Artists! Illustrators! Show your stuff to the forum!

Thanks!

🙏🙏🙏

I had no idea this thread existed! Recently worked for a friend's advertising business doing watercolour illustrations. It was pretty weird; I did a lot of paintings of signifiers of middle class lifestyles - muddy school shoes, picnic baskets, etc - and eventually it turned out it was for an estate agency. Which also explained the extremely literal nature of the commissions, as I have never met an estate agent who had any sense of imagination. Anyway, here's probably the best of the bunch

EDIT: it's not a bike, soz.

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Very nice. I take my hat off to people who can control watercolour washes like that. Mine always end up looking a muddy mess.
What paper/board did you use?

Evening sketch

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That's lovely. I need to draw. I don't know how to fix it. Sounds stupid.

Evening classes? Or dare I suggest tips from the internet? ;)

(first suggestion was serious)

Ah, cheers! Just get some pencils and a small pad and do a little drawing as often as you feel like it. You’ll be amazed how quick you progress.
I did a sketch every day for a year a while back, was good practice :)

Just get some pencils and a small pad

I have many. I even carry some around most of the time. It's a kind of mental block rather than not having the tools (or, in theory, the ability).
I hoped writing that down would help and indeed I just made a furtive and rather terrible sketch of the couple opposite me on the tube. The page before is the last sketch I did - last November :/

I found time to go to a local life drawing class spring last year - sadly it was the penultimate session. It was so great to go, and a really exhausting couple of hours. Evening classes would no doubt help, but I tend to work late, and if it isn't very local I just wouldn't do it. Really I just need to regain my confidence. Strangely I sketch all the time at work, but only in quite a specific way, as a means of communicating ideas visually. It's not observational or expressive.

Just something to make you draw every day is a good start. Don’t be too precious about it, don’t feel it needs to be a ‘good’ drawing. I’m pretty bad at keeping momentum up but have used various techniques to help such as giving myself simple one word briefs. One I felt worked quite well was I divided pages of a sketchbook up into squares about 2 inches across. I made myself fill a square a day. Didn’t even have to be a drawing, as long as I did something in a square. It takes the pressure off and was really freeing and inertia-breaking.

I love drawing, am not great at it but I don’t care. Don’t do it for any reason or anyone other than me so haven’t anyone to please which I think helps :)

Out of curiosity how big is the wheelbarrow drawing? I really like it :)

About 150mm-ish square.
Happy you like it :)

I divided pages of a sketchbook up into squares about 2 inches across. I made myself fill a square a day.

This is a great idea. Stolen!

Yeah I think I’m going to start a new one today - been a while. Gonna make a sketchbook for it this morning !

One of mine from 1996 when I tried to get started as a professional illustrator.

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Really nice, i love this kinda of stuff.

little piece i did for HK protests

While there’s a nice spate of work posts, here are some incorrect beetles from my current sketchbook

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they are v cool esp the one with hat and shoes

Nice!

My 8yo daughter did this on a Wagamamas menu

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Neat work, do some more!

Cheers. I did do back then. That was my fave. The concept and draughting just worked out right.