Category: Process

The surprising reason artists should consider streaming as they work.

Posted on by Miles

Recently, I started to stream on Twitch; having my screen displayed for anyone to come along and view as I draw and work on my art projects.  And I discovered something that surprised me. In fact, I found it surprising, yet powerful enough, to write this out in the hopes it will help other artists.  Let me quickly explain why I decided to try streaming, and then I’ll let you know the new, and I think better, reason why I continue.

First, why did I start streaming my art?  Probably for the same reasons that other artists would try it: hoping to expand my audience through a different website, let those who already know me watch my process, and maybe earn a little extra money.  Simple, and straightforward. I’ve seen other artists be on Twitch, and know that it is a place that artists can be seen, so figured I would go for it.

 

However, so far, none of these have had the same impact as this next effect of streaming: my productivity went up.  This is for a very simple reason. People are, or may be, watching.  And since my channel is an art channel, when I know people could pop on at any time, it helps me to maintain focus on my art for longer than I often do otherwise. Not getting distracted by anything else, or even being bored.  The idea that I am on here, and people (in theory) are here to watch me, helps me keep at the thing they would be here to watch.  And I’ve found it helps even when I have no viewers – as I said, someone COULD pop on.  Plus it helps my time to be more set aside for art, rather than just “when I feel like it.” Once I have the stream, I personally felt more accountable to myself and those who follow me.

 

Someone might wonder if the chat can be distracting. In one sense, yes. But I found that I can look up, see what people are saying, and talk in response, while continuing to draw.  

 

So that’s it.  Streaming helps me be productive. Or it has in the couple of weeks I have been streaming for.  While the reasons I started are valid reasons, and I certainly hope my streams will grow in those areas, this productivity surprised me, and is the reason I think artists should consider streaming.

If you’re interested in my streams, you can find my channel and see old streams (or catch the live ones!) at Twitch.tv/MichaelHoweArts

Spider-man Redraw

Posted on by Miles

Have you ever wondered how to improve your comic art? Or really wanted to draw a comic of your favorite character? I have wanted both of those things and wanted to tell you about a neat idea that my friend Keenan came up with.

That idea is to redraw a comic book page in your own style. 

I had tried this idea YEARS ago but had pretty much forgotten about it. Then Keenan reached out online for artists to collaborate on redrawing an entire comic- specifically, Amazing Fantasy 15, known for being the first appearance of Spider-Man. His idea was for all the artists involved to do one page each (or contribute if they were specifically pencilers or inkers). the final product would be a diverse collection of people’s styles. 

Keenan assigned pages from the script he reverse-engineered from the original comic to each artist based on their strengths.  I got the wrestling match between Peter Parker and Crusher

So here are some process pics and the final page! 

Sketch
Pencils
Inks
Basic Flats
Final Art
Art with no linework
Final Page

 

Benefits of this are: simply practicing making a comic page. As Jake Parker and others [art and fear?] have brought up, making things over and over and learning from them will help you improve more than trying to make a big perfect thing. So one page, already scripted, is a good practice piece.

Redrawing something that already exists allows you to point people to it as connected to that thing they are familiar with. It’s like fan art: people are more likely to find a picture of Spider-man by searching on the internet than a character that no one has heard of before.

I Draw Captain America on July 4th

Posted on by Miles

I draw Captain America on July 4th!

 

Happy Independence Day, America.

I want to be better at actually doing art themed to holidays, so when I realized I could draw Captain America for Independence Day, I jumped at the chance!  I did it over free time (or made free time) on July 3rd-4th.

When designing Captain America’s outfit, I tried to combine the movie outfits with a bit of the classic comic book look.⠀It took about 4.5 hours in Procreate in the iPadPro.

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While America has many, many, many problems, there are many good things there too. So I am grateful for the good today.⠀

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” – Gal 5:13, ESV.⠀

 

Character Design for competition

Posted on by Miles

Just wrapped up my entry for the Reckless Deck/Art Order Figures Competition.
http://www.infectedbyart.com/contestdetails.asp?cid=32

The Reckless Deck is a cool card deck to help prompt creativity.  As part of the Kickstarter the creator did for Volume 2, there was a reward of miniature figurines.  And there is a contest to use certain cards from the decks to create characters for a chance for one’s work to be one of those figurines.

So here is my entry.  I started it a while ago but felt overwhelmed with other work.  So I dropped it.  But then I saw that it was ending this week, so I spent a couple days refining and finishing it.

  • Dragon Attributes
  • Claymore/Great Sword
  • Heavy Artillery Laser Cannon
  • Mech Armor
  • Cloak
  • Bow and Arrow

The Northern fields are some of the most dangerous places in the country of Dleosu.  There are of course the lava flows and chasms, but the worst thing is the dragons that inhabit the region.  Unfortunately, it is still a strategic location, which is why the Defensive Reconnaissance Attack Knights Elite Force dispatches their Scouts to the region.  

Equipped with insulated armor, heat-reflective cloaks, helmets with heads up displays and armor based on the biological protective properties of dragon scales, these lone snipers guard the fields against all intruders.  The spikes on the Scouts’ shoulder pads are actually dragon teeth.  These are a mark of rank and status among the troops, but also have the bonus of making dragons more… respectful of the trooper.  

A Scout’s weapons are a Claw – an extendable one-edged sword, and the CLY-1318 DragonBane Sniper Rifle.  The DragonBane is a heavy-hitting piece of equipment, because not only do the D.R.A.K.E.-S need to be able to disrupt any military force from a great distance.  One also never knows when one of the dragons may decide to get too close.