Blue Beetle (Fanuary 2024)

Another character on my Fanuary list is the DC's Blue Beetle. As I mentioned before, this creative art challenge made me finally draw fanart I've been postponing for years - in this case it would be since 2012, the year the second season of Young Justice came out and I was introduced to Jaime Reyes for the first time. Yep, believe it or not, it's been more than a decade, but according to a famous saying, I guess it's never too late. The prompt that inspired me this time was "blue".

As for the last year's live action movie of the same name... I don't know what new I can say about superhero movies that I haven't mentioned before. They're not so popular anymore, they've become copies of each other, the pace, stories and jokes are predictable or cringe... but I repeat, I'll watch them anyway because they're still fun enough and they feed my childhood nostalgia.

Jaime's story is interesting enough, the suit design is excellent, transformation and fight scenes too, but the "comedic" involvement of the hero's family feels annoying and forced and gives off a kid's movie vibe and that's been happening too often lately (the last example was in The Marvels). They're far from a masterpiece, but that's something I stopped expecting when it comes to superhero movies.

The Fanuary art challenge is by @tonycartoonish, the pose is from @theposearchives.

My socials: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitaldrawing #artchallenge #fanuary  #fanuary2024 #dc #bluebeetle #blue #grdilicious #grdi

The Marvels (Fanuary Art Challenge)

I usually have a lot of ideas for my drawings, but not enough time for all of them, so whenever I can, I try to combine them with art challenges. That's why I'm planning to use this month's Fanuary (by @tonycartoonish) and draw a couple of drawings I've been postponing for too long.

The prompt for day 5 is "power", which was the perfect opportunity for me to draw The Marvels fanart, a piece I promised to draw last year. In the movie, Carol, Monica and Kamala aren't able to use their powers properly because somehow they got entangled, so they keep switching places everytime they use them.

And if you think this is just a copy of a similar promotional movie material, nope - I drew everything from scratch, adapting three different poses from @theposearchives. It took me too much time to finish this, more than I expected, because of their detailed MCU suits (it would have been simpler to draw their comic book versions!), plus trying to match the actresses' likeness, which turned out... debatable, I know. There was also a plan for Goose and a couple of other flerkens, but I just couldn't make myself draw them too. After all, as I mentioned, the theme was "power", so I guess that's OK.

Also, the number of characters is another reason why I failed to post it on the right date. Three isn't such a big number, but it's a very important achievement for me because I used to draw only one character for a long time, often just the upper part of the body, hiding or cutting off the rest using various drawing effects.

As for the movie itself, well... I know the MCU is not the same as before and you have to settle with some of their questionable decisions, but if it's fun enough, I'm ready to switch my brain off and enjoy the movie. I'm not looking for a deeper meaning anymore, I guess I chose a simpler approach.

My socials: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitaldrawing #artchallenge #fanuary  #fanuary2024 #marvel #themarvels #power #grdilicious #grdi 

New Year's Resolution 2024

I'm aware my new year's resolutions have become repetitive and lead to nowhere, but as usual, I just need to write something to ease my mind. Like before, the main obstacle on my way to personal growth and well-being is my job and what it does to me - its consequences directly affect my health, so solving one problem could possibly solve the other.

I wasn't supposed to stay this long here, but my dad got sick and I chose this workplace as a safety net until he gets better. Unfortunately, he didn't. He died shortly after that and I got stuck in this loop for almost two decades; mainly because it was a permanent job - and God forbid you let go of it once you get it! I also bought a car and later an apartment on credit that I still have years to pay off. Or is it just an irrational fear of leaving, the Stockholm syndrome many of us here succumb to?

I often imagine it's still 2005, all this time is just one tediously long year and I've been waiting for those ancient decisions to come true any moment now! The answer is just around the corner, it'll be within my reach in a second... a year... or a decade? The fact that the anniversary of my dad's death is in January makes it even harder, because it always brings me back to the starting point, the year when s**t hit the fan - and that fan is still spinning! This workplace is still the wrong place to be; there may be some new faces, but it's the same old foul system.

So, if I'm destined to stay here, one of my resolutions would be to *try* not to consider my workplace a clogged cesspool, but it's going to be hard if they continue doing the same mindless s**tshow and messing with this little sanity I have left. Consequently, taking care of my health would be my other resolution. And I'd also like to continue drawing as usual - or more often - but also try to pursue other techniques or come up with a style or a creative idea that could get me possible new career opportunities.

So, here we go again - new year, old me?

GRDI Art Collage 2023

Once again I'm breaking the rules of the Art vs Artist challenge - it's impossible for me to choose only eight favourite drawings from 2023, so again, I'm making a collage of all drawings from this year!

I came up with this idea in 2020 and at first it wasn't so crammed, because I didn't have that many digital drawings back then. I started creating content in 2016 and over the years I shifted from papercraft, polymer clay, cosplay accessories and occasional drawings to full digital art, so putting these collages together has become really challenging since then. But it's an interesting way to present my art and I think I'll continue with this tradition in future. And since there's a gap between 2016 and 2019, I'm planning to make some kind of a retro collage. It could be a good way to see a progress (or a regress?) in my style and creativity.

And when it comes to reactions to my art, it's also an opportunity to comment on my Top Nine Instagram posts, just to check what kind of content is popular. There are again embarrassingly few likes per post (they barely go over 30) and they keep plummeting. All of them are from January to May and I'm not sure what happened after that. I keep drawing more and more, but except for interaction from my family and friends, the account seems to be dying. Maybe the infamous algorithm had something to do with it, but it's frustrating not knowing if it's Instagram's problem or if I'm just that bad. However, I won't let that discourage me, no matter how ridiculous this all is - I'll keep doing my thing, while occasionally posting relevant content and drawing recognizable characters, hoping my effort will be acknowledged more as time goes by.

