Comfort Zone

We need more conversation! n_n; Let's start with something I've always been curious about...

Where is your comfort zone when it comes to art? Do you tend to favor one medium? Do you only draw / design when you're in a certain mood?

What are your routines when it comes to your arts? How often do you break out of these comfort zones?

I'll answer later. :3 OKAY GO!

sometimes I sketch if I'm feeling inspired enough but I'm primarily on the computer. I go through pretty apparent swings in design for fun. I'll be active for a little while and then completely die off. it's a vicious circle but I've managed to learn a few new tricks for being an old dog.

I make tags whenever I feel the need to wear a new theme. I get bored pretty quickly so the rate at which I make tags is a little high compared to most graphic artists I've seen here. ;p As for my comfort zone...I am really comfortable when it comes to anime tags most of time time. And I usually end up spamming blues and reds in my works. I've been trying to break the mold and make something entirely different from my regular stuff but have failed on numerous occasions. So yeah, the 'comfort zone' that I've managed to build up over time is basically inhibiting my growth and I really dislike it but am sort of helpless. ;[

I dunno if I have a comfort zone stylistically, I don't like staying on model for too long a period of time, but I do draw only when I have to more often than not. Plus, I default to Nido/Pokemon arts because I don't have much of a reason to draw otherwise? I never post up the other stuff I do, either because I don't think it's necessary (it isn't), or I'm trying to keep it under wraps as a personal NDA. You may see that stuff when/if the games I work on become marketable. Otherwise, meh.

I've managed to widen my comfort zone drastically the latest year or so, which I'm quite proud of! Though it's gotten to the point where a drawing I do without dynamic posing, composition and complex background is considered "not good enough" by me automatically. It's a way of developing I guess.

Somehow I've broken loose of most of my sort-of-manga-yet-not-really-ish prison, but there are still a lot of styles and stuffies I can't even attempt yet.

...And I do draw often, but unless I come up with a really solid idea, I usually just give up on it. Unfortunately that means only things I know how to get done really get finished.

See, I'm the total opposite. More often than not, my best pieces come from when I'm just doodling around with no particular rhyme or reason. Then they, idk, just evolve into something that's actually worthwhile. I seldom sit down with a solid, fully constructed idea and go for it (not so much now that I've been doing requests, but I mean for my personal enjoyment).

I believe I'm painfully static in my style and comfort zone though. I just can't seem to get out of doing the same things. ;; I mean, my drawing of Nick is literally the only male character in my gallery.

I'm comfortable drawing females or Pokemon/animals. I can't draw human males at all. I also don't have a lot of practice working with humans in graphic banners. To break out of my comfort zone, I've made shops elsewhere or I've practiced with human renders. Even so, I find it really difficult to hone any banner making skills. There's just so much to consider when making a banner. After like two hours, some banners still look like crap to me. I put way too many effects into them. xD

My main tool is Photoshop, though I have dabbled quite a bit in PaintTool Sai. I prefer doing my lineart in PS and coloring in Sai. I still draw traditionally, using pencil and paper. I don't have any good markers nor color pencils. I wish I had a drawing tablet to speed up the entire process.

I have to be incredibly inspired or 'in the zone' to start up drawing. I can't make anything good out of a doodle. I don't think much of my artistic talents. After all, I was getting mediocre grades in art class in high school, causing me to switch over to psychology as my elective.

The majority of my art consists of felines, Pokemon/Fakemon, and the very occasional human. It's pretty rare for me to draw anything outside of those. My fakemon's design range a lot, though- anything from one based on a "cute" rabbit to one that appears to be the decomposing corpse of a feline.

I'm best with traditional work, but I use Autodesk Sketchbook Xpress 2011 for digital art. Only because it's the most moderately complicated program I have access to, even though it's glitchy and I can only use preset colors. I do have Photoshop Elements as well as GIMP, but I generally don't use them. Partially because Photoshop likes to be glitchy, as well. T:

It's pretty rare for me to go a day without drawing something, unless I'm sick or incredibly busy. {: