Summer Art Dump Part 3- Returning to Nashville, Dealing with Depression, Working on Another Style

In between the sketchbook pages of Summer Art Dump Part 2 and Summer Art Dump Part 3, I went to Louisiana for two weeks to visit family and to attend Mechacon.  While in Louisiana, I went to the Paradis branch of the St. Charles Parish to sketch for the kids, but other than that and Mechacon, I didn't do as much drawing as I normally would at home.  It's always hard to make time for sketching while visiting family, but even though my output dropped, I still made sure to draw daily.

Although Mechacon went really well, and I had lots of energy the week after Mecha (put to use prepping for the Walmart Art Supply Review series, the Dollar Tree Art Supply Review series, and the Target Art Supply Review Series), by the time I got back to Nashville, and the solitude of working from home, I was pretty spent.  I spent the next couple weeks struggling with reoccuring depression, an all too common malady I battle with, which entirely sapped my creativity and almost sapped my desire to draw.  At best, I was simply drawing from reference while working on larger projects that I could not afford to postpone.

I posted step by step drawing and inking process for the Kara on the right on my Instagram as I was drawing it.

I plan on making a new banner when Gizmo Grandma is printed and ready for distribution.  It'll be Kara, comparing art supplies.  I posted the step by step sketching and pencilling process on my Instagram.

A chibi illustration I did so I could post process to Instagram, both sketching and inking.

Another paperchild of Kara.  You can check out the whole thing on my Instagram.

When the fog of depression finally started to lift, I decided to put effort into coming up with a more cartoony, more gestural B-style, and opted to do that mainly through drawing fanart of some of my favorite characters.

Card Captor Sakura and baby Amethyst as a witch.

Sailor Jupiter and Venus

Teenage Bulma

Selina Mayer (Veep) and Usagi

Referenced warmup, Bubbbles and Buttercup

Blossom and Madoka

Bee and Puppycat

Tina Belcher

Faux inkwash studies of my cat, Bowie, done using the Pilot Precise V5, which I reviewed as part of my Walmart Art Supply Series.  The post should be up here soon.

Louise Belcher

DeeDee and Mabel

Sasami

If you're having trouble with feeling motivated, creative, or just tapped out, I strongly recommend that even if you're just drawing from reference, that you continue to draw daily.  It's often hard to keep pushing, and you may wonder if it's even worth it, but when motivation returns, or you feel inspired again, you'll be frustrated that you let your muscle memory atrophy if you don't practice as much as possible.

Welp, now I'm caught up on the Summer Art Dump, and considering it's taken me almost a month to get all three parts posted, I'm sure I'll have even more sketches to share by the time this post goes live.