Sometimes when I’m having some creative block, or know I want to draw but don’t know what to draw, I look through my old stuff to see what I can redo.
This is a drawing I did back in 2008 when I was in high school. Nicolette is a character of mine that I have been working on since 2006, she’s been through a lot of revamps and a lot of dye jobs, and I remember this being a very ambitious drawing for me at the time. I still don’t love doing full backgrounds and avoided them even then. I also wanted this to be a two-parter, with the second part being her boyfriend listening to music in a room where it’s daylight, but I honestly never even started that second part.
So, how about a little critique for past me? It will set up my game plan for the new drawing and hopefully help some of you reading this that draw.
Perspective has always fucked with me and something I will say about this drawing is that everything does appear to be going to the same vanishing point, so good job, teenage me. Unfortunately, the scale is absolutely wack and as soon as Nicolette stands up, she’ll hit her head on the ceiling. Anymore, I like building 3D references (I use DAZStudio, but there’s a lot of options) and just trace them to help with perspective. If you think that’s cheating, take it up with the old masters.
I also feel like there is no character to the desk and chair. They’re just so clean and look kind of cheap. The desk chair looks more like a dining chair. There’s basically nothing on the desk, it’s like she just moved in today and hasn’t had a chance to fully unpack. I think at the time, putting more objects on the desk and figuring out the perspective for all of them felt just too daunting to bother with. I definitely want a ton of clutter on the redo (famous last words).
At the time, I had it in my head that I wasn’t allowed to outline anything if I was going to go for a more painterly style, so a lot of it looks pretty blobby and undefined. If you’re going for a painterly style rather than line art, you are allowed to use lines, just be mindful of the weight and the color of the lines. Thick, black lines, are obviously not what we’re going for. In the new drawing, her face and fingers in particular should be much more defined.
Hair used to really, really throw me for a loop. I think part of my problem was looking at all the hair as one thing, and it ends up feeling sort of like hair for Lego people that just snaps on. It makes a lot more sense to break it down into different clumps and strands. Think about things like how and where the strands attach to the scalp. Another nitpick is just that her hair would obviously be obstructing the sound coming from her headphones.
I believe she is wearing black flats (at least, I don’t think they were supposed to be black ankle socks) and I want to get rid of those. Who wears shoes when they’re hanging out in their room at night?
As though admitting that I was in high school in 2008 did not age me enough, the computer is running Windows XP with the most generic looking music player possible. I think I’m going to make the computer in the new drawing a little more obscured, screen-wise, in the hopes of not aging so badly and obviously.
The window and the lighting from it isn’t so bad. I definitely was mindful of the lighting on the curtains and the rug, but didn’t really bring it in toward the figure or any of the other furniture. This is supposed to be dark and moody, and hopefully I can bring that across better in the new one. I also want to put rain drops on the window and make the view something more reasonable for just outside someone’s bedroom.
The posters I gave her are pieces that I just kind of threw together as I was working on everything else. This time, I’ll use some of my other art that’s already done and that could reasonably be a poster that she owns. I also want to add some shelves for more clutter (again, famous last words).
The bed will probably not be in the redo, nor the guitar. I think the bed makes the room seem very small, and this way the desk can be more of a focus. As far as the guitar, as I’ve worked more and more on Nicolette, she’s gravitated more toward keyboard, so I’d like to fit that in if I can.
Overall, I remember being proud of this piece, and I don’t think I did a bad job or had a bad idea. I do think I can do a lot more with the idea now, and I am looking forward to doing so.
by 
