Lucky Dip III

Although I haven't yet shared my second lucky dip drawing, I'm going to go ahead with sharing my third one.  This is because the second drawing is currently packed away!  When I packed up my art studio to move, I figured I wouldn't need that piece before I got all unpacked.  Clearly, I was wrong XD  I don't want to get behind on posting my art, so that's why I'm sharing my third Lucky Dip today.  I'll catch up on number two once I'm unpacked and set up in my new studio.

These are the art supplies I had to use this time.

As with all my lucky dips, I use a spreadsheet that lists all my art subscription box supplies and RANDOM.ORG to decide which items I'll use.  I always pull five different numbers, no more or less, though a single item on my spreadsheet might actually contain more than one thing.  That's what happened this time when I drew number 48, the PanPastel set.  This set alone contains five different pastel colors and four different smudging tools, all in one compact unit.  I consider it one item, which is why, even if I had drawn its number first rather than last, I still would have chosen four more numbers.

For reference, here are the other rules I set myself for these challenges:

• A pencil for underdrawing is allowed, but all marks must eventually be covered/erased.
• Extra tools such as paintbrushes, blenders, and erasers are allowed.
• Substrate can be selected freely, based on appropriate use of the Lucky Dip items.
• Final piece must clearly show use of all Lucky Dip items.

My tools and selected paper.

Since the pastel set had so many different colors to use (and my rules require me to use them all) I decided to go with pastel paper as my surface.  Pastel paper isn't great for markers, but it works fine with all the other tools I needed to use.  It turned out that the marker would have done poorly regardless of what it was used on...but more on that later.  I have various colors of pastel paper I could have used, but since I had so much color to work with anyway, I chose a white sheet.

Lucky dip plans! This was a good idea; donno why I didn't do it sooner XD

This lucky dip is kind of unique in that I pulled the numbers and sketched out my ideas a year or two before I actually started creating the piece.  This is another one of my many projects where I felt overwhelmed by all the little things I needed to do in order to follow through properly.  I was already two blogs behind, I didn't really enjoy creating my second lucky dip piece, and even though I sought to make things easier on myself by planning ahead instead of deciding on-the-fly how to use each of the materials, I just sort of dropped it after the sketching stage.

Lucky for the project (the lucky Lucky Dip project XD) I decided to try livestreaming my art on Twitch this year.  I'd never livestreamed anything before, or even posted videos of my art, but I knew I wanted to go in with a schedule and a plan.  I had first learned of lucky dips thanks to YouTube videos, so it quickly came to mind and I actually ended up scheduling it as my very first livestream.  You can watch it on YouTube now, to see the entire creation of Lucky Dip III from start to finish:

All done! This dragon looks glorious! Table's a wreck XD

It felt really good to do this lucky dip.  I had enjoyed my time working on the first one, but the second one felt like I was fighting with it the entire time, so I was a little worried about that happening again this time, especially since it was going to be broadcast live.  I did some deep breathing before I hit the start button on my streaming software XD  Once I got started though, none of my worries came to pass.  Everything went smoothly and the final piece turned out even better than I imagined!  This piece restored my confidence in the Lucky Dip project.

RIP Touch Twin Marker in Marigold

The one real hitch in this lucky dip was the Touch Twin Marker.  It was an item I received in my second ArtSnacks box, back in April 2014, nearly four years ago.  I only used it a few times before this lucky dip, but despite being properly capped and stored, it was almost completely dry when I used it here.  It had enough left to do what I originally intended--give the dragon its undertone--but I knew I would have to retire it after this.  I took one last photo before tossing it XD

Ink, marker, pastel, and white charcoal, 9x12", completed January 2018

I'm really glad I came back to this project, even though it took me so long.  The lucky dip idea--randomly drawing a limited selection of tools and then using them all together in one piece--is a great way to force myself to think outside the box, to use tools that I've spent money on but generally don't consider, and to liven up my video channels and blog with interesting content that you all can come to expect from me on a regular basis.  I hope you enjoyed this lucky dip and that you'll continue to look forward to them in the future!

Lucky Dip I

A few years ago, I was really inspired by Ashley Picanco's Lucky Dip Videos on YouTube.  The idea of taking all my subscription box art supplies, putting them together, and randomly choosing just a few with which to make an art piece was super exciting!  When I started this blog, I realized I could do the same thing in my own way.  So in 2015, I set up my system and created my first Lucky Dip!

My first set of randomly selected supplies.

For my version of Lucky Dip, to make sure I chose as randomly as possible, I made a spreadsheet listing all of my subscription box supplies (at the time, I was subscribed to both ArtSnacks and the now defunct Pigment + Palette) and used RANDOM.ORG to generate five random numbers.  Those numbers pointed out which items from the spreadsheet I would use for my Lucky Dip.

My selected paper and random tools.

Test of each tool on the paper.

I wanted to give my Lucky Dip series a sense of structure, so I actually wrote down my own rules to follow, like a game.  If you want to start your own Lucky Dip journey, I do recommend making rules (or feel free to use mine!) because it makes the challenge that much more fun.  Working within the confines of your randomly selected tools and your predefined rules is actually one of the most exciting creative things you can do, in my opinion.  Creativity flourishes under restriction.

Here are my rules consolidated and typed out for future reference (and easy copying!)

• A pencil for underdrawing is allowed, but all marks must eventually be covered/erased.
• Extra tools such as paintbrushes, blenders, and erasers are allowed.
• Substrate can be selected freely, based on appropriate use of the Lucky Dip items.
• Final piece must clearly show use of all Lucky Dip items.

My ultimate goal when doing a Lucky Dip piece is to somehow get art supplies that I may otherwise never have thought to use together, to look as if they were chosen on purpose.

Underdrawing

Based on the colors I had to work with, I decided to draw a blue version of my favorite raptor: the peregrine falcon.  I found a reference image online and sketched it out with my usual pencil.

Copic Sketch Marker, BG57 Jasper

After sketching, I started with the lighter blue Copic marker.  I can't remember for sure, but this may have been my first time using marker-specific paper.  I do enjoy it and I've used it again for a different marker drawing.  It definitely gets to show its strengths more when you have access to a full range of markers, instead of just a few, though.

ZIG Fudebiyori Metallic Marker, Silver

Next I moved onto using the metallic ZIG marker.  It comes across more like a typical grey pigment unless you're in really good lighting and even then, the color seems more like it has a reflective sheen rather than being full-blown metallic.  It's a subtle marker :3

Kurecolor Fine & Brush for MANGA by ZIG, Navy

In the third stage, I started using the dark blue Kurecolor marker as well as the previous two markers to add dark areas and details all over the drawing.  The falcon really started coming to life.

Copic Multiliner, Black, 0.05

With the addition of ink details using the Copic Multiliner pen, the falcon itself was complete.  I may have called such a drawing done if I didn't have one more tool left to use.  I already knew what I wanted to do from the very beginning, which is why I saved it for last.

Sharpie Peel-Off China Marker, Red

I used the china marker at the end to add a wash of color in the background and to bring that color onto the body of the falcon, as if it were in the midst of a sunset.  This not only helped fill the page and give depth to the image, I think the blue and silver palette looked incomplete on its own.  I'm glad I had one warm color to balance it out with!

So there we have my very first attempt at a Lucky Dip art piece!  I was extremely pleased with the result and I had a ton of fun figuring out how to utilize all the randomly selected items together in a cohesive way.  I've already completed a second Lucky Dip piece and have two more sets of supplies selected for future entries!  I hope you'll look forward to those pieces and maybe even give Lucky Dip a try yourself.