I really adore progress pics, which is a thing I discovered when I discovered (or, rather, figured out how to use) Reddit. I know, I know. Don't shame me, I love r/ImaginaryLandscapes and r/colorizedhistory and there are lots of good, sane subreddits.
Anyway. Progress pics are great - super inspiring and motivating. So I wanted to include a few "progress pics" from my drawing earlier this year. I'm trying to improve my general craftsmanship on a bunch of stuff: proportion, perspective, shading, color. I'm also trying to branch away from portraits, which I do too much of. Here's some more thoughts on my Art Journey, including the tools I'm using.
Despite trying to move away from portraits, here are three portraits - made one after the other - of the wonderful Star Trek: Discovery characters.
First, Michael Burnham (played by Sonequa Martin-Green). Reference pic here.
Next, tentatively trying my new colored pencils on Gabriel Lorca (played by Jason Isaacs). Reference pic.
And finally, getting bolder at colors, Philippa Georgiou (played by Michelle Yeoh). Reference pic.
I see a bunch of flaws with the above - but I'm happy with how much each is an improvement on the last. I'm also happy that, in general, they resemble their reference pics (and the actors), even if it's still not perfect. I really loved doing the colors on the Georgiou portrait, especially around the eyes. It blows the Lorca portrait colors out of the water! So that's nice.