 1" and the "Week 5" pose in January. The difficulty is prescribing length to the form and then adjusting the scale accordingly. I just tried to imitate the placement of the reference boxes when in truth I should have been exploring the vanishing point. That's when I undertook a tonne of box based humanoids (many created/rubbed out) but "B, C, D, E" are samples of me taking various stabs at humanoid forms using boxes. "F" came about by my cutting shapes from boxes and then couching holes into them and curving them etc. I've done similar exercises before but I never thought of cubes in that way so I kept that in this collection to keep it in mind. I'll probably explore this more as it's key to understanding dimensional objects.

For "Week 3" I went back to doing things a little more fluid by trying to explore shapes from my mind. I wanted to see the areas where I remember how the form looks vs ones that I'm clearly lacking. I realise some of these are vastly exaggerated but I figured "why not" haha. I was impressed by how I understood the laying down poses with "D" and "B". I don't draw too many poses in that way so it was interesting to note that I do understand them somewhat. I still use primitives in my drawings I just don't tend to add much perspective to them which is what I'm hoping to improve on. A lot of my drawings render quite flat even when I do the form right. "F" was me trying to imagine the reference from the back and I think I did okay mostly. I just wish I tried a little harder to place the hands correctly.

Experience My February streams in timelapse form:

I realise my drawings of late have been a bit hit and miss, this is the way of an artist though. You have to practice the things your weak at as its the only way you actually get better. My eye has improved greatly since undertaking all these reference drawings and sketches (for the past 150 or so streams). Now I need to apply my understanding to the areas where my eye is still lacking. Like I said before you can't be afraid to fail, you have to embrace it happening and accept that it has to happen for you to learn and improve. I may even speed things up a little on stream for the next few weeks to see if a faster approach will aid in improving my skill at a greater pace. Sometimes I like sitting with a drawing to explore but if I'm just rattling through sketches to find understanding I probably shouldn't be getting precious. We'll see!

We'll see how things go over the next few weeks. Were some way into March already (that's how delayed this post is) but hopefully when things start sorting themselves out with my work I should be able to shake off the cobwebs. I also have a week of leave coming up before pulling the big trigger so it will be nice to be able to wind down a few complexities in my life. The Deb/Messy stream should be happening this Saturday and that should be fun. If your interested please join me 7PM GMT (21/03/2026) you can hang out, draw along or ask questions. I like to cultivate a chilled out vibe: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch. If I don't see you there I'll see you in the next post! Thanks for reading as always!

See you soon!
Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hello peeps! Me again!
Things are slowly getting back on track. Thank god!

I've realised I seem to turn to anger more freely, the older I've gotten. I have nothing to be angry about and yet when something rubs me wrong I seem to leap to it more and more. There is a part of me that thinks its the past failures I've experienced. People promising a young and enthusiastic kid (me) the world and the life of his dreams... only to let him down so phenomenally. There is another part that thinks this is just what happens when one gets older. A friend of mine flies off the handle too and he's commented before that he's less forgiving then he used to be. Whatever the reason I only find true serenity when I sit down for my practice art sessions. Maybe if I take what I find calming about those - no pressure, no expectations, the simplicity - just me at a blank canvas. Turn them on their head - I feel pressure, high expectations and things are complex. I have to say... I never thought of it that way before. Food for thought? Anyway, lets take a look at the Jan 2026 sketches!

I haven't tackled many sitting poses and this one was quite tricky to setup on the figure. The pose tool has rather large magnetic feet so, getting a leg that can be sat on was... interesting. I wound up taking the foot off and leaving a stump. I had to imagine the foot lean and how the posterior would sit on the leg. My 1.5 hour sketch (A) is my best effort. It just comes across more dynamic to me. The 1 hour sketch (B) isn't bad but I clearly need to get onto shading very soon lol! As far as "C" goes it was a 35 minute rough sketch that I decided to take away and clean up. I'm actually getting quicker at refining my art. It would have taken me hours and hours before yet, I did this one in just 3 hours. I just wish I could have pushed the foreshortening more. It's truly what let's this pose down for me. So much to practice and so little time am I right?

