Congrats to anyone else who took part in inktober this year! I focused on combining witches inspired by different types of teas and I had so much fun! I’m conquering my irrational fear of side profiles and I think it’s working, I’ve been really liking side profiles lately and finding them easier to do. I experimented on this piece with adding freckles (they’re a feature in all of my inktober sketches but I haven’t liked how freckles have looked when I’ve dotted them in with a pen or brush) and uh, I guess it was kind of a success? Next time I’ll use my lighter shading colour for them, as I used the ink I use for my lines and it turned out really dark and concentrated, but I think they’re cute! (and I have ink sprays everywhere)
Willow's an oc of mine... she's very quirky. She's better suited to hanging out with the dead than the living. Also, super open to tips on this one because, as a beginner, I'm not amazing at diverse people. Like, black people have different facial structures and hair. Asian people have different facial structures and hair. So if I got something wrong, I'm open to redrawing that part. Just lmk.
I’m 32 days into a 100 day project of little paintings to reclaim moments of creative joy with no strings attached – a daily reminder of what made me want to be an “artist” in the first place. I’m posting daily on my Instagram account @stephdillondesign
First real art of the year. It took longer than I wanted but I love how it came out. Guess that's what happens when you put time into your projects - go figure. Just a little Copy Cat art from a beautiful, innocent, charming film - Ponyo. What's your favorite Studio Ghibli Film?
For the past years I have been mainly painting in acrylic. But since my last show I have taken this time to return to my love of drawing and am mostly experimenting. I am using fountain pen for the first time and really enjoying it.
This one is "fresh out of oven". I just finished it. Those characters im mostly drawing are inspired by my events, people, anxieties and thoughts im having. It's a really good way to get out of my system and stress out a little. This one was straight forward inspired by a very special person, when he was visiting. He, like this character, has certain vibe of a very lonely, kinda exhausted person. I don't like word "vibe" but you get me. Anyways, at the moment im proud of this piece. But I would love some feedback.
I’m often asked about my Bic pen drawings and how I do them. It starts with a good foundational drawing, the ballpoint pen part is just trying to colour within the lines. I try to do my best to explain the process, but the best way to show my progress is by posting my efforts to master pen drawings over the span of 3 or so years. I have been doodling/drawing with ballpoint pens as far back as I can remember - they were cheap, readily available and always lying around the house. It wasn’t until I was bored during a particularly long team meeting-conference call (around 2016-17) that I started to think about the possibilities of ballpoint pens as serious portrait illustration tools. My first experiments with full colour ink portrait drawings were rather crude, but that’s the point of learning new techniques—as long as the curiosity and the love of drawing is there, you can transfer that skill and passion into any medium. Remember, the most exquisite drawings and paintings you see didn’t materialise fully formed, they started out as failed experiments. Failure after failure after failure. It’s important to remember this when you get discouraged (I've failed spectacularly over the years). The only difference between the accomplished artist and the beginner is hundreds of hours of practice. Talent can only get you so far. It’s the hard work that you do behind the scenes that makes your work look effortless. Keep doodling. Keep learning. Stay curious.