Updating Old Work

This year has been pretty busy. I know I haven't been around for a while, but never fear, I am still here. Recently I was at Salt Lake Comic Con and I was flipping through my old portfolio. It is sadly in need of updating as a lot of the artwork I'd made was about 10 years old.

Some of the artwork I look at and cringe...I'm so much better at drawing than I was 10 years ago! (A big reason to keep a portfolio is to remind yourself how much you've improved over time).

Other artwork I looked at and decided it just needed coloring touched up, since I colored many of the pictures during conventions, with limited supplies, or while I was talking to others. And, my coloring has improved a lot in the last 10 years.

Redrawing & coloring old artwork
This first piece is one I originally drew about 12 years ago. Apparently when I was at a demo I only used 14 colors the first time. I've always liked this spunky fairy, so in flipping through my portfolio this weekend I figured now was the time to update her.

First, I traced her outline onto a clean sheet of our sketchbook paper using a brown multiliner 0.3mm. I have also changed my style of drawing a bit over the years, so I cleaned up my line work a little. Sometimes, just redrawing something you made previously makes all the difference in changing something from good to great.

I colored this version with way more than 14 colors! B00, BG000, YG11, Y000, E000, BV11 are the main colors used throughout, then I enhanced each area.

The wings are colored with B00, BG000, YG11, Y000, and a glitter pen (you can't see it but it sparkles). I used the colorless blender to lighten up the transparent areas that show the shirt and arm through.

The purple areas are colored with BV11, B66, and BV17, with highlights of B00 and Y000 (Heck, I used highlights of Y000 and B00 throughout all areas of the picture). Green things are colored with YG11, YG13, G02, YG17, Y000 and B00.

I used a few different earth tone families. E40's for the sack and base coat on the staff. The skin is colored with E0000, E11, BV11, E13, E15, B00, Y000. The shoes and wrist cuffs are in the E30's family, with the B00 and Y000 thrown in for good measure.

I'm excited! This came out so much cleaner, crisper, than the one I made 12 years ago. Now, at least one page in my portfolio is updated (only like 30 more images that bug me to go!). Doing this exercise really helped me see just how much I have improved in that time, so I strongly encourage you to also go through and re-color something you made a long time ago.

Ok, I'll share another updated artwork soon!