For "Week 4" I was a bit rushed and didn't have time to sort out the pose tool. So, in this instance I pulled out a cartoon reference sheet that I found on Pinterest and decided to see if I could adapt some simple shape characters into the female form. I have to say I was chuffed with the results. All of them are quite dynamic and really push the form. We even have some nice foreshortening on "A", which I'm super chuffed about. "C" is a bit of a safe pose but I really loved the stretch I got on the foot (I messed this up when doing animation at Uni, nice to know I can see it now). My favourite though is "B". It was very hard figuring out how to draw the form falling and I pushed it just that little bit more by twisting the torso/pelvis and raising the lower body slightly above the upper body to really show a more vertical drop. I really enjoyed this sesh I have to say!

"Week 5" is a little hit and miss, unfortunately. I may have to step up my game and do 4 poses if I'm going to mix in 2 posed characters. "A" is okay but I'm really not keen on the pelvis area it feels like it should be angled more. I really hate the hand to the side, that needed much more work (in fact the whole body does too). "C" was actually the second pose and I took some time to clean it up. I really like the face I drew! The body is a bit misshapen: She has a very high rib cage and the chest cavity should have come down more to meet the top of the hips. As far as "B" goes I might try to clean this up on stream this week (07/02/2026). To see if I can repair it and actually better apply extreme foreshortening to make her shine. It's an area where I'm most weak and I can't keep putting it off. Who knows, I may even succeed?

Experience My January streams in timelapse form:

On the good news front my creative cabin has taken another step towards completion. There will be a few photo collages once I'm ready to move in. It still needs a floor, windows, skirting boards and power but then we should be good to go. It's not entirely water tight until those windows go in so, wish me luck there! It's going to be where I plan my inevitable world take over and hopefully a future career in model making. I've been selling a few little things over Etsy just to test the waters but I really want to fill my store and then just work for myself. That's the long term goal. I've wanted a resin printer for a very long time but the chemicals concern me especially with pets in the house. I'll hopefully have a few additional things to blog about too so watch this space if your interested.

After the last post I made on here I really wanted to end things on a more positive note. Just know I'm on better footing now that event season is over at work. It's the job that truly shakes my resolve as it takes everything I have just to get through. The Deb/Messy stream never happened either but I'm not that bothered. Truth be told I like doing my art stream how I do it now. All rushing against the clock ever does is stress me out further and that really goes against why I do them in the first place. Anyway see you on Saturday 7PM GMT (17/01/2026) for more pose practice right here: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch if you want to hang out & draw in a stress free environment. I cultivate it well!

Anyway I'll see you guys next month for more shenanigans!
Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hello there,
Sorry for being MIA for so long!

The ending to 2025 was pretty draining. I had to amend more work then I had planned (I'm still amending it now in Jan 2026) for people that love to feel that they have added their 2 cents to my projects (even if they make them look worse). It's all I could do at the end of the week in November/December to lay down to sleep and cast the pillow over my face when more work beckoned. Still, I'm here now and this industry event should be wrapping up soon in the next week or so... it needs to. Anyway, I got a couple of "Hellart" streams in November (not nearly enough) but I can still feel (slowly but surely) my confidence improving. One of the streams was fundamentally about drawing hands (something I loath) which allowed me to study some tricky hand shapes. It was interesting having to set things up for these small little sticky bone hands. I also had a rather tricky stretching pose to figure out in the latter studies. In this case less is going to be more (at least I think).

Now before anyone says anything, I know there are not millions of hand shapes. When I draw I like to take my time and try to understand the shapes... maybe embellish things or change the gender of a hand. I don't do these in a vacuum, I know there are people who love (and are great at) speed sketching, I'm really not one of them. I like giving my brain the time to really study what's in front of me. I will mix it up more in the future but in most instances currently I just like going at my own pace. "D" is probably my least favourite as its a flat hand, my eye loves dynamism and it's gotten to the point where I find a "front facing" anything to be tricky to apply form to. My favourite is either "C" or "F". "C" because the foreshortened angle came out quite well and "F" because it's the only one I really tried to make female. I think it works!

