How I found my love for Digital Art

It all started out with a tiny Fujitsu laptop and a commission of Jon Snow.

I don't know what my problem was back then, but when I was introduced to digital art, I was very skeptical. I had this purist mindset that if the drawings weren't done on paper, they were less real. Maybe it was because I couldn't touch it, couldn't feel the image changing beneath my fingertips.

But whatever my stigma against it was, I was so wrong.

I remember my dad, who also loves art, buying himself a Fujitsu computer where the screen swiveled around and you could draw on it. I thought it was super neat but I couldn't get used to the idea of drawing on a computer. Later that year, my computer died on me and my dad bought me a Fujitsu Lifebook just like his. Maybe to convince me how cool it, and digital art were.

If that was the case, it definitely worked.

After getting this new, tiny computer, I started tinkering with Sketchbook, a drawing program that I have come to love and enjoy very much.

I would draw at school, after work, and at every other opportunity.

I was in art class at the time, my drawing 101 class, and started transferring some of the skills we were learning to my digital artwork. This led me to draw some very cool images.

A friend from work was watching through a Game of Thrones and knew that I was an artist. She asked if I'd be willing to draw a picture of Jon Snow for her birthday, and I happily took the commission.

You Know Nothing Jon Snow

At this point, I had been practicing digital art for a few months, but I still didn't know much about it. I certainly hadn't created anything worthwhile yet. That commission from my friend really changed everything though.

In my art class, we had been working on eraser drawings. This is a technique where you use charcoal and turn your whole page black and then use an eraser to create the image.

I essentially did the same thing with the digital painting below but on a computer screen instead of paper.

This image of Kit Harington (above) was the first digital painting I ever did. It took me a few weeks to finish, I'm not sure exactly how many hours, but I was, and am, so proud of it.

Black and White

Even before I started my digital work, I always preferred black and white.

Especially during my time in drawing class, I found graphite and charcoal to be my best friends.

I love being able to create these beautiful and dramatic images without color. Maybe it's the contrast, or maybe it's the shading, but I love them.

Naturally, when I started my digital work I leaned toward black and white. Usually, the reference photos I used were in color, and I would put a greyscale filter over the image before I started drawing.

Carol Peletier was always my favorite character on the Walking Dead. Drawing her was very fun, and this is one of my digital paintings that took me the least amount of time to finish.

Another painting I had a lot of fun with was an image I titled: Heisenberg.

I usually draw characters from shows we are currently watching, so when we were watching through Breaking Bad I decided to draw Walter White.

This image is one of my favorites because I got to experiment with drawing glasses and facial hair.

Branching out to Color

When I decided I was going to try out digital color, it took me a good few tries and fails to get it right.

I had a lot of discarded and uncompleted projects because color is hard.

At least for me.

But eventually, I did sit down and create something really cool with digital color, and now it's one of my favorite digital images I've done.

Drawing this image of Zachary Levi in Chuck really helped me grow as an artist. I got to not only try my hand at using color but also got to work with a really cool color palette and create a unique image of one of my favorite television characters.

Now, I'm not so afraid of digital color, and practice often.

Trying new things can sometimes lead to something really great, and I am so glad that my dad bought me my first drawing computer all those years ago.

Now, I use this skill in drawing digital images as part of my job, teaching art through my new blog, Anatomy of a Sketch.

Sometimes though, all I need is some quiet, a pencil, and a sketchbook.

There is just something about it.

I found a love for digital art and it's a huge part of my life now. But I will always practice and have a soft spot for traditional media.

If you want to learn how to draw or improve your art skills, check out my art blog Anatomy of a Sketch.

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-Leah H.