For this one, I drew the full surface of the object so that I could strategize the layers for the details later. This didn’t work as I intended. Ended up spending an awful amount of time figuring out the coloring and intermediary layers inside the piece. Made it work in the end but learned a valuable lesson. Ultimately, it turned out to be one of my favorite pieces. By now, I had already decided to work on clear backgrounds, but the contrast of the purple/gold and the black background spoke to me.

Second attempt at dimensionality. Still a work in progress but slowly getting the hang of it. At this point, the focus was merely how to organize layers on Procreate with the new style. One main layer for the unified piece, and improvise from there? Know what the final piece should look like, which sections would need more shadows, and strategize layers accordingly? I chose the former for this piece but played with the latter in subsequent pieces.

This piece is dear to my heart. Not because it is technically the most accurate or the most visually appealing, but because it was my first attempt at rendering a 3D feel. Being self-taught, I had to learn to apply shadowing and highlighting techniques that I did not know, to objects that do not exist. The output is not what I hoped it would be, but the process helped me learn what I needed to make my previous drawings less 2D. Ultimately, I found a style that works for me. Smaller objects, less line detail, more time spent bringing dimension to larger surfaces, and greater visual focus on the object itself.