"Finished, Not Perfect" sketch of Nicol Bolas, god pharaoh!
Good evening, Steemit. I’m making a late post, but sometimes that’s how it has to be. @guthrie goes back to school the beginning of next week, then hopefully I’ll be on the usual morning Steemit post rotation.
@tarotbyfergus had a birthday today. Good for him. He mounted a pretty good come back after the beatings I unleashed on him during our weekly Magic: The Gathering games. The birthday energy was strong with him tonight because I only won a handful of times against his Nicoal Bolas deck […which is going to tie in to tonight’s art]. He also did a tarot and palm reading for @bonni, which I recorded and will be sending along to her tomorrow.
Tonight’s artwork was inspired by the new Magic: The Gathering expansion set, “Hour Of Devastation”. If you haven’t already read my recent blog about the new set, “Magic: The Gathering - Hour Of Devastation review!”, you should […if you give any shits at all about MTG, that is]. The badass planeswalker in “Hour Of Devastation” is a pharaoh dragon god named Nicol Bolas. Just like @tarotbyfergus, after opening all our new packs, we both pulled a Nicol Bolas card and immediately began building decks around him. That is what lead to Bolas being the inspiration for this drawing.
A while ago, I came across this viral video on Facebook. It was called “Finished, Not Perfect”, that really resonated with me. The idea that an artist needs to overcome the magnum opus complex that ever piece of art will be our greatest life’s achievement. That psychological phenomenon has kept me from decades of art simply because I wasn’t able to call it done and move on. That’s also been a huge barrier in improving as a comic book illustrator. This Bolas drawing was a conscious step in living the “Finished, Not Perfect” mantra. I’m content, and it was a stepping stone in my progress.
I struggle with backgrounds a lot and this required some complexity. In the last two MTG expansions, we were introduced to the city of Amonkhet and that was what I needed to include behind Nicol Bolas. I spent the majority of my time drawing and redrawing Amonkhet. Lots of reference […which is amazing using split screen on the 12.9” iPad Pro]. Ultimately, I’m pretty happy with this and it was fun […when it wasn’t infuriating]. Open to comments, suggestions and constructive criticism.
Done using Apple Pencil and iPad Pro and the Procreate app by Savage Interactive. The hyperlapse video here shows the whole process from first lines to last. I post daily so for more illustration, photography, art and tutorials, please follow me @kommienezuspadt!
"Finished, Not Perfect" reminded me of this video by Ira Glass that I love, yet follow unsuccessfully!
Great illustration as always. Do you still have that new iPad Pro review in the pipeline? I don't recall seeing it but may have missed it. I personally have never gotten used to split screening on mine. I guess I'm more used to the screen real estate of the Cintiq so I don't want to give any more screen up on the iPad while drawing.
Thanks very much @bryan-imhoff. I hope one day we're all big shots on Steemit with 100 reputations and we represent the original comic book nerds of the community. I love working on the iPad Pro with split screen and you didn't miss the review. I'm going to do that this weekend. I've had enough time with it that I feel good about making a deep dive for artists. Also, I'm running the iOS 11 beta so that includes all the drag and drop stuff and file system. Thanks for the Ira Glass video. I'm going to watch that now.
Ira Glass sounds like Woody Allen on helium :) Work, work, work. My girls know it by heart - we're an artists home and nobody talks about talent here.
Fantastic work! I think it has been a fairly recent phenomenon for me as well to get to the point of "finished not perfect". Not that I was ever perfect or even close, but I definitely held back on getting stuff out there. Thanks for sharing!
Likewise, and I like what the guy in that video said that as you improve, you'll hate your older work, so why beat yourself up over it. It's true. Even my photography, it embarrasses me to see the photos I took 10 years ago, but they were an essential part of getting me to where I am today. Thanks for the comment @xyanthon.
I agree with you about that part when we try to make perfect long lasting art, yes it's something that can instead of leting us go in work, make us stuck in one place..Learned it during years, now sometimes I just stop and move to another work. Sometimes I take them from some corrner and if there is no feeling about continuing, I just leave them bee... and yes, great drawing, huge and storng dragon you made.
That video was really impactful for me to come across @jungwatercolor. It's been a conscious thing I've been trying to improve on. I followed you. I love your watercolor and pencil sketches. I need more art in my feed.
"Not Perfect"?
Better watch out, because Bad Things probably happen to people who displease the God Pharaoh Dragon Planeswalker.
HA! True @jaobtothe, lol
Duuude that art is sooo amazing, you definitely have a talent.
Thanks, man. I appreciate that. It's really nice to take a break from photography now and then @ethanthefighter.
I like it ...And like if it is in B&W :)
Thanks @foxkoit. I grew up loving pencils and that's still my favorite medium. I have all the Batman Unwrapped books by several artists and they're just the raw pencils. So beautiful.
I sometimes think of perfectionism as some kind of mental handicap - I do of course know that it is also adds to what you do, but I still fights it every day. I'm glad you found this video, because what it says is true - and your drawing proves it!
I used to say that an artwork wasn't finished until it was exhibited or published, but as the video states there is an important step before that.
Resteemed so the important message can get out :)
You have a very nice line style, the weighting is perfect, & you leave your draft work in place too, top stuff. I'd love to see your posted works here gathering STEEEEEEEEM! over the
yearsdays, preferably, as in the next few.Thanks very much @neuromancer. What a great compliment. My favorite comic book artist is Greg Capullo and those are my favorite qualities in his work, so that means a lot.
Nice illustration. I admire your skills :)
Thanks very much @chrsart! Just trying to make time to draw more.
Amazing drawing ^^ Also, thank you for sharing Finished, Not Perfect. I needed that.