I guess it's worth taking time to do a self analysis of what my capabilities are thus far and what i would like to be able to do in the future when it comes to drawing and art in general.

Currently, most of my pieces are traditional mechanical pencil. this proves as a very nice and comfortable medium. however, 2 problems plague me that i need to improve.

1) I need to start using different types of pencils (HB, HB2, etc...). most realistic drawings that i see around here have very dark tones and shades and learning how to use these pencil types and not being so afraid of shading dark would certainly help work towards improving my traditional skills.

2) at the moment, I really need pictures to draw realistically. If i lack a reference, it turns out cartoonish or it takes me a really long time to get a pose down that's worth finishing up. probably only practice can help me with that, but it's something i really need to get down well if I'm supposed to start sketching stuff without too much effort.


Digital media: I honestly love looking at this stuff online. It's just incredible. I'm rather new to this art medium anyways. i own a nice little graphire tablet and i have used it for a little, but nothing comes out too impressive. i have 3 goals here:

1) to get good pen movement. my lines are really jagged and i can't move the stylus smoothly enough. the medium's just too different from pencil to transfer easily.

2) digital media shading. it looks quite different from traditional style, so ill probably have to learn it from someone else. it's pretty much at the beginning stages of this. I'll also group in textures under this section. They look very useful.

3) learn colors. this is probably the hardest thing for me since i have had no experience with utilizing colors in traditional media anyways. I'll probably work on this for the way future. no need to learn it now.

So much to do. in honesty, i envy you all. I'll probably be venting a lot while working and practicing away. Hopefully I'll get something crossed off sooner or later.