
[061017]
(This rant is actually being written EARLY!)
So here I am, about four years down the line from my first experience drawing in the anime/manga (A/M) style. Now, this may seem like a contradiction to my rant in “episode” 96 (When I say “episode”, I am not referring to the number in the dropdown list, but the one in the url, each of which is n-1 where n is the number in the dropdown list – thus when I say “episode” 96, I’m referring to this: d79) which sets this date at 03/04/11. The 4/11 date refers to my first freehand attempt at the A/M style, whereas this new date… which I cannot pinpoint to a more accurate time than “December, 2002”, refers to my first attempt, period. The details of that attempt are delineated in the first few paragraphs of episode22.
In the “episode” 22 rant, I refer to three DMG drawings that I did across Dec02 – Jan03 (Dang, that was a long time ago). Here they are:

Recently, I did a couple of redraws (I really do like redraws) after running out of original ideas. Among those were my Raine series (Referred to in d48) and the aforementioned DMG (Dark Magician Girl – Yugioh) series. Here it is:

Well. There’s certainly a difference. Now at this point I want to differentiate between two types of the quality. There’s the quality of a drawing in and of itself and there’s the quality of the image being depicted, but I consider these types of quality two ends of one spectrum, rather than two seperate things – it’s hard to explain, but my brain works in wierd ways, and this just happens to be one of them. You can ignore this paragraph if you’re lost. I know I am.
Now I like to do redraws because it is a good way of gauging artistic evolution (But you have to gauge by my quality criteria – if you’re me, which you aren’t) By comparing two pictures of the same thing drawn at different times, you can kinda see what has gotten better, what has stayed the same, what has gotten worse, and so on and so forth. This is particularly true of DMG whom have I drawn at rather key points in my figure drawing “career” (For lack of a better word). These “key” points are:
1. The pre – April 2003 period, before I started freehanding in the A/M style.
2. The April 2003 – Starcrossed interim period.
3. The Reflection period, which is by far the ugliest period so far.
4. The “Sloppy Lines Period 1” of early 2005.
5. The Summer 2005 period, which I have always stressed as a “local max” for those of you in Calculus.
6. The Summer 2006 period, tentatively named the “Sloppy Line Period II”.
7. The current period, which who knows what I’ll name.
I made up those period names on the spot. Sue me. I’d post the DMG examples from each of those periods,but you know that I hate negotiating with my scanner. If you want to see continuous evolution, refer to d94.
The point is that I think I’ve come a long way since 2003, which is still only three… well, almost four years ago. Every year that I keep at this I think I’ve surprise myself by getting a little bit better where I thought improvement was impossible the previous year. Granted, I’m nowhere near the top of the pile, and I say that with the utmost conviction, so don’t think that I think I’m all that good – I’m not, every year I see more flaws in pictures I thought were flawless. Hell, when I drew Starcrossed, I thought my work was ready for PRINT. Nowadays I’m a bit more pessimistic about my absolute ability level (Which is still a relative level, but relative to everyone, period), having been exposed to a lot more A/M drawings/works, but I find that doing redraws gives me a bit of sometimes needed confidence to keep at it.
Like I said, I still surprise myself. I can vaguely remember a time when I thought I would never be able to reach the relatively moderate drawing level I am at right now, way, way back in elementary school. We’ll have to see what this is all like in another half a year or so. Until then, I’ll have a few more quick redraws in the next rant, I’ve got a hella lot done right now.
Well, that wraps up another uber-long rant. I’m sure I missed stuff that I originally wanted to put in.