This is the space for our members to discuss and share their creative projects, ranging from written works to drawings, photography, and even craft projects such as knitting and woodworking. Self promotion is welcome (websites where we can view and/or purchase your work). Please do continue to preface if content is NSFW and be sure to properly spoiler/link such content. Those of you who’d like to post future Creative Endeavors Threads post your request in the comments below.
Activity and introspection continue to mix. I’ve been able to (mostly) limit my SDV activity to the various reddits and posted a little of my character artwork last week to one of the dedicated posts (part of me hates to keep bringing this up, but it’s leading somewhere). I was a lot more impressed by some of the more “digitally native” material from other posters, particularly an example of pixel art that best matched the game’s general aesthetic. After learning how it was done, I had a sudden stab of interest in pixel art that just stuck around for the next few days. I did some digging and concluded that I ought to at least give this a solid shot, especially as one of my medium-term plans is to start phasing out large-scale painting (which I have a hard time infrastructurally sustaining anyhow) in favor of learning more digital stuff. So I downloaded Pixquare last night and will probably play around with that at least a little before next post. I had no idea that animation might be on the cards but it looks like it has the capability. Whatever the case, I need to work out a rough digital schedule by the end of the month.
Another factor in all this was attending another of the Ypsilanti drink-and-draws, which… I might be starting to prefer to the figure sketch nights (wishing the former were biweekly, too). I enjoy the discipline and routine of the latter, but I tend to prefer working on my own stuff. It’s also nice to compare and contrast with other people, not just content but also media. The hostess (I should say “facilitator” as she’s really good at that) is already thinking about renaming it so people don’t feel like they need to be limited to strictly drawing or even two-dimensional artforms. In the process, we’ve been having some interesting conversations about artistic practice—some folks who’ve come have been at least semi-professionals in non-fine art pursuits (commercial graphic design, etc.)—and quite a few folks are already working on iPads; I’m thinking of bringing mine to tomorrow’s sketch night to try and mess with my instincts a little. Should be some interesting days ahead.
The header this week is from a sketch I did Sunday evening of my roommate’s band playing for a skateboarding showcase in one of our disused downtown streets (due to construction; as you can probably imagine, they were drawn below the selected image). The show was put on by a new music pop-up (for lack of a better word) who are taking over a nearby restaurant basement recently vacated by a defunct local brewer. I’m going to see a show there Friday night and I’m really excited that we might finally have a real alternative to the “main” rock/hiphop (for the most part) club in town (it’s still perfectly fine, but remembering when house shows thronged the city never fails to get me a little down). Along with that, I forgot how charismatic a lot of our frequently Italianate (mostly late nineteenth-century) downtown architecture can be. The road closures help, that’s for sure.
How’s your work going?