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Ciuva

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Instagram?

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Just thought I'd write a journal entry to say that I have now opened up an instagram account for my art. Mostly I publish little sketches that I don't publish here (ballpoint pen sketches seem to be my main thing now), because they're too small or too unfinished. Would love for you to check it out! You can find it here: www.instagram.com/ciuvaart/ I had hoped to be able to use my usual username, but it was of course taken...

Also: Do you have any instagram account where you post your art? I would love to see it and follow you! I am a lot more active there than I am here, and while I do follow quite a few artists already, there is always more to see :)
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For this journal entry I don't really have any answers. But now that I'm back into painting I've grown increasingly frustrated with my own skills. Sure, I keep improving, technically, but there's something missing that I can't pinpoint. Perhaps I'm being overly self-critical, but I do feel rather stuck. Perhaps that's why I keep redoing old pieces instead of coming up with new ones.

Writing-wise, I know that I can come up with somewhat original ideas. I know how to take stories and plots and make them my own. While it's far from perfect, I feel like I know what I need to improve it. 

With painting... not so much. Some of my "art" feels boring. Some feels dull. Like I'm just going through the motions. With some exceptions they're just paintings. Not art, necessarily. Lifeless. And yet I cannot pinpoint exactly what is wrong. Is it the colours? The poses? The background? The composition? The character itself? Is it too static? I can see it in other people's art, but I just... Ugh. It feels as if I'm facing a wall that I need to get past, but I don't know how to do that. Sometimes I think I do, but it turns out to be wrong.

So I'm turning to you guys for help. How do you make your art go from "meh" to "wow"? I'm not thinking of technical skill here, though that of course plays a huge role in it, but that other ingredient that's far more subtle. Do you know of any tutorials or advice somewhere on the internet? Is there something that worked for you? I've googled, of course, but it's hard to find any good advice.

Any input or help would be greatly appreciated!
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Every other weekend, I host a Saturday Snippet on my art blog, which you can find here. It's a post where I and whoever wants to join in, share snippets, excerpts or short quotes from our writing at various stages of completion. It can be whatever you are working on at the moment, something from older stories, something you have written for the purpose of sharing, or just random beginnings/story quotes that you have lying around.

So far it has mostly been me and one of my writing friends. We would very much like others to join us! A little extra exposure never hurts, right? I will read and comment on every snippet/quote that is posted :)

What to do:
First, check out the post for this week's snippet. Post your own snippet on your blog/website/dA journal or gallery (make sure to link back to the original post so that your readers also can participate). Add a link to your entry in the linkup at the bottom of the blog post so that I and others can find it, and voila! You're done.

If you can't participate this week, there will be a new opportunity on the 14th of February.

And yes, I know that today is Sunday, but I did not have time to post it yesterday because of a deadline.
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I recently returned to dA after a far too long hiatus, as you may have noticed. For a few years now I have almost exclusively focused on my writing, as well as, well, dealing with life. As I've already mentioned in a previous journal entry, sacrificing drawing was an utterly stupid decision (I'm not even sure it was a conscious decision, because if I had thought through it...). Having a busy life, I sat down recently to make a plan, to prioritize, and that's when I realised that I really wanted to improve, I wanted to draw, and I wanted to do what it takes to get there. I also realised today that I might actually have been bored by drawing the same things over and over, but without the inspiration or drive to do something different.

So now I want to challenge myself. Not just get better at what I already do, but to actually improve, tackle other things. Not just faces at certain angles, but actual poses, with non-sucky anatomy. Full illustrations. Other angles. Backgrounds. Actual landscapes. Something to strive towards.

I recently watched a youtube video on how to practice, I cannot remember the name now, and he recommended having a project of sorts. Something that will keep you working, force you to improve. So that's what I will try to have. I thought about it for a while and realised it would have to be one of my most annoying flaws (in my opinion): The lack of backgrounds. Or rather, the lack of backgrounds that are even remotely good. 

So that's my next projects: Places. Landscapes. Trees, houses, flowers, whatever. 

My project is, as most other things that I do, tied to my stories. I have decided to draw the homes of all my main characters, across several different stories and worlds: 

- Shanni's little house in the village
- Shanni's cottage in the valley (she occasionally moves)
- Ceredi's cozy home up north
- The farm near the Forest
- Arodhi's fortress
- The Gatekeeper's little apartment above the shop
- The University in Whitebridge
- The "inn" by the docks in Ainethor
- The ruins beside Falcon Mountain
- The markets of Wirun

Aaand I guess you could say that it's a fairly ambitious project. I will have to improve quite a lot to be able to draw the university, for example, or the docks of Ainethor. I can't really draw architecture, but sooner or later I will have to learn anyway. Might as well be now. 

I don't expect to finish in the near future - I don't have nearly enough time for that - but perhaps within the year? It's less than a picture per month; should be doable. Frankly I do feel a little over-ambitious (my skills aren't exactly huge within landscapes and cityscapes) but then I've never been good with doable and sensible goals anyway.

Can any of you point me in the direction of any good tutorials for painting scenery/cityscapes/architecture? I'd be really thankful!
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I was updating my blog just now, and was writing about a particular little challenge I've set to myself in order to improve. But as I was writing, I thought: Why not see if other people would like to join, too? That way we could encourage each other, offer feedback or advice, and keep each other accountable. I already have a writing challenge which runs every other week (well, when I restart it), but it's also an art blog, so what is better than an art challenge in the alternate weeks?

The basic idea is to make practicing a bit more fun and a bit more frequent/regular. It's basically a challenge to fill an entire sketchbook with practice sketches (anatomy, composition, whatever you need to work on) as soon as you can. I have set a minimum of one page per week for myself, but will try to do more when I can. 

So! You are very welcome to join the challenge! We all have things we need to improve, and this is the chance to get some of those New Year's art resolutions done and practice those exact things. Head over to my blog entry here to read more about it and see the first update. There's no obligation to be part of it every single time, just as many times as you would like, and you can either make your own blog entry, post it in a dA journal or comment on my blog. In future blog posts I will make one of those linky things at the bottom of the post, where you can post the URL to your own update. If anyone wants to join immediately, just post your link in the comments.

It should go without saying that everyone should be encouraging and supportive - but also not afraid to point out things that are not quite right. Be civil, in other words. Also, I will post in advance what I will work on until next time (this time it's shoulders), but that's mostly just to keep myself somewhat accountable, and you can practice whatever you like.

Is anyone up for it?
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Featured

Instagram? by Ciuva, journal

How to make your art more interesting? by Ciuva, journal

Saturday Snippet - share your writing! by Ciuva, journal

Wherein plans are made by Ciuva, journal

Sketchbook Challenge by Ciuva, journal