Thank you, Stephanie, for a great course!

I wanted to get back into drawing after a long hiatus and found it more challenging than expected to turn on that creativity tap again. I also wanted to get better acquainted with my drawing tablet that I've never really have gotten comfortable with since I mostly work with vectors and a mouse.

I felt the best way to combat both the lack of creativity and get more familiar with my tablet would be to turn to Skillshare. After a quick course with tips on how to set up my tablet and practicing drawing lines I went searching for a course that would really help me practice my skill (or lack thereof) with the tablet pen and also, hopefully, kick start my creativity again - And this course really delivered!

I think I might have approached the course wrong but it worked out nonetheless. Instead of going through all of the video material and then getting started on my own project I "drew along" to the videos. It wasn't until I finished that I understood that this wasn't the idea but I'm also glad I did it the way I did as I'm not sure I would have actually completed all 6 styles if I had waited. Knowing me I would have taken an easier route and I can't imagine that would have been as fulfilling as this course turned out to be for me.

First: The sketch

Hedgehogs - image 1 - student project I wanted to work on an illustration not to dissimilar to the original as I wasn't sure what parts might be important. I drew this little hedgehog and some foliage. A hedgehogs back is almost like a shell... right? I drew this with the tablet to start practicing right away. I usually sketch with pencil and paper and then scan the sketch so this was new to me but it worked out I think.

Exercise 1. Bold Line

Hedgehogs - image 2 - student project

I really struggled with this one. I still felt super awkward using the tablet pen and didn't feel that any of the brushes I found felt right. I only used brushes I already have, most of them defaults, and I worried they wouldn't be enough. I called this one "good enough" and moved on.

Exercise 2. Bold textured shapes

Hedgehogs - image 3 - student project

Still struggling to find the right brush and feeling utterly uninspired when picking colors for the illustration. Still not sure how I manged to make such a grey image using the gorgeous palette provided but I guess it shows where I was mentally. I was also sick and extra low on energy which probably didn't help.

Exercise 3. Soft pastels

Hedgehogs - image 4 - student project

Starting this one I really felt that I might just give up without the "right" brushes (even though I was repeatedly told otherwise by S. F-A). I'm not sure when exactly but somewhere during this one I started to get back that feeling of 'flow' that is so satisfying when drawing. I don't think I quite got this one right but I was excited for the next exercise and looking back on this I want to try pastels again in future work.

Exercise 4. Colored Pencil

Hedgehogs - image 5 - student project

Just like the other ones this one started with me feeling that I had the wrong brush but then suddenly something clicked. I actually lost myself a little bit in this one and working with the different colors to build depth I started to really enjoy myself. I'm not sure why I never rotated my canvas working on this course (despite working out how to do so in the previous course) but despite that awkwardness I really started to feel more comfortable actually drawing on the tablet in this exercise. Suddenly I felt like adding things instead of simplifying so that I could move on. I will absolutely use this technique again in the future.

Exercise 5. Folk Art

Hedgehogs - image 6 - student project

To be honest this would have been one of the styles I think I would have skipped completely if I hadn't done all 6 styles. It's I style that I've never felt any particular connection to and I wasn't even sure if I would be able to produce anything. Imagine my surprise when I ended up really enjoying this exercise! I'm not sure this is something I will revisit but it was so much fun to try something so different to what I usually do.

Exercise 6. Watercolor & Ink

Hedgehogs - image 7 - student project

Guess what happened on this one? "Ugh... I don't have the right brush... You know what? That doesn't matter!" I found a brush that was 'good enough' and just went for it. I had fun and I like what I made. I also think this is the one that I finished the quickest after being thoroughly primed doing exercise 1-5 first. I want to explore this style more. I feel there's a lot of fun to be had playing with both trying to emulate traditional watercolor and also breaking the rules completely.

Finally: Boots

Hedgehogs - image 8 - student project

Just for fun I added som boots to my little hedgehog. I also played with incorporating some overlays of the linework to add some definition and tinted the background a little. I think he turned out cute.

This course really helped me challenge myself and force myself to not give up. It was very helpful and I learned a lot. Thank you!

//Ellinor

Ellinor Flood

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