After another week's hiatus (Week 2) I came back with a bit of a challenging pose for "Week 3" - a "tilted stretch". The order is a bit out of whack here (apologies) "B" was the first one I drew and is a further testament to the (personal) challenge of "front on" poses. This really is where foreshortening has to play a major role and I feel I fumbled that (as I usually do). Still, it's nice to identify weaknesses when they appear. I think my favourite is "C" as I feel I really nailed the torso and stretching motion. "A" was an interesting one to figure out and both of these were done in shorter time spans... not to mention the dynamism of the body. I could have pushed things further (maybe by twisting the torso more) I just didn't want to exaggerate too much. I have a tendency to push things to the point that they break and look appalling. I know my ways.

Experience My November streams in timelapse form:

I've been consuming a lot of history over on YouTube as of late. I think it's my way of trying to understand the world of today and how I feel completely removed from it. When I see people glorifying censorship and not condemning violence I have to ask myself if I even feel safe in today's world. I'll keep you posted haha. I just often feel like I don't fit anywhere and it's only in the tiny little bubbles where I'm hanging with friends, online friends, gaming or drawing when I don't feel stressed out by it all. I see people getting more and more brazen and hateful and I genuinely want to shout at them that "none of this shit matters, live and let live". Were all going to be dead one day so why spend so much energy just arguing and further increasing the divide... live your life... or don't, why not just keep on. What do I know?

Sorry for the dark vibes peeps, I guess I just feel another year older and question if I'm just running the same tired opinions over and over. On the good news front: I'll be sorting a fun collab art stream with a fellow talented streamer (Deb/Messy) next week so keep an eye out for that. My art day is moving to Saturdays going forward - 7PM GMT (same time). The next one will be on 17/01/2026 so please join me LIVE here: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch if your interested. I tend to just practice form and poses like above, no pressure, just fun. Alternatively, you can always find me gaming on YouTube 7PM GMT (Mon/Weds) every week: https://www.youtube.com/@tcgstitch. 

Anyway, see you guys in the next post hopefully with 3 weeks worth (at least).
Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Cheeky peeps!
Sorry for the delay, things have been crazy!

Event season continues at work and my insomnia has been making things hard at every twist and turn. Not to mention a family friend took their life rather unexpectedly. I wasn't that close with them (they were childhood friends of my sisters) but it certainly dug up feelings with regard to people I've loved and lost. Not to mention the person in question messaged me about a week ago (regarding another matter) and you just question if there existed a certain phrase or string of words that could have changed their devastating fate on some level. I try to think about death as little as possible because it's a rabbit hole my mind loves to dissect and extrapolate with endless abandon. I love my gaming streams but in all honesty the only time my mind is truly quiet is when I lose it to thought. It's not a perfect system but my art streams are important, even when I'm burnt out. Yet, I keep missing them. A day change may be in order. Anyway.

My sketches are getting incrementally better, despite problem areas. I was actually chuffed that I got results quicker in "Week 1's" stream (even if only slightly so). I've been trying to challenge myself with lower and higher angles and foreshortening. It's a work in progress. At the moment I tend to find myself scaling or distorting parts of the form to bring them closer to an exaggerated perspective. "A" I was proud of initially as it's a hand (something I'm weak at drawing) moving in closer to the viewer in perspective. I like it, but it still reads as "wrong" to me, which further proves I lack knowledge in this area. Still, a good effort. I really love the face on "C" and not too much about "B" now that I'm looking back. I'm starting to think I should try to draw some more adventurous poses soon.

While I missed "Week 2" due to stress/tiredness I came back firing on all cylinders with "Week 3". I really loved the perspective on the leg looking up into the upper body for "A". These are probably also my best heels/feet to date. "B" has some really nice legs too (I seem to be getting better at the lower body but it's easier then hands). My larger issue with "A" is the face which, tripped me up a bit due to the downward tilted angle. "C" has some crazy things going on with the shoulders but I really think I captured the pose well. "B" was a very quick pose that came together quite nicely. I love when I have time to clean up my sketch lines and that's not always been possible in the past. I must getting quicker at this at the very least.

"Week 4" probably has my most favourite sketches of the month due to the dynamism. "A" is probably the weakest as the back leg doesn't quite go back far enough to give some distance for the foreground. The body also looks a bit stiff and the face needs more work. I figured the pose wouldn't look right if I didn't also attempt to draw a gun. I had no references for this, just kind of tried to conjure a silenced gun from my memory of "Uncharted: The Lost Legacy" haha. I really love "C" despite it having the shortest time although I think the arms come out a bit too far. As far as "B" goes (despite the rather enlarged hand gun) I think the back leg should probably have been a bit larger in perspective. It's interesting to note that I'm finally concerning myself with perspective more then the form being wrong... just goes to show my concerns there are narrowing thank god!

Experience My October streams in timelapse form:

Time flies and with it my anxieties widen. It's just amazing how fleeting it all is. My childhood felt longer but then I don't exactly remember it that well (mostly just the bad bits). I feel I spend most of my days wasting my time but then that is likely a form of my depression talking. The noise in my head is very real and very irritating at times. It's a rendition of how I sound when inspecting my art (above). It's kind of overbearing and overly critical but dead set on seeing improvement no matter how minor. I remember saying to a friend not that long ago that my working direct with clients in the past burnt me out (as well as Uni) but in truth it was the ones I could not satisfy... despite toiling hard (often times for no money). To the people who let me down (and they know who they are) I don't hate you but I do hope you treated the next bright eyed artist better then you treated me.

I'm sorry I missed another art stream this week (I now have 2 to pay back) despite having a rather fun time trying various hand shapes the week before. I really hate feeling tired at the end of the week but this could be a sign that I need to move my art stream to Saturday's instead. We'll see how I feel after my "Final Fantasy XVI" run. Which, btw on that point; you can find my Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch if you want to hang out 7PM GMT on Friday's (at present at least). Alternatively, I do my gaming on YouTube 7PM GMT (Mon/Weds) here: https://www.youtube.com/@tcgstitch. No hard feelings if not, I am nothing if not an acquired taste. See you guys in the next post (Early Dec), look after yourselves!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Howdy peeps!
Back with a few more lacklustre sketches and thoughts!

It's been a long month, I know I say that a lot lately but I'm nothing if not consistent. We have had a few events coming and another following in Q1 2026. This is the busiest period for me with work unfortunately. I've met quite a few passionate artists that have lit a fire in my belly so I will have to find a way of working around it... might mean less gaming time but, hey you can never have time if you never make time right? I only managed to get 2 streams worth of drawings yet again because of sheer exhaustion at my weeks end (Fri). I'm exhausted now but I refuse to miss another. I don't draw just because I enjoy it but because It connects me to that core passion that got me into animation to begin with. I always feel so sure and calm and for those 3 hours (stream) things just make sense (despite being a little scary). Kind of like my outlook on "survival horror games" haha.

For "Week 1" of September I decided to challenge my extreme perspective eye once again (a little less extreme this go round). I constructed a box as a guide to help me make sense of the size differentiation as the viewer distorts the form. I'm not entirely sure it worked. I believe "A" achieved the best results but I just feel like the upper body is disproportionate rather then in perspective. "C" and especially "B" look like the feet are too big and the torso's are somewhat angled wrong. I may have to go back to practicing actual reference poses of these angles as opposed to using my tool. My mind has not made sense of these shapes enough to understand how their size shifts in these kind of exaggerated perspective points.

For "Week 2" I decided to go back to basics a little more... nothing overly extreme. I had a few viewers on this stream and wanted to give them some time on the poses so I missed my third pose and tried to conjure something from imagination (C). First of all "A" and "B" look great to me. Hands are still a bit of a weakness for me but because my form was more on point then usual it allowed me to look at them a little further. As far as "C" goes I'm often torn by these types of imagined poses. They look dynamic and help me understand overlapping shapes (and practice "the bean") but I often question where I went wrong. The pose is imagined so I have no basis. A bent knee makes no sense in that mess... or does it? No idea! 

Experience My September streams in timelapse form:

I'm always kicking myself for not drawing enough. I know when I put to my mind to it I'm capable. I guess I have a shorter attention span then I used to. Leave me developing any project for too long and I get sick of it. If I don't get sick of it I convince myself that something is wrong and develop it into an inferior piece. That's my "overthinking" at play there; not leaving well enough alone when things have reached an acceptable outcome. I need to surround myself with artists (working on that presently). Nothing stokes my passion more then seeing artists produce amazing art, further igniting a fire in my belly to do the same. Drawing random poses without a purpose feels great but you often wonder "when" you will actually apply these practices to a finished endeavour. I need to come back around to that way of thinking... I feel I would surprise myself.

