strudeldoodlearts

[strudeldoodlearts]

See-through hair~ 0w0

Silly comic preceding this illustration idea under the cut!

(Also, this post is a longboiiii)

I kinda just churned this out without bothering to record the process for the comic/illustration. But I drew the hair with the following process:

draw the hair (outline)

Loosely outline silhouettes that could be visible through the 'see-through hair'

Color elements seen through the hair as though the hair wasn't there.

Pull surrounding colors with the color picker. Reduce saturation/luminosity (make darker). Also shift the color slightly towards the shading color. Use these surrounding colors to indicate hair texture/reflecting light.

Use the shade color with a multiply brush. Shade like normal.

At some point while working on the illustration (which I made after the comic), I realized that I neglected use a separate multiply layer for the see-through hair. Even though my shading brush has the multiply setting (since I shaded directly onto coloring layers in the comic to save time), it only works on pre-existing colors on the same layer. So the comic shading for the transparent hair didn't properly blend with the colors in lower layers.

Shrug it off because that comic took 3x longer than normal drawings and my brain was just DONE lol.

Added light and shine at the end. In the illustration, I played around with bounce lighting

In other news, I enjoyed last week's eclipse outing to Lake Erie. That trip took a chunk out of my social battery, but it was a nice change of pace. While it was cool (and low-key terrifying) to view the eclipse/also attempt to capture pictures with the correct eye protection, I especially loved seeing the way the environment shifted around totality. The tide changed direction. It was like a light was dimmed and then it dimmed even more for a good moment before the sun peaked out again.

This Sunday is significantly more low-key. Happy Sunday by the way!!

And on that note, it'll be back to work... with likely another week-long hiatus from drawing QwQ

#long post #art inspiration #see through hair #eclipse #nature #digital illustration #process #sketchbook pro

[strudeldoodlearts]

Last week was a whirl of scrambling to meet work deadlines, slow progress on what was supposed to be a silly 4 panel comic, and the realization that I somehow managed to lose last week's blog post in the void somewhere.

The most recent thing I managed to finish outside of the comic and [Pandesal Misadventures] is this digital painting of the Francis Scott Key bridge. Thank goodness for the symmetry tool.

For the reflection, I basically flipped the image of the clouds and distorted it to cover the water before adding ripple details and blending it into the water.

If things go as planned, I'll finish both my silly little comic illustration and the digital art piece associated with it. People who follow my Kofi may see where the punchline is coming. But outside of that... I don't wanna spoil the surprise, ahaha!

At the time this is posted, I will be away on a little trip with some friends to see the eclipse. As much as I like eclipse imagery, I never really bothered with the experience of acquiring some eclipse glasses and making the journey to a spot to witness it, likely around a whole crowd of people fighting to get a good viewing spot.

But that's what friends are for. They nudge you out of your brain and the same ol', same ol'.

#art stuff #francis scott key bridge #waterscape #evening clouds #adventures #life #meh #go outside #seize the moment #um

[strudeldoodlearts]

Presenting the [Pandesal Misadventures] collection! 0w0

Grab your fix of cute bread blobs gone wild. These make great gifts for bread/pandesal lovers and those who bake!

They are available at my online store in 12"x12" poster form and also as 2"x2" square stickers. You can also choose a matte or satin finish for the posters.

#fil am artist #pandesal #ube #coffee art #dinner rolls #funny faces #eyes #blursed art #art merch #art collection #small artist #digital drawing #kawaii food #weird bread #baking problems

[strudeldoodlearts]

Last week was pretty chaotic and involved many coffee experiments which have messed with my sleeping schedule.

But I'm at least thankful for the warmer weather and my seasonal allergies not killing me this time around!

But that aside...

The above is a rainy night scene with street lights in the distance. In spite of the extra work put into this picture, I enjoyed all the "textures" I got to work with for the clouds, fence, shadows, and droplets of water.

I felt pleased with the footage I managed to save from the drawing process but irked because some IG copyright issues made me have to mute the song originally chosen for the reel -- OVERTHINKER by Inzo. -_-

Anyway, this upcoming week will be quiet save for some *drumroll*

announcements pertaining to the [Pandesal Misadventures] collection, which will be released in my art shop soon~

#digital painting #spring season #art plans #merch foreshadowing #short post

[strudeldoodlearts]

FISH YEAH is finally done!

It's always great to have those moments where you don't just have an art idea but a vary specific *vision* of what you're gonna be drawing. It kinda sucks when you experience that kind of thing a lot before you're capable of drawing it, however. This wasn't the case this time!

Even though I knew what it looked like in my head, I still glanced at a few picture references of front-facing fish with their mouths open so that I had a general idea of placement and color choices. I took some creative liberties with the mouth and teeth though, haha!

And why is it called [FISH YEAH]? Because I was staring at a notepad document with my housemates as we were gathered around to brainstorm dinner for the week. One of them hesitantly bring up fish, which was also an idea I entertained. My inner reaction to that was to "see" a funny fish going FISH YEAH!! on the blank area of the notepad.

The second image is a continuation of the palette mix idea I played with last time. Nothing fancy going on here, though I drew the circles in a 3x3 grid guide that I made. Or rather, I drew the line-art of the circular shape before copy-pasting 3 in a row and then copy-pasting the rows to get 9 circles.

[palette mix 2] still features similar colors to the first idea, but I made an effort to choose warmer, more saturated options.

In other news, it's quite hard to stay focused on merch releases when the workload outside of art revs up. At one point during my writing procrastination, I ended up designing a whole parody design for a black water bottle to make it look like a soy sauce bottle. Surely it'll be a head turner once I get around to it. But that'll have to be sometime after releasing pandesal misadventures!

That's it for now~

#art ideas #art inspiration #keep drawing #the grind #fish yeah #fish art #colorful art #color palettes #digital painting #sketchbook pro

[strudeldoodlearts]

*insert rant about daylight savings*

On the bright side, I've readjusted to digital art after 3 or so weeks. And I still got it!

[dango doughnuts] are something I felt compelled to draw after seeing some Dunkin Donut holes on a stick and thinking, maan. I kinda want mochi doughnuts now.

[palettemix1] was named with the possibility of making more pictures in this type of style. If there's one thing I figured about quickly mixing watercolors, it's to not be afraid of a little mess. And don't be so stingy with supplies if you're gonna use them. A dab of damp paper towel could keep the mess from getting to out of hand.

I'm also loving how the symbol-type signature looks. Peer closely and you could see a hint of red and blue in it, which I will pull from each art's color palette.

Still fooling around with [FISH YES], but it'll be finished sooner than later!

#colors #dessert art #color mixing #watercoloring #art ideas #fusion #sketchbook pro

[strudeldoodlearts]

Back to reality

Yay, I've returned home. And it's significantly less cold.

And now I'll be playing catch-up for a bit. Writing projects, hitting the books, cleaning, getting adjusted to a more rigorous cooking schedule, etc.

Kofi updates will sadly only happen monthly in the meantime. Finalizing the pandesal misadventures collection will also be a bit of a trudge due to new time constraints. But it'll be done!

And aside from that, I'm back on my digital art bs starting this week!

The new shop gives me a place to experiment with anything I'll be learning about UX or inbound marketing (two things that are also relevant on the writing side of my life.) Or at least this is what I'll tell myself when the anxiety-induced procrastination hits.

This was a dull and pictureless blog post. But look forward to:

Something where I play with shape and color~

FISH YES

Bye for now!

#art plans #sorry no pictures #catch up catch up #aaaaaaa #life

[strudeldoodlearts]

Finally some downtime!

Here are some other trip-inspired watercolors drawn recently!

The first one was inspired by a cornfield picture I took some days ago. I decided to throw in more orange and purples in an attempt to add more sunset vibes to the picture, as it took less than 1 hour for the sun to start setting.

The second picture was partially drawn from memory. Specifically the shed, in which the only accurate thing about it is the general size. Originally I only wanted to paint the tree, but then I wanted to give context to how big it was.

I have many ways to go with color mixing and accuracy. But it's fun to freely paint blobs/squiggles and then refine the image into something that makes more sense.

Featuring the new signature change I mentioned last time. Something about using multi-colored pens takes me back to my drawing roots.

#watercolors #warm colors #trippy #sunset vibes #corn field #big tree #nature paintings #philippines #travelling artist #scenery

[strudeldoodlearts]

Hello~

I'm still alive and doodling, though not as much as I could back at home. My brain and body are benefitting from the warmth of the Philippines and its climate for now.

I've only had one opportunity last week to lay out my watercolors for quick painting. The table I've come to like using is often occupied with visitors and epic food spreads. I also had a ton of places on the bucket list and extended family to meet/catch up with. But worry not! I've been taking in scenery for future reference.

Also! I'll actually be changing my usual signature to match the final doodle. I won't necessarily use the same color each time; it'll depend on each picture's color scheme. I just thought that this style of 'signing' a picture would be more iconic/stylistic yet more discrete.

I foresee myself having more downtime next week before heading back. 0w0

#watercolor #scenic #mountain view #landscape #shoreline #philippines #nature #quick doodle #new signature

[strudeldoodlearts]

Art Dump + The traveling artist

This about wraps up the [pandesal misadventures] series. There are actually more existing designs that I plan on refining/releasing in merch form.

in other news: I've decided to do a 1-2 times a month 'doodly newsletter' called [Kofi EXCLUSIBS] where I doodle out some of my thoughts/stuff related to my creative thought process. I will also still be doing doodle wallpapers occasionally. Both of these things are available to both one-off and monthly supporters~

Oh. Also, I'll be out traveling by the time this post is released. Assuming nothing gets lost or misplaced, I'll have some art stuff with me. Look forward to a temporary change in art style/medium.

Watercolor is something I occasionally dabble with and return to a few times a year. This outing will be low-tech and scenic. So there'll be plenty of painting inspiration to be had.

I'd like to think I understand color shading, but knowledge doesn't always translate to motor skills/muscle memory. With digital art, my lines tend to be weirdly shaky. But then I do better with blending colors. These problems get inversed when drawing by hand. Line-art/sketching feels like home with a pen/pencil and some paper. Paints? My hand shakes. Or it lingers in one place. The coloring is either too muted or messy. >_>

Expect *occasional* hand-doodles, playing with paints, and moments from my travels that may inspire future doodles.

0w0

#watercolors #pen and pencil #art break #art life #art journey #traveling

[strudeldoodlearts]

Last week's art batch~

Here's last week's line up of art! Featuring two variants of bread dough growing out of hand and a more nostalgic piece with a cat-themed hoodie and a street-lit evening.

I'm a sucker for drawing the night sky with a subtle swirl to it. Adding circles/swirls to the perspective are also a lot of fun ^^

In other news, I went to a Rare Kandi rave a few days ago. With the right people, it's a great time that can really bring out your inner kid, even if you're not one for loud dance scenes.

The experience gave me quite a few art ideas. But my overseas trip/family business is eating up my brain cells/free time now, so I'll probably have to wait until March. -_-

#art inspiration #colors #funny food art #dough rising #cat hoodie #anime style #digital drawing #life blog #rave scene #ehh #sunday #lazy

[strudeldoodlearts]

I'm liking this format of doodles with nice borders to them.

As I'm still relying on a service such as Printify, I worry about having the borders at the very edges, however. There's always the chance of misalignment during the printing process. -_-

The picture to the right will be the first in a mini series that I will call 'pandesal mishaps.' Keep an ear open for this collection's release.

In the meantime, check out what my little new shop has to offer~

In other news, I'm sooo done with the cold. Feels a bit whiny to admit when other places are reaching negative temperatures. The layered blankets doodle (called [cold proofing]) is honestly such a mood. But on the brightside, being able to go out in 35 F weather in two-ish layers (for *very brief* moments of time to run errands) shows some progress with my cold tolerance.

Take care for now ^^

#short post #doodles #digital drawing #blankets #kawaii art #silly faces #drawing food #small shop #art style #symmetry #happy sunday #bowl

[strudeldoodlearts]

What makes a doodle? Going forward...

Doodles are quick, messy, casual, and experimental. Often without a clearly determined objective. They just kind of come out of nowhere.

Over the years, I've worried that I've fallen short of an artist who could be called 'strudel doodle.' Not from nit-picking at my art style's inconsistencies, even though that's it's own separate problem. I'm actually more worried about neglecting what it means to 'doodle' freely.

But this recent piece made me realize something. If I start drawing with a rigid idea only to realize I've drawn something else entirely, isn't that also doodling?

Isn't loosening my line art expectations (even though they're still carried by my use of references and also by the rough-painting phase) also doodling?

This was initially supposed to be a picture of a dragon-style sword since 2024 is a dragon year according to Chinese Zodiac.

But then somewhere in the rough painting phase, the idea morphed into a feisty bearded dragon wielding one of those small mall-ninja pocket knives. Whoop.

The power of doodling is a chaotic, unpredictable one to wield. But wielding it often and with just the right amount of boundaries creates results that are worth it.

For the background, I used the radial symmetry tool to create the light lines. This layer was then duplicated, rotated, and recolored to create a two-colored flash effect. This simple decision breathed so much character into the bearded dragon, heh!

#trust the process #creative thinking #doodling #bearded dragon #badass art #feral art #funny art #tiny knife

[strudeldoodlearts]

New Shopify Store is up and running!

Enjoy a mixture of recent and older (but reworked!) pieces :D

As much as I liked the versatility of things offered through RedBubble, I wasn't fond of the cluttered presentation of items, even with page optimization. I would rather focus on a select few formats at a time.

I've also wanted a more standalone shop page for longest. Back when I started the RedBubble shop, I mainly lacked in time and knowledge on how I would manage it.

This decision kind of parallels my shift from focusing on Instagram as much. Sure, a platform with a lot of people/images (or goods) in one place could draw in engagement (or sales). But then you'd have to account for things like enshittification, algorithm woes, and just a lot of everyone screaming into the void. Both Instagram and Redbubble seemed to push for an unsustainable amount of posts and formats to not get buried under everyone else.

Sure, I figured that wearing a lot of hats and making a lot of stuff is part of being an artist who sells stuff online. But I wasn't keen on becoming an influencer or a t shirt designer in the process. ^^"

/endrant

I am hoping that having this new Shopify store helps me better pace and organize my creations with less clutter and DISTRACTION.

#art thoughts #art shop #art business #shop launch #small art account #digital art #quality doodle #quality over quantity #mini rant #shopify #redbubble

[strudeldoodlearts]

New year, new online shop front (some time this week!)

Cold weather complaints aside, the transition from holiday party mode and back to business-as-usual has been okay.

My travel plans that fell through on December have been revived for February, so I've been scrambling to get things together before then. Such is the price to pay when your schedule is flexible. Gotta earn that flexibility. TTwTT

But I managed to start this week with a doodle. And in the process, I came up with a silly reel format. Hopefully good for my sanity in the long run

I think I can return to the usual amount of drawings for this week. And my new storefront will be ready to launch in the middle of this week, so be on the lookout for that!

#im back #happy 2024 #art life #satisfying art #abstract art #digital painting #radial symmetry #new shop #coming soon #whee #quality doodle

[strudeldoodlearts]

[door ends]

Just a quick little thing to close 2023.

How the year started vs how it's ending 0w0

#art progress #doors #digital drawing #style evolution #change #doorways #sketchbook pro #2023 #beginning and end

[strudeldoodlearts]

Last post for the year

Unless something incredibly amaze-balls and loosely art-related happens, I likely won't be blogging on the 24th and 31st.

So I'm ending this year's art-sharing posts with [dissolving] and [art vs artist 2023].

[dissolving] is one of those pieces where the idea was a lot better than both the execution and also the reality behind the idea. I thought it would be cool to show two little seltzer discs dissolving in a purple carbonated drink. To keep the issue short, probably too much happening. And yet I could've made it more explosive and less contained.

As for the art I chose for [art vs artist 2023]:

[mole lay taco] is a recent work I'm really proud of due to the vibrant colors and the stupid pun.

[elbaite shard] was 'very shine and mineral.' It was fun to blend greens, reds, and pinks and have it against a dark background. It was inspired by some things I saw at the Smithsonian during a prior week.

[cube dudette - ver. starry] Drawing this satisfied my galaxy fix and was a nice way to end designing for the [cube dude] series. Note that it will still be up for grabs in my Redbubble shop, even though I am working to shift shop fronts.

['cats'tom shortsord 2023] is a redraw of a derpy short sword I drew HELLA long ago. I'm talking back when I wrote my signature in one line and put an @ in the beginning of it! Anyhow, really satisfying redraw and more color pops.

[souls of the universe] was just cuteness overload. While I sorta question why I threw in two moons, I'm pretty sure it was to add a layer of absurdity: The moons are on opposite sides of the picture, yet they are more on the same wavelength than the two running around on alternate Earth trying to catch each other, heh.

[getting carried away] Alternate titles: Awakening, OH NO MY SHEEP ... A really silly painting. Also

Best part of the picture. XD

7. [shedding light on...] The lighthouse picture was another one of my favorites for this year. So much so that it's used on the homepage of my site. Rethinking the title a bit, but still unsure. It was meant to be another stupid pun, actually. My thought process when something like this: Water has hidden faces -> The hidden faces/forms kinda look like snakes -> Lighthouses cast/shed light on their surroundings... and snakes shed too! Haha......

8. [creek salad] Was my attempt to combine food and landscape. According to my past self, I also ate a salad prior to making the art. A shame I can't remember making or tasting said salad, though.

9. The initial plan was to take a new selfie of me gesturing to the rest of the art from the corner and being silly, but I was short on brain energy and found this picture from my personal social media instead.

#and that's a wrap #art compilation #art vs artist #2023 #surreal art #cool art #i'm finally free #happy holidays #stay warm #good night