SilicasMar 4
Zander
After almost 2 months of hyperfixation and learning to draw, I've finally completed a ref sheet of myself!

I'm so grateful to critters who suffered me sending loads of cursed WIPs and gave me feedback and were supportive as I made progress! ​​
Mar 4 at 8:02pmWeb
Show threadZanderMar 4
You didn't think that empty space in the corner was put there on accident, did you?? ​​

#mastoart #furryart #dragon #nsfwferal
Show threadSilicasMar 4

@Zander Hufff. If you're extremely gay for me, I'm supremely gay for you! ❤️

Cannot get that tailhole and slit out of my mind.

Show threadZanderMar 4
@silicas Oh! Well maybe I'll soon discover I won't be able to get certain parts of you out of my tailhole and slit then... ​​
Show threaderi Mar 4
@Zander room for one more? ouo nice
Show threadZanderMar 4
@eri Yes! @silicas insisted I include this important fact ​​
Show threadCalypsoDerg ΘΔ& Mar 4
@Zander derg !!! ​​
Show threadOdobenMar 4
@Zander friend shaped snoot 
Show threadZanderMar 4
@odoben Yes very friendly snoot! I definitely won't bite I promise! ​​
Show threadsirlan <( rawr )Mar 4
@Zander dergyyy ​​
Show threadnytpu the wyvernMar 5
@Zander The Dergy!
Show threadJigme DatseMar 5
@Zander 2.8 m? That's pretty small for a dragon isn't it?
Show threadZanderMar 5
@JigmeDatse I dunno, I feel plenty big when I'm causing chaos around human scale infrastructure! I need to be small enough to get down on all fours and wriggle my way under a garage door so I can grab the best stuff, you know?
Show threadJigme DatseMar 6
@Zander Maybe dragons are getting smaller. Because you know, the best stuff is in garages... I don't know. Seem to be hearing more about smaller dragons.
Show threadZanderMar 6
@JigmeDatse It's hard for me to really say much about trends. It's more natural for me to evaluate bigness with respect to the environment the creature is existing within, since that environment can vary quite a lot from dragon to dragon!

I will say that the size I wrote down is more of a "this is what I think would enable my schenanigans the most particularly in future art" then a "I am exactly this size forever I know this as a fact" sort of deal
Show threadErrant  Mar 6
@Zander I am now picturing dragons in the car wash
Show threadZanderMar 6
@errant Yeah I mean the automatic car wash is the perfect way to wash your dragon! Have you seen those brushes and scrubbies and high pressure jets and such? It would feel SO good ​​
Show threadErrant  Mar 6
@Zander I wonder how they determine the precise amount of spikyness a dragon is allowed to be, before they say "water sprays only, no spinnies"
Show threadZanderMar 6
@errant Maybe something like one of those "you must be this tall to ride" cardboard cutouts, but it's a sample of the material of the spinnies and it has to not stick to your spikes to proceed?

Or alternatively, every dragon has the right to one pass with all the options enabled to see what breaks!
Show threadBaral'heia Stormdancer ΘΔ🐲Mar 6

@Zander @errant ough that'd get expensive fast

But... brushie brushie brushie 

Show threadFroogal Mar 6
@Zander wow it only took you two months to get to this level? You are inspiring me to pick up the pencil again. Ive never considered my are that good but I went through an obsessive time about 6 months ago where I drew one thing every day no matter how good it was and it helped but wow you are really good after 2 months!
Show threadZanderMar 6
@Froogal Well, I'm flattered! ​​

I will say though that while what I said is technically true I had a lot of advantages for rapid improvement:

I had the luxury of being able to spend several hours on this same image in the same pose over and over, every day.

Also I did have some basic knowledge of how to use GIMP, which is what I started off with.

Then I switched to Inkscape to do it in vector art (which also felt favorable to an inexperienced artist), where 5 years ago I had some prior adventures doing a few emotes and one front facing view of old anthro Zander.

While none of the actual ability to draw stuck around after that long so I was starting from scratch in skill, I think it did help with being able to use Inkscape more effectively as a tool.

Also last but definitely not least I had the husbanderg who was giving me a lot of constructive criticism and help in the process from his perspective from 3-d modeling things, an art friend gave me a few character design nudges as well...

All that being said though... This was extremely rewarding and it felt like my perception of the world grew a lot from this experience, like needing to look at details of what something is made of instead of just identifying what it is, you know? So I absolutely recommend scratching that itch again for that!

(also, less importantly, it would make me very happy to hear I inspired someone else with my determination too~ ​​)
Show threadFroogal Mar 6
@Zander awesome! I do appreciate you sharing your journey. I still have plenty of art supplies, maybe I will scratch thay itch. Most of my art is on Reddit right now, and its all physical art. I heard its better to start off physical and move to the computer later, whats your experience with that?

A bat enjoying a banana
https://www.reddit.com/r/FurryArtSchool/s/ki5IEenBj1

Me
https://www.reddit.com/r/dragons/s/x1Ex4CNpcJ

My first digital derg
https://www.reddit.com/r/dragons/s/bFK1c28NWl

For some reason learning the computer drawing was harder for me than regular drawing, and im good with computers.

Also I noticed after I drew a few dergs I noticed they all had the same facial expressions!
Show threadZanderMar 6
@Froogal I've never done any physical art, but what I can say in general that blanket advice for such a general concept of art sounds a bit odd to me.

It really depends on your goals yeah? If you want to be good at traditional pen and paper art then spending a bunch of time dragging curves around in Inkscape like I have would be inefficient, wouldn't it? You'll get better and more specialized with the medium you're using but there's always going to be transferable skills between them as knowledge in a subject crystallizes.

I like how you can organize all your layers with digital art, drag and resize things, and use perspective tools. Really helps accelerate playing around with something you already drew to see what looks good or better or worse, ya know?

That being said the art you've linked looks good for a sketch a day type thing where you're learning from scratch! I can't say for sure I'd be doing any better if I was given that task.
Show threadFroogal Mar 6
@Zander its an experiment honestly. Ive always considered this form of art beyond my abilities, but everyone says its just practice and patience so I put it to the test. The goal was to see if I could see measurable improvement over time and after each sketch. The challenge for me is judging my own work too quickly and too harshly. If my dragon doesnt look amazing the first time im not a good artist mindset, I struggle to let that go.
Show threadZanderMar 6
@Froogal You can totally can learn how to art! Any type of art! If you are methodical and are consistent you will always get better! I believe in you ​​

But yes, it's important to be a critic of your work but not a judge I guess? Because for me getting good at any skill the process of improvement is the point, not the result of the thing. Results are just a side effect.

So finding weak areas to improve and figuring out how to do that thing better is good. But saying "this looks bad and is disappointing" is not very constructive.