To finish on a lighter note, let me wish you all what I'd wish for myself - a successful and healthier new year! And of course, peace and mutual understanding, because WTF, world?!

My socials: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitaldrawing #artvsartist2023 #topnine2023 #grdilicious #grdi

Ornament Design Challenge (Archimedes)

I guess it's probably too late for the Ornament Design Challenge by @tonycartoonish, but I decided to finish this drawing anyway. I struggled with finding the right inspiration, but this Christmas also happened to be Disney's The Sword in the Stone's 60th anniversary, so I decided to draw something from the movie!

The first thing to do was to watch it again on Disney+, because it's been about 30 years since I last watched it. The idea was to draw Arthur pulling out the sword, but it was Archimedes, "a highly educated owl", who stole the scenes and eventually became the center of this drawing. 😍 I mean, knowing my obsession with owls, it was the obvious choice the moment he appeared in the movie. Plus, taking my other obsession in consideration - my job in education - a drawing of an owl would be a symbolic last drawing for this year.

The movie premiered on December 25 in the US. It's not that much about the titular sword, but about Arthur meeting Merlin. The crucial scenes happen at the very end, but until then it's like a fun fantasy for kids, magic transformations into animals etc. It looks episodic at times and I remembered watching some parts of the movie in cartoon daily shows during the 1980s.

There's also some extra footage from the 1960s on Disney+ about an alternative plot with a darker version of Madam Mim, her raven and the Black Knight, a more Disney-like movie with the formulaic plot and the real villain. It was an interesting idea and I'm glad they saved that glimpse into their brainstorming process and something that could've been.

I also like the 2D animation with textured, seemingly unfinished outlines and colours "bleeding" under them. I tried to mimic that style with a similar pen on CSP, so if you zoom in you can see it's not so "clean" as my previous drawings.

My socials: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitaldrawing #theswordinthestone #disney #tc23ornament #ornamentdesignchallenge #grdilicious #grdi

The Emperor's New Groove (Yzma)

This drawing wasn't part of my original plan for this month, but as it was another Disney movie anniversary three days ago, I simply felt the need to honour it somehow. Why? It's another favourite masterpiece, The Emperor's New Groove!

I already drew Yzma two years ago, but I decided to watch the movie again and try to recreate all her amazing outfits. As you can see, I made only two more, so I guess the remaining three will have to wait for some other time. I drew new Yzma's versions using parts of the original lineart, mostly for her face and the pose in general, but I still had to finish everything else.

I agree that calling this movie a masterpiece is a bit farfetched, because there were many problems with the production and it was a flop according to Disney standards, but it got new fans over the years and became a kind of a classic. And so I got hooked, too!

It's not a typical Disney cookie cutter movie - there's a funny theory it's the most WB's Looney Toons movie Disney will ever make. 😄 But there's so much more to love about it: the humour, 2D animation, buddy-buddy dynamic (Spade/Goodman), a scene-stealer Kronk (Warburton), Perfect World by Tom Jones and unforgettable Eartha Kitt as the villain Yzma! 😍 I was first introduced to this amazing singer and actress while watching her as Catwoman in 1960s Batman reruns, then came the year 1994 with the successful Eurodance remix of her hit "Where is my man" and finally The Emperor's New Groove in 2000.

Yzma is such a cool villain, unapologetically (im)perfect in everything she does. She is often a laughing stock because of her looks, but although she could take one of her transforming potions and choose a better image, she believes she's perfect as she is and she shines with her bold choice of ridiculous outfits. That's why I believe I'll return to this subject one day and finish her other versions.

My socials: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitaldrawing #theemperorsnewgroove #yzma #disney #grdilicious #grdi

Grace (Startup Company)

Yay, I've managed to draw another Grace before the end of this year! I hope you know what I'm talking about, but if you don't, it's one of my personal art challenges: drawing every Grace from Josh's videos on his YouTube channel "Let's Game It Out".

Grace is a recurring name across his videos, where characters with this name often appear and get relentlessly tormented by Josh. You can even find a whole list named "Games where I torment Grace" on his channel. He always finds creative ways to ruin this character's life or job, as well as the whole game (he plays these games the wrong way on purpose). Of course, they don't look the same (for example, in Raft she's a shark!), it's all just in the name, either given randomly by the game creators or Josh himself to make his videos more entertaining.

And this one here is a special Grace, because she's actually the one who started it all, on April 25, 2019! As I mentioned before, Josh didn't choose that name himself, the game Startup Company named her Grace Cross and the legend was born! There are 18 of them on his playlist and this is my 7th drawing:

+ Startup Company

- Rescue HQ

- Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up

- Project Hospital

- Oxygen Not Included

- Flashing Lights

- Meeple Station

- Arcade Tycoon

- Flotsam

- Two Point Hospital

- Crossroads Inn

+ Planet Zoo

+ Foundation

+ Good Company

+ Raft

+ Parkitect

+ Parkasaurus

- Big Ambitions

You can find all 7of them in my gallery (they're marked with + on this list) and hopefully I'll get to draw the rest soon... ish. 🤔

My socials: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitaldrawing #fanart #letsgameitout #youtube #gaming #gamingchannel #videogame #startupcompany #grace #grdilicious #grdi