I have my usual artistic nerves before my stream this evening (7PM GMT here https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch if your interested) but I've gotten to a point where I know I'm going to go to a happier place in my mind. One of the most freeing things about practicing art is you can walk in and away with no expectations and I think after all the years of having to bend around other peoples (expectations) that is the most calming thought. Anyway, thank you for reading yet more of my ramblings and if you are free later maybe you can stop by and draw along with me! The stream is tonight (05/09/2025) at the link above. I'll see you guys in the next blog post (end of October), hopefully with more/improved pose sessions!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey cheeky peeps!
Only me :)

It's been a crazy month, I'm now a year older and have a hankering to really get back in to the "throws" of my art (and gaming). I've taken to moving around more Live YouTube channels and engaging with artists and content creators more directly which, has only stoked my desire to do better with my own streams both, art & gaming. I remember when I started this little enterprise as a way to engage with people during covid when socialising was not an option. It was for the fear of falling back into my old social anxiety that I took to the "digital airwaves" and met a lot of truly lovely people. Somewhere down the line I got a little less inclined to engage after letting a few people in (I guess Twitter played a role there somewhat). Divisions now are everywhere (in the UK especially) and I find myself inclined to (once again) delve further down that familiar rabbit hole, it's probably why I chose to reach out again for fear of the looming abyss grinding closer and closer. My apologies, let's talk about art! :0

It's amazing how proportion plays such a vital role in these poses with the hardest being the ones that appear to have so little movement (due to their flat perspective to the viewer). Shapes overlaying shapes is another issue entirely as it's very hard to distinguish how a broad shoulder would protrude over a daintier torso or vice-verse (for example). This is why the "front on" pose (B) doesn't work and frankly could never work despite the 1.5 hours I put into it. Things only made sense at a slight angle where my eye could recognise the flow of the pose via the gesture. How does one define gesture in a pose that appears to have so little rhythm from a certain POV? If I could answer that question maybe more pieces would slot into place? Interesting.

On occasion I like to challenge myself. It could be attempting a pose that completely baffles me, redeeming a pose that I completely messed up or fix an issue that my mind cannot figure out (insufficient data). I admit there are ways I could further challenge my understanding of the form and I should be drawing a hell of a lot more then I do... but, I need to move at my own pace. Of this particular selection of sketches I really hated how "C" looked... It had the least time to be fair but it just rubbed me wrong. I found my other poses (A/B) to actually be "good efforts" despite the odd issue. "D" was my answer to "C". While not perfect it at least makes sense to me now and I got a chance to finally work harder on some hands! If I had one gripe its that I wished I'd pushed it a little further, the pose feels slightly rigid, I think the torso needs more twist/tilt. I'll keep a closer eye next time!

Experience My August stream in timelapse form:

I'm trying to be a little more analytical to my process overall to see if I can identify some of the pitfalls I keep finding myself in. Believe it or not the lessons I uncover in this blog are starting to lodge themselves in my memory. Also, I seem to keep fumbling my weekly art streams (by missing them) an increasingly annoying trend of mine. I always have that anxiety and on a Friday evening I'm usually exhausted after a heavy work week. Maybe I need to move my art streams back to Saturday (potentially in the evening). I really don't want to miss my drawing streams. When my schedule comes up again for review I'll ensure this is rectified. There has to be a better balance. Going back to my artistic survival strategies I should also dig out my anatomy book, I think my knowledge of the form is slipping some.

If you have read up until this point thank you. I'm sorry if it was a "dry" read but if I don't write things down I'm "doomed to repeat them". The incremental improvements I have made on my artistic journey have been developed from a range of approaches (and trials of error). It's hard not to see the improvements though. When I put my mind to it and drown everything else out, things start coming together. Anyway, I hope to see you guys 7PM GMT (05/09/2025) for tonight's "Hell Art" stream over on Twitch. You can find the link right here: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch if you want to hang out, join in or ask any questions! I'll see you in the next blog post!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx