Throughout my first semester here at Marywood University, I have been working on a sketchbook that I just finished. It is a 60-page, 5×8.5 Canson mixed-media book that allowed me ample space to explore and grow throughout the year’s first half. I included several things in this sketchbook, including fanart, original characters, and statue studies from my trip to the MET in November.
Looking back at the first sketches in the book, I can see where I was still unconfident with my style. I’m still not, but I’m slowly getting there. The sketches are looser and more unrefined. I also primarily sketched in pen, which prevented me from erasing and obsessing over my mistakes. Later in the sketchbook, I also included simple sketches in highlighter and charcoal, which adds diversity to the artwork.
One of the characters featured quite often in my book is my original character Serenity, an assassin turned princess within a ruined kingdom. Her story is still a work in progress as she is a still newer character, but she has quickly become one of my favorites.
Besides Serenity and my other OC’s, there are also characters such as Illari from Overwatch, and Ekko and Jinx from Arcane.
My style throughout the book has both changed and stayed the same at the same time. I have developed more techniques over the course of the past few months I’ve been working on the book, however pintrest was my true friend. I used references from pintrest for the majority of my sketches, which could both be considered a blessing and a curse. In one way, it would help me create and sketch freely, but at the same time it limited me to finding the perfect reference, which I seemed to never have.
Overall, I really enjoyed this sketchbook! i always love the feeling of satisfaction whenever I finish one, and I cant wait to start the next one.
I hope everyone is enjoying their winter break!
-Sarah