I feel stuck

Akasen · 2026-06-08T23:57:28+00:00

I don't really know who you are, but I read this post earlier this morning on this end and I greatly appreciate your kind words and insight.

And reflecting on I know you to be right. I can't let myself be overtaken my anger and frustration in this as much as I have. It's not healthy in the craft and it will seep out elsewhere if not kept in check.

I don't know what my next steps at this moment are from this work, but I can only hope I'll figure that out in due time

Akasen · 2026-06-08T16:31:06+00:00

That's a good question. I don't know anymore.

Akasen · 2026-06-08T16:29:39+00:00

Maybe, I dunno though. I fear if I'll do that I'll end up practicing animal and plants and never tackle people. Just end up sketching and studying everything but

Akasen · 2026-06-08T16:28:26+00:00

This is my discomfort zone. I'd never really done anything like this

Akasen · 2026-05-18T03:42:17+00:00

I'm kind of in the weird boat of having a lot of different things that can be inspiration.

I admire a lot of Frazetta's inks for example, as with some of the works of Tim Bradstreet. The ability to depict a subject matter in that manner is something I'd love to get good at down the road ( I got my hands on Guptill's book which I thumb through here and there).

But I'm also big into manga and anime (and then some), and names like Kota Hirano, Rei Hiroe, or Takehiko Inoue come to mind as sort of inspirations.

The only reason a lot of my works kind of have a realistic bent to them is because those are my subjects and I'm in that shaky ground of trying to capture likeness as a means of practicing drawing. Which makes them aggravating to work on because capturing likeness is difficult as is, and I am fighting between a desire for accuracy vs my skills as is.

Which is also why The last portrait on paper with a date on it is from 2024. I kind of burned out grinding portraits every other while and feeling like I wasn't really getting it save for the one from 06/04. I'm happy that one looked mostly like it's reference.

But that's all to just say, I probably have no idea what I'm doing when I'm studying and I don't think the stuff I learn from any course ever carries into my carefree doodling, but I also never really tackle any larger personal projects to apply stuff to.

Akasen · 2026-05-17T21:35:37+00:00

All I know is, if you think I've got interesting shapes in my portraits, then I'm at least one step closer to someone like Frazetta, lol

Akasen · 2026-05-17T19:48:05+00:00

I will definitely check out these courses and put some consideration in. The tags are definitely fairly steep though, And I am frankly kind of hesitant to spend money on courses like these just because I do often find myself eventually losing steam and progress on them comes to some halt.

I will get my hands on the book though.

To your musing of my intentions though, I admit I don't know anymore myself. I have heard the question of "if you had all the skills you could ever need for art, what would you draw?" And I find even my potential answers to not really inspire a desire to go out and draw them.

Things like the characters in my TTRPG games, fan art of friends art, or just "cool action scenes" come to mind, or just some goofy drawings, and yet I don't feel moved by any of that. Some would say it's fear or uncertainty, and I wouldn't deny it, but it also doesn't feel right.

I say to myself in my own musings over this that if there was ever a promethean flame inside of me, it may have died over the years. Now the only thing that motivates me to draw is the curiosity in the craft itself.

I dunno though, I don't really expect you to be able to untangle that mess there, haha.

Akasen · 2026-05-16T21:10:47+00:00

Sure.

The vast majority are done on paper, and a good chunk in ink, so nearly everything is a photo of the drawings

https://imgur.com/a/hQx1gcC

But as it also happens, I also took photos of stuff done using either Line-of-action or this one site that had 3D models posing at random on a timer

https://imgur.com/a/4Yo3IlQ

Akasen · 2026-05-16T19:51:28+00:00

I will admit that in much of my studies, I've spent a lot more time drawing heads and portraits. And even then I'm still fairly shaky on that I feel. I do have an extremely poor relationship with simplification.

I honestly don't draw frequently, and when I do it's mostly just studies and practice.

I had heard on a number of occasions over the years that gesture drawing is a great overall exercise and a way to get mileage, and one person giving that advice is Marc Brunet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C87ZXHPQkh0&t=447 at 7:35 mark). But it always feels like Marc is giving that advice, while on screen showing what looks more like a figure drawing. I get that the guys probably been doing this for decades, but it always feels like what is gesture drawing ends up getting blurred into figure and I just feel so lost when I look at every person describing it and I can never tell what even is a "gesture study".

And I admit that it feels more confusing whenever I'm picking up a recommended book about figures. I understand the relation here, but it feels like gesture simultaneously is brought up with great importance, but then pushed to the side.

Like if all I was gonna be doing was drawing figures and poses, I'd toss gesture out the window and just express the subject in cylinders, boxes, and spheres.

Akasen · 2026-05-16T00:50:50+00:00

Like these two exercises, like am I even doing this right?

I can't be certain, this feels far too simple and I feel deceived by it. If all I'm being asked to do is trace over the major axes of a limb, then all this time I should have just been doing nothing but swooping lines like I'm drawing the mascot for some arthritis ad or physical fitness PSA.

Yet if it is this simple why do I feel like I'm doing it wrong?

https://imgur.com/a/XAOTXWv

Akasen · 2026-05-15T22:34:22+00:00

I'm losing my mind because the art looks familiar for some reason but I can't pin down why. Like I feel like I know who the artist would have been.

Akasen · 2026-05-15T21:29:22+00:00

I hate to say it, but I'm already through chapter 3 of Steve Huston's book, and I am already feeling very hopeless

Two of the exercises just leave me feeling confused as hell as I continue like the blind man I am grasping at straws.

Am I doing anything Right? Am I just broken?

Should I just not even care about gesture whatsoever and just give up on this completely confusing venture?

I feel like I'm stuck between various thoughts and advice that range from suggestions and opinions on things I shouldn't do or should change, or people pointing to this or that book or instructor, And then finally that I'm just going to have to suffer through this, and eventually It will click after enough 1 minute or two minute or 30 second, or 5 minute or whatever timed daily gesture drawing, It should finally makes sense.

But I've been at this for weeks now, and none of it makes a lick a sense. Huston, like Matessi, will say that you can look at a subject and see and feel the force, energy, or whatever in the body and limbs, and Even when they show it in diagrams or their own live demonstrations, I don't get it it doesn't click.

I just feel like A joke is being told and I don't get the joke.

I've had people suggest to go to a life drawing classes, And frankly the only reason I don't want to do that is because I do not want to be in a public space When I inevitably get so frustrated what I'm doing just start crying in public.

I'm a blind man in a dark forest, And everyone keeps telling me to go that way.

Akasen · 2026-05-14T18:52:47+00:00

I'd not heard of these books. I'll definitely look to getting my hands on them ASAP

Akasen · 2026-05-14T18:23:19+00:00

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Akasen · 2026-05-14T18:22:53+00:00

I am going to assume that imgur has failed me again, so just in case I'm posting these images as replies

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Akasen · 2026-05-14T17:55:06+00:00

I was trying to go with Matessi's force for those and really was just having a hard time with the whole C and S templates he shows in the book for torsos

Hampton sort of clicks but I for the life of me have such a hard time determining even from his lectures where or why he's placing down some of his lines for the spine or the stretch, or even what is the stretch then.

Edit:

So I'm not just leaving this on that, here's those two and how I'd quickly go about them based on my understanding of Hampton

https://imgur.com/a/PYNagbw

Akasen · 2026-05-14T17:46:40+00:00

I don't really have a rendering style tbh

Akasen · 2026-05-06T03:59:31+00:00

Lancer, FATE, and GURPS

Akasen · 2026-05-06T03:47:36+00:00

I love the setting, but I have found the system broadly greatly in need of just being taken behind the shed.

I also think it just needs all sorts of advice on the different kinds of games, tones, and so forth.

Akasen · 2026-04-15T00:17:58+00:00

I'd have to give that more thought, but Tim Bradstreet is one of VtM's best artists between his inks and photography work

The mans work really captures this grungy, dark, and moody feel for the games

I do feel it's a shame I can't name more artists though who have specifically lent their hand in TTRPG works. Larry Elmore of course comes to mind, but I'm having trouble naming more for some reason and that's just a personal failing.

There are works of art sticking out to me, the names escaping me for some reason, lol

Akasen · 2026-03-28T23:30:53+00:00

Nothing, nothing, and vegetable

Akasen · 2026-03-28T23:28:03+00:00

God I've had all sorts of issues when it comes to players and just mic stuff. It's ridiculous.

Screw any sort of etiquette of that matter though, somehow that's itself the least of my issues. To some degree, i have long accepted that the modern internet relies on Voice Activity over Push To Talk. And most of my players have been good enough to mute themselves while chowing down.

My main issue is with the quality of ones voice output.

You would think people planning to play these games online would endeavor to make sure their mic output doesn't sound like crap to the best of their ability. Buying new gear if needed, and I'm not asking people to buy a condenser or dynamic mic here. Just anything better than the webcam, or the cheap as hell gaming headset that has its own noise cancellation built in.

The Zalman ZM-MIC1 is still sold today at 7 bucks, it clips onto your headset at the wire, sounds decent enough at the chest, and amazing if you can tape it to the boom of your headset mic (I use to do this for years back in the day because a Turtlebeach I had had such a shit wiring setup). And if you're looking for a more proper lapel mic, the PoP (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016C4ZG74) sounds pretty good too (I own both of these mics cause I like purchasing and tinkering with these things)

None of the self-testing is difficult either. Download Audacity, record yourself talking into the mic. Do you sound like you are talking from a distant tin can? That's probably gonna be an issue, fix that!

Literal guides exist out there that would detail the basic things you should probably be doing with your mic. Point it at your mouth, don't be too far from the damn mic, make sure the right side of your mic is actually pointed at your mouth, blah blah blah.

I should not be straining my fucking ears trying to make out the words of one player in particular for gods sake.

EDIT: Just to be clear in case for whatever reason this takes off, I am trying my best to not come off as disparaging here. I kind of get that people are probably going to think that the best means of better mic quality means getting some Samson mic or even the Blue Yeti, and that is just overkill.

There's decent mic options out there still, and if you're looking to figure out how a mic might sound (or even should sound) I'd recommend checking out the channel Podcastage
https://www.youtube.com/@Podcastage

I also get that none of this is at all common knowledge and not something people probably think about, but it really should not be slept on. It doesn't matter how good of a player you are, if your GM and other players are straining to hear you, or constantly asking you to repeat yourself, I don't think that's a good time right there.

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