Category: Challenges

Flash Fiction 2

24
Jan
2019

I was challenged to write some super short flash fiction stories. Here’s one of them:

I was known for stealing from my friends.
They thanked me for it. Stars above, how they thanked me.
On Wednesday, Tobias called me up and begged me to come over and steal from him again. He did that every few months. Some people are more rich with things they don’t want than others. Tobias, especially.
When I walked into his house, he was huddled on the couch, tears on his cheeks. He probably would have been embarrassed if I hadn’t seen him like this so many times before.
I knelt beside him and he immediately clasped my hand. “Take it,” he said, voice choked with a desperation and self-loathing I was all too familiar with. “Take it, please.”
So I stole from him.
I reached into his mind and immediately saw the thing he was trying to eject. It was sharp and hot and very, very obvious. These things always were. All teeth and claws. Many of them were loud, but Tobias’s was quiet. Quiet, but full of a self-destructive acidity. If I left it with him, its voice would slowly rip him apart. It was just words. Thoughts. But thoughts had power.
As soon as it trickled out of his mind and into my own, he slumped onto the couch with a moan of relief.
The quiet thing settled into my own mind and began to whisper to me softly, joining the murmuring chorus of all the other things I’d taken. It was the newest voice in my head, a new constant companion.
These companions were the only ones I couldn’t steal from.
Someday, they would rip me apart because of it.

ChallengesWriting

Guard Against the Beast

02
Oct
2018

I’ve always been very focused on characters. I love drawing people and creatures. But it also means that I rarely draw backgrounds.

I made a goal to create an image with a very detailed background in order to stretch myself, and then to win a local art contest with that illustration.

Check, and check.

Here it is.

Tanya Hales Illustration, dark horse, unicorn, sword

I’ve come to realize the obvious lately. If I only do the same thing I’ve always done (the things I’m good at and comfortable with), then I’ll never grow any better. I’ll just get good at doing the same thing. And I really do want to improve.

So my challenge for myself is to seek tons of opportunities to do new things, especially the things I’m afraid of. I want to make new kinds of illustrations, lead presentations on art and writing, run a Kickstarter, have my own booth at a convention, and beyond. And ever since making these goals for myself, I’ve been much more excited and invigorated about life.

So what are some goals you can make that will bring you through discomfort, but land you exactly where you’ve always dreamed of being?

ChallengesFinished ArtLessons I've learned

Style Study 1.1- Redrawing the art of Hiromu Arakawa

21
Feb
2014

When I decided to work on the Style Development Challenge, I instantly knew that one of the artists I would study was Hiromu Arakawa, most famously known as the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist. I have adored her style and characters ever since I first heard of FMA. And you can’t overlook the awesomeness of how she draws herself as a bespectacled cow. Seriously.

For this challenge, I decided to copy images straight out of the three volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist that I own. I chose amix of characters, but focused mainly on images I thought could teach me something. Some of these images are ones I looked out and thought, “Wow, how can I learn how to draw something that cool without looking at a picture?”

 

Some manly men from Fullmetal Alchemist

 

Doing this study has helped me a lot. It helped me to think of things I want to do with my style and deliberate choices that I want to make. Though I will never work in quite such a manga style as Hiromu Arakawa, There is so much I can still learn from her and her art and comics. What an incredible artist.

Next Post: I’ll talk specifically about what I’ve learned from doing this study and what I’m gong to start implementing into my art!

Things FMA has tought me about panelling

ChallengesGreat ArtSketches

Spirit Bond- Character Redesign in Progress

17
Feb
2014

I’ve taken up the challenge I issued for myself back in January about pushing character design. This is still very much in progress, but I feel great about a lot of the changes I’ve made. I’ll start with the awesomest of them all.

Mango- Is it just me, or does it get hotter when he walks in the room?

 

Mango is looking pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself.

 

Next up is Araya! I think I finally found an outfit that just seems spot on for her. I’m so pleased.

Araya- This girl has attitude

 

I also doodled Lauren in her new outfit, and messed with her face style and body type. I’m still not totally satisfied, buuuut… *big shrug*

Lauren

 

 

And lastly… the guy i wanted to make the most progress with… I haven’t quite figured out. Truth be told, the more I broaden Kay’s shoulders and manly-fy him, the less I like him. I might have to make him more unique in a different direction, haha… But just so you know that I’ve been trying, here’s the latest image (with a bald Araya, Kay and Mango in the back ground to compare heights).

Kay- with baldies in the background

 

 

I just realized that it’s been a long time since I’ve drawn Kaipo. I hope he’s not off in a corner somewhere crying. Don’t worry Kaipo, love, you are not forgotten!

ChallengesCharacter DesignSketchesSpirit Bond

Pushing Character Design

31
Jan
2014

Pushing Character Design

I was recently taught an important lesson by my illustration teacher. He told me that in order to give my cast of characters more diversity, I need to push each of their designs a little further. They have aspects that set them apart from one another, and I need to take those and run with them.

Character design is important, independent from the skill level an artist has at illustrating people. I own one volume of The Gentlemen’s Alliance by Arina Tanemura. If you’ve read any of this manga, you know that her art is gorgeous. She has a fantastic style, flow and her use of screen tones is beautiful. However, there were times while reading where I would get characters mixed up. The main character and her best friend look incredibly similar when they make certain expressions, as do the main character’s love interest and her little brother.

Character Design- Too Similar?
Two very similar Looking characters from The Gentlemen’s Alliance

I loved her art, but needing to reread a certain passage or compare characters to figure out what’s going on was jarring.

 

Distinct Characters

A series that is phenomenal at character design is the Avatar series. While watching Legend of Korra with my husband, it was fun to look at Mako and Bolin, and observe just how different they are. Though they are brothers, their eyes, nose, jaw, hair, and especially their body shape are very different. If Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino could make two brothers look so different, then we know that we have tons of room to push our characters to look more unique.

Great character Design- Mako and Bolin
For brothers, Mako and Bolin look very different.

 

My Challenge: Redesign Characters that are too Similar

In order to give my cast of characters more visual power, I need to make each more dynamic and unique from the others. Mango is lithe and thin, whereas Kay is a little broader. I need to make Kay broader and Mango lither. What sets Kaipo apart is his child-like features. I need to make him even more childlike, especially in his face. I’ve already pushed Araya when I chose to broaden her hips, so now I just need to work with her outfit.

I have a long way to go, but I’m going to keep making breakthroughs, because that’s one of the joys and adventures of being an artist. I hope that those of you who are working with characters you love will keep working until you have the perfect character designs as well.

 

ChallengesCharacter DesignGreat ArtLessons I've learned

The Style Development Challenge

23
Jan
2014

 Style is earned.

 

Today I’m going to share the wisdom of my favorite art teacher, because he is a genius. I met with him today to ask him how I could improve my characters, and we ended up on the topic of style, of the way different artists illustrate things. He then made two points:

 

  1. Style is the sum of the art experiences that you have had.
  1.  To develop style, you need to create experiences for yourself.

 

To emphasize the importance of these points, he told me a metaphor. A lovely Legend of Zelda metaphor.

Imagine an adventure game like Legend of  Zelda where you go through quests, overcoming challenges and puzzles in order to gain new items. The more items and weapons you have, the more likely you are ready to take on tougher dungeons, and the more creative and adept you can be in defeating enemies. There are certain temples and areas you just can’t get to without obtaining the right item first.

Experiences are like this when it comes to art. They go in your “quest bag” as resources that can be used for any project. If you have only tried one or two styles, then that’s all you’ll know how to work with. You can’t defeat Ganon with only a slingshot. Give yourself experiences and challenges, and this will give you far greater power, flexibility, and creative liberty.

 

Challenge: The fast-track to style

 

My teacher then gave me this challenge, calling it the fast-track to developing your own style:

Make a list of your top 10 favorite artists that have influenced your work. Choose one of their characters and redraw that character in their exact style. Learn the ins and outs of what they do and how they do it. How do they stylize ears? Do they use soft or hard shadows? What about the stances and poses of their characters?

He then explained that the more informed we are, the better decisions we make. This is why we do things like draw from life and take figure drawing classes. Studying style is just as important. This isn’t the same as copying an artist. You aren’t drawing in their style just to imitate them, but to learn what you do and don’t like, and what you want to do in your own work.

I believe that completing this challenge will give me a greater knowledge of what the artists I admire do, and it will help me become aware of and develop more of my own style.

I challenge of all of you to complete this experiment! Who else wants to find more clarity in the direction they want to take their style and art? Let’s do this thing.

ChallengesLessons I've learned