What Does One Year of Drawing Practice Look Like?

This blog post will be a running tally of a year worth of trying to improve my digital illustration. I use an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil and the Procreate ap. The ap tracks time and strokes made on the piece and I am dating them with the day I shared the finished image publicly.

January Totals:

5 images

19 hours 24 minutes

26,748 strokes

This month I really focused on trying to get better with shading and highlights to make images appear more realistic and have more depth.

January 1, 2020 | 4 hours 31 minutes | 7,092 strokes

January 1, 2020 | 4 hours 31 minutes | 7,092 strokes

January 3, 2020 | 3 hours 52 minutes | 6206 strokes

January 3, 2020 | 3 hours 52 minutes | 6206 strokes

January 15, 2020 | 1 hour 48 minutes | 3250 strokes

January 15, 2020 | 1 hour 48 minutes | 3250 strokes

January 24, 2020 | 2 hours 42 minutes | 3743 strokes

January 24, 2020 | 2 hours 42 minutes | 3743 strokes

January 28, 2020 | 6 hours 31 minutes | 6,457 strokes

January 28, 2020 | 6 hours 31 minutes | 6,457 strokes

February Totals:

3 images

13 hours 55 minutes

8,597 strokes

This month I was really focused on my book and getting it ready for Beta readers. Not as much drawing actually happened as I would have liked.

February 2, 2020 | 4 Hours 27 minutes | 2,483 strokes

February 2, 2020 | 4 Hours 27 minutes | 2,483 strokes

February 11, 2020 | 5 hours 25 minutes | 2,771 strokes

February 11, 2020 | 5 hours 25 minutes | 2,771 strokes

February 17, 2020 | 4 hours 3 minutes | 3,339 strokes

February 17, 2020 | 4 hours 3 minutes | 3,339 strokes

March Totals:

2 images

10 hours 55 minutes

9,899 strokes

Not much drawing happened this month outside of small sketches for my book. But I did take part in Katnip’s drawing challenge and drew Octavia Spenser from Self Made. Such an amazing mini series!

March 25, 2020 | 8 hours 45 minutes | 8,461 strokes

March 25, 2020 | 8 hours 45 minutes | 8,461 strokes

March 29, 2020 | 2 hours 10 minutes | 1,302 strokes

March 29, 2020 | 2 hours 10 minutes | 1,302 strokes

October Totals:

Images so far: 24+

Hours and minutes so far: 46 hours and 44 minutes+

Strokes so far: TBD

This month I worked on illustrations for my children’s book I plan to self-publish! This book is all about cryptids and other mysterious creatures.

October 1, 2020 | 1 hour 16 minutes | 1,156 strokes

October 1, 2020 | 1 hour 16 minutes | 1,156 strokes

October 2, 2020 | 2 hours 29 minutes | 1,206+ strokes

October 2, 2020 | 2 hours 29 minutes | 1,206+ strokes

October 3, 2020 | 2 hours 19 minutes | 2,995 strokes

October 3, 2020 | 2 hours 19 minutes | 2,995 strokes

October 4, 2020 | 2 hours 36 minutes | 1,832 strokes

October 4, 2020 | 2 hours 36 minutes | 1,832 strokes

October 5, 2020 | 2 hours 28 minutes | 1,658 strokes

October 5, 2020 | 2 hours 28 minutes | 1,658 strokes

October 6, 2020 | 3 hours 9 minutes | 2,478 strokes

October 6, 2020 | 3 hours 9 minutes | 2,478 strokes

October 17, 2020 | 5 hours 11 minutes | 1,613 strokes

October 17, 2020 | 5 hours 11 minutes | 1,613 strokes

October 8, 2020 | 2 hours 58 minutes | 2,763 strokes

October 8, 2020 | 2 hours 58 minutes | 2,763 strokes

October 9, 2020 | 1 hour 5 minutes | 1,174 strokes

October 9, 2020 | 1 hour 5 minutes | 1,174 strokes

October 10, 2020 | 1 hour 40 minutes | 540 strokes

October 10, 2020 | 1 hour 40 minutes | 540 strokes

October 11, 2020 | 1 hour 42 minutes | 1,427 strokes

October 11, 2020 | 1 hour 42 minutes | 1,427 strokes

October 12, 2020 | 1 hour 12 minutes | 886 strokes

October 12, 2020 | 1 hour 12 minutes | 886 strokes

October 13, 2020 | 2 hours 59 minutes | 2,925 strokes

October 13, 2020 | 2 hours 59 minutes | 2,925 strokes

October 14, 2020 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 1,548 strokes

October 14, 2020 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 1,548 strokes

October 15, 2020 | 1 hour 46 minutes | 1,479 strokes

October 15, 2020 | 1 hour 46 minutes | 1,479 strokes

October 16, 2020 | 1 hour 39 minutes | 1,739 strokes

October 16, 2020 | 1 hour 39 minutes | 1,739 strokes

October 17, 2020 | 42 minutes | 553 strokes

October 17, 2020 | 42 minutes | 553 strokes

October 18, 2020 | 1 hour 22 minutes | 1,516 strokes

October 18, 2020 | 1 hour 22 minutes | 1,516 strokes

October 19, 2020 | 1 hour 27 minutes | 963 strokes

October 19, 2020 | 1 hour 27 minutes | 963 strokes

October 20, 2020 | 38 minutes | 492 strokes

October 20, 2020 | 38 minutes | 492 strokes

October 21, 2020 | 1 hour 57 minutes | 1,706 strokes

October 21, 2020 | 1 hour 57 minutes | 1,706 strokes

October 22, 2020 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 1,270 strokes

October 22, 2020 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 1,270 strokes

October 23, 2020 | 1 hour 31 minutes | 1,593 strokes

October 23, 2020 | 1 hour 31 minutes | 1,593 strokes

October 23, 2020 | 1 hour 38 minutes | 1,288 strokes

October 23, 2020 | 1 hour 38 minutes | 1,288 strokes