These past few weeks have undoubtedly been the most stressful weeks for all of us. With school becoming virtual during the most pivotal part of the IB Diploma Program, the overwhelming amount of college essays and supplements that need to be written, the constant reminder that our internal assessments are due soon, and just the surge of COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka. It’s comforting to know that when everything becomes overwhelming and frustrating I can shut down for a few hours and recharge with my sketchbook. 

I started with small sketches on scrap pieces of paper that I keep near my desk. I drew whatever I could see out my window, which was mainly trees and leaves. As I got more and more devoted to my sketches I found myself looking for images online that inspired me. Even though I did this recreationally, I was still devoted to pushing myself out of my comfort zone and to improving my artistic abilities. I went through many mediums, pencil on paper, color pencils, pen on paper, and more recently a stylus and an iPad. 

Digital art is something that has always fascinated me. In my eyes, it’s the perfect art. The clear crisp lines, the opaque consistent color, all these created art that is immensely satisfying to look at. 

I initially thought about purchasing the ProCreate app, like I’ve seen all my fellow artistic friends do, but eventually, I went against it because I knew it really wasn’t necessary and my note-taking app, GoodNotes would do just fine. 

 

For my first drawing on the iPad, I knew I wanted to attempt to draw a portrait. I knew that for my first ever portrait I had to try and draw Kim Seok-Jin, a member of the popular K-pop group, BTS. I found an image that I liked online and I tried my best to replicate it. I decided on keeping a grayscale with my portraits due to the fact that finding skin tone colors on the GoodNotes app challenge as well as keeping a greyscale would help me understand the highlights and the contours of the face better.

 

 

 

 

 

After my initial drawing, I felt proud of myself. Although it wasn’t a Leonardo DaVinci level drawing, I still was happy with the outcome and I enjoyed the process of sketching a real humans face with only 5 different colors.

 I tried to do a few more, each time experimenting with the different settings of good notes. In these few pieces, I tried drawing on a much darker background to see how the colors of the pen contrast with the dark grey. 

 

 

 

 

 

This sketch is by far my favorite drawing out of all of the sketches I’ve done.  

 

 

I wanted to explore the different styles of art as well. I attempted to create this 90s pop-up art inspired drawing of my favorite image of all the members of BTS together after shooting a music video. 

 

It was definitely a challenge and took much longer than I expected. However, I am extremely pleased with the outcome. 

I look forward to continuing my journey with digital and exploring and discovering new forms and techniques of digital art.

 

Learning Outcomes:

LO2:Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

I left my comfort zone of drawing inanimate objects and I’ve attempted to draw real figures and faces. I’ve also diverged from the traditional route of art and I’ve used a non-traditional medium (digital).  I’ve developed many new skills from these such as, identifying the natural contours of the face and how to draw them in a matter that it looks natural. I’ve also learned how to use 5 different shade of black to make the image look almost colorful. 

 

LO7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

One of the main reasons I switched to a digital medium was because there would be a lesser impact on the environment. While disposing of pencils and paper may not be directly harmful to the environment, the production of them can be. Switching to a digital medium prevented me from using pens and pencils and essentially diminish the need to purchase more in the future.