Look who's back!
A wild "Stitch" appeared!

Got a full 2 weeks of stuff to prep and this is where it all starts. I could be talking to the "ether" but at least I chronicle a few of my thoughts, standards and desires on these lofty platforms. It's my hope that one day maybe my posts can (at the very least) inspire some positive thought or a desire to think about the past time of art before AI took it over and ruined it. Maybe your an aspiring artist (like I was) but have no idea where to start or what to do when you keep producing un-satisfying art? My answer to both is - "Start". Put a pencil to a page and try to draw what you want. Most likely you'll fail (to capture it accurately) and wonder why? You've just had your first lesson, you have to fail, each time failing a little less. Will you ever be fully happy with your art? You shouldn't be, artists need to keep aspiring. You can love a piece of your work but don't let it go to your head. Keep going.

Enter "Week 1" of June 2025 (technically "Week 2" but semantics - I was sick the first week). Of the above "A" is my most favourite, drawing that particular angle of the face and the body twist was no joke - I hate the feet though. The feet on "B" are miles better and I'm really chuffed with the head. It's just a shame I was not speedy enough to get the hands drawn on this pose. "C" is a complete and utter rush job that I cobbled together when I couldn't get the pose to "work" from that particular angle (it happens). It's gutting but not a bad effort for something that was quite rushed. Poses that are not overly dynamic are still my kryptonite not to mention hands... argh I need to sort my understanding of hands badly!

"Week 2" was an interesting session! I got a bit carried away with the earlier iterations of this pose. "B" is probably my favourite as it is the most complete. The hands and feet continue to be a blight here though. Just a thought but I may need to study breasts a little more (that sounds super sus lol) I fear I'm starting to lose the thread a little bit. Just making elliptical shapes rather then masses. "A" is interesting for the head angle but I'm really not feeling the back pushing the waist forward. "C" was another rush job (because I spent time on an initial pose that ended up looking totally wrong) but if you look at it in comparison to the reference I actually got quite a bit right considering I did it in no time at all (9 mins).

"Week 3" was where I spent more time trying to get accurate building blocks in place over drawing a complete pose. In the prior weeks (of June) I kind of came to the conclusion that I've been committing to a sketch too soon (and choosing to polish it). Things are a little messier here but the poses are much more accurate. I attempted to rush through "B" and do a bit of clean up and ended up making it worse. "C" I did in 20 minutes and it's my favourite of the entire session, because the building blocks were right. "A" is also a very good effort as I spent more time trying to get the cock of the hip, length of the legs, tilt of the chest, etc right. Although, I have come to this conclusion before. I hope it sinks in this time.

Experience My June streams in timelapse form:

I often find myself treading over the same observations, the difficult part is the application. Sometimes when your there in the moment on Twitch, chatting, getting fixated on the shape of a body part, concerned about the clock or tired. Your eye diverts simply to what's in front of it. Epiphanies happen and sometimes everything get's thrown out. You fail, again. That's okay though... because that's the point. There is still that chance your mind will "dial" into that past lesson, that past observation. You may think you have lost it but its more then likely there (in fragments). Just "in the moment" your thoughts are on other things. Eventually it will "click", often when you least expect it to and that's when you will do things right. Even if for one moment. That moment will feel great.

Thank you for reading this guys! I hope it wasn't too unsettling. I let a few things fly, haha. I'm sure many of you are used to it by now if you actually read these "musings" of mine (I'm sure many would rather not). I hope to see you guys tonight 7PM GMT (04/07/2025) for my next Twitch streaming sesh - https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch. I have ordered the additional camera but it won't be on this weeks stream (still sorting things out - thanks for bearing with me). Anyway, see you there or in the next blog post!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey guys,
Sorry for the slight delay!

What I thought would be a cheeky weekend sesh of "Nightreign" turned into flu (likely Covid) of epic proportions. I was taken down a peg or two for an entire week+ and I'm still feeling the effects. Anyway, onto the issue at hand. Art this month has been a bit hit and miss (as it tends to be with me). The fault is mine mostly as I really don't draw as much as I should to see significant improvement. That's one side of the coin. On the other I am trying to get familiar with the process of drawing a skeletal structure from different angles and turn it into female anatomy. Drawing from different angles on it's own is difficult but converting the form is no small feat. I tend to find there are angles my mind still does not know how to interpret and then of course there's the foreshortening aspect. It's a fear I really need to confront in a larger way, I'm not sure I'll solve it just by drawing poses.

"Week 1" as you can see feels a bit stiff in places (especially for the 1 hour pose - "B"). Her head should twist a little more and the arms are a just too straight. "A" is the best pose there undoubtedly with "C" being the second. That said (and I've only just noticed) the legs on "C" are completely pissed when you get to the feet. Looks like a little bit of an oversight there, I guess considering I had 30 mins on this one I can give a bit of leeway. Still, there are people out there who can bust loads of these poses out in seconds and seriously make it look effortless. I just like taking my time on a Friday and I feel I get more done when I'm not rushing out a pose... I did quick poses for a time a few years back, I don't think it helped.

"Week 2" is probably my favourite collection this month. I really got a lot from the poses across all 3 angles. The only one which I thought was weaker was "B1" and that's why I went away and tried again by knocking up "B2". The hand around the back is off - too large maybe? or maybe its the angle of the wrist and how it doesn't look tort at all? "A" is a very good pose probably my favourite of this collection although, considering I only spent 30 minutes on "C" I feel it's the most expressive in terms of the tilt between the upper and lower parts of the body. The pose of "C" just looks so dynamic in comparison to the others. "B1/2" is still my least favourite despite my attempted clean up.

"Week 3" was a bit of a precarious choice as it looks somewhat familiar to "Week 1". I'm happy with the form's I got with "A" and "B" particularly around the pelvic region (and tilt in particular). The blocking out of the shapes really helped inform the anatomy of the lower body. "C" was a little more rushed but the same idea is conveyed at the very least. I really liked the face I draw on the character pose "A" - I spent a little more time trying to harness some of those details. The only part of this series of poses that falls a little flat for me is the foot tucked behind the leg. The shape got a little lost and I didn't know what I was doing with it when it came to the back view (B). I still think it was a good effort overall.

"Week 4" is one of the better weeks but it's also a simpler pose. The hardest thing was getting the twist in the hip right to inform "B" which got there in the end after a bit of re-drawing. The poses this week were very hard to achieve so I went back to fix them up a little more. Not because I was embarrassed but because I wanted to understand where I went wrong. "A" I did purely on stream but "B" and "C" were re-draws because they were so far from the mark, I had to understand why. I keep coming back to that twist in the hip but now they feel like they inform the same idea. "B" was particularly tough, I think because all the volumes are on top of each other. I find its very easy for that angle of pose to become rigid.

Experience My May streams in timelapse form:

I still see improvement in places but my process remains very much "up in the air". I tend to just draw how I feel in the moment, so the method changes. The more dynamic poses (that require foreshortening) are still a bit of an anomaly, I'm gonna have to confront them eventually. The trickiest thing is when parts of the body overlap, I still need to see the form underneath to know that things are working from an anatomical standpoint. I feel the same when drawing people in clothing, I can't focus unless I can have that form devoid of clothes to see the shapes I recognise. Muddy lines confuse my process and are largely why I opt to use new layers to clean up messy drawings below.

Anyway, thank you for reading this far (if you did) I tend to live so secure in my head. When I'm confronted with a page all my insecurities just spill out. I hope to see you tonight 7PM GMT (13/06/2025) for my next Twitch sketch sesh here: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch. I haven't forgotten about the additional camera just let me get to the next pay day! See you there or in the next blog post!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hello hello!
Just me, back at it again!

Another month has flown by already, I swear to god things tend to move faster the older I get. So, what's new with me? I've not been drawing much, my time has been more or less occupied by gaming and being generally lazy. I need to get "back on the horse" so to speak. This has certainly come through on my drawing this past month, it really is a skill that appears to regress the less you do it. That said, I have tried a few slightly trickier poses which may or may not have made things a little rocky this time round I'm not sure. Twitch has also been causing me a headache with its close-minded double standards suspending me once again for "nudity" (sketches) and then undoing it when I pointed out their hypocrisy. Despite that my stream was still deleted and a "strike" put on my account that they wont be removing? Why? It's your idiotic moderators fault! Anyway!

You'll probably notice (as I did) that things are certainly more dynamic the rougher the sketch is in "Week 1". Pushing the knee forward is something I continually appear to underestimate or overestimate. Who am I kidding? I tend to do either too much when I'm not thinking enough. The "B" rendition is probably my favourite as I really feel it conveys her shoulders draping back. "C" is probably my least favourite which is a crying shame because usually I tend to throw some of the shackles away when I have less time on a pose. It usually results in a less stiff drawing and allows me to be kind of adventurous. I should have gone over these once at the very least to see what I could improve on... oh well.

Ah the dreaded "Week 2" - usually the one that gets a bit of a wrench thrown into it. Alas, I did not disappoint here where that is concerned. I do however feel I probably posed the feet wrong on the reference - I believe anyone would fall over standing like that. The foreshortening of the arms was the biggest challenge (and something I didn't do great at) but I probably pulled it off best with "A". "B" has a body region that's just too long and her legs are probably a bit too big too. "C" is okay but I have no idea what I was thinking with that expression, I should have had another attempt haha. All in all "A" is the best and "B" is the worst. I gave it my "all" though maybe I'll be able to pull it off better this week!

Here we go "Week 3" there is no "Week 4" as I used that bank holiday to do gardening "Argh". I'll come right out of the gate and say it the best one by far is "B". I wish I had offset the masses of her body a little more so it wasn't so perfectly vertical and the arm closest to the viewers eye might be a bit on the large side. "C" is a very close second... I'm not happy with the foot on the ground (the angle is totally wrong) the lifted leg might be a bit too long too. I really liked the upper body though and it was a good effort considering it was a shorter duration then the other two. I only like the lower body in "A" the head/torso is just weird, that needed much more work - I clearly got a little lost on this one.

Experience My April streams in timelapse form:

I can only apologise for not pulling another Month's worth of poses out of the bag but I wanted to take the bank holiday off - sue me haha. I still think I made a few good strides here as some of these poses a little out of my wheel house considering I only have my trusty skeleton as reference. if I learnt anything here it's that I always tend to over-state the torso and make it much larger then it should be. Some of the shapes of the anatomy on display have still not entirely crystallised in my mind either. Drawing anatomy from different angles you often find yourself falling back down forms that look familiar even if they make no sense in the context of the pose. It's drawing what you think you see and not what you see - classic mistake.

As always I appreciate you checking out my post (I hope it makes sense - somewhat). I look forward to hanging out with you guys tonight (02/05/2025) for my next drawing session https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch 7PM GMT. Here's hoping Twitch doesn't try suspending me again. See you guys in the next post!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey guys!
Back at it with my monthly post!

I'm still "playing it safe" with my "Sticky Bone" poses. I have yet to explore the full scope but I'm slowly raising the bar in places (on the pose front). Ironically, when it comes to poses the harder ones to draw tend to be the ones that are less dynamic (or If I draw it from a condensed angle).My weakness is still very much foreshortening but I'm hoping when I start playing with lighting that helps a little more. Drawing shapes first using sweeping motions tends to broaden the range of the pose but it still requires adjustment. Finding the angles of the shoulders/pelvis is a good start though. Anyway, the journey this month has been slow and steady but I'm gaining confidence. So, here we go!

The pose/angles for "Week 1" were a big challenge (because the body is leaning forward slightly). To push this I would have had to angle her shoulders more and further ahead of her pelvis. I didn't even manage to achieve this with my "Off Pose" (she still doesnt look like she's leaning forward slightly). It's actually easier to see in my on stream pose for "A" but that's because its from a side/back shot. I tried quite hard with this series and despite getting some "okay-ish" results ("C" is probably my favourite) it didn't work out unfortunately. I'm gutted I still don't understand foreshortening well... I really need to remedy this issue because my poses need it... badly. Wish me luck lol!

I probably should have done better with "Week 2" I actually like this pose. I had a similar issue in "Week 2" in February... (maybe this is going to be my unlucky week every month, I don't know lol). "A" very clearly got the lions share of the attention but "B" and "C" feel a way-less developed then the rest of my drawings this month. I may have had people in the stream on this one? I tend to waffle on stream if people chat to me and I lose focus. That is not a dig at them I just know what I'm like. I can gab once I get started. "A" is the only one I like despite the others showing (slight?) promise... maybe I should see If I can clean one of them up? Food for thought.

Here we go "Week 3" - a good effort overall. I liked that I was exaggerating the shape of the forms a little more and keeping things more loose and sketchy (less refined). They don't all line up perfectly but they do communicate the different angles of the same pose (at least I feel they do). Despite spending the longest time on "A" I actually prefer "B" but that could be because it's an angle I'm getting more proficient in. I'm a little annoyed the "cocking" of her hip isn't communicated well in "B" or "C"... I need to study that more and stop relying on simple rotations of the form once I have drawn them in. My eye's need to start understanding this better in 3D space.

"Week 4" is probably my favourite this month. I got a little more experimental and dared to raise one of her legs (I know It's crazy). I've also started organising things better and writing in times for each pose ("1.5, 1, 0.5"). I know I am putting plenty of time in place for just 3 poses but its more of an in-depth study session. Things get more erratic if I speed things up (which I will do down the line). Pose "A" I loved structurally and it came out quite well. Pose "B" I thought expressed her figure well but I'm not sure I feel the weight on her right leg. "C" is probably my favourite as the hips feel very tilted/load bearing. I may have pushed it further then I should have but it feels more dynamic to me... best I can describe it.

Experience My March streams in timelapse form:

I'm glad I FINALLY managed to deliver a full month's worth of poses. My work schedule at the moment has been a bit all over the shop and I often suffer with insomnia when somethings on my mind. I've been working on a rather important animation project for work and a lot was riding on it. Thankfully, it's passed (they liked it) but there will be more. It's actually been good to lose myself in drawing/poses and fixate on that for brief interludes. I always feel anxiety before things start but once I'm there I suddenly lose myself in the "theory of it all". It's like things go quiet and I'm there in the zone just to get that little bit of progress. It's freeing in a way, I should do them more often I'd probably sleep better... or worse.

I appreciate you reading this (and my various ramblings) I hope to see you tonight (04/04/2025) for my next Twitch sesh - https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch 7:45PM GMT (late dinner - apologies). See you there or in another month for the next post!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey peeps!
Back for more eh? Good!

As always things are in flux but not due to much more then my own poor planning, that said the good thing about these poses is they are not planned at all and I tend to find "planning" anything to be a bit of a chore. At this point the only thing I plan (and I do it slightly before the stream) is the pose to put "Bobbenstein" (My Stickybones reference tool) in for me to use as a guide for the pose. Try as I might I cannot draw a pose from memory and not settle on some of the more standard poses I feel comfortable with. My sketches thus far using the tool haven't been that dynamic but its a new process as I'm trying to "hammer home" how I adapt this mannequin into female characters... a challenge in itself. Anyway.

My stream poses (STR A/B/C) are the main topic of "Week 1" as I did these 3 within a 3 hour block on stream. I know, I know It's not a lot for 3 hours but I'm training my mind to draw the same pose from different angles... not all of them easy. My biggest issue is overlapping forms (which I end up having to re-draw). "C" was the first I drew and I tend to give the first pose the longest (I usually have to shake cobwebs off). "A" got an hour and "B" 30 minutes. My "Off Pose" is what I drew after the stream just for the heck of it and because I wanted to draw something a little more finished. I think if we can agree on anything here it's they at least do look similar to the reference material. A good effort although I need to work on my feet more!

"Week 2" I feel was a bit more "rocky" I think the pose either threw me or I had bad food before. "C" is probably the best one but for the life of me hands still find a way of being "a bane" on my efforts. Not to mention the damn feet. I have to say though I'm happy with my understanding of the torso and pelvis regions not to mention the head. I have to invest more time in feet and hands really (stop putting it off Stitchy!). I may order some for my reference tool (the ones that are in there currently are quite large and clunky). I have to say though everyone has an off week and this probably was mine for the entire month. It's still good practice I just wish I had achieved a little more for the 3 hours.

Now we get to the last week (I missed the final week's stream due to being a bit exhausted - sorry). I would say I put forward some good sketches for "Week 3" and even a good "Off (stream) pose" too. I can't actually point to any of these that I actively dislike (except maybe to say I pushed the hips a bit far out on "C" and curtailed her height a bit too much). The hands are getting there but the feet are miles better (maybe a bit too large on the "Off Pose" I dunno). I will also curtail this a little further by saying this probably was a bit of a "safe" pose but we can attack the more complicated ones down the road. At this point I just want to get comfortable trying to apply the female form to this skeleton (which I consider to be male).

Experience My February streams in timelapse form:

In all honesty at this point I'm just going from one week to the next during this small window of time. I can say I feel more confident in drawing the forms since I started doing this (and it's only been 2 months). Seeing the body from different angles and having to apply form is giving me a greater understanding. If this produces some rocky results at least I don't fear them anymore. I remember back when I started drawing on stream and I had all these plans about what I wanted to do etc. I ended up leaving every stream feeling like I hadn't achieved what I wanted to but now if I leave any stream having achieved anything I simply feel great. Have no expectations and you may surprise yourself. It's a good feeling I have to say. 

Thank you for reading (if you did) I'll see you guys tonight 07/03/2025 for my next Twitch sesh - https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch 7PM GMT. As per usual. See you there or back next month for another post.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Hey, it's me.
I got goodies for yah!

Well here I am a man of my word! I know it's the 6th of Feb but providing it's before the next stream I'd say I'm still very much in time for January's big pose update. There has been a few teething issues; notably I got a suspension from Twitch because I dared to draw some circles for nipples on their "lame duck" of a platform while female "gym-goers" are feigning exercise so people can ogle them. There was even a stream where a woman projected a game on her ass (which would have resulted in a ban for most). I just find the hypocrisy staggering. In other news I'm learning a new process for my art (rather then a straight reference) I'm using a mannequin from a company called "Sticky Bones" to transpose poses... leaving me to flesh them out and make them female. It's a challenge but a worthy one, I'm hoping it will train my eye a little better. Check it out:

I have christened him "Bob, Bobbenstein the great" (or "BB" for short - a bit of a Death Stranding reference there haha). Going forward I will be using this guy to pre-plan poses, the base allows me to quickly rotate him/her at a new angle whenever I need to. I'll also make an effort to take pictures of the poses I'm drawing ahead of time so I can post it up here with my "efforts". I'm still finding my feet with this process so just bear with me. Down the line I may even buy a second web-cam and place it over him so other people who drop by the stream can give it a blast too. There are extras I can buy for him (notably a hand pack) that I will do down the line. At the moment I'm just easing myself into this process and my results are a bit mixed. This isn't drawing form from reference but applying form to a skeleton and shaping it accordingly. It's no small feat.

I only got 2 done in my first week and I was still working from the "Timm Naughty and Nice" Book you can probably see above the feint nipples I added to the "A" sketch, those were what got me suspended for 3 days. I assume that's the reason because they never tell you specifically why, they just send you to a page of boiler plate rules. The "B" pose I did after off stream because I wasn't content with 1 and I wasn't gonna let Twitch's "pig-headed-ness" stop me from getting a couple done. In a way it's good that I'm migrating my process over to my "BB" posing system, the Twitch platform has an aversion to any form of "gendered poses" which is difficult when your studying the differences between genders. All in all I'm happy with the results but a new challenge is needed and I don't wanna be the guy that can just copy poses well... I wanna make my own.

Excuse the "messiness" of the above and I know they don't line up entirely but the fact I found this a challenge tells me I'm going to have moments where thing's don't come together well. I've gotten into a state when drawing things from eye that I do so "too accurately". I don't like moving out of the mould set by the poses. At least by drawing a pose on this skeleton I have to adapt it for my purposes. "A" was the first and I think I did "okay" here probably the best of the 3. "B" never got finished but I managed to spend a bit more time cleaning up the shapes. As far as "C" goes I really think I got a good handle on the upper vs lower body lean, it's the less rigid of the 3. I added the sword in (it was on the original reference image) but I drew everything else using my "BB" Sticky bones model, the direct reference was not visible as I want to rely on them less.

"Week 3" I found to be a bit better from a creative sense. Every once in a while something "clicks" within me and I start seeing shapes everywhere which is absolutely what happened with "Pose A". It's my favourite of all 3 but a close second is "Pose B". Don't get me wrong there are still teething issues with this process (as there are to any when I start to experiment) I'm quite certain her leg is out too far on "B". The sticky bones form limits the body in certain ways (some which I know it can move better) but its still better then those old school drawing mannequins. Tilting the foot up to give the idea of a heel (something many do with female characters) is something I've gradually been getting better at since drawing these poses. "Pose C" is the weakest by far but its a "front on" back pose (leaning backwards) and my brain still needs to come to terms with foreshortening.

"Week 4" was a little more adventurous but I found certain angles gave more "idealised" versions for the pose. I really liked the angle I found with "Pose A" as it gave the body more of a "flow". You could see how the motion went through it. "Pose B" was where my biggest weaknesses lie... overlapping shapes/lines where chaos can quickly spill out of control without separating it. "Pose C" was actually the first I drew of this trio and I took it upon myself to work on it further. Problem is it appears to not be bending back enough but at least I fixed the arm length. I got carried away with the other two. They are however the more "expressive"... I often find when I clean something up, the life drains from it and it just looks more rigid. I don't know if that is a flaw in my process or a flaw with the process of cleaning up poses in general. More data is needed.

Experience My January streams in timelapse form:

With my latest exploits not withstanding at least I'm moving beyond the formular of just drawing poses from direct reference. It was too easy of a crutch to lean on when I got stuck. I think my eye has gotten a lot better doing it (even though I believe I will always mis-measure and find conflicting lines confusing) but now it's gotten "too comfortable" if such a thing exists. This posing system should allow me to break out of the standard shot for shot drawing's I have been doing. I need to find my own style and my own ways of internalising form to produce my own "vibe". I've never been one to imagine poses very well so the skeleton should at least provide me that guidance and ways of visualising it across multiple angles. I always aim for 3 angles/sketches per stream and I will keep to that for the time being. Anyway, thank you for reading (if you did) I'll see you guys on 07/02/2025 for my next Twitch sesh - https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch 7PM GMT. The usual shout. See you there or back next month for another post.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

The Demon is back! Happy New Year!
Monthly post time! Get it while its HOT!

I've been taking full advantage of the Christmas break. Some much needed stream R&R and general work R&R. I have managed to keep up with my Art streams over on Twitch though! I only missed the one on the Christmas week so I have 3 rounds of awesome poses to post up. I'm still using the Bruce Timm "Naughty and Nice" book for reference. I really dig the guys style what can I say? A lot of the images in there are not full poses so I see them as kind of a challenge to "finish" & "adjust" I'm not tracing - just using them to train my eye really. I know a lot of the poses in the book are "sexy" but I still consider them to be on the more subtle side of "naughty". Not that the book doesn't have some poses that are a "tad" more risqué. I try to do the ones that are not as much... keep on the more sensible poses if I can. I try to change a head tilt, move a leg, shift weight, add limbs that are clipped and try to revise the vibe of the original work. It's fun really and good practice.

These pose sketches are from streams 116/117 the more polished one (A 06/12) was actually hashed out quicker then the others. I threw caution to the wind as I had spent so long trying to get the "B" sitting pose to work (B 06/12). I sometimes find I get a bit lost in the refinement process and speeding things up can break me out of it and help me pull a good pose from the "ether" that's pretty much what happened with these two. "B" of the 13/12 batch was actually the first pose I did and once again I got carried away with it. I wanted to redeem (and challenge) myself with a sitting pose to make up for the prior week - "A" 13/12 was the result and it certainly was not the easiest to do. I left the grubby lines on these ones too I like how it shows my prior workings and how the pose adapted over time. All in all not my "finest" but still solid... getting better!

My final stream of 2024 was on the 20th and once again I focused on 2 poses to see how far I could take things. I marked my progress as I went saving the earlier drafts that I refined with layers/opacity (IT 1-4). The sitting pose (A) was utilizing a direct reference. When it came to the "B" pose I tried to explore a little more... she had legs cut off at the knee and I was not keen on the alure of the original pose. I even went out of my way to add in some very light anatomical landmarks - ribs, the legs connection to the pelvis, anywhere that some slight bone could protrude. I do this more for my understanding then anything - I want to understand the form not just draw what I see. Lastly, I added some tone and shade based on what the pose had in the book. I still have yet to delve in to shade in any great detail so copying that in the interim is as bold as I'm willing to go. I'm trying to slowly move out of my mould - its my process and it's gradually paying off... so sue me.

Experience My December streams in timelapse form:

I know this is not "super action packed" for a month of streams but in my defence I did miss one due to Christmas... and you cannot rush me with these studies. I'm finally at a level where I'm not panicking when I start drawing a pose nor am I nervous when going in to a stream. I'm also at a place where I don't hate the art I'm producing - I actually see improvement. Just imagine if I sat here all day for weeks and did nothing but this... why don't I do that? I'm such an idiot. I've often spoken of not knowing where to start and having no real process in place when I attempt to draw something... anything in fact. I put that down to my lack of confidence. So it is astounding to me that I see confidence where once there wasn't any. It's all about the little victories with me and considering where things started in my artistic journey I'll take whatever I can get. Anyway! Hope to see you guys on Friday (03/01/2025) on my Twitch channel - https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch for the next Hell-Art sesh!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Good evening champs,
Getting this one in before my stream starts (tonight) so I wont Dally!

Hope you have all been having a lovely week. I had a major project going on (3D, craziness with a bit of motion graphics to boot) for work. Shit tends to wind up where I work right before Christmas so unfortunately I don't get to enjoy it as much. We have early events/showcases in Q1 so they tend to work us quite hard. To be fair though this is the best year thus far (I've done some overtime but not crazy amounts). I still don't put in enough time to the passion that is my "art life" but once I get hooked on a drawing I tend to find it quite hard to leave alone. I'm the same around almost any project, going in I'm timid and nervous... however, once I get stuck in I tend to not stop (or at least I don't know how to). It's why my end of year feedback from one of my tutors (in Uni) used an analogy. To paraphrase - "if they left me painting their house they'd expect to come back and find me painting the neighbours too". A fair assessment of my insanity when I get "in the zone". Anyway!

I've taken more recently to referring to one of my favourite artists (Bruce Timm - I have his "Naughty and Nice" book) when it comes to posing and I love some his stylisation when it comes to female poses. While I didn't put the references up here I did change them enough to render them "mine". "D" was obviously my most polished from the 09/11 batch and I think I executed it pretty well. When I drew "A 16/11/2024" I was talking to chat quite a bit if I recall so I didn't get much done during that time... just the single pose. I also got carried away adding "Demonic" bits (goes with my "Hell-Art" persona - we are pretty interchangeable). The others were poses I tried "B" is entirely made up - (obviously) while, "A 09/11/2024" had that foreshortened hand - I wanted to give it a go so it justified the pose... still not quite right but worth a shot.

The pose above (no idents - wanted to keep this one clean) was done on 22/11/2024 again I used the "Naughty and Nice" Book (the character in this one was sitting on both legs but I opted to make it more of a "ledge sitting pose". I was also quite proud that I sat down and etched in some muscle detail (something I rarely do)... I even loved the hair (which I often tend to make quite rigid - never flowing). You will often find when I do a pose I really like I prefer to keep things minimal and let the pose do the speaking. I did a lot of refinement on this one but once I got the bug I really found it hard to put it down and "move on" - my obsession came into this one absolutely. I might even turn this into a limited print for my store, I know they never sell but I still love it (check out my store here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Hellartstitch if your curious). 

Last but not least for my "November batch" is a "Non Timm" related pose - I pulled this one from my online library. I figured it would be challenging enough (I was right). The twist in the body was a complicated variable not to mention the angle of the legs/hips... it kept slipping me up. Looking back I think I had the pose at its most accurate on my "First Pass". The hand behind her head also had me puzzled (at least I think it's a hand) this is the problem with not being in the room with your subject... you can't tell what some things are. There is a subtle "lean" to the left too (doesn't seem to have come across in my pose). It was a valiant effort but certainly needs more considerable work for it to land as "one of my favourites". 

Experience My November streams in timelapse form:

Thoughts tied to my development often leave me unsure of how things will go "in the next one". I'm always thinking "are you sure you can do this?" Which goes to speak to my insecurities when it comes to my ability in... anything I truly give a shit about. I love art and truly (when it goes right) I often come away feeling like I can do anything. The nerves before hand always spark hesitation and yet when I'm back in the moment on that canvas drawing away in Procreate... nothing else matters. There is something "freeing" in that, I just need to channel those feelings before hand. Anyway, I need to get prepped for my stream over on Twitch you can find that right here: https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch if you want to join me. We accept all kinds - people looking to hang, draw along, ask questions, etc. If not I will see you guys in the next batch of art.

I hope it goes well :)
Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Howdy folks!
Sorry for the long absence again!

I'm gonna try to do one of these once a month from now on (It's better then weekly). It's for the best, I'll probably have more to talk about. Work (as always) has been keeping me occupied (along with my stream schedule/Twitter discourse). One thing you guys probably know about me is (at this point) I love sketching/inking more then actually producing finished pieces of art. Every once in a while though I like to try to "push the boat out" a bit and try things that rattle my confidence (administering a bit of poison to my system in the naïve believe that I will be more confident next time). For someone as anxious as me trying to move beyond the places where I am comfortable is like trying to push a car with the handbrake on but I must try because how else exactly will I get better? Gotta "flex" that muscle!

I thought it would be good to reflect back on my process (which more or less has me stacking layers and re-inking them to find the form my mind deems "accurate"). I hate messy lines and unlike most when I'm dealing with a chaotic sketch I have to simplify it. I cant deal with "chaos" for the same reasons it's "too busy". You can see this process across my sketches above (STG 1-Final). I know this is one of my more risqué poses but I wanted to challenge my mind with foreshortening (something I'm terrible at). I tried to use the various warp tools within Procreate to help me exaggerate things further but I'm not sure if it worked. In the end I kind of just moved onto colour to get things to a happy closing point. In hindsight I wish I had tried to fix the line art further... maybe I'll come back to it again and try a third run at this particular pose in the future.

The face and the hands are the big sticking points to me but also while I got aspects of the tone around her body correct there are definite issues there also. I keep the line art separate from the colour maybe that could do with some revision the next time I attempt this. My need to retain layers further speaks to my confidence issues with it comes to "committing" to finished pieces of art. I like knowing I can go back if I want just in case I screw up. Of course I will try not to be "too" hard on myself... I don't do this nearly as often as I should (way less then my weekly HellArt streams). Having just pulled the plug for a new iPad maybe I should try to "push the boat out" a little bit more in the future. I honestly don't know why I find it so difficult... further food for thought.

Experience my 14/09/24-28/09/24 stream in timelapse form:

It feels almost like every time I do one of these posts I further state a lesson I plan to learn and yet I end up "falling on my face" completely. Maybe my memory is finally slipping or it's (most likely) occupied by lots of other things. Well, here is another to add to the pile: I will endeavour to "challenge" myself further by actually producing more "finished/mostly finished" pieces of art. Maybe I'll actually be able to deliver on this one (I seriously doubt it). On the good news front I at least have my schedule somewhat locked down for my art streams (7PM GMT "Funart Fridays" over on Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/hellartstitch) maybe you will join me over there? I love comparing art skills with other artists and trading tips where I can, or just talking about it. Anyway oh would you look at the time! I need to get to bed!

See you guys in the next post!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx