How much has your art improved this year?

[Starfestival]

This is when I started drawing Retro back in Early 2010

And this is something I did back in October for Drawlloween, but it is more recent seeing how I draw the latest pages for Retro back in July

[heterodont]

It's kinda hard to pinpoint improvement in my art this year just because its super minute! You can definitely see it with a sequence of multiple drawings but it's hard to see with just two images xD. I just took a page I made in the beginning of 2014 vs one from early-ish October this year.

And my art improvement memes from the past 4 years

[Damatris]

Biggest change this year has happened with my digital coloring. I started practicing it in January this year (I could count with one hand the times I had done it before that) and I must say that I'm quite proud of how far along I've gotten with it even if it's still far away from what i want it to be. But if I can continue improving like this a year from now I'll again be much closer to my goals.

January 2015

December 2015

Another thing I've really improved is my page layouts (although a lot of those are still to come as they are only in thumbnail format for now...) and pacing. But all in al this has been very productive year.

[realSean_Murphy]

So and so but I don't have any comparisons to show.

[eseona]

At first, one year ago I would not believe that I am going to draw a comic one day! It was realy big suprise when I realized that I can do this.
It is hard to compare my comic-art style with old illustarations so there is just comparation of comic page from summer and from this week. I finally know how to scan my ink lineart properly and also everything is faster (first page took me 20 hours, now it is 10 or 15).

first attempt

latest page

And I think that whole my style is somehow cleaner and more simple. Also I am really glad that I replaced pencil with tiny black markers.

one year old portrait

one month old quick sketch

[starsyscomics]

Let's talk bicycles.

2008:

2012:

2015:

Also, here's a bonus from my first online fan art account circa 2005, when I was a lil' art baby who was way too into Yu-gi-oh:

Started from the bottom now I'm here.

[whydocowsfall]

This is some digital art from January (I think this is a witch character I created for another story? I'm not sure...)

This is digital from May this year

And here's some of the most recent art of my characters! :3

(pencil drawings, yay!)

[ratique]

Ooooh I LOVE art improvement threads! Because this is really what making a comic is about for me.

I had given up drawing regularly before doing Devil's Acres, and it took me 1.5 years to figure out the overall style I wanted to go with. So at the beginning of this year I started the story, but went a completely different route as well as style. About 20 pages in I realized it was not what I wanted - But now I have a great comparison between then and now.

A page from January 2015 and page from December 2015 (a little bloody, sorry!). I wish I could show my latest page, but spoilers! I am proud of what I have accomplished, but want to become much better in 2016!

[Jewe11s]

@Starfestival Holy smokes! Wow! Your anatomy stills quadrupled! Is the horned guy wearing a muzzle?! That's so cool.

@heterodont The lighting in your newer page is simply beautiful. It's really cool to see how your characters have evolved with your style over the years! Things are definitely looking more and more dramatic!

@Damatris There's definitely a more apparent thematic atmosphere in your December page! The characters stand out more without looking disconnected to the setting.

@xeithe That's alright. As @shazzbaa mentioned earlier, getting better at art isn't always a clear and straightforward task.

@eseona I'm so glad that you decided to challenge yourself by making comics! I can see that you have drawn the dreaded '3/4 view' portrait a few times in your examples! You pulled it off quite well!

@starsyscomics I really like the rough, sketchy picture from 2012. It's got a lot of energy But your 2015 picture makes me want to go buy a bike... Looks like so much fun.

@whydocowsfall Oh my gosh I love your style. It's simple and yet informed... if that makes any sense. The cyclops character looks soooo cute!

@ratique Your newest page is incredible. Each panel draws me further into the story... its so dark and it's got the right level of gore to make people a little unnerved without being freaked out. (Well, for me at least.) Love it!

[Kura]

My art has improved by I think about a 'not at all' amount.

[Jewe11s]

Aw man. You've posted so much work this year! And that's definitely something to be proud of. Consistency isn't necessarily a bad thing. You've got a good rhythm going. Keep it up!

[joannekwan]

God I was horrible at drawing these two earlier this year.

This was done in March, compare it to this page done a couple months ago.

[Jewe11s]

Gwaah! Haha I love these two no matter how you draw them! I really must say I'm fascinated by how you draw those horns consistently at different angles! I have a character who shows up far far far into my comic with horns as well but I can never get them just right. Do you use a reference of some kind? A model?

[joannekwan]

I've actually been trying to find a free 3d program to model a set of horns, but no success yet. For the most part I just eyeball it and tweak the size/shape with the transform tool until it looks right. Even so, a few weeks after I publish it I will go back and tweak them sometimes. I have done a more complicated horn shape before for another character, and for that I sculpted a model from my kneaded eraser as a quick reference. xP

[Jewe11s]

Haha! I know the struggle. I've seen a bunch of 3d sculpt programs floating around the internet but none of them take less than a few years of practice to figure out and most cost an arm and a leg. (Unless you only need to use them for a 30 day trial.) I have a kneaded eraser right here on my desk though! I'll have to try that!

[somvi]

Here's my art in a snazzy template:

Slow start to 2015, only sketching for all of January then it was mostly large paintings for the first half for art shows and commissions. Second half was much more productive and I'm much happier with the art made during this period. Made a sort of breakthrough with ink in September that I was experimenting with throughout inktober.

Where's the comicsu?
Well, I just got into sequentials fairly recently and if all goes well, I'll actually have something released early next year. The pieces from June, January and September are examples of styles I'll be using in comics - let's hope it translates well. I also have an old story I'd like to adapt for a comic but I've a lot to learn before I make any real progress on that. In the meantime, I'll be looking for more collabs and pitches to keep me busy.

So it looks like 2016 will be year of the comic and I'm feeling pretty excited about art again!

[getsuart]

@Jewe11s Thank you Still some things to do but hey, we always have something to work on!
@aspiderjonny Not really in backgrounds ; when I got some kind of close action, I just don't show background (also, the actions was always taking in forests or desert palces without anything xD...). Bbbuuut, I got a lot of other places for action, such as... boats, soon :3

[miesmud]

I only make fanart and it's still all the same-face-same-angle-same-composition kinda stuff, not really something to be proud of tbh... Wouldn't say I have improved. Only did a few photostudies and materialstudies, and created nicer brushes in PaintToolSai but that's about it...
I hope 2016 will be a year full of art-studies for me, it's not good to be stuck at this level of art! And I really shouldn't make so much fanart!

I wonder where my September art went to though? I couldn't find anything art-worthy

My comic got uglier... But I think I got better at making jokes. They're explained in less panels and the panneling is better.
But still, 2015 was a VERY weak year for me...

[GaleG]

I can't find my first actual drawings, from 2008 or so... hands were feet and feet were hands, I'm not even kidding...
:

[PocketFloral]

I don't have have enough stuff for the whole year but there's still been some major change the last 6 months. My lineart is way cleaner Howie definitely looks more..attractive? or at least like I actually know how to draw him, and I'd say readability is better too so yay!