FRENDEN @FRENDEN@mastodon.art

I’m seeing a lot of new faces which is rad. Here’s some work to give you an idea of what I like to make.

Hint, monsters. Lots of monsters.

I actively try to make BAD things at the silhouette/thumb stage. It's freeing to say, "I'm going to sit down and purposely draw the worst I can."

It's SO anathema to how you're used to working that your brain and muscle memory for mark making kick in and will not LET you make the worst things possible. It's almost impossible to set outrageously bad drawing as a goal.

Do that a few times and you realize that by giving yourself that initial permission -- no, the dictate -- to make awful things, you actually give yourself the freedom to work at your highest level.

Sketching should never be about the quality of work (unless you're doing a study and not just ideation) but rather about making a record of ideas. And rejecting any idea outright is no bueno. Just let whatever comes out come out.

No one ever has to see it but you. Unless, like me, you show everyone your awful thumbs like an idiot.

I was talking with a pal that's down on their work. It was classic impostor syndrome and I suffer from it too.

The only people with blind faith and utmost confidence in their abilities are crazy or dumb. Just say fuck it and make stuff regardless.

You WANT your taste to outstrip your abilities. That's what's gonna motivate you to get better.

The fact you see things you don't like means you have a good eye and standards. That's a good thing! Just...

...note it, move on, and hope to apply any lessons learned to the next piece.

Look at it this way -- are you gonna fucking quit? No. So, if you aren't gonna quit, the faster you let that go the better. It's just fuel.

And I'm in no way perfect about this. I'm just telling you the things I tell myself to work through it.

One of the greatest things about art as vocation is that the skill ceiling is so high.

My taste CONSTANTLY outstrips my ability and I rush to catch up. Over. And over. And over again.

I hope I'm still learning as long as I'm breathing.

Plane doodling. You can see some of my process by looking for what isn’t finished here. Fifteen hours of travel done.

I read all three Martha Wells Murderbot books during the flight — dude, are those good. I just wish the fourth was out.

It’s very hard to take a bad photo in Brussels.

Plane doodles make twelve-ish hours of flying go much, much quicker.

No plan here. Just passing the time.

Foster kitty! Jean La Foote, aka Nugget. She and her fostermate came in to the shelter my wife works at with bad feet. Her other buddy has already been adopted, but she’s still too little.

She’s recovered well, is out of her soft cast and is now terrorizing all items that stand upright that can be toppled over by a being weighing a smidge over two pounds. She’s a great arting companion.

I used to work in animal rescue too — my wife and I had a shelter that specialized in feral cats.

‪Heading to Belgium for a week of #F1. We’ve gone to a couple of races a year for the last five years or so. ‬

‪First time at Spa though. Pretty stoked. We’re sitting in the grand stands on eau rouge. 🏁🏎‬

I keep a weekly story file in #ClipStudio that I add pages to as I draw and fill them up.

Syncing one file to Clip/Dropbox with most of my weekly studies inside it allows me to easily keep a digital #sketchbook on the go (and not lose #art to stacked, hidden layers were I keeping just one #sketch doc.)

The whole cutout style animation thing is wholly new for me — this trailer I made a month or so ago was my first time using After Effects. And it was a heap of fun.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rG4FoPANJmM

To setup a cutout/paperdoll style animation like my avatar, I plan my sketch with different colors for each part that will be rigged later.

This is my initial sketch with each segment being inked on its own layer in its own color. I have no idea if this is the common methodology, but this is how my bad brain makes sense of it.

I made myself a looping avatar. It's a little framey to hit a Masto-friendly filesize so I'm not sure if I'm going to use it.

#animation #art #mastoart #gif

‪All previous sleep deprivation derived jokes aside, I’m really digging the line quality of this new brush.‬

‪It’s pretty analog without looking way too chopped up — akin to when I ink with a real brush and scan it. It keeps the inks from looking too clean OR artificially dirty.‬

#mastoart #art #inks

Doodling some inks. A brawly little mastodon.

#sketch #mastoart #art

I love grease pencils. They don’t let you hesitate. Every mark is dark and permanent. But you still get a heap of value variance.

Ever since I worked on a line of SpongeBob illustrations for Nick, the little dude shows up in my sketchbooks in unexpected places. He’s just so... odd.

#art #mastoArt #spongeBob

I went ahead and uploaded that Voorhees art to TeePublic.

I apologize for the pun-laden title and description. 👀

https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/3042420-voorhees-a-jolly-good-fellow?store_id=133628

The imposter syndrome is real today. I always get hit with it hard if something I make gets even the teensiest amount of praise. Stupid brain.

I’d like to trade this brain in. Does anyone know what the going rate is for bad brains? Can it net me a new mechanical keyboard or something?

I’m proooobably done with this #art minus a curves adjustment.

Pamela’s done. On to a lake scene behind Jason; our right, his left.