"Socially Drained" progress pics

A little step-by-step progress picture collection for you all, featuring my latest illustration. 

It reflects my struggles the past few months. I felt myself being stuck at home, constantly trying to "charge up" my social battery. But in the end failing to get up from the floor. Sometimes it just feels better to be home surrounded by the things that give you comfort. 

(ATTN: usually this would only available to SAPLING+ tiers, but I am making it available for all patrons as a small thank you for your understanding/patience during my recent absence. ENJOY BBS) 

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MY CREATIVE PROCESS BREAKDOWN
drawing program: procreate 

♡ LINE ART ♡
brush: VOL. 3 OLGUIOO BRUSH SET - HARD PASTEL PENCIL
             (size 8%, opacity 100%)

✧ I started with the main subject. I initially just wanted to draw a girl (aka my alter ego) and go from there. I never ever start with a rough composition sketch when I start a new piece, as part of the fun of drawing for me is making up stuff along the way hehe.
✧ From the main subject(s), the girl and her bear, I being to imagine and draw things around her. I knew I wanted a cluttered room with very heavy linework + black shadows.
✧ The process of imagining all of the things that the girl could have owned was my favorite part. I wanted her personality to shine through her cluttered room.
✧ A lot of the elements within her room are reflective of my own interests and loves, as I do see her as my alter ego. (There's even a poster of Chicken AKA my cat hehe)

♡ COLORING ♡
brush: DRY INK BRUSH
            (size 5-25%, opacity 100%)

✧ After finishing up all of the line work, I begin to play around with color. I wanted to keep the overall mood very muted, yet colorful! So your eyes could dance all over the piece as you discover new items, yet not be too overwhelming when looking at the piece as a whole.
✧ I started with the main subject to get a sense of what colors to include. From the pink/blue/biege colors of the girl's clothes I built a soft pastel color palette. With the walls and floors remaining the natural tan I tend to use often in my art.
✧ Adding pops of deep red + bright green really spiced up the piece and gave good contrast in the overall illustration.

♡ FINAL TOUCHES ♡
brush: VOL. 3 OLGUIOO BRUSH SET - HARD PASTEL PENCIL
            (size 8%, opacity 100%)
editing programs: photoshop CC, SNOW app

✧ Lastly, I added finishing touches to the main character (blush, eye sparkles).
✧ I took the illustration into a photo editing app (photoshop + SNOW app) to make the colors a tad more saturated. I also added a noise filter onto the entire piece to give it a softer feel~. I find that adding noise to my "busier" pieces help to soften the overall illustration, giving that nostalgic dreamy vibe I am always trying to achieve.
✧ I also made another version with a colored border frame. Although, I like both the original and framed versions, I felt the framed color border simplified the busy illustration, thus making it more aesthetically pleasing as a postcard! Which is what I ended up making the illustration into. :)

TA-DA! All done.

✧ mini tip: to download it to my phone/laptop, I exported the file from procreate as a PNG, as it tends to be better quality than a JPG file.

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If you guys have anymore questions about this piece or my process in general, please feel free to comment/message me! I will be more than happy to answer any questions. 

OK LOVE YOU MUAH,
